If one is able to convey to the dying person that his mind is bound to this decaying body only for the present life span, it is calming. If one adds that mind is beyond death and birth, like space, emerging appearances of confusion and aging become more acceptable. This view confers the often missing dignity on the last part of life. It helps the dying to increasingly relax, and oneself to face one’s own death more fearlessly.

With love, one is also constantly planting the seeds for the success or failure of a partnership, and knowing this, we are especially responsible for the happiness or suffering of those who have opened up to us. The increased intimacy in love relationships leads to an exceptionally fast ripening of both beings’ good and bad impressions in mind.

From the great moments of their lives, many remember that the experiences of sharing love are much more honest and convincing than anything one could do for oneself. The joyful rush of living the highest principle of oneness and being there for everyone brings pervasive meaning and a sense of liberation, as if one has just broken out of prison.

The exchange between two mature, happy people enlivens their surroundings on countless levels and many can gain from it. Around them it seems that the world is enriching itself and the good feelings that appear are more than what the lovers are contributing themselves.

Because long-held internalized views and attitudes appear especially powerful in death, the daily practice should include body, speech, and mind, so that the teachings slide from the head to the heart as fast as possible. It is certain and a real gift that the Buddhist methods will help in both this life and afterward.

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A generous relationship rarely knows dramas. One is happy when the partner is happy. And one is happy when growing on three levels: on the physical level, which gives love, material things, and protection; on the inner level— through compassion and wisdom—which provides the motivation for development; and on a deep-lying, secret level where both partners enrich themselves with the qualities of the other and increasingly find their center.

It is impossible to learn to meditate while dying. Therefore, it is a great help to become aware of the dreamlike state of all things during this life, to have understood this at least conceptually, and to have practiced the ability to work with one’s mind for years.

The essential art of dying consists of being easy-going and relaxed while at the same time staying mentally undistracted and one-pointed. Therefore, the one who is dying should imagine the most beautiful thing above his head and wish to go there as often as possible.

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Just as what is in the jar, when broken, becomes one with the surroundings, death offers the opportunity to recognize the basic truth of all existence through non-discriminating one-pointedness. Like space, the essence of mind is unaffected by transition and death.

The 'taking love' leads to feelings of attachment, jealousy, anger, and childish self-absorption, while the 'giving love,' intrinsic in the tenets of Buddhism, encompasses the whole enjoyable realm of love, compassion, sympathetic joy, and equanimity.

Lasting, fulfilling joy arises through the fusion of 'I' and 'You' into a 'We.' When both are in love and become one, everything blossoms, and the couple stands fast for each other and step in for one another. With such surplus, couples or families naturally spread their combined power into the world and gladly include others who want, and can, partake in the growth. With this, every aspect of life becomes a step along the way. And because relationships go so deep and generate such strong feelings, there is no feedback system that better enables a couple to get to know each other, and allows one to develop oneself.