Remind yourself that death is part of life.

“Remind yourself that death is part of life.”

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Question (F): What should we do when the image of the deceased appeared during meditation? 

Than Ajahn: If you want to use the image to your benefit, then you should compare this image to your body, that in the future you will be also like this deceased person. Then, you can get the benefit from this image. Remind yourself that death is part of life. Eventually, your body will have to die. Teach your mind to accept this reality. Once the mind accepts this, you will not be afraid of death. But if your mind is not strong enough to accept this yet, you should just ignore it and come back to your object of meditation, either watching your breath or reciting Buddho, Buddho.

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Question (F): What does it mean when the deceased come to visit us? 

Than Ajahn: It can mean something or it doesn’t mean anything. If you don’t know, then you shouldn’t worry about it. If you know that it’s the deceased that you can connect with, then it’s just your ability to connect with the deceased. That’s all. It’s a special ability or a psychic power which has no bearing on your well-being or ill-being. Your well-being or your ill-being is the result of your action.

When you meditate, you want your mind to be calm and empty. In order to be calm and empty, you should focus on your meditation object only. Don’t be distracted by whatever appears in your mind. Just ignore them.

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Question (F): We have a relative who has passed away and during his life time, he had dealt with supernatural beings, such as making use of their power to do something. He sometimes also became a medium. Is there any consequence upon his dead due to those actions and what can we do for him? 

Than Ajahn: Being a medium is not a good or bad action. It’s how he used it. If he used the medium to help people, then it’s a good action. If he used the medium to hurt people, then it is a bad action. If he had not done any good or bad action, he will not have to bear any results from his actions. If he did good actions, he will reap the benefit of this good actions. If he did bad actions, he will have to bear the consequence of the bad actions. This is the law of kamma.

Youtube: “Dhamma in English, Nov 9, 2018.”

By Ajahn Suchart Abhijāto
www.phrasuchart.com

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