Howdy, Stranger!

It looks like you're new here. If you want to get involved, click one of these buttons!

Sign In Register
Examples: Monday, today, last week, Mar 26, 3/26/04
Welcome home! Please contact lincoln@icrontic.com if you have any difficulty logging in or using the site. New registrations must be manually approved which may take several days. Can't log in? Try clearing your browser's cookies.

What every Buddhist should know about end of life, if not you could be a victim of much suffering.

AstralProjecteeAstralProjectee
edited March 2012 in Buddhism Basics
Know your end of life options about death because if you don't you could be a victim of the system. If you don't fill out an advance directive you could end up being force feed in a hospital keeping you alive for years. Not even dying a natural death. If you don't take control of your end of life options, doctors have incredible ways to torture you at the end of your life. Especially with the new guidelines pasted by the Catholic Church.
Don't follow the crowd who don't even talk about it. Many just put all that stuff into the we don't talk about that bin, or the I'm too young for that, or the I will probably just die in my sleep, or the I don't want to think about death that makes me a bad person. These are all terrible memes that have caused a lot of suffering at the end of life. Fill out an advanced directive. Otherwise doctors have an incredible ability to torture you at the end of life.

Advanced directives
https://community.compassionandchoices.org/sslpage.aspx?pid=484&nccsm=15&__nccscid=14&__nccsct=Advance+Directives

I have found VSED at the end of life can be a good option. https://compassionandchoices.org/VSED

Fill out a will. Tell your family what you want. Even if you do that without an advanced directive it can be very hard. And even now with the Catholics decision an advanced directive it will be hard to follow for some things. Don't go to any Catholic run hospital. Know your options.

Peace!

Comments

  • RichardHRichardH Veteran
    edited March 2012
    I'm not in the least bit concerned. It will end badly, regardless.
  • AstralProjecteeAstralProjectee
    edited March 2012
    I'm not in the least bit concerned. It will end badly, regardless.
    So your one of them. Don't you care if doctors keep you on life support for years in a vegetative state or worse?

    You know, it's not easy for anyone to be responsible for ending someones life. Don't put that decision on someone else. You make that decision.

    Peace!
  • RichardHRichardH Veteran
    I'm not in the least bit concerned. It will end badly, regardless.
    So your one of them. Don't you care if doctors keep you on life support for years in a vegetative state or worse?

    You know, it's not easy for anyone to be responsible for ending someones life. Don't put that decision on someone else. You make that decision.

    Peace!
    Are you the person who has been asking questions about dying and going to hell?
  • AstralProjecteeAstralProjectee
    Are you the person who has been asking questions about dying and going to hell?
    Yeah, so what.

    Peace!

  • RichardHRichardH Veteran
    Death...end of life. lingering near death.. Lingering hell ....hell long or short...or endless? There is a theme around death and... control... in this case..

    ..and I am one of "them" who does not share this moral imperative for control of my death...

    ..... whatever you need to do... no should or shouldn'ts here.


    :thumbup:
  • AstralProjecteeAstralProjectee
    Anyone else?

    Peace!
  • Lady_AlisonLady_Alison Veteran
    I'm glad you said this...a living will is extremely recommended...you should update it every 6months...give one to your primary doctor and lawyer and family member.
  • KnightofBuddhaKnightofBuddha
    Not to make light of anything, but this reminded me of Stephen Colbert once talking about the death penalty, "We know it's a painless procedure, because we asked people who had died of lethal injection and 4 out of 5 agreed."

    Can't say I'm overly concerned about this. When legally married in another two weeks, I do plan though to put it in writing somewhere that once nobody's home upstairs, kindly push me down the stairs or something!
  • Lady_AlisonLady_Alison Veteran
    @knightofbuddha don't forget to include that you be dressed in civil war regalia.
  • KnightofBuddhaKnightofBuddha
    @Lady_Alison,

    Funny you mention that. My Army Service Uniform is in the mail and I'm getting it tailored next week. The newly introduced formal uniform is modeled after the Civil War ones, so they look remarkably similar to the ones of the 1860s. Even better, if I get assigned to a cavalry unit as I wish, I can someday earn the right to wear a stetson and spurs along with it.
  • Lady_AlisonLady_Alison Veteran
    @knightofbuddha take a picture!
  • federicafederica Seeker of the clear blue sky... Its better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak out and remove all doubt Moderator
    the above post is complete and total scaremongering, and an absolutely ridiculous one to post on a Buddhist forum.

    you think you can't suddenly die, right now? or tomorrow?
    Or next week?

    I've never met anyone so obsessed with death, dying, hell realms, how you get into them, how you get out of them....
    Listen up:
    This is your own personal Hell realm now - you're creating so much anxiety and despair for yourself, it's painful to watch because you don't listen.
    do what you have to do, but calm down.
    You'll find there are laws and statutes in place designed to protect you, and what you fear most will in all probability never happen.
    Now just relax, and enjoy a new day....
  • DakiniDakini Veteran
    edited March 2012
    A-P is facing this in his life right now, Fede, so I think he thinks sharing this advice with others is helpful. He has some serious illness. Or maybe you knew that.
    I agree, though, it's a bit intense.
  • Telly03Telly03 Veteran
    I hope I don't spend my last days, weeks, months worrying about dying... Seems like a waste
  • federicafederica Seeker of the clear blue sky... Its better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak out and remove all doubt Moderator
    His difficulty is compounded by suffering the twin arrows - or to put it in more modern terms - by continually picking at the metaphorical stitches and opening the wound.
    Rather than focus on generating a healthy attitude and mind (for this is where ALL healing commences) he is shifting his attention to the terrors he perceives.
    Which are also mind-wrought.

    He needs to work on his mind workings.
    And this isn't helping.
  • AstralProjecteeAstralProjectee
    You all are totally missing my point. My originally post is a universal idea for most modern man. You all are ignoring this since it's taboo to you. I trying to help you see that.

    Peace!
  • AstralProjecteeAstralProjectee
    What is wrong with me researching end of life options? Researching end of life options is not the same as me creating an inner hell you guys. They are two separate things. You'll are feeding into the taboo about end of life options. Dakini is the only sensible one.

    Peace!
  • federicafederica Seeker of the clear blue sky... Its better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak out and remove all doubt Moderator
    to call 'Death' a taboo subject on a Buddhist forum, is actually a little ridiculous.
    what you need to do is to post this on other forums as well, but off all religions/philosophies existent currently, Buddhism is the one least apt to consider death a 'taboo' subject.
    You may or may not know this, but in 2010, I stood by my father as, in the early hours of the morning, his life slipped away.
    And just as the Buddha taught Gotami,

    http://www.accesstoinsight.org/noncanon/comy/thiga-10-01-ao0.html

    i don't think there is one householder here, whose life has not also known Death.
    there are specific Meditations designed and encouraged to be conducted in charnel Grounds, and i personally take tea with Yama every day.

    you see, as Buddhists we are not so concerned with how we die, but how we live.
    I get your point. Planning ahead is sensible, and i have done so.
    But death is not a Taboo subject. Not here, so much, I think.....
  • RichardHRichardH Veteran
    edited March 2012
    My father died when I was sixteen, and there is the shadow of cancer in my home now. Death is fearful, and regardless of the best laid plans, I am powerless to avoid it. I can be sensible and practical around my dying. But I will die, and for whatever unconditioned peace there is in my heart and mind , there is also naked animal fear.. A friend (Gord) died this past year . He had practiced meditation for thirty years, but the last words he said to me were "I am a wreck"....yet he did say it with a smile. I can only have compassion for my suffering and the suffering of others, and let go.. there is no choice...and every single human being suffers this anguish, we are not alone.
  • Telly03Telly03 Veteran
    Death is as natural as birth, you shouldn't fear it... And i trust my wife's call if i should ever be incapable of making death bed decisions on my own... So i don't see where i have anything to worry about.
  • DaltheJigsawDaltheJigsaw Mountain View Veteran
    Not afraid, nor concerned. I have had near death experiences before. Thanks for bringing this up, however.
  • HondenHonden Dallas, TX Veteran
    For what it's worth, I believe one of the first few questions you're asked before being admitted to a hospital in a non-emergency situation is if you have an advanced directive. If the answer's "No," I know the hospital I work for follows up with a "Would you like some information on getting one?"

    Always good to have a plan for a worst-case scenario.
  • Lady_AlisonLady_Alison Veteran
    Have you considered op...speaking to religious leaders? Maybe contact churches in your area or sanghas to come visit and speak to you. Your threads are one liners and we are just now getting a complete picture on you and your situation...regardless,you have the right to spend your last days as you wish...researching and seeking spiritualism, IMO is the same as praying.

    I just hope you have people that love you nearby, regardless, you are in my prayers.
  • GuiGui Veteran
    In addition to reasons pointed out in OP, I think getting an advanced directive is important to consider in regards to your family's finances as well as their emotional suffering. Health care costs in the US have been known to wipe out families' savings, retirement plans, and property. And who would want to put their loved ones through the sadness of seeing their family member in such a hopeless situation? IMHO
  • RichardHRichardH Veteran
    edited March 2012
    Death is as natural as birth, you shouldn't fear it... And i trust my wife's call if i should ever be incapable of making death bed decisions on my own... So i don't see where i have anything to worry about.
    True.... death itself is not fearful. My doctor who is a hardcore materialist, and who has never meditated a day in his life, is not afraid of death itself..."what difference would it make to me?". But for the not-dead, and those who have not died already to the world serene in their kutis, there is a natural love of life, love of children and parents and our world, and we suffer in direct proportion to that love as it is relinquished right down to the bones. It has been like that for anyone I have ever known who has died.... even if by the time death comes they have let-go and are fearless. It can only be skipped in the abstract.. not in the reality.... and maybe in reality dying to that visceral fear and grief ...... is the biggest opening of all.
  • KnightofBuddhaKnightofBuddha
    @knightofbuddha take a picture!
    I will in a few weeks once the uniform is tailored and all the buttons are in the right place. And looking to take a pic soon of me with my pipe and new 1911 pistol.

  • TheFoundTheFound
    edited March 2012
    I think this guy is nice and he's trying to warn us of some stuff ...and i guess he's a little scared too and looking for support.... I'm 26 or 27 I cant remember, and I've never considered this type of stuff before..
  • pegembarapegembara Veteran
    A living person cannot "let go" and a dying person cannot "hold on".
  • Omar067Omar067 Veteran
    What is wrong with me researching end of life options? Researching end of life options is not the same as me creating an inner hell you guys. They are two separate things. You'll are feeding into the taboo about end of life options. Dakini is the only sensible one.
    I fear death more than anything probably. Even though I listen to people that claim they know what happens after death, I don't 100% believe it. People fear what they don't know. I think living on Earth, is like living in a little bit of hell.
  • federicafederica Seeker of the clear blue sky... Its better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak out and remove all doubt Moderator
    you need to make friends with Death.
    Sooner or later, you're going to be spending time with 'him'.....
  • vinlynvinlyn Colorado...for now Veteran
    I think there's a tremendous difference between fearing death and fearing dying, and that the two shouldn't be confused.

    I don't fear death for one simple reason...I can't do a darned thing about it. Do I feel a bit of apprehension about it? Sure. But I don't fear it.

    What I do fear is the way in which I die. Do I drop dead while I'm sleeping? Or do I suffer for months on end with a terrible cancer? That's my fear.
Sign In or Register to comment.