Teachings and Discipline Will Be Your Teacher

Ānanda, it may be that you will think: ‘The Teacher’s instruction has ceased, now we have no Teacher!’ It should not be seen like this, Ānanda, for what I have taught and explained to you as Teachings and discipline will, at my passing, be your Teacher.

Now, Monks, I declare to you: all conditioned things are of a nature to decay strive on untiringly.

(These were The Tathāgata’s last words.)

(Reference: DN 16)

In this Teaching from Gotama Buddha, he shares his last words prior to death.

The Buddha was so Enlightened that he was able to provide his Students three (3) months advance notice of his death and he knew the exact moment of his death providing these last words as a final Teaching. People do not normally know of their pending death three (3) months in advance and they do not know the exact moment of their death but The Perfectly Enlightened Buddha did know, due to his deep awareness of mind and wisdom having attained Enlightenment.

After teaching for forty-five (45) years, he had shared The Teachings needed for Practitioners to attain Enlightenment. As all conditioned things are impermanent, it was time for the death of The Buddha. The Universal Truth of Impermanence applies to all conditioned things even a Buddha.

In his last spoken sentence, The Buddha shares the very first Teaching on The Path to Enlightenment that a Practitioner will need to deeply understand to attain Enlightenment.

“I declare to you: all conditioned things are of a nature to decay strive on untiringly” is explaining The Universal Truth of Impermanence while also encouraging one to be determined, dedicated, and diligent in their pursuit towards the attainment of Enlightenment. To attain Enlightenment a Practitioner will need to deeply understand The Universal Truth of Impermanence. The Buddha being a true Buddha teaches until his last breath.

He encourages his Students to not mourn his death that his guidance has not ceased. Instead, that he had shared all that was needed for the attainment of Enlightenment over his forty-five (45) years of teaching and these Teachings should be considered “your Teacher”.

He encourages his Students to “strive on untiringly” applying consistent energy and effort towards the ultimate goal of Enlightenment.

Final Nibbāna

Final Nibbāna, or Final Enlightenment, is when someone attains Enlightenment and dies. This is referred to as Final Enlightenment.

During one’s life, the mind can be trained to attain Enlightenment. The mind will reside peaceful, calm, serene, and content with joy - permanently. The mind will no longer experience any mental pain associated with unwelcomed emotions, thoughts, ideas, or any sort of discontentedness of mind. All discontentedness such as sadness, anger, frustration, irritation, annoyance, guilt, shame, fears, boredom, loneliness, shyness, jealousy, resentment, stress, anxiety, etc., will be completely eliminated from the mind.

However, a being is unable to completely transcend physical pain while in the human form. This is impossible. While the mind can be developed to not react with anger, sadness, hostility, aggression, or other discontent feelings upon experiencing physical pain, nonetheless, physical pain will still be experienced by the mind.

The mind can eliminate all cravings/desires/attachments while in the human form and during this life to experience Enlightenment. But while still alive, a being cannot eliminate the connection between the body and the mind. The mind is still connected to the physical body during life. Therefore, the mind will still experience physical pain but the mind will experience it differently in the Enlightened mental state versus in the unEnlightened mental state.

In the unEnlightened mental state, when the mind experiences physical pain, one can become angered, frustrated, irritated, annoyed, hostile, aggressive, resentful, fearful, and experience other discontent feelings. This is due to the mind craving permanent health, permanent comfort, and permanent pleasant feelings from the body. It is impossible for the body to experience permanent comfort due to The Universal Truth of Impermanence.

The pain associated with the physical body is an important aspect of the mind that needs to exist in order for a being to function in the world. If a being did not experience physical pain, they would be unable to remove the physical body from harm when too close to a heat source or if another problematic situation arose. The sensation of physical pain experienced by the mind helps a being understand, potential damage will occur or has occurred and therefore, seek a remedy to the physical pain. This is why we choose to step away from a heat source. The mind is alerted that the physical body is experiencing pain and the being takes action to resolve the situation. This is beneficial and needed during life.

In these situations, an unEnlightened mind will oftentimes experience discontentedness associated with the craving for permanent comfort of the physical body. When there is physical pain, the unEnlightened mind becomes discontent.

An Enlightened mind has been deeply trained to the point that it understands physical pain is impermanent, and that allowing the mind to become discontent due to physical pain, does not help to eliminate the physical pain.

Discontentedness at times of physical pain could actually make the situation worse.

For example, if one was bitten by a poisonous snake and became agitated, overactive, and uncalm, this would increase respirations of the lungs and heart functions creating conditions for the poison to more rapidly move through the body causing more significant injury and damage with an increased risk of potential death. Through training the mind to reside unagitated and calm, an individual can decrease the harm to the body and improve their ability to survive an injury such as a snake bite because the poison will not permeate in the body as rapidly when the mind is calm. Through the mind remaining calm during physical injuries, a being increases their ability to resolve the situation with a positive outcome.

When an Enlightened mind experiences physical pain, the mind can continue to reside peaceful, calm, serene, and content with joy despite the physical injury, damage, or pain. This is an added benefit experienced by an Enlightened mind producing improved outcomes in situations where physical pain is experienced.

Nonetheless, there is still physical pain for an Enlightened being but it is just that the mind will not react to the pain and instead, respond to resolve the situation finding a solution. The physical pain associated with existence will continue for the remaining time of existence even for an Enlightened being. But, they will not experience mental anguish or any type of discontentedness associated with the physical pain. The Enlightened mind does not relate to the pain in the same way as the unEnlightened mind which will oftentimes become discontent due to physical pain.

It is not until the physical body dies, described by Gotama Buddha as “the breakup of the body”, that the body and mind completely separate. From that point, not only has one transcended discontentedness their entire life due to the attainment of Enlightenment, but the being will then experience the complete elimination of all pain including physical pain. This is referred to as Final Enlightenment or Final Nibbāna.

Enlightenment is experienced during life and the mind has transcended all emotional pain and suffering. But, the physical pain will remain, because it is needed to make wise decisions concerning the physical body during times of injury. The Enlightened mind will have physical pain but will have acquired an improved way of responding to the physical pain rather than reacting to it so there is no mental pain.

Once a being has attained Enlightenment and dies, there is no longer any physical pain because the separation of the body and mind has occurred, therefore one has attained Final Enlightenment. All pain both mental and physical has been completely eliminated - permanently.

It is possible for an unEnlightened being to experience Enlightenment and Final Enlightenment at the time of death. The being would have experienced discontentedness their entire life but at the time of death, they would immediately experience Enlightenment and Final Enlightenment no longer experiencing rebirth through The Cycle of Rebirth.

What happens once one attains Enlightenment and dies experiencing Final Enlightenment is an undeclared Teaching of Gotama Buddha. He did not teach what is next other than an Enlightened being will not experience any further existence in The Cycle of Rebirth.

There are other Teachings from Gotama Buddha in this book series related to how to ensure The Teachings of a Buddha are sustained in the world. Chapters 33 and 34 in the book “Foundation in The Teachings” (Volume 3) provides these Teachings and an explanation of these Teachings.

What Happens at Death?

After we die does the body become soil to the earth or after death what remains? Isn’t there spirit or energy which exist inside our body? Isn’t there some sort of energy?

No, at the time of death the body and mind separate and then there is "break up of the body".

The body was described by Gotama Buddha through The Four Elements of Earth, Wind, Fire, and Water.

Essentially, the physical body is described and classified into these Four Elements.

Earth: The solids of the body. (hair, teeth, nails, bones, etc.)

Wind: The movement of bodily functions. (Circulation, movement of bile, etc.)

Fire: The temperature of the body.

Water: The liquids of the body. (urine, saliva, blood, pus, tears, etc.)

The physical body is nothing more than these four elements coming together with a mind or consciousness. The joining of the body and the mind creates a person.

Once the body and mind separate, the body will deteriorate remaining as these four elements but without a mind or consciousness.

What you are looking at when you see the body is a unique collection of these four elements that is always in a state of change and upon death, the body will continue that change and configuration but it will still be just these four elements.

The body will progressively deteriorate and depending whether there is burial or cremation, will determine how quickly the process of change occurs.

Through burial, the process is much slower. Cremation accelerates the process of change of these four elements.

What happens to the mind upon death?

If the mind is not yet Enlightened, (i.e. the mind has not yet attained Enlightenment), then there is rebirth into one of The Five Realms.

Heavenly Realm

Human Realm

Afflicted Spirits Realm

Animal Realm

Hell Realm

Heavenly, Afflicted Spirits, and Hell realms are formless realms. (i.e. there is no physical form). Human and Animal realms are form realms, (i.e. there is physical form).

Rebirth is not instantaneous and upon rebirth there is a completely new existence with a new form or formless existence and a new consciousness, (i.e. a new mind).

The new mind will have residual memories of past lives and unextinguished craving/desire/attachment from past lives. The residual memories of past lives may potentially be recalled as the mind awakens towards Enlightenment more and more.

If someone attains Enlightenment what happens to the mind? Does it disappear?

If the mind has experienced Enlightenment during the human or heavenly existence or at death, (i.e. Enlightenment can be attained during an existence in the human or heavenly realm or at death in those realms but not in the lower realms), the body and mind separate and what happens next is an "undeclared" Teaching.

To attain Enlightenment, the mind needs to get to the point where there is no craving/desire/attachment (i.e. mental longing with a strong eagerness) to know what is next.

An Enlightened mind is experiencing so much peace, calm, serenity, and contentedness with joy that is permanent, the mind is not going to care what is next.

An Enlightened mind has already extinguished all fears including the fear of death, therefore, the mind is so peaceful and does not fear death so what happens next, the Enlightened mind does not care.

Having attained Enlightenment, you will know that you are already experiencing complete and utter peacefulness so if there is something next after death for an Enlightened being, it is either as good as you are currently experiencing or better.

And, if there is nothing next, then, ok, you are "done".

Either way, the mind needs to "let go" of wanting to know what is next and just focus on learning and practicing The Teachings with guidance on The Path to Enlightenment to experience Enlightenment in this life now that you are human.

Is the mind or soul/spirit the same thing?

No they are not.

There is no Teaching from The Buddha that there is or is not a soul/spirit. This is not a Teaching he shared. He left The Teaching on a soul/spirit as “undeclared".

How Did The Buddha Die?

Author: Venerable Dr Mettanando Bhikkhu Published: 15 May 2001 - Bangkok Post

(This article was partially edited by the author of this book series to improve the formatting and readability, however, the primary content of the article was not edited. Dr Mettanando Bhikkhu was a physician before becoming an Ordained Practitioner. He was based at Wat Ratchaorasaram Ratchaworawihan, Thailand at the time that this article was published.)

During Vesak Day, we are informed that it is also the day The Buddha attained Final Enlightenment. But not many know how The Buddha died. Ancient texts weave two stories about The Buddha's death. Was it planned and willed by The Buddha, or was it food poisoning, or something else altogether?

Here’s an account [to help you better understand how The Buddha died].

The Mahaparinibbana Sutta, (Reference: DN 16) from the Long Discourse of The Pāli Canon, is without doubt the most reliable source for details on the death of Siddhattha Gotama (BCE 563-483), The Buddha. It is composed in a narrative style that allows readers to follow the story of the last days of The Buddha, beginning a few months before he died.

To understand what really happened to The Buddha is not a simple matter, though. The sutta, or discourse, paints two conflicting personalities of The Buddha, one overriding the other.

The first personality was that of a miracle worker who beamed himself and his entourage of Monks across the Ganges River (D II, 89), who had a divine vision of the settlement of gods on earth (D II, 87), who could live until the end of the world on condition that someone invite him to do so (D II, 103), who determined the time of his own death (D II, 105), and whose death was glorified by the shower of heavenly flowers and sandal powder and divine music (D II, 138).

The other personality was that of an aged being who was failing in health (D II, 120), who almost lost his life because of a severe pain during his last retreat at Vesali (D II, 100), and who was forced to come to terms with his unexpected illness and death after consuming a special cuisine offered by his generous host.

These two personalities take turns emerging in different parts of the narrative. Moreover, there also appear to be two explanations of The Buddha's cause of death: One is that the Buddha died because his attendant, Ānanda, failed to invite him to live on to the age of the world or even longer (D II, 117). The other is that he died by a sudden illness which began after he ate what is known as "Sukaramaddava" (D II, 127-157).

The former story was probably a legend, or the result of a political struggle within the Buddhist community during a stage of transition, whereas the latter sounds more realistic and accurate in describing a real life situation that happened in The Buddha’s last days.

A number of studies have focused on the nature of the special cuisine that The Buddha ate during his last meal as being the agent of his death. However, there is also another approach based on the description of the symptoms and signs given in the sutta, which modern medical knowledge can shed light on.

In another mural painting at Wat Ratchasittharam, The Buddha is approaching death, but he still takes time to answer questions put forth by the Ascetic Subhadda, his last convert who, after being admitted to the Buddhist Order, became an Arahant (An Enlightened Being).

What We Know

In the Mahaparinibbana Sutta, we are told that The Buddha became ill suddenly after he ate a special delicacy, Sukaramaddava, literally translated as "soft pork", which had been prepared by his generous host, Cunda Kammaraputta. The name of the cuisine has attracted the attention of many scholars, and it has been the focus of academic research on the nature of the meal or ingredients used in the cooking of this special dish.

The sutta itself provides details concerning the signs and symptoms of his illness in addition to some reliable information about his circumstances over the previous four months, and these details are also medically significant.

The sutta begins with King Ajatasattus’ plot to conquer a rival state, Vajji. The Buddha had journeyed to Vajji to enter his last rainy-season retreat. It was during this retreat that he fell ill. The symptoms of the illness were sudden, severe pain.

However, the sutta provides no description of the location and character of his pain. It mentions his illness briefly, and says that the pain was intense, and almost killed him.

Subsequently, The Buddha was visited by Māra, the Evil One, who invited him to pass away. The Buddha did not accept the invitation right away. It was only after Ānanda, his attendant, failed to recognize his hint for an invitation to remain that he died. This piece of the message, though tied up with myth and supernaturalism, gives us some medically significant information. When the sutta was composed, its author was under the impression that The Buddha died, not because of the food he ate, but because he already had an underlying illness that was serious and acute-and had the same symptoms of the disease that finally killed him.

The Timing

[The] Theravada Buddhist tradition has adhered to the assumption that the historical Buddha passed away during the night of the full moon in the lunar month of Vesak (which falls sometime in May to June). But the timing contradicts information given in the sutta, which states clearly that the Buddha died soon after the rainy-season retreat, most likely during the autumn or mid-winter, that is, November to January.

A description of the miracle of the unseasonal blooming of leaves and flowers on the sala trees, when The Buddha was laid down between them, indicates the timeframe given in the sutta.

Autumn and winter, however, are seasons that are not favorable for the growth of mushrooms, which some scholars believe to be the source of the poison that The Buddha ate during his last meal.

Diagnosis

The sutta tells us that The Buddha felt ill immediately after eating the Sukaramaddava. Since we do not know anything about the nature of this food, it is difficult to name it as the direct cause of The Buddha's illness. But from the descriptions given, the onset of the illness was quick.

While eating, he felt there was something wrong with the food and he suggested his host have the food buried. Soon afterward, he suffered severe stomach pain and passed blood from his rectum.

We can reasonably assume that the illness started while he was having his meal, making him think there was something wrong with the unfamiliar delicacy. Out of his compassion for others, he had it buried.

Was food poisoning the cause of the illness? It seems unlikely. The symptoms described do not indicate food poisoning, which can be very acute, but would hardly cause diarrhea with blood. Usually, food poisoning caused by bacteria does not manifest itself immediately, but takes an incubation period of two to 12 hours to manifest itself, normally with acute diarrhea and vomiting, but not the passage of blood.

Another possibility is chemical poisoning, which also has an immediate effect, but it is unusual for chemical poisoning to cause severe intestinal bleeding. Food poisoning with immediate intestinal bleeding could only have been caused by corrosive chemicals such as strong acids, which can easily lead to immediate illness. But corrosive chemicals should have caused bleeding in the upper intestinal tract, leading to vomiting blood. None of these severe signs are mentioned in the text.

(NOTE from author of this book series: Chemicals were not yet invented during the lifetime of The Buddha.)

Peptic ulcer diseases can be excluded from the list of possible illnesses as well. In spite of the fact that their onset is immediate, they are seldom accompanied by bloody stool. A gastric ulcer with intestinal bleeding produces black stool when the ulcer penetrates a blood vessel. An ulcer higher up in the digestive tract would be more likely to manifest itself as bloody vomiting, not a passage of blood through the rectum.

Other evidence against this possibility is that a patient with a large gastric ulcer usually does not have an appetite. By accepting the invitation for lunch with the host, we can assume that The Buddha felt as healthy as any man in his early 80s would feel. Given his age we cannot rule out that The Buddha did not have a chronic disease, such as cancer or tuberculosis or a tropical infection such as dysentery or typhoid, which could have been quite common in The Buddha’s time.

These diseases could produce bleeding of the lower intestine, depending on their location. They also agree with the history of his earlier illness during the retreat. But they can be ruled out, since they are usually accompanied by other symptoms, such as lethargy, loss of appetite, weight loss, growth or mass in the abdomen. None of these symptoms were mentioned in the sutta.

A large hemorrhoid can cause severe rectal bleeding, but it is unlikely that a hemorrhoid could cause severe abdominal pain unless it is strangulated. But then it would have greatly disturbed the walking of The Buddha to the house of his host, and rarely is hemorrhoid bleeding triggered by a meal.

Mesenteric Infarction

A disease that matches the described symptoms-accompanied by acute abdominal pain and the passage of blood, commonly found among elderly people, and triggered by a meal-is mesenteric infarction, caused by an obstruction of the blood vessels of the mesentery. It is lethal. Acute mesenteric ischemia (a reduction in the blood supply to the mesentery) is a grave condition with a high rate of mortality.

The mesentery is a part of the intestinal wall that binds the whole intestinal tract to the abdominal cavity. An infarction of the vessels of the mesentery normally causes the death of the tissue in a large section of the intestinal tract, which results in a laceration of the intestinal wall.

This normally produces severe pain in the abdomen and the passage of blood. The patient usually dies of acute blood loss. This condition matches the information given in the sutta. It is also confirmed later when The Buddha asked Ānanda to fetch some water for him to drink, indicating intense thirst.

As the story goes, Ānanda refused, as he saw no source for clean water. He argued with The Buddha that the nearby stream had been muddied by a large caravan of carts. But The Buddha insisted he fetch water anyway.

A question arises at this point: Why did The Buddha not go to the water himself, instead of pressing his unwilling attendant to do so? The answer is simple. The Buddha was suffering from shock caused by severe blood loss. He could no longer walk, and from then to his death bed he was most likely carried on a stretcher.

If this was indeed the situation, the sutta remains silent about The Buddha’s traveling to his deathbed, possibly because the author felt that it would be an embarrassment for The Buddha. Geographically, we know that the distance between the place believed to be the house of Cunda and the place where The Buddha died was about 15 to 20 kilometers. It is not possible for a patient with such a grave illness to walk such a distance.

More likely, what happened was that The Buddha was carried on a stretcher by a group of Monks to Kusinara (Kushinagara).

It remains a point of debate whether The Buddha really determined to pass away at this city, presumably not much larger than a town. From the direction of The Buddha's journey, given in the sutta, he was moving north from Rajagaha. It is possible that he did not intend to die there, but in the town where he was born, which would have taken a period of three months to reach.

From the sutta, it is clear that The Buddha was not anticipating his sudden illness, or else he would not have accepted the invitation of his host. Kusinara was probably the nearest town where he could find a doctor to take care of him. It is not difficult to see a group of Monks hurriedly carrying The Buddha on a stretcher to the nearest town to save his life.

Before passing away, The Buddha told Ānanda that Cunda was not to be blamed and that his death was not caused by eating Sukaramaddava. The statement is significant. The meal was not the direct cause of his death. The Buddha knew that the symptom was a repeat of an experience he’d had a few months earlier, the one which had almost killed him.

Sukaramaddava, no matter the ingredients or how it was cooked, was not the direct cause of his sudden illness.

Progression of the Disease

Mesenteric infarction is a disease commonly found among elderly people, caused by the obstruction of the main artery that supplies the middle section of the bowel-the small intestine-with blood. The most common cause of the obstruction is the degeneration of the wall of the blood vessel, the superior mesenteric artery, causing severe abdominal pain, also known as abdominal angina.

Normally, the pain is triggered by a large meal, which requires a higher flow of blood to the digestive tract. As the obstruction persists, the bowel is deprived of its blood supply, which subsequently leads to an infarction, or gangrene, of a section of the intestinal tract. This in turn results in a laceration of the intestinal wall, profuse bleeding into the intestinal tract, and then bloody diarrhea.

The disease gets worse as the liquid and content of the intestine oozes out into the peritoneal cavity, causing peritonitis or inflammation of the abdominal walls. This is already a lethal condition for the patient, who often dies due to the loss of blood and other fluid. If it is not corrected by surgery, the disease often progresses to septic shock due to bacterial toxins infiltrating the blood stream.

Retrospective Analysis

From the diagnosis given above, we can be rather certain that The Buddha suffered from mesenteric infarction caused by an occlusion of the superior mesenteric artery. This was the cause of the pain that almost killed him a few months earlier during his last rainy-season retreat.

With the progress of the illness, some of the mucosal lining of his intestine sloughed off, and this site became the origin of the bleeding.

Arteriosclerosis, the hardening of the vessel wall caused by aging, was the cause of the arterial occlusion, a small blockage that did not result in bloody diarrhea, but is a symptom, also known to us as abdominal angina.

He had his second attack while he was eating the Sukaramaddava. The pain was probably not intense in the beginning, but made him feel that there was something wrong. Suspicious about the nature of the food, he asked his host to have it all buried, so that others might not suffer from it.

Soon, The Buddha realized that the illness was serious, with the passage of blood and more severe pain in his abdomen. Due to the loss of blood, he went into shock. The degree of dehydration was so severe that he could not maintain himself any longer and he had to take shelter at a tree along the way.

Feeling very thirsty and exhausted, he got Ānanda to collect water for him to drink, even though he knew that the water was muddied. It was there that he collapsed until his entourage carried him to the nearest town, Kusinara, where there would have been a chance of finding a doctor or lodging for him to recover in.

It was probably true that The Buddha got better after drinking to replace his fluid loss, and resting on the stretcher. The experience with the symptoms told him that his sudden illness was the second attack of an existing disease. He told Ānanda that the meal was not the cause of his illness, and that Cunda was not to blame.

A patient with shock, dehydration and profuse blood loss usually feels very cold. This was the reason why he told his attendant to prepare a bed using four sheets of sanghati. According to Buddhist monastic discipline, a sanghati is a cloak, or extra piece of robe, very large, the size of a bed sheet, which The Buddha allowed Ordained Practitioners to wear in winter.

This information reflects how cold the Buddha felt because of his loss of blood. Clinically, it is not possible for a patient who is in a state of shock with severe abdominal pain, most likely peritonitis, pale and shivering, to be ambulatory.

The Buddha was most likely put into a lodging, where he was nursed and warmed, located in the city of Kusinara. This view is also confirmed with the description of Ānanda who, weeping, swoons and holds onto the door of his lodge after learning that The Buddha was about to pass away.

Normally, a patient with mesenteric infarction could live 10 to 20 hours. From the sutta we learn that The Buddha died about 15 to 18 hours after the attack. During that time, his attendants would have tried their best to comfort him, for example, by warming the room where he was resting, or by dripping some water into his mouth to quench his lingering thirst, or by giving him some herbal drinks. But it would be highly unlikely that a shivering patient would need someone to fan him as is described in the sutta.

Off and on, he may have recovered from a state of exhaustion, allowing him to continue his dialogues with a few people. Most of his last words could have been true, and they were memorized by generations of Monks until they were transcribed. But finally, late into the night, The Buddha died during a second wave of septic shock. His illness stemmed from natural causes coupled with his age, just as it would for anyone else.

Conclusion

The hypothesis outlined above explains several scenes in the narrative of the sutta, namely, the pressuring of Ānanda to fetch water, The Buddha’s request for a fourfold cloak for his bed, the ordering of the meal to be buried, and so on. It also reveals another possibility of the actual means of transportation of The Buddha to Kusinara and the site of his death bed. Sukaramaddava, whatever its nature, was unlikely to have been the direct cause of his illness. The Buddha did not die by food poisoning. Rather, it was the size of the meal, relatively too large for his already troubled digestive tract, that triggered the second attack of mesenteric infarction that brought an end to his life.

Author’s Thoughts

Due to their importance, The Words of The Buddha book series have the last words of The Buddha in multiple places throughout the book series.

You can investigate these chapters, which some of them are the same. There are basically two different chapters being repeated throughout the book series in all of these books and chapters.

Volume 2 - Chapter 45

Volume 3 - Chapter 97

Volume 9 - Chapter 47

Volume 10 - Chapter 46

Volume 12 - Chapter 48

In all of these locations within the books series, I have inserted the last words of The Buddha and shared what one encounters upon death. This will help you to understand and gain the wisdom of, what transpires for a being as part of the process of dying and death itself.

A Student who reads this article titled “How Did The Buddha Die?” and is unEnlightened may perceive the depiction of how The Buddha died as being an extremely painful death. That it was painful for The Buddha during his last moments of life. But, that is without the wisdom of what an Enlightened being experiences as a result of having attained Enlightenment and then having issues in the physical body to include death.

I suspect that the author of the article may not be aware of how an unEnlightened and Enlightened being experience pain differently. Therefore, when describing what The Buddha experienced, he described it in graphic terms of, his own frame of reference and lifetime experiences with physical and mental pain - as being severely painful.

An Enlightened being does not experience severe physical pain but instead, it is significantly diminished or muted. An Enlightened being does not experience any mental anguish whatsoever.

When I read this article, I know that The Buddha, while experiencing a medical condition that led to his ultimate death, had a peaceful mind during the entire time leading all the way up to and including death. He would not have been in agonizing pain as one might think who has not experienced physical pain while at the same time experiencing the Enlightened mental state.

An Enlightened being will experience physical pain but, it would be very minimal compared to what an unEnlightened being would experience in the same circumstances. An Enlightened being would experience some physical pain but, they will not experience the mental anguish associated with the physical pain. An Enlightened being’s mind will continue to reside peaceful, calm, serene, and content with joy, despite any and all physical pain. In this way, the physical pain experienced by an Enlightened being is insignificant and a mere fraction of that which would be experienced by an unEnlightened being given the same exact situation.

For further understanding of physical and mental pain in the unEnlightened and Enlightened mental state, you might choose to investigate The Teachings in Volume 8 - Chapter 40 titled “Transcending Physical Pain by Avoiding Mental Pain”. This will help you to understand how an unEnlightened being experiences physical pain versus, an Enlightened being.

Detailed explanation of Transcending Physical Pain by Avoiding Mental Pain is available in this same book series found in Chapter 40 of the book “The Foremost Householder” (Volume 9).

You can also gain an appreciation and the wisdom of this topic through understanding The Teachings of The Buddha when he shares “The Simile of The Saw” in the Kakacūpamasutta Sutta (Reference: MN 21) available in Volume 3 - Chapter 84 of this same book series.

The Buddha shares, “Monks, even if criminals were to sever you savagely limb by limb with a two-handled saw, he who gave rise to a mind of hate towards them would not be practicing my Teachings”.

The Buddha shares this Teaching because his own mind, experiencing Enlightenment, would not experience mental anguish in this exact scenario or any others. It would be impossible for an Enlightened being to experience hatred towards anyone for any reason, even if being sawed “limb by limb”. Therefore, The Buddha was well aware that if a Student’s mind experienced hatred in this situation or any other, the mind would be unEnlightened. He emphasizes this in this Teaching.

This Teaching directly from The Buddha, and others, can provide you further insight to understand how an Enlightened being would not experience any “agonizing pain” during the process of dying or at death.

Detailed explanation of Training a Mind Filled with Loving-Kindness, without Hostility or Ill Will is available in this same book series found in Chapter 84 of the book “Foundations in The Teachings” (Volume 3).