Dr. Usui on Death and Dying

Dr. Usui on Death and Dying

He seemed to me to be somewhat of a male form of our Kwannon, our Lady of Mercy, whose compassionate eyes gaze on all beings.

So, if one truly believes in this deity, Christ, then one should have no fear of death. Because it says that he will gather his elect to himself and to his father. Perhaps, however, it is fear of one’s own shortcomings and willful violation of the ordinances that he should be obeying, that which lead to these fears.

I attended an Anglican Church service recently where the congregation fervently confessed that they had ‘not done those things they ought to have done and they had done those things they ought not to have done’. My question was: Why? If they know what they are supposed to do, then they are surely capable of doing it and Heaven knows their deity has made it abundantly clear what they are not supposed to do, yet, apparently, as exhibited by their confession, they seem to have heedlessly done them anyway.

This is very confusing to me. What is even more confusing is that at the end of their confession, they solemnly promised not to do them again and to do those things they are supposed to do, and then the very next Sunday, why do they say the same confession again? And the Sunday after that and so on.

Perhaps this is why the Christian people have a fear of death. My advice to them is to believe what their deity tells them, that he is forgiving, but my other advice is to try their best to do those things that he has told them to do and not to do those things that he has counseled them not to do.

After reading the New Testament, I think with some understanding, I feel that relying on the promises he has made and trying to do their best under the trying circumstances of this Samsaric world, they should have no fear about the future disposition of their Mind Streams.

Now to the Hindu. The Hindu, like the Buddhist, rationally believes that this life is only one in many. The Hindu is supplied with a list of do’s and don’ts and sacrifices to make and rituals to perform. These are stated very clearly. If the Hindu is able to do this, then he has no fear of a good rebirth. From the Hindus I have met and communicated with, they don’t particularly seem to fear death, because they strive to fulfill their religious deities very much as the Buddhist does.

Now we come to the Buddhist. The Buddhas have taught rules of conduct, which are most reasonable: to restrain from killing, lying, thieving, sexual misconduct, and the indiscriminate use of intoxicants, is most reasonable. The so-called Sixth Commandment is even more reasonable: to try to better one’s spiritual state while in the body.

I could give thousands of examples but I feel I don’t need to, about the reasons that the first five should be obeyed.

Virtually all of our Shinto believers have accepted and adopted them, admitting that the concept of moral conduct is truly important, as it is the basis for one’s own progression along the spiritual path. Also, if the five are observed, one doesn’t cause disharmony in the community and bring suffering upon oneself or others.

By simply observing these ordinances, the Buddhas tell us that one will gain a fortunate rebirth, so Buddhists have no true reason to fear death.

In summary, I believe that fear of death is fear of self, and this should not be so. Truly, if one strives to live a proper life, as most people do, and give their best effort, and then death should hold no fear, but be looked upon as a natural progression and renewal. For the Buddhist, it provides a chance to repair mistakes made in past lives and to move forward to greater realization. Thus, it is to be accepted and embraced as the normal order of human existence.

For those who fear death, I have this advice: We are told that both the Christian God and Buddha Amida are filled with compassion. How then, could they want even one soul to suffer? Therefore, it seems only correct to me and I do believe in their compassion, that they would not let one being suffer needlessly, nor would they desire to punish that being in any way whatever.

We are all joined together by the chain that is Life on this planet and to us; Life should be precious and a unity. At the same time, we should realize that death is an illusion and that in so-called life, we are a unity, so in death that unity is unaffected.”

As a physician, I said that I had seen death, but I have also seen life and the multitude of stages between the two and I do perceive it as a Wheel whose hub is the grandeur of the universe.

When we were in the womb, we did not fear birth because, at that time, we had no comprehension of its meaning. It is the same now. Unless we have memories from previous lives, which few of us do, then we have no comprehension of the reality of death as a simple transformation. Since we did not fear birth, why should we fear death? It is just the doorway to rebirth. Doors have two sides and doorways lead from one room to another. Death is no more than a doorway and we should not fear to grasp its handle, slide it aside and pass through.

There is the story told in Buddhism about the peasant who pleased his Lord and inherited a great castle. The peasant had lived before that, in a one room hut. The peasant moved into the castle, but when the other Lords in the area came to visit him, they found him, his family and all his possessions living in the entry hall.

They asked him why and he answered that was what he and his family needed. To his amazement, they explained that there were many rooms filled with treasures and objects of beauty. Simply because he had not experienced them, that didn’t mean that they did not exist, nor that would they hold terrors for him. They showed him the means to open the shoji screens and pass from one room to another. He was amazed and filled with joy at what he saw was his.

The character of someone who is practicing the higher levels of the Lightning Flash should be one who is dedicated to healing. Not to self-aggrandizements, ego-satisfaction, or material profit. What is so amazing about this system is that all of these things will come to you: fame, fortune and recognition; if it is practiced with a pure mind and dedication to healing.

The individual who is initiated should be of good character, but most of all they should have the mental capacity to absorb the wisdom that is contained within each degree of the Reiki system. They should be stable individuals, not flitting from this healing system to that healing system. They should be willing to dedicate themselves to the perfection of one system before continuing on and seeking other systems.