Dealing with near-death experience

whiterabbit

Yesterday I had a quick succession of near death experiences: I was snowboarding and while on the lift a massive pine tree was knocked over in violent winds and hit the lift line 5 feet in front of me, narrowly avoiding killing me outright (NDE#1), the impact catapulted me off the chairlift and I fell about 25 feet to the ground, narrowly missing being impaled on tree branches (NDE#2) and landed in about 3-feet of densely packed fresh snow which broke my fall so that I walked away with nothing more than a broken arm (NDE#3).

My Christian upbringing would classify this as a miracle and guardian angel, something to pray thanks to God for. As a recent Buddhist convert however I recognize this as possibly good karma having saved me from a worse fate and the series of events as a dependent-arising with no omniscient will behind these events. As such, I do not know how to internalize this event and properly deal with it. I am obviously thankful to be alive and to have escaped with nothing more serious than a broken arm, which I suppose is clinging if one breaks it down, but if an arahant could experience these events with complete dispassion then I am many lifetimes from complete cessation.

Can anyone offer me advice on dealing with these events in a proper Buddhist manner? I have been reading scripture thoroughly since converting but I do not yet possess sufficient wisdom to know how to deal with this on my own.

Thank you,
Matt

PietroPumokin

dont compare yourself to arahants and dont try to conduct yourself in a proper buddhist manner

Vangelis

Yep, I think the proper Buddhist saying that covers this is: Shit happens.

Also, an NDE is when you actually clinically die and come back so your experiences are probably more like NNDE's.

compassionate_warrior

You know what I think, Whiterabbit? I think you may be in at least a mild, if not a major state of shock, struggling to get your mind around what happened. My recommendation? Find an acupuncturist who does a treatment called: 7 Dragons. Not all acupuncturists know it; it's an old Taoist treatment for Post Traumatic Stress, and the like, among other things. Anyone trained in Hong Kong, Taiwan or Japan will know it. With other practitioners, it's hit-and-miss.
One treatment, and you'll feel a lot better. It's important to acknowledge that so much weird stuff happening in the space of a couple of minutes is very intense and conducive to overloading the mind and nervous system.

whiterabbit

Thanks compassionate_warrior, I have been trying to determine the extent to which I am mentally traumatized by this situation but perhaps it takes an outside perspective to bring things into focus. I'll see if I can take your advice on the 7-Dragons treatment.

I all of the appreciate the responses.

compassionate_warrior

Let me know how you do, WR, finding a practitioner, and getting the treatment. You can contact me via PM, if you prefer.

genkaku

Let it alone, whiterabbit -- Buddhism isn't about running off to find some appropriate or consoling text or meaning for every event. Perhaps you will modify your life according to your experience (pretty whoa-mama, I grant you) or perhaps not. Either way, you probably should brush your teeth in the morning if you don't want an NDE in the dentist's chair.

compassionate_warrior

I have good news from whiterabbit. He took some time off work to rest and sleep, got a couple of acupuncture treatments for Post Traumatic Stress, and feels like new again.

caz

When shit happens good or bad, This is our karma catching up with us. In an interesting observation one can see if they look closely at the mind at how these events are triggered, When Buddha said everything comes from our mind he certainly wasnt wrong even a small non virtuous thought has the potential to ripen past negative karma so always keep your mindfulness.

most important always create as much positive karma as you can.

compassionate_warrior

most important always create as much positive karma as you can.

You can say that again!!

The interesting thing about WhiteRabbit's incident, or series of incidents, is that one can look at it both ways. I saw it as a remarkably positive thing, evidence of how much good karma he had "in the bank". Because he survived a number of potentially fatal events unscathed. Others may view it as the result of negative karma. Curious, that.

vanity_mirror

I am neither an arhant or a buddhist but i after a such an incident i imagine such a person would see what their mind is doing, notice it, label it appropriately (if necessary) then bring the mind back to mindfulness of present. Then raise boddhichitta and do whatever needs to be done to best benefit all sentient beings with the resources you have available.Often this will mean dropping indulgent thoughts about self, self-pity, shock and consternation.
If your resources do not allow you to act in such a manner then by all means do what ever you can to remove the obstacle to your mindfulness and get relevant treatment as soon as possible.
Reading between the lines this appears to be what you have done, so now you can continue on your path with the added insight that your life is a precious chance for this practice, you nearly lost this chance recently. Use this to focus your mindfulness.
This is what i imagine such a person would say and do.

aHappyNihilist

does it seem illogical to anyone to classify falling and breaking your arm as good karma? a miracle? isn't it a bad thing all and all? it's better compared to what could have happened but worse than what happens 99.999% of the time when someone gets on a chairlift.

it's all in your perspective i suppose but objectively, breaking your arm isn't all that great

kayte

does it seem illogical to anyone to classify falling and breaking your arm as good karma? a miracle? isn't it a bad thing all and all? it's better compared to what could have happened but worse than what happens 99.999% of the time when someone gets on a chairlift.

it's all in your perspective i suppose but objectively, breaking your arm isn't all that great

You can't always tell if an experience is good or bad. Each situation leads to another. What seems bad might actually be good in the long run. Or not.

Here's an example:

There is a Taoist story of an old farmer who had worked his crops for many years. One day his horse ran away. Upon hearing the news, his neighbors came to visit.

"Such bad luck," they said sympathetically.

"We’ll see," the farmer replied.

The next morning the horse returned, bringing with it three other wild horses.

"How wonderful," the neighbors exclaimed.

"We’ll see," replied the old man.

The following day, his son tried to ride one of the untamed horses, was thrown, and broke his leg. The neighbors again came to offer their sympathy on his misfortune.

"We’ll see," answered the farmer.

The day after, military officials came to the village to draft young men into the army. Seeing that the son’s leg was broken, they passed him by. The neighbors congratulated the farmer on how well things had turned out.

"We’ll see" said the farmer.

kayte

When shit happens good or bad, This is our karma catching up with us. In an interesting observation one can see if they look closely at the mind at how these events are triggered, When Buddha said everything comes from our mind he certainly wasnt wrong even a small non virtuous thought has the potential to ripen past negative karma so always keep your mindfulness.

most important always create as much positive karma as you can.

Who or what keeps track of the past karma? I asked this in another thread- Is there a cosmic scorekeeper?

I've observed some people inflict plenty of harm on others, yet, they prosper and attain their goals. I'm not seeing how they are able to repress their past karma from coming to fruition. Or, how someone with an "account" of good karma would be capable of such unskilled behavior. Did they earn good karma to squander on an indulgent future life?

If you always create positive karma so that you will reap its' rewards in the future- is it really good karma? Doesn't intention affect karma?

Dakini

This sounds like a great topic for its own thread.

RE: Intention: yes, they say intention is everything. You can break the precepts if your intentions are compassionate.

aHappyNihilist

Who or what keeps track of the past karma? I asked this in another thread- Is there a cosmic scorekeeper?

I've observed some people inflict plenty of harm on others, yet, they prosper and attain their goals. I'm not seeing how they are able to repress their past karma from coming to fruition. Or, how someone with an "account" of good karma would be capable of such unskilled behavior. Did they earn good karma to squander on an indulgent future life?

If you always create positive karma so that you will reap its' rewards in the future- is it really good karma? Doesn't intention affect karma?

well, for one thing, who keeps track of gravity? maybe it's more of a law of nature, any action with unskillful intention will, through some indirect path affect the actor.

intention is the primary factor in karma, but i think it's a misconception that the intention of causing yourself happiness is unskillful.

skillful actions are actions that help others as well as yourself. they only become unskillful once you start hurting others, or following a path which will eventually hurt yourself.

kayte

well, for one thing, who keeps track of gravity? maybe it's more of a law of nature, any action with unskillful intention will, through some indirect path affect the actor.

I've heard this comparison before and it raises more questions. Wouldn't that mean that karma, not free will, actually directs people's actions? Why bother having ethical or justice systems- everyone is just getting what they deserve- right? If other people are involved in the "ripening" of your old karma, are they incurring negative karma for themselves? Or are they allowed to get even, penalty free?

Would that mean when a person does evil, they act freely and when a person suffers it's due to some evil that they've done in the past?

Namaste

compassionate_warrior

It's the free will that creates positive or negative karma, isn't it? When someone chooses to do good, it's free will, creating good karma for the future. When they choose to hurt others, it's free will, creating negative karma for the future. When a person experiences good fortune, it's due to good works they've done in the past. When they suffer, it's due to intentionally hurtful acts they've done in the past. This is what I've been taught. But I'm starting to question it somewhat.

I think after such an extreme series of events, walking away with a broken arm could be viewed as a pretty positive outcome. How we choose to interpret events affects our mind and thereby our life. If WRabbit had chosen to view the event as a negative outcome, he could have depressed himself and possibly set up a trajectory of further negative events, evolving out of his depression. Let's face it; the man could've died! I think he was very lucky. Arms heal; not a big deal.

compassionate_warrior

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I've observed some people inflict plenty of harm on others, yet, they prosper and attain their goals. I'm not seeing how they are able to repress their past karma from coming to fruition. Or, how someone with an "account" of good karma would be capable of such unskilled behavior.

I love this question. It's important to bring real-life examples like this to the discussion.

Maybe the answer, kayte, is that they'll pay for their misdeeds in the next lifetime. Though karma is supposed to apply within the existing lifetime as well. So it is, indeed, difficult to understand how/why some people seem to get away with so much.

aHappyNihilist

yes but can people who inflict harm on others really achieve happiness? even if they achieve superficial goals they are likely unhappy. i think karma operates inside of any given individual's lifetime.

compassionate_warrior

Certainly, aHN, we'd like to think that while outwardly prospering, inwardly such people are suffering. I don't think that's always the case, however.