Just attended a talk by Venerable Thubten Chodron on the "Impermanence: Coping with Change". Well, idea of the Impermanence of Life seems simple at the surface, and yet it is extremely profound as it encompasses almost everything in Life. More importantly, it helps me tremendously to see and understand the Reality of Life, and learn to be at peace with it.
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Below is a summary of a part of the Dharma Talk:
The Venerable shared the death of an inmate, who was executed about 15 hours ago. She had been communicating with Don for the past 4 years, and Don became a Buddhist while in a Oklahoma Prison. Don was sentenced to Death Row for a crime that he committed in 1996. Read the story.
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Don admitted to the Venerable that he was not a good man (dealing with drugs etc..), however, he was not the murderer. According to the Venerable, there are too many loopholes and doubts in the case, and she believes that he is innocent. Unfortunately, the Parole rejected his appeal. Read the story.
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Don faced extreme anger and self-pity issues. He kept asking "Why Me?", as he felt that he was innocent. The Venerable woke him up by asking him not to waste time in self-pitying, and to spend the rest of his limited him on Dharma practice. For many years, he could not reconcile with his sisters - his only family (his parents were dead), and his sisters never visited him. A few months ago, Don let go of his anger and called up his sisters to show his love for them. It was a turning point for his sisters and him.
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One of his sisters, who are staunch Christians, thanked the Venerable for changing her brother. What is Don's fear? He was afraid that he would not hear the Dharma in his next life or his next reincarnation. And 2 minutes before the execution, Don talked about Compassion and was chanting "Om Mani Padme Hum" until his last breath. Read part of the Story.
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While the Venerable was sharing the story, I felt connected to Don. He is just like anyone of us - capable of making mistakes, making wrong judgement, ignorant, scared of death, wants to love and be loved, and most importantly, he just wants Happiness. I did not see him as an inmate, but a Human Being like me.
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The Venerable candidly said that everybody in the hall is on death row, just that we were not as fortunate as Don, as we were not given a date to prepare for our death. Despite his death, Don's story has taught us Dharma, which is a way of accumulating good Karma.
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We ended the Dharma Talk in Mass Meditation and sending our Merits to Don.
Hoping that Don will have the good fortune of listening to Dharma again.
Thank You Don!
Om Mani Padme Hum.
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