Bhante Kovida

Bhante Kovida

In Singapore, the cemetery meditation was held during the morning instead of the evening due to the mosquitoes and the threat of Dengue Fever. So, it was not scary as the previous evening sessions. I wanted to dig up an old grave so we could see and reflect on the remaining bones as an aspect of the Earth element, but that would have been illegal. 

After about 45 minutes of meditation (the participants sat apart from each other), we came together in the shade of a tree and did a reflection on the reality of the body-mind process shutting down regarding death. 

Using social convention, we usually say that someone has died or has passed away, but at a deeper reality when there is present moment awareness/mindfulness, the body-mind process simple shuts down, And at a deeper level of reality, the five factors that create our daily experience simply stops working. There is really no self that dies. This is the teaching of Anatta, no permanent, separate self or ego entity.

Then we did a reflection on the six elements - earth, water, heat, air, space and consciousness, and how these elements return to nature after death. The heat element is the first element to leave the body which is why a dead body feels cold when touched. At a deeper level of reality, there are atoms otherwise known as cosmic energy since everything is composed of atoms. And from the first law of science one is able to go beyond the idea of birth and death since energy cannot be created or destroyed. Then we did a reflection on the scientific fact of recycled atoms. Interesting and profound indeed.

After the cemetery meditation and reflection, we returned to the center by bus and continued to do more reflection on the changing nature of consciousness and the thinking process, the conditioning of time as past and future, the conditioning of the self as a collection of memories based on personal history and future projections and plans, having confidence in present moment awareness, our Buddha Nature. And why we want to continue somehow after death and our many beliefs in an after-life.

I'm now in the historic town of Malacca/Melaka, on the SW coast of  Malaysia, and I'm once again staying at the old Seck Kia Eenh temple (SKE). My previous visit was in December, 2019. My first visit as a teaching monk was in 1994-95, a past life for sure. The columbarium is still here (a collection of jars/urns containing human remains - ashes with bits of bones, an aspect of the earth element). There are photos of the deceased on the urns and one can reflect on the three facts of existence - constant change and impermanence, unsatisfactoriness and uncertainty, and no permanent, separate self or ego-center.

Before the Chinese Lunar New Year of the Rabbit, many people came to do offerings to the departed spirits - food, drink, candles and incense. It is believed that the incense smoke carries the essence of the offerings into the spirit world. During the Hungry Ghost month of August, many large incense sticks are burnt so that the smoke can carry the essence of the many offerings placed in public places and temple areas into the spirit world. There are also different kinds of entertainment for the spirits: classical music, puppet shows and Chinese stage operas.

Why do we believe in ghosts and spirits? Because of the great mystery of death and the unknown and the fertile human imagination. With a calm, reflective mind, one can realise and appreciate the profound wonder and mystery of life and death. And contemplating on the Bigger Picture, the larger perspective of the planet and Solar System and the immense Milky Way galaxy, we can see that birth, existence and death are only parts of a process in a much vaster and timeless reality.

Loving kindness and compassion are the only qualities that give meaning to the whole of existence. Death is the mirror in which the true meaning of life is reflected.

Youtube.....five elements reflection bhante kovida.

Youtube....The Age-Old Question: What happens when I die? by Bhante Kovida.

May all Beings be well, happy and peaceful. Gate Gate Paragate Parasamgate Bodhi Svaha.

23 July 2023