ONLY THE PRACTICE OF DHARMA CAN HELP US AT THE TIME OF DEATH
hroughout our lives, our body has been our closest compan- ion. At times it has seemed to be who we are. We have spent hours washing and cleaning and clipping and oiling and combing and brushing, taking care of our body in all kinds of ways. We have fed it and rested it.
We might have had differing at- titudes toward it, sometimes loving it and sometimes hating it. But now this closest companion, which has gone through everything with us, will no longer be here. It will no longer take oxygen. It will not circulate blood. This body that for so many years was so full of vitality will be life- less. It will be a corpse.
The first Panchen Lama says it well: "This body that we have cher- ished for so long cheats us at the time when we need it most."
It is also true that this will not be the last change it will undergo. As a physical phenomenon, the dead body, if not cremated, will decompose