I think this article explains why prayers are so important. It also explains the form the basic concepts of Buddhism to the highest level of Buddhism practised today. I hope you find this article to build loving kindness for everyone around you. I wondered if sharing some of the things mentioned here would be breaking a vow, but I trust you will keep what you find useful and discard the rest, stuff you do not belief and do not undestand.

Some people find my "profile" strange because I always say " Learning how to die"... I actually hope you guys will also learn how to die properly and peacefully. Wether you are Christian, Catholic, Muslim, Jewish, whatever, even if it teaches you to appreciate life that little more, I am happy.

People who practise Qi-Gong, I hope you gain enough understanding to practise Qi-Gong to help others, not just for 'fighting' purposes and 'challenges'. I think you guys who believe in Qi have already shed 10 years of lost time I took to believe in Qi and feel and understand Qi. You guys have a head start, put it to great use.

Enjoy, and may you all find peace.





The Merit of Practice in a Cemetery
Yogi C. M. Chen

Today is the auspicious day of the full moon in the seventh month of the lunar calendar system of China and Tibet. According to the Buddha's teachings from India, in this month those in the ghost realm have a holiday and a little rest from their sufferings, and at this time can more easily get in touch with the Dharma. In old China during this month many pujas or offerings were usually given to the ghosts and to the ancestors. Today is an especially auspicious day because it is also the birthday of his Holiness Karmapa. So I would like to talk now on the subject, "What are the merits of going to a Cemetery and praying to the Dead?"

I have categorized this subject into three sections, each of which is discussed in its outward, inward, secret and most secret aspect.


I. The Merit of a Cemetery
Why does a cemetery contain so much merit and what are those merits? Outwardly, the main merit is to help one understand Impermanence. Impermanence is a principal practice of Hinayana Buddhism and Hinayana is the foundation of the other two yanas, Mahayana and Vajrayana. This means, as Milarepa said, that the first step to enter through the Dharma gate is Impermanence and no other practice. Why? Because as human beings we are all attached to worldly desires, and it is only the realization of our impermanence that can stop this clinging and lead us to practice the Buddha-Dharma. Shakyamuni Buddha himself met the truth of sickness, old-age, death and the clergy at each of the four gates of his capital. From that point on, he understood Impermanence, took the first step on the Dharma Path, and continued on the way until he achieved full enlightenment. To be a real Buddhist, one must realize the truth of Impermanence.
In our daily life in America we rarely see a coffin or dead person, unlike the East where a corpse is brought through the streets to the homes of friends and relatives to receive offerings on the way to the cemetery. Also, most people in the East are poor and one day's food is all they desire. They know that tomorrow they may die and so have constant awareness of Impermanence. Thus in the East it is easier to gain the idea of our transitory existence.

In the West, in America, the dead person is carried in a special car which immigrants as myself are not even able to recognize. It passes through the streets very quickly and arrives at the cemetery where the corpse is very swiftly cremated or buried. This is all very professionally done by trained people. It is only the close family of the deceased that has a chance to come into contact with and recognize Impermanence. Whatever an American is involved with, and wherever he finds himself, in society, on the street, in any circumstance or surroundings, there is the desire for attachment but no idea of Impermanence. So everyone passes his life very comfortably, very superficially happy, pursuing his desires. He never thinks that he himself will die and does not think he needs to follow the Dharma. Thus most people cannot accept the Hinayana Doctrine of the Four Noble Truths, concerning pain and the cessation of pain, because their everyday life is so easy and comfortable that they don't know sorrow and have no motive to renounce their pleasure-seeking life style. If you don't come to a cemetery, you can nearly forget that there is such a thing called a corpse or such a thing as Death.

No matter how happy you are in your daily life, when you come to a cemetery and see so many people buried in the ground, both rich and poor given the same treatment in death, you cannot help but be influenced by the idea of Impermanence. When we come to a cemetery to visit dead friends, they seem to tell us, "Oh, you must diligently practice the Dharma. We are too late, but you still may have some hope. Reflect in yourself--once our skin was as smooth and white as yours and now our bodies are all decomposed underneath the ground. Be aware of Impermanence." We may practise and say prayers to help them, but actually we ourselves get much more help from the dead than they do from us. They also seem to tell us, "Don't care about the amount of your salary, or a girlfriend's beauty, or for any desire of the world, for in the end everything and everyone must be left behind. Neither a rich man nor a man with many lovers can rid himself of death." What is the purpose of repenting at the moment of death? We must have time to practise before that moment comes.