Is There Life After Death in Zen? 

Found you through Tricycle. Liked and subscribed 😊 the internet isn’t all bad.

Enjoyed this talk. Had me think back to 1998 when diagnosed with AIDS (end stages with Kaposi's Sarcoma lesions, skipped the being positive ordeal) was told I had two years to live. My secretary who was near 70 asked how it felt knowing I was going to die. I hadn't thought much about it. "Probably a lot like you feel at your age." That ended the conversation. Especially appreciated how you mentioned how death can be "marbled in" to the living experience. I think like that. Only once did I think about what happens after death. I was in hospital, seriously ill with pancreatitis caused by my meds. Lots of pain. hard core. I thought what came with death was the absence of pain. I saw "heaven"" more precisely "death" as nothing... but freedom from everything especially pain. Not quite the golden street paradise many hold to, but that was perfect for me. Nothingness. It's not that I don't think of death. I have written instructions as to what I want to happen with my body, etc. But what happens beyond that, no clue. But as a Christian clergyperson standing to perform funerals, I must balance my own integrity with belief systems of those grieving. Ugh. Right now, I'm halfway through Joan Didion's "The Year of Magical Thinking" - about grief. Her book & your talk is stirring my mind - leaving me to ramble here. Thank you, my friend, for this space to do so.

Have you thought about doing live streams ? I feel like it would be really interesting to have us discuss and ask questions in real time.

"A lifetime of curiosity" that's a beautiful thing. thanks again🙏

Who/what is the "you" that possesses free-will, soul, and lifetime? That's always the kind of question I had when faced with the sorts of explanations Mrs. Bames gave you.

You were so kind about Mrs. Bames. As a recovering theological student, I can say that Mrs. Bames was full of it. During my last few years of that stuff, I drilled down too hard and stayed in the depths too long. The long and short of it is that even the highly trained, expert theologians don’t/didn’t know what the afterlife was supposed to be like just that there are instructions to get there. After practicing Zen during those last few years, I thought theologians are mostly full of crap unless they come to terms about certain things in their abrahamic traditions. Anyway, a few really good Zen teachers provided excellent direction and the most excellent answer of “don’t know.” Dying on the cushion has to be one of the more seminal moments in developing as a zen student. Deep bows. Now, I have to go put Ikea furniture together. Happy New Year!

Thinking about death is so liberating, it's something that everyone would like to talk about, but it's so taboo. Happy new year 🎇🎆🎉

Great video, thanks! 🙏

Thank you for another great video. I can't help it, but the first line of the Hagakure comes to mind: "The way of the Samurai lies in dying". Of course this has been misunderstood and misused big time (imperial Japan during WWII), but I'm pretty sure what's actually meant is the "death activity" your are talking about.