What happens after death for an enlightened person?

[Sand Dancer]

I haven't been able to find an answer. If you're not going through rebirth, what happens after you die?

 

[Vinayaka]

The answer depends on the tradition, as there are differing understandings. In my Hindu sampradaya, the sage would have a choice to come back, or to continue evolving on the inner planes until final merger with Siva, as water into water, total annihilation of individuality.

 

[Sand Dancer]

Thank you!

 

[SalixIncendium]

Nothing, really. An enlightened person no longer identifies with the body, so after the death of the body, they just continue on. They can choose to remain as that or return as jivanmutkta/bodhisattva.

 

[Twilight Hue]

I haven't been able to find an answer. If you're not going through rebirth, what happens after you die?

Same thing as this life.

You get born.

 

[Sand Dancer]

Same thing as this life.

You get born.

So the benefit of Nirvana is being enlightened? I wasn't sure if it meant you stopped being reborn.

 

[Aupmanyav]

I haven't been able to find an answer. If you're not going through rebirth, what happens after you die?

Buddha said that after his death even Gods Brahma and Indra will not be able to find him. He will be gone, gone, gone far, gone completely.
(Gate, Gate, paragate, parasamagate)
Nirvana (being gone) was a choice after enlightenment. Buddha was offered it, but he refused. He chose to live and teach 'Dhamma'.

 

[Twilight Hue]

So the benefit of Nirvana is being enlightened? I wasn't sure if it meant you stopped being reborn.

Nope. It just means immediately forgetting all this, everything, when you die, including ego, that weird thing called enlightenment, and that great tasting pizza,. Starting back at square one as soon as the 'lights' come on with birth.

 

[metis]

I haven't been able to find an answer. If you're not going through rebirth, what happens after you die?

I just want to point out that Buddhism really isn't dogmatic to the point whereas there are "official" answers to most questions. Instead, the encouragement is for us to study and contemplate what may appear to be most likely, thus the statement "If you see the Buddha, kill him". IOW, he's not the "final answer".

 

[Aupmanyav]

Nope. It just means immediately forgetting all this, everything, when you die, including ego, that weird thing called enlightenment, and that great tasting pizza,. Starting back at square one as soon as the 'lights' come on with birth.

You can taste this wonderful pizza anytime you want. It needs total abandonment of prejudice.
Well, when the molecules of the body disperse, they form association with millions of living and non-living things. You may term that as rebirth.

 

[ajay0]

I haven't been able to find an answer. If you're not going through rebirth, what happens after you die?

In Buddhism, parinirvana is commonly used to refer to nirvana-after-death, which occurs upon the death of someone who has attained nirvana during their lifetime.

You might find these articles useful.

Parinirvana - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Parinirvana

encyclopediaofbuddhism.org

 

[Twilight Hue]

I just want to point out that Buddhism really isn't dogmatic to the point whereas there are "official" answers to most questions. Instead, the encouragement is for us to study and contemplate what may appear to be most likely, thus the statement "If you see the Buddha, kill him". IOW, he's not the "final answer".

It's why the Best Buddhist answers are made in complete silence. Leaving only the unanswerable question. :0)

 

[Sand Dancer]

In Buddhism, parinirvana is commonly used to refer to nirvana-after-death, which occurs upon the death of someone who has attained nirvana during their lifetime.

You might find these articles useful.

Parinirvana - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Parinirvana

encyclopediaofbuddhism.org

Thanks!

 

[Aupmanyav]

It's why the Best Buddhist answers are made in complete silence. Leaving only the unanswerable question. :0)

Buddha put the unanswerable questions as 'acinteyyas', said that they don't help in alleviation of sorrow.
"Whoever speculates about these things would go mad & experience vexation."

The unanswerable questions - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[Valjean]

An enlightened person has transcended time. There is no longer any "after."

 

[Sand Dancer]

An enlightened person has transcended time. There is no longer any "after."

That is confusing to me. This westernized brain can't comprehend that.

 

[Valjean]

That is confusing to me. This westernized brain can't comprehend that.

Nor can any unaltered brain. We're designed to survive and reproduce. We have the degree of cognition need for this function. More would be a waste of energy.
We, in 3rd-state consciousness, experience Eddington's "arrow of time;" a fixed series of past to future events.

Thought experiment:
Consider life as a movie film; thousands of frames, each connected to two others, each slightly different. Our awareness skips along it, in a fixed direction and speed, experiencing only the frame we stand on. This is third-state 'reality' is subjective, and not the only possible way of perception.

An enlightened person doesn't just move from frame to frame. She experiences the entire film, all the frames, simultaneously. For her there is no beginning or end, forward or backward, no "time" at all.
Moreover, she perceives not just two connected frames, but multiple, alternative frames, branching from the sides, top, bottom... ramifying in endless directions; timelines reflecting every physical possibility -- all experienced simultaneously.

 

[Aupmanyav]

I haven't been able to find an answer. If you're not going through rebirth, what happens after you die?

Buddha gave the correct reply - "Gate, Gate, Pārgate, Pārsamgate" (Gone, Gone, Gone completely, Gone completely without any remainder).
Advaita Hinduism holds the same view. Whether enlightened or non-enlightened, what happens to anything, living or non-living, is chemical recycling. The molecules of the body disperse in the environment and become parts of millions of living and non-living entities.

Same thing as this life. You get born.

IMV, the molecules of your body find a home in millions of living and non-living things.

So the benefit of Nirvana is being enlightened? I wasn't sure if it meant you stopped being reborn.

Nirvana is understanding, cessation of doubts. Other things do not change.

 

[Sand Dancer]

Buddha gave the correct reply - "Gate, Gate, Pārgate, Pārsamgate" (Gone, Gone, Gone completely, Gone completely without any remainder).
Advaita Hinduism holds the same view. Whether enlightened or non-enlightened, what happens to anything, living or non-living, is chemical recycling. The molecules of the body disperse in the environment and become parts of millions of living and non-living entities.

IMV, the molecules of your body find a home in millions of living and non-living things.

Nirvana is understanding, cessation of doubts. Other things do not change.

Informative, thanks!

 

[ajay0]

You might find this article useful..

Care of the Dying - Buddhism - HSE.ie

www.hse.ie

Generally, Buddhist teaching views life and death as a continuum, believing that consciousness (the spirit) continues after death and may be reborn. Death can be an opportunity for liberation from the cycle of life, death and rebirth.

Rituals and in some cases precise beliefs surrounding death vary among Buddhist traditions. Tibetan Buddhism has defined practices and protocols that should be followed in times of death. For example, special prayers are said before death, during the dying process and for several days after death. The Mahayana (Chan/Zen, etc.) and the Western Buddhist approaches are relatively less defined; in these traditions prayers are held during the dying process, while the stages at which prayers are held and the length of these prayers vary.