Understanding Suffering: The Dukkha of Illness and Dying : หน้า 70/263

in its place. Even the Buddha and the enlightened ones are subject to the suffering of illness — so who are we to over- look the misery of illness? 4. Suffering as a result of Dying [marana dukkhā] All living beings have to undergo death before they are able to leave one existence for the next. Thus, whether it is for the final extinguishing of the mind or merely the break up of the five aggregates that comprise the body, leaving be- hind this loathsome body — all are referred to as dying. The suffering of dying brings excruciating misery because the element of fire within the body will become increasingly hot, bringing a scorching sensation that seems to penetrate every part of the body, just as if someone has lit a fire just upwind of where we are lying. This is the first characteristic of the suffering caused by dying. Furthermore, those beings who have said or done evil things during their lifetime, for example acting without mercy, there may be an ‘omen of suffering’ which appears to them prior to death — some have visions of the fires of hell, some have visions of being surrounded by the guard- ians of hell with instruments of torture, some see the shackle and chains of torment, some see the crows and vultures waiting for them — filling them with fear and making them struggle against the death that must inevitably come. Some cry out in fear so extreme that they lose touch with any mindfulness of their own condition, some feel emotionally slighted at the way others have treated them and become obsessed with this in the last moments of their life — and if you try to find the reason, it is always because that person had habitually conducted themself as a fool [bāla], or had neglected to do good deeds during their life that would cause