Dis/advantages Of Pre/Post-Death Guidance And Support-Chanting
死亡前后开示助念之利弊
– Pre-death disadvantages for the average person include:
[1] ↑ More physical pain (痛) due to last stage of sickness.
[2] ↑ More mental confusion (迷) due to [1] and painkillers’ side-effects.
[3] ↓ Less ability to understand and accept right guidance (开示) and follow support-chanting (助念) due to [1] and [2].
+ Post-death advantages for the average person include:
[i] Ø No physical pain due to consciousness’ (神识) disconnection from the body.
[ii] ↑ More mental clarity due to [i] and ability to read minds of guides and support-chanters.
[iii] ↑ More ability to understand and accept right guidance and follow support-chanting due to [i] and [ii].
On [iii], there can be ↑ more inspired Faith (信) to practise mindfulness of Āmítuófó (念佛) sincerely as there will be the ability to see light emitting from support-chanters, that merges with Āmítuófó’s light (佛光) of blessings.
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+ Pre-death advantages for the average person include:
[1] ↓ Less physical pain due to earlier stages of sickness.
[2] ↓ Less mental confusion due to [1].
[3] ↑ More ability to understand and accept right guidance and follow support-chanting due to [1] and [2]. (The window period of the bardo [中阴] state can be as long as 49 days.)
– Post-death disadvantages for the average person include:
[i] ↑ More physical ease due to consciousness’ disconnection from the body, thus likely to wander off, to be reborn elsewhere quickly.
[ii] ↑ More mental confusion due to [i] and ability to read minds of non-guides and non-support-chanters.
[iii] ↑ More ability to ‘understand’ and accept wrong ‘guidance’ due to [i] and [ii].
On [iii], there can be ↓ less inspired Faith to practise mindfulness of Āmítuófó sincerely despite the ability to see light emitting from support-chanters, that merges with Āmítuófó’s light of blessings — if there are no support-chanters.
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Conclusion: Since there are both advantages and disadvantages for both pre-death and post-death stages, guidance and support-chanting should be offered throughout, as soon as possible and as much as possible.
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