I read somewhere (perhaps in an unreliable introduction to Tibetan beliefs) that rebirth is conditioned by the last thought before death (or perhaps affected by a thought or desire that you have *after* death). Another belief that's similar, if not the same, is that a person may have had some (good or bad) life but that having some (bad or good) final dying thought determines their rebirth (e.g. into hell or heaven). 1. When (historically) was this view introduced into scriptures? 2. What is the evidence and/or reasoning for this view? 3. Is this view espoused by all schools of Buddhism, or do different traditions have different views? It seems to me that my mind has or generates lots of semi-random thoughts: they're like memories, or dream fragments, etc., they come and go. That kind of ideation (often visual images, fragmentary visions of people I've known or of places I've seen) is especially apparent when I'm asleep-and-dreaming. They're also apparent if I'm feverish and/or [delirious](http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/delirious) . I expect that people often aren't at their most mentally acute when they're dying. 4. Are we supposed/expected to have some kind of control over such thoughts/ideas/images? Or are these too *anatta*, and neither 'self' nor 'controlled by self'? If it's true that they are not self, and not subject to control-by-self, then how are they associated with the *kamma* which affects rebirth? Or is it some other, different kind of "last thought" which affects rebirth? Googling to try to begin to research this topic I found [this brief article which describes 'the Last Thought Moment'](http://www.buddhisma2z.com/content.php?id=223) and which says for example, > Later still, the theory developed that the last thought moment (*cuticitta*) a person has before they die will determine their next life. This idea, now current in **Theravāda**, seems to be an unjustified development of the Buddha’s teachings and at odds with his idea of **kamma** and the efficacy of morality. 5. Is this article reliable, i.e. is true as far as you know, or does it say some things that would contradict or add to? 6. The [account of the Buddha's own death](http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/dn/dn.16.1-6.vaji.html) is of his having mastered *jhanas*, and making use of that ability at the time of his death: > And the Blessed One entered the first jhana. Rising from the first jhana etc. Is this what everyone is supposed to do when they die? Must we (and can we) hope that we will be so lucid at the time of death? Aren't people often unconscious or asleep or perhaps in a coma or something when they die? 7. Can you summarize what conclusion you draw, about - How to practice Buddhism now? - What if anything to expect or hope at time of death? - Whether death and rebirth are even especially worth thinking about (or whether we're even capable of thinking about them), or whether it's more important/useful to think about this life?

How is death perceived in various schools of Buddhism? Are they all same ? What is death according to Buddhist monk and lay Buddhist? Are there references / materials by monks on death bed about death?

When a human being dies, their body dissolves into other bodies, i.e., other humans, plants, air, water, rocks, sand, etc. But what really happens to our 1. Consciousness 2. memory 3. thoughts 4. intelligence & 5. Karma

China, Japan, Korea, etc. have so many companies and Buddhism is widespread in those areas. My question is: can a Buddhist make the aim of his life to run a billion dollar business?

I had a weird experience couple of days ago while doing meditation, I hope someone more expert than me could help me understand.Two months ago I started practicing 30 min of yoga and 30 min of mindfulness meditation daily, everything was going good and I felt some changes in me, little by little, I felt I was becoming kind of more aware of myself and my thoughts were slowly become less strong in my mind as I was slowly able to focus deeply inside myself. The other day while I was in a deep state , without thoughts I felt something at the bottom of my spine become hotter and hotter and all of a sudden a warm powerful energy moved upward my back. I immediately felt an intense feeling of ecstasy (as I would take drugs), my head started to spin and I lost balance. Also I had a strong sense of nausea and I had diarrea. I also felt that something was released at the level of my hips. At that point I got really scared and I opened my eyes but the feeling was still there, I felt really peaceful , complete absence of thoughts and like if I was completely extraneous of my body and nothing in life was really important anymore. Also I noticed my senses were a lot more accurate. That feeling decreased a bit over the night and the day after I wakes up completely in hang over, and I remember I could see the colours a lot more bright, and I was really sensible to light. I got really scared From this experience and I’m not able to do meditation anymore , I feel like that if I dig a little bit inside me I can “touch” that energy again but I don’t want to!can someone explains what happened to me ? Sorry for my bad English , I’m not native English speaker. Cheers

How can I clearly see the lessons my soul needs to learn this lifetime? I am a householder who has a wonderful life in New Zealand. There have been difficult times too, but even though, as a child I suffered, I was able to self soothe with meditation which I have no idea how I discovered. I have carried this practise with me through my life. Happy as I am, I have this feeling that I am not seeing clearly , the things my soul needs to work on this reincarnation. How can I make sure I don’t waste this rebirth?

Thomas Cleary uses the term "enlightening being" extensively in his translation of the Avatamsaka Sutra . This term isn't defined in the glossary of that book, or in my copy of The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism . Is there a canonical definition of "enlightening being"? Edit: Thanks useful comments by @ChrisW and @KayCee, I see in Appendix 1 "bodhisattva or enlightening being". I'm finding it helpful to read this Appendix before returning to the Introduction.

At work, a tiny little flying insect landed on my desk. At first I thought he was dead because he wasn’t moving, so I gently pushed him to see if he reacted, and he moved so I left him alone. Some time later, when I picked up a call, I shoved my electronic cigarette and it unfortunately crushed him. So I thought I killed him unwittingly, I felt guilty. I took a closer look, and I could see that although crushed his antenna was still moving, probably in agony. I felt bad, now right away a being was suffering and was going to die because of me, was perhaps afraid? I decided to crush him for good, voluntarily this time, to alleviate his suffering. What do you think of this story? Was I wrong the first time? The second? If so, how can I mitigate this bad kamma? And finally, how can we help him have a better rebirth, if at all possible?

I am a non-Buddhist who is curious about Buddhism. In modern times, [Eckhart Tolle](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eckhart_Tolle) reports spontaneous awakening as a result of a sudden realisation that came out of intense suffering. As far as I am aware he was uninfluenced by Buddhism and underwent none of its training or techniques. I understand that the Buddha sat under a tree "until he was enlightened". This suggests to me that he knew of the phenomenon beforehand. Are there any claims that he was the first to achieve this state? What, if anything, do we know historically of the phenomenon of enlightenment before the life of Buddha?

Though this video is in Hinglish - some casual dialogues are in Hindi but most of the conversation happens in English https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Uf-eoAij5o , Anand Gandhi - Director and Scriptwriter for the philosophical movie "Ship of Theseus " gives a perfect explanation of what we have to do as humans, Purpose of Life, and in fact, argues that attaining the nothingness or the thoughtlessness is fundamentally wrong using evolution theory. Is there an opposition argument to what he has stated?

"IF AND ONLY IF A THEN B" means if you get B you get A, if you get A you get B, if you don't get B you don't get A, and if you don't get A you don't get B. Does dependent co-arising have the same relation I've mentioned above? >*"From ignorance as a requisite condition come fabrications. From fabrications as a requisite condition comes consciousness. From consciousness as a requisite condition comes name-&-form..."* >*"Now from the remainderless fading & cessation of that very ignorance comes the cessation of fabrications. From the cessation of fabrications comes the cessation of consciousness. From the cessation of consciousness comes the cessation of name-&-form..."* If the answer is "yes" to the above question, as we know an Arahant has ceased the craving without remainder. Then do consciousness, name-&-form, six sense media, contact, and feeling not present in an Arahant? If these present as effects of past birth's causes, how one can escape from this cycle? If the answer is "no" to my first question, then is there another dependent co-arising which applies to Arahants? (I suppose there's no such) I know that dependent co-arising is very complex and hard to understand. But, I've got totally confused here. Please someone help me.

Why are some Buddhists in the west hostile to academic analyses of the religion?

With many traditions and teachers to choose from, how should one go about figuring out what is the true Dhamma? I prefer answers based on Buddhist scriptute and references to Sutta, ideally to the Buddha himself. I welcome answers from all traditions just not opinion based.

As part of a volunteering job where endangered animals are taken care of they have to feed them with dead chicks recuperated from the agro industry, which is blameless and doesn't break precepts, though they also feed them worms that are alive. Is it breaking the first precept since they don't kill them ?

Is the doctrine of interdependent origination found in Vedas . What is real origin of this? I have heard of indra net .just curious

What is Buddhism view on Ancestor Worship? Are there any references which talk about it? Do ancestors occupy any plane/realm ? How to explain the ancestors who come in dreams? Is it manifest of mind?

Monkey mind I don't think. I live in present. My mind always thinking. Past thinking Future thinking. Hate thought.. Worry thought.. Pleasure thought.. Lust thought..

According to I think all Buddhists, the whole is nothing more than its parts. I've read it claimed that, given everything is partite, nothing exists. Perhaps Being means something more than its parts, though I'm not sure. Anyway, do we perceive - with or as the skandhas - something as a thing that is more than its parts? Such as a chariot. I think that would mean that things that *don't* exist can sometimes be the object of perception. In turn, that interests me because beings without any existence may - perhaps - be in some sense permanent and non-empty, as well as impermanent and empty. The implications for karma seem obvious. ---------- Update: it definitely seems that Theravada Buddhists claim that we only infer the whole, and do not perceive it. I'm unsure about the Mahayana, especially given how often "the whole universe" crops up in discussing the bodhisattva. So, if I may ask two follow up points: 1. is the inference to a whole *like* something: so that the whole in some sense belongs to our mental life? 2. what about in the Mahayana?

I took refugee and got a dharma name. 1. Why do I get a dharma name? 2. How does a Lama usually choose the name? 3. Do I make use of this name in Dharma related context? (Like for example writing a letter to a Lama or maybe even introduce myself) Best and thank you for answering.

How does one let go of something the other person involved won't acknowledge? I don't mean the niceties of the other person's behaviour, the ins and outs and whys. Merely, that the other person - I think - nihilistically won't finish up. So e.g. your lover leaves you without even leaving a note. Or your friend pretends not to know you, with no explanation. Or your family changes the locks and won't answer the door when you visit.