Live your life fully. And use every moment, every opportunity, in a way that is beneficial for oneself and for others. If we live every moment the same, in a positive, peaceful, and kind way, then death is also another moment—the same. So there’s no difference. —Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche
The quotation above is from Andrew Holecek’s book Preparing to Die: Practical Advice and Spiritual Wisdom from the Tibetan Buddhist Tradition. I’ll return to his book, but first I’ll look back a year to the start of 2024.
I was happy—joyous—with my life and my Buddhist practice, and I was looking forward to my death. Those are not contradictions. I was happy to go on living in my loving marriage of 30-plus years, enjoying our downsized-for-retirement home, with our kind and generous son visiting regularly.
I wasn’t eager for death as long as I could live this way, but as my 78th birthday was approaching, I was going through several physical and cognitive challenges that left me uncertain about living comfortably for more than another year or two. (The challenges have become less imminent, but that’s how I felt a year ago.)
A few years earlier, I had let go of my ego. By that, I mean I gave up any need to prove anything, to stand out from the crowd, to gain recognition. I even gave up writing because I felt I had said and done everything I needed to in this life. There are plenty of good writers out there.
My wife and I had been meeting, and still meet, daily over Zoom for an hour with a sangha of loving and caring followers of the dharma who live throughout the United States. In addition to that practice, I was following, and still follow, Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche’s Path of Liberation teaching and his Nectar of the Path liturgy.
It was time, I thought, to add more awareness of death and dying to my practice. Ideally, it’s part of everyone’s practice at any age, but we know how that plays out. Now, I was ready. I bought Holecek’s Preparing to Die and loved it. Andrew writes and teaches from a deep understanding of Tibetan Buddhism, including study in Nepal, India, Bhutan, and Tibet, as well as a three-year retreat in Nova Scotia, Canada. He brings to that wisdom a thoroughly modern and nonsectarian spiritual and scientific perspective.
That book helped me incorporate some Pure Land teachings into my Vajrayana practice. I wrote about that here:
In May, I virtually attended Andrew’s Blissful Pure Lands Retreat and began bringing Buddha Amitabha into my daily meditations as my venerated yidam (exemplar of all Buddhas). Around June 3, as I brought Amitabha into my consciousness, he seemed to tell me that there was more for me to do. I know how to write, and I know how to blog, so I can use those skills to manifest my bodhicitta, my desire to liberate others from needless suffering.
That’s the creation story of From the Pure Land. I issued the first post on June 5. Since then, I have written almost 150 more and shared posts written by others. We’ve reached about 15,000 unique users, who have viewed the From the Pure Land posts more than 35,000 times.
We have only about 300 registered subscribers, so if you’ve been checking us out from time to time, click on the button to get regular delivery to your email inbox. Once you do, choosing the “free” option will get you the same content as paid subscribers (with one future exception mentioned below).
In September, I began podcasting and occasionally videocasting one of the From the Pure Land posts each week. To mark the new year, this one is available as a blog post, as a videocast if accessed via Substack, and as a podcast on many apps or by RSS feed. Somehow, the magic of podcasting has introduced listeners in 49 countries to one or more of the posts.
About that funny thing that happened on my way to death, this blog became my remaining life’s work and greatly improved my physical and cognitive health. I still have no problem greeting death as a friend whenever it’s my time, but I also have an additional reason—and additional resolve—to stay alive and functional. The countdown timer on my laptop says I have 508 days until my 80th birthday. That was originally the time I set to evaluate my health prospects; now, it’s a date to celebrate.
It’s also my self-imposed deadline to complete writing a book and getting it published. The past seven months have convinced me that maybe I do have something fresh to say that readers might welcome and that might contribute to reducing suffering. So stay tuned. The very tentative title is Demystifying Buddhism: A Middle Way Between Secular and Ossified.
These short, almost daily posts were never intended to produce income. I offer paid subscriptions only for those who feel they are gaining something of value from them, can afford $5 a month or $50 a year, and are moved to contribute to my mission and expenses, which now run about twice the subscription income. In hopes of closing that gap, as I work on my book, when I’m close to happy with a chapter, I’ll release it to paid subscribers. You can upgrade to “paid” at any time.
Finally, as a reminder for the new year, I’ll repeat the blogging principles listed on the website’s “About page”:
Blogging requires absolute honesty.
Impermanence applies to blogging as it does to all other conditioned things. My beliefs will change over time. But I won’t revise what I wrote before unless it’s essential to do so, and when I do, I’ll add a note indicating the change.
For now, the posts will come on no set schedule, but you can expect at least one weekly when I’m not on a retreat or otherwise unable to write.
Each post will be short. I want you to be able to read it in five minutes or so.
I’ll say so when I have been wrong.
Perhaps most importantly, this blog is a manifestation of my bodhicitta: the drive to help all beings reach enlightenment and end needless suffering.
From the Pure Land has thousands of readers and subscribers in 36 U.S. states and 18 countries, and the podcast has thousands of listeners in 49 countries.
The Buddha emphasized the joy of giving. Dana is not meant to be obligatory or done reluctantly. Instead, dana should be performed when the giver is “delighted before, during, and after giving.” —Gil Fronsdal.
Consider being delighted by paying for your subscription even though you’ll receive the same regular content as those with a free subscription. For $5 a month or $50 a year, you’ll contribute to Mel’s expenses and see parts of his book as it progresses.
Make a one-time gift of any amount.
Share this post with a friend.
Listen and subscribe to the From the Pure Land podcasts via your favorite app or by clicking here.
The word “soul” is seldom used in Buddhism, but what Peter Meyer calls his soul here is similar to what I call awareness.
Share this post