What mental attitude should you maintain on your deathbed? If possible, should you meditate or recite Kuan-yin's (Avalokitesvara) name, or recite sutras? You said that a Ch'an practitioner should realize that there is no life or death, but what about people who haven't attained such realization? What mental attitude should they have?

SHIH-FU:

Many of these questions arise because one encounters different Buddhist traditions, and one is therefore lead to ask many questions relating to death. What I said earlier still holds. Ch'an practitioners should not be preoccupied with the question of death. It is not necessary to be enlightened in order to be fearless. Furthermore, there are no special preparations one needs to make before death. The important thing is to maintain a regular practice while alive.

If you do something for yourself when you are on your deathbed, such as meditating or repeating Kuan-yin's name, that will be of some use, but the power is not that significant. The important influence comes from your practice while alive, the kinds of vows you made, as well as the sincerity of the vows.

People often ask what the attitude of a Ch'an practitioner should be in various situations because it seems the Ch'an attitude is different from that of other Buddhist traditions. But as always I must stress that, with one exception, Ch'an methods are not different from basic Buddhist concepts. The exception is that the basic Buddhist approach speaks of different levels of experience and a gradual process, whereas the Ch'an approach is direct, and it always emphasizes practice. Other than this, the attitude and beliefs of the Ch'an practitioner are in accord with traditional Buddhadharma.