General

Dis/advantages Of Pre/Post-Death Guidance & Support-Chanting 死亡前后开示助念之利弊

woman preparing for taking painkiller in hand
Photo by Michelle Leman on Pexels.com

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 bemore 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.
_____

+ 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.
_____

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.

相关文章
Related Articles:

死亡前后与丧礼中后的诵念
Chanting When Dying, After Death, During And After Wakes
https://purelanders.com/wake

何时能往生净土?
When Can There Be Rebirth In Pure Land?
https://purelanders.com/2019/08/16/when-can-rebirth-in-pure-land-be-attained

How Should Pure Land Practitioners View The Intermediate State?
https://purelanders.com/2018/05/26/how-should-pure-land-practitioners-view-the-intermediate-state

Please be mindful of your speech, Amituofo!

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.