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Dear sisters and brothers in the Dharma
The following pages are for the Western Ripa Sangha and they are intended to help us to reflect on impermanence, a very important topic in Buddhist teachings. Our Masters always refer to it in one way or another. Yes, there is impermanence, and with impermanence there is birth and death. One day everyone will certainly be confronted with his or her own death.
Gyetrul Jigme Rinpoche said in his teachings in the summer of 2023:
“I never thought I would ever become so ill and many of my friends and students, the community and the monks were shocked that I suddenly became seriously ill. What is so surprising about it? It’s not surprising at all. Anyone can get sick as long as they have this body. Ageing, illness, and change are part of life. But it is true that when I got ill, it woke a lot of people up, including myself. I have been teaching about impermanence all my life, and now it was knocking on my own door, and I had to welcome it, I had no choice. I can’t say that impermanence only happens to the others I teach and not to me.”
Most of us will probably take our last breath in a non-Buddhist environment, perhaps in a home for seniors or in a hospital. It is therefore good to prepare for this, when we are still clear in our heads and can freely dispose of our lives.
Ideally, death should take place in an atmosphere of calm, with thoughts of love for our loved ones. But when our moment comes, for those who are left behind, it is not only an emotional loss, but there is also a lot of bureaucratic and organizational work.
The Ripa “End of life Program” is a service of the Ripa International Center. The principle is to give your details and your photograph in advance to RIC, as well as depositing money into a specially created account so that at the time of your death, RIC can order and pay immediately for the pujas in the monasteries and distribute donations according to your declared wishes. This program has been created to first ensure the mourners that their beloved one will receive appropriate Buddhist after-death-treatment and secondly for us, to ensure we will be smoothly accompanied at this important moment of our lives.