Audio recorded at Buddha House Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. In this 60-minute opening session of a four-week course on healthy living and dying, Ven Tony Beaumont guides participants through a Medicine Buddha meditation designed to cultivate healing awareness, then introduces the Buddhist perspective on death as a tool for meaningful living rather than a source of fear. He explains why contemplating mortality motivates constructive action and ethical conduct, and distinguishes genuine spiritual practice from mere escapism. Beaumont then presents four practices for living and dying, starting with transforming suffering. He explores euthanasia thoughtfully through real cases—a woman who chose death purely to avoid lost pleasure, and someone with ALS who discovered profound joy and purpose despite total paralysis—showing how Buddhist understanding of emptiness and interdependence can reshape our response to loss. Suitable for practitioners new to Buddhist perspectives on mortality and those seeking practical guidance for meaningful living in the face of illness or age.
File metadata (for organising)
File: 2015 08 13 Healthy Living Healthy Dying Week 1 13 Aug 2015.mp3
UUID: 2d936024-f7f0-4eef-a607-f66b0fc547ad
Teacher: Ven Tony Beaumont
Collection: Healthy Living Healthy Dying (Ven Tony Beaumont)
Date: 2015-08-13
Recorded at: Buddha House Adelaide
Duration: 59.6 minutes
Words: ~5,572
Okay. So I think people have got a copy of the Medicine Buddha mantra there, haven’t they? Yeah. So then thought to do meditation first with a few minutes of breathing to focus the mind, bring the mind in the present moment And then to prepare the mind in a positive way. Positive way, we can do this meditation.
A basic meditation on medicine Buddha and healing Buddha. Alright. So then just to sit comfortably in such a way as has to be relaxed, but at the same time, alertness to be able to keep the mind focused like this business here. In meditation isn’t just simply to relax or fall asleep. Meditation is really a very active process and working with the mind.
And so we’re trying to bring ourselves into the present moment here while observing the breath. And so here, as best as possible, to keep the mind focused on sensation of the air as it passes in through the nostrils and then passes out again, to gently keep the mind focused there. Even though you might find it worrying, but try to put some effort to remain right focused there. And as the various distractions arise, these will be thoughts in the form of memories or plans or sensations within the body, sounds within this room, sounds outside. Just try to not get caught up in this, to note them, not suppress them, but just to sense that they’re events, like so many countless events that have taken place in our lives, like clouds passing through the sky or like bubbles rising to the surface of a pond.
So continually, these events are constantly occurring, not to get drawn away from the mind being focused on the breath. Okay, so just like this for the next few minutes, just to gently try to maintain the awareness on sensation of the air as it passes in and passes out again. So doctor will do this meditation on Medicine Buddha. So, alright, so we’re going to do meditation on Medicine Buddha and here to just to sense that this is a representation of all the healing energy existing in the universe, of all the religious traditions and so on. And also to sense it as well within ourselves, we have this potential for healing.
And when we talk about healing, of course, it includes physical healing but most important type of healing is the internal healing, the healing of various emotional imbalances and so on and various resentments that we may have occurring in our lives like this. Very strongly impregnated negativities like this. Of course in Buddhism, we say that everything can be or all the negativities can be eliminated like this. They’re not one without mind. So here what we’re trying to do is to invoke all this healing energy existing in the universe, the color, you know, it’s the deep blue color, is associated with healing just like the Lapis Lazuli stone historically seemed to be associated with healing so similar color like this.
And right hand resting on right knee holding a plant associated with healing, a Rura plant, left hand in the lap holding a bowl filled with nectars also associated with healing. And then when we do this practice and recite the mantra then the mind mantra is said, mantra means mind protection and each mantra has a significant meaning but then also that’s also very important is the idea of the type of vibration that arises on the basis of our recitation of the mantra as well. So here, the recitation of the mantra in Buddha then is conducive or being about healing. Alright, so just to focus the mind and reciting. Here we’re doing this practice of Medicine Buddha in order to bring about the healing within ourselves so that we can more effectively benefit ourselves and benefit others.
And so then from the depths of the heart to request the healing power of all beings to manifest, you can visualize above the crown of your head and arising in the form of Medicine Buddha made of light, radiating light in all directions. And Medicine Buddha is extremely pleased. The sense that Medicine Buddha is extremely pleased that you’ve had this inclination to whatever about internal transformation and benefit others. In a sense, it’s a field of medicine Buddha without choice manifests on the basis of our heartfelt wish for healing to take place. And so then we can recite the refuge prayer, you know this, in Tibetan.
Me. Otherwise, just to get a sense of the meaning, taking refuge in order to have refuge until I’m enlightened. So that’s the meaning behind it. So we can recite this three times in Tibetan. Okay, so then I’ll just recite this mantra of Medicine Buddha one hundred and eight times and while reciting then to visualise that healing energy in the form of light cascades down from the heart of Medicine Buddha, enters through the crown of your head and the and it flashes away all the negative energy of body, speech and mind, all the tension that may be existing within our body, all the different levels of impurity like this.
So then if it is that we say in the imagination, it doesn’t mean to say it’s not effective. So then if you would like to, you know, recite and recite along. Recite, please do. So then now just to visualize that Medicine Buddha dissolves into light and then to dissolve into you and so that you and Medicine Buddha become inseparably one like water merging with water. And so then in a sense, you just sense yourself as becoming an embodiment of this wish to be of benefit to others, to bring about healing to others And with this thought, then we engage in the session tonight.
Okay, so the theme next three Thursdays is death and what we call what’s referred to in this thing is peaceful living, peaceful dying, think, isn’t it? Anyway, the subject is death. Peaceful living, peaceful dying. So then in Buddhism, talk about, you know, general, two different reasons why we consider reflect on the subject of death, bring it prominent to our minds. And one is that in doing so, in constructive way, in a healthy way, that we prepare ourselves so that when our death time comes, our mind will be peaceful, that our death won’t be a source of torment to ourselves and a source of torment to those who observe us like this.
So that, you know, and then at that point of time, of course, the mind is peaceful and appropriate like this, a healthy state of mind and create a cause for good rebirth. So that’s one reason. Another reason is by reflecting on death and reflecting on what it is most important in our life, then we conduct our life motivate us to conduct our life in a more constructive way. In other words, to cultivate virtuous, wholesome states of mind based on this recollection of our death coming and the abandonment of negative actions. So it means that we conduct our life in more beneficial ways which are going to bring happiness to ourselves and to happiness to others.
Often it’s said that in general that a meditation on death is the most powerful of all meditations Just as the elephant’s footprint is said to be the most supreme of footprints and has its most distinct impression into the ground, then likewise there, meditation on death has a powerful imprint on the mind. Another analogy is that supposedly that ploughing in the autumn time is the most powerful or the strongest type of ploughing. So similar in this meditation of death is most effective for the mind. So it may be the case, you know, say some people meditate on death and it freaks them out, right? So that’s not the purpose of meditating on death.
The purpose isn’t to freak us out like this. We would say that there is a purpose there in generating a type of fear but not a disabling fear, not a distressing fear. You know, a fear that fear that I’m going to lose my friends and so on. The thing is, whether we like it or not, that’s going to happen anyway. It’s going to occur whether we like it or not.
So getting freaked out by it isn’t going to be a benefit. Then also as well, it can be the case, people can reflect on death and the outcome for that person reflecting on death is to eat, drink and be merry for tomorrow we might die. That can be a result, I guess. But in the Buddhist context, of course, this would be seen to be an otherwise useless life. Particularly eat and drink and be merry because tomorrow we might die but the problem is we might continue to live as well.
If you’ve lived your life just eat, drink and be merry, you know, well then you might end up being very fat but you probably have created a lot of negative karma and you also have wasted your life. So we do reflect on death in a particular type of perspective, you know, and particularly here with the understanding of Buddhism. There is a mental continuity after this life. Now that doesn’t mean to say, you know, people can be there are some people who would, you know, and it’s possible you can perhaps even call yourself a Buddhist and not believe in future lives and utilise the awareness of death in a constructive way. This is very true, it is very true because it could still motivate a person to sort out their life, what’s most important and my life is going to end and by meditating on death, you sort out, you eliminate the negativities, all the sort of superficial activities in your mind and negative actions so that you can live whatever you have with this life in a constructive way.
So it is possible, meditation or death, only thing with this life still leads you to do constructive things. But in fact, in general Buddhism, the lamas, the Nithira lama who does not say that there isn’t that there isn’t a continuity of mind after this life, the misunderstanding then becomes, you know, we think like this and it is important that life is only, whatever is existing in our life now is only, well, whatever we say, our past lives are infinite. Our mental continuity is eternal even in Buddhahood. Know, maybe you say Buddhahood might happen in a particular point of time but our mental continuity is eternal but this life, the period of time we have left is finite. So we should use it well to create the causes for happiness in the future.
So meditation on death like this to direct us in more constructive ways. Some people have said, I’ve heard it said, Buddhists are obsessed with death. So the thing is, Buddhists aren’t obsessed with death. Certainly there is a very strong reflection on death, it’s very important. But actually, in fact, what the meditation on death is, what that does counteract is it counteracts the obsession that we may have with unimportant things or negative things.
So it certainly counteracts the obsession, very powerful counteraction towards the mind of clinging attachment, anger, jealousy and so on. The mind that’s obsessed with pursuing material pleasure or wealth or these different types of things. So it certainly will cut through that obsession type of mind. Also, meditation on death here, we say in Buddhism, is important but it’s not the central, it’s not a central thing, it’s actually not the central thing. It’s important.
It’s important because it gets us to focus on that which is most our purpose for our life is to practice Dharma in order to create a cause for happiness for ourselves and others. We use death in a way to do this. So it’s not the central thing, it becomes almost like a tool that we use to direct the mind in a positive way. So like normally death could be seen like the enemy, you know, like the demon, you know, you want to chase away, you know. And in our society particularly, it seemed to be like they don’t talk about it.
The Victorian times said, You don’t talk about sex. These days you don’t talk about death. Suppress it. But the problem is just like you suppress the whole thing with sex, you know, it will come up in other ways. So likewise, if you suppress the subject of death, we can’t deny it, then of course, when it comes, then all sorts of problems arise.
So important not to suppress it and to use it. The idea is that it’s you can see it’s like, okay, death would normally be seen to be the enemy, the demon. But what we do in Buddhist practice is we subdue the demon and turn it into a servant. It becomes our servant that we use. So the awareness of death, normally we push it away, but we, instead of pushing it away, we break it prominent in the mind in order to direct our mind into doing that which is most beneficial, to do that which is beneficial.
So if the reflection on death leads a person to live their life in a more constructive way, can you say that death is negative? And it would even be said to the point in Buddhism that, Can you say if you’re diagnosed with cancer, that a diagnosis of cancer leads you to engage in spiritual practice? Then could you say that the cancer is negative? Something to consider. Because a person could actually in that situation for the first time in their life use their life.
Their life becomes something meaningful, they do something constructive in whatever time they have left. So in that case, is the cancer, is cancer negative? So I wonder sometimes, you know, because you hear It’s a thing that seems to be the appropriate thing to do to be said on the news, the television, the radio when someone who’s well known has died or has just died from cancer. This person has died after a long battle or a battle with cancer. So of course human life is incredibly valuable.
We’ve got a human life, we’ve got the conditions to get into this life so we should use whatever time we have of this life to use it well and if we, you know, if we’re diagnosed with cancer then of course, you’ve got a human life, you try to preserve it as best as you possibly can. But I think it’s worthwhile reflecting on that idea. If a defining quality of that person’s life by the newsreader and everyone else’s positive thing is on the basis of them, that they died after a battle with cancer, The defining quality of the remainder of their life was this battle with cancer. I would question, would wonder, man, you don’t really know what’s taking place but I’d question If that’s what all has happened in that last period of time since they were diagnosed with cancer, they’ve been involved in a battle with it, you know, was there really any value in that life in and of itself? But the defining thing there was nothing said at that time to say that this person had, as a result of their diagnosis of cancer, decided to use their life, dedicate their life to spiritual practice and benefit others.
Usually not that’s mentioned. That would probably be irrelevant. What’s relevant is the fact that they had just put up a strong battle against cancer. But and as I said, human life is incredibly valuable and we should support the life and take the medications. But in that situation, if it’s a defining thing, it’s a fight against a disease which in the end is going to take you whether the cancer takes you, something’s going to take us anyway, right?
And if it’s the last periods of time, it’s just engaging battle. I don’t know. You know, I question that but whereas if a person has a result of the diagnosis of that cancer sat and thought, Okay, what am I going to do with the rest of my life this time that I have now? You know, and then sort out, Okay, what’s beneficial? You know, that the most important thing is to resolve these issues, the conflicts that I have with such and such, my sister or my brother or whatever.
That I work, you know, if I’ve got money, then generously decide, okay, to give like this, like this and then to be thinking, okay, I’m going deal with this with courage. I’m going to have a kind heart. I’m going to develop an appreciation for all the care I receive, you know, so that I can give an inspiration to the nurses and the doctors and everyone else. And then also for my children, for them to be able to serve me in the oppressed or die in a positive way as well as continue as best as I possibly can according to circumstance, engaging in spiritual practice. That is wow, you know, really to me, way to use life.
And then when a person dies, could they say that the cancer was the enemy, right? Don’t know that is. In our culture in general, of course, you hear the word cancer, wow. Some of us in this room may have cancer anyway they know it. They may know it’s terminal, others of us in this room have cancer, we don’t know.
And of course, there will some of us who will die from cancer. I will all definitely die. So anyway, this awareness of death can be used in a very constructive way. Okay, so So what I thought to do was to there’s a Buddhist woman called Christine Longaker who is very, practised very much focused around supporting people who are in the process of dying. She’s put together this thing for these four sort of practices in relation to the process of living and dying.
So I thought to present these four and consider these in relation to our life. Four activities in a sense for living and dying for both ourselves as a living person and also in relation to our own death. So if you’re saying that both all four are relevant while we’re alive now and they become even more relevant at the time of death. So these four, the first one is, well, the other night I talked about it so I maybe won’t talk too much tonight. The first one is understanding and transforming suffering.
Of course, a very strong theme in Buddhism, suffering. But an important part is because of the reality whether we like it or not, we’re going to experience suffering in this life and of course, when the death time comes, more generally speaking, then that is a suffering experience. Then if we habituate our mind in a skilful way to understand that suffering gives us an opportunity, it becomes an opportunity for inner transformation and to bring benefit to ourselves and to benefit others. So rather than seeing suffering as enemy, it becomes a friend. So this is the first thing.
And in relation, just to say, in relation to, for instance, the issue to do with euthanasia, right? So Buddhism in Buddhism, we don’t lay heavy trips on people but there are some general views about euthanasia but the people individuals are going to make their own decisions about euthanasia based principally on their understanding of life, their understanding of life and then according to that, then they’ll probably hold that view. So of course people don’t necessarily, you know, people don’t hold Buddhist view and they think Buddhists are bit crazy so Buddhist understanding about euthanasia wouldn’t be applied necessarily to other people. And so it can be worthwhile thinking about the subject of euthanasia. And here it’s to do with the idea, particularly in relation to oneself, the decision about whether to end one’s life like this.
And I just imagine a couple of cases of people of women who’ve decided, certainly one ended her life, the other one I’m not too sure has but certainly along those lines to do it. And one was a there’s a woman in who lived in Brighton in Melbourne and I saw her letter that she wrote and it was published in the West Australian, it was in Western Australia several years ago explaining why it is that she had ended her life because she was going to put the letter out after she ended her life. And the reason why she was ending her life was that she’d reached an age now, she was no longer young, she was old, she was no longer able to enjoy pleasures. This was the reason. She wasn’t terminally ill but no longer able to enjoy the greatest purpose of this life.
So from her point of view, couldn’t see a purpose to continue to live. And so that was her reason for ending her life. So it can make sense, you know, you the important thing it is very important to understand people’s perspectives and it makes a lot of sense to me as if your life is merely to have pleasure. By pleasures, I mean things, enjoyments of, you know, pleasures of the sense of hearing nice things and nice music and eating and drinking and going to movies, one thing after another. This is what your life is just filled with like this.
Then it seems to make a lot of sense as you get to that age. What’s the point you can start to see, well, it’s difficult. I haven’t found satisfaction in these pleasures up to now. As you get older, becomes increasingly more difficult. So if you’re faced with that vision of the future, you know, to end the life before it gets to that point, so you can sort of understand that perspective like this.
So I certainly wouldn’t go to war against someone, know, so euthanasia is wrong. Buddhists don’t agree with it like this because it’s a matter of context, you know. And when it comes to such things as euthanasia, it’s terrible. It’s really unfortunate but it becomes a legal issue, you know. It’s a one’s got to do with people and their emotions and, you know, what they’re feeling rather than making rules about it.
So she ended up ending her life and a letter was published like this. Then there was another woman I saw on TV on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland. Been diagnosed with and progressively, you know, became less capable of doing things. I think her right hand, you know, she lost the power of her right hand and she’d been a very active person and as she said on the TV at the time, you can sort of sense putting yourself in her position how she would feel a little bit. She says, Well, I’m getting to the point now where I lose the power of my left hand, I won’t even be able to wipe my bottom.
So when she said that, it’s quite powerful thinking. Know, she realised just how much that would be to a person, that less of sense of a loss of their self respect and dignity. She wouldn’t want to become like that and probably also thinking about becoming a burden. So her idea was that she wanted to be able to end her life before, you know, I got to that point. So we could understand from that perspective how someone might make that decision.
But then I would like to just read here and other people may have read this too. This is from the Mandala magazine. This is a magazine of this organisation. Buddha House, FPMT. So the article here is I will be paralyzed and happy.
ALS, that’s A L S, which means amyotrophic lateral sclerosis also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease is typically described as an incurable, untreatable progressive terminal illness or disease that gradually causes total paralysis before it kills you within two to five years of onset. My experience with ALS began in early two thousand and seven with an initial reaction of panic, fear, astonishment and disbelief and I promised to my children that I would do everything in my power to survive. Now I’m almost totally paralysed. My arms, legs and hands are useless. I can no longer speak or swallow.
I take water and liquid food through a tube in my stomach and require a ventilator connected to a tube in my throat in order to breathe. I required assistance of caregivers twenty four hours a day, seven days a week. I am typing this article with my eyes using a computer that can also speak what I type. For six years, ALS had been my constant teacher that has taught me that the human spirit is capable of embracing the full measure of life’s joy despite the presence of a profoundly disabling disease. I’ve also come to recognise that the mental anguish that most people with the disease experience is far more life threatening than its relentless progression.
End stage ALS occurs when the muscles of the diaphragm become too weak to support breathing resulting in a respiratory failure and death by suffocation. A person with ALS can extend his or her life theoretically indefinitely by electing to have a tracheotomy. A breathing tube inserted in the neck and a small portable ventilator that pumps air into the lungs. The decision whether to use a vent or not is controversial amongst ALS people. Most ALS people are confronted with this decision after they have already experienced profound loss of motor functioning and are dependent on caregivers and assistance technology in almost every aspect of daily life and living.
They all have experienced unspeakable hopelessness, frustration, fear and discomfort and have been rendered more vulnerable to potentially life threatening illness and mishaps. They will have seen suffering of family members who are forced to watch them deteriorate. Each significant progression of the disease poses additional physical insults and limitations to adjust to and and more losses of prior joys. Life on a vent will be more of the same and may also entail a crushing cost of twenty-four hour, seven day a week care. This decision point provides a convenient and socially acceptable opportunity for PALS or ALS people to say Enough, I don’t want to continue to live this way, I’m ready to die.
Many ALS people commit suicide even before reaching this decision. Personally, am dismayed that only ten percent of these people choose to live while the disheartening ninety percent elect to die. I believe the decision to die is a tragic and avoidable waste of human potential. Why do so many of these people opt to die? I think it is because of our self-cherishing egos.
We form a self image having capabilities, qualities and a degree of independence and experiencing so many pleasures which paralysis simply does not allow. We spend a lifetime developing and reinforcing our self image, becoming so attached to this creation of our mind is self delusion that we become devastated when our reality rises up to smash it to bits. Thankfully, there are powerful antidotes to such suffering. I don’t know of any body of knowledge that presents a more compelling solution than Dharma. It’s the Buddha’s teachings.
There are eight lessons from Dharma and and ALS has helped me to live, they’ve helped me to live, okay? So the first of these is the second noble truth, the truth of the causes of suffering. It tells us that all suffering is a mental phenomenon caused by karmic fruits of ignorance and attachment, especially self-cherishing. If we can overcome those mental afflictions, we can be happy regardless of our external circumstances. The second is the first noble truth.
The truth of suffering tells us that human existence is rife with loss and suffering. No one is spared and this disease certainly heightens one’s awareness of this truth. Dharma teaches us that the only reasonable solution is universal kindness and compassion. Imagine a world in which everyone shared this view. And the third one is the third of the six perfections is patience.
I try to practice patience with those who unwillingly cause me physical pain or discomfort. patience with my own limitations as well as those with ALS. patience waiting for a cure. Patience is a perfect antidote to frustration and anger. patience at all times is a potent calming antidote to anger.
ALS is a perfect teacher of patience. And then fourth is from meditation on impermanence and death we learn that this life is as fleeting as a small flame in a strong wind. We also learn how rare this human existence is and ALS demonstrates the truths of impermanence and death. I now savour every moment as a precious gift and opportunity to project love and kindness into the world. So that’s interesting because he’s able to do that in those circumstances.
And five, my rudimentary understanding of emptiness suggests that no disease can take away anyone’s independence. Independence is a delusion based on ignorance So we’re not independent of others anyway. We are incredibly bound we are inextricably bound together in a web of interdependence. Six, self-cherishing is the most afflictive of all thoughts. Cherishing others sets one free.
Seven. Dharma and pals have taught me the true meaning of hope. Hope isn’t about desired outcome or about the future. It is a constant mindset that embraces the positive potential of this very moment. And eight, the Dharma also teaches us transformational mechanics of cultivating positive thinking, visualization, introspective awareness, mindfulness, ruthless selectivity in the kinds of thoughts I will allow, equanimity, contemplation, oh sorry, contemplation and analytical meditation as the tools I have employed to root out negativity.
Early on, I began to visualise myself in a wheelchair, paralyzed and happy. My mantra was I will be paralyzed and happy. I will not inflict my suffering on others. I can do this. Once I discovered that I could no longer ride my bike, my road bike because my fingers had become too weak to work the brakes and gears.
I had a good cry. While I was crying I resolved that for every future loss I would allow myself one good cry and then let go. I resolved not to dwell on the losses but to rejoice in what I could still do. When I lost the use of my right hand, I rejoiced that I still had the use of my left hand. I was grateful for many years of good service my right hand had given me.
Today I can still see and hear and think and laugh and be loved. Assistive technology enables me to eat, breathe and communicate. I play an active role in the life of my family. I I keep abreast of local, national and world news. I’m busy and productive every day.
I have met and embraced the dharma. My life is full of joy. Those who are able to cultivate the ability to focus on the positives to develop an unwavering sense of hope and to remain calm and equanimous in the face of adversity will have the capacity to live vibrantly with pals. Sadly, so many have been unable to find the true path to survival. I’m determined to change this.
I pray that the precious Guru Buddha bless me to be able to do this. So it’s an interesting thing, isn’t it? Depends on your perspective. So is that belt on? Oh.
It’s gone off. Okay. Yes. The point about independence being an illusion. I didn’t get the rest of it.
Please. Okay, you said his independence is a delusion based on ignorance. Delusion. Yeah, delusion based on ignorance. And we are inextricably bound together in a web of interdependence anyway.
So that’s an interesting perspective. You can understand that a person, you know, doesn’t want to be dependent upon others, you know, but he’s pointing out the thing we are anyway. Right from the word go, isn’t it? You know, you might want to you might have had enough of your mother, I’m going to get a divorce from her but you can’t change the fact that she’s your mother and you can’t exist in this world without depending on it. We don’t exist without depending on To everything else, it’s all further we receive and So I guess alright.
So we have a break in fifteen minutes. Yep. How old was she? I’m not too sure but I get a feeling I think more like 70s. All right.
But not, you know, not super. I mean, person is different in how they do it, but I’ve got a feeling probably early seventies. Tea? Tea. Yeah.
Yeah. Tea. Is that just is it black tea with Hot hot milk?