Thich Nhat Hanh's little book on death is a magnificent treatment of the topic intended to be read by the widest possible audience possible. The balance of simplicity and depth here is really quite remarkable. It's as if he has spent his life making Buddhism more understandable...
The book rotates around one central image, that is of wave and water. The problem with the wave is that it often feels that it is taller or shorter, wider or thinner, smoother or more choppy than other waves. Although this causes suffering, nothing causes more fear to the wave that one day it will break on shore and become nothing. But, Thich Nhat Hanh assures the wave that its true nature is that of water. All waves at the core of their being are water. The sooner they realize this, the sooner will they cease to identify with relative definitions and the sooner will the cease to fear their death. The analogy here, I hope, is pretty obvious.
Thich Nhat Hanh, following the teachings of Buddhism, emphasizes pratityasamutpada, or interdependent arising, or the belief that everything is defined by all other things. There is no pen without paper, no coffee mug without coffee, and ultimately no person without people. He spells this out quite wonderfully when he addresses "touching the earth" in chapter 8. First he looks at time in the sense that we are biologically and emotionally dependant upon those who came before us. Our current karmic condition (although he does not emphasize this term) is the bound consequence of our parents and our parents' parents. Next, he looks at space and states that we are all that we encounter. He uses the example of a candle where he states that the candle still exists after it has burnt out. We in the west would say the candle is gone, but Thich Nhat Hanh assures us that it has simply changed form. There are gasses that were released, a bit of ash and also heat and light. The heat is still in the room and some of the light may have escaped the window and is now cruising across the cosmos. People, he writes, are the same. Who we are is not contained in our bodies, but the sum of our actions, thoughts and words. In other words, we live on in all of the people we touch. If this is the case, what does it mean to die? We pass on biologically to our children, but we also pass on our lessons and character. From here, I like to make the analogy that we are more like knots in crochet rather than pieces in a puzzle. The puzzle piece can be isolated and analyzed, but the knot will forever be a nexus of something much larger; anything we do to the know ultimately affects the entire system.
Also addressing this point, Thich Nhat Hanh asks us if we cloned him and placed on in a slum, one in a business school and one in a monastery, who would he be? The conclusion of this little thought experiment, I find, illuminates pratityasamutpada quite well.
Overall, I find this book to be easy to read and deeply insightful for anyone who would pick it up. Thich Nhat Hanh is without question a master at getting such powerful yet subtle ideas across to just about anybody. Whatever your background, you will find something meaningful in this book.
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Gave me peace and acts as a guide
I’ve always been weird about death within my family and friends circle in how to comfort my loved ones. Until a death within my own household made me directly deal with grieving. If you are open to it this book will give you the most peace you can ask for. When no one else can comfort you, you find through these teachings the truth of our nature will keep you at peace. I know feel I have a guide on helping my loved ones die peacefully when the time comes.
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I’ve always been weird about death within my family and friends circle in how to comfort my loved ones. Until a death within my own household made me directly deal with grieving.
If you are open to it this book will give you the most peace you can ask for. When no one else can comfort you, you find through these teachings the truth of our nature will keep you at peace. I know feel I have a guide on helping my loved ones die peacefully when the time comes.
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- Reviewed in the United States on February 11, 2024
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LudvigReviewed in France on June 24, 2024
Une perspective apaisante sur la vie et la mort
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