I often think about the Vietnamese monk who burned himself alive while meditating. The way he stayed unmoved during the entire process.
Many of us struggle to overcome the urge to live, despite immense suffering. And yet there was a man who overcame the instinct to live with equanimity and peace, during arguably one of the most painful ways you can die.
It's also ironic. Someone with the capacity to overcome SI by going through a lot of pain, with the tools to endure it, could probably endure a lifetime of suffering. They'd have a pristine mind that could handle severe torment.
I've heard stories of Buddhist monks who handled pancreatic cancer without painkillers.
I suspect if we all spent the last 40 years of our lives meditating intensely, there would be few torments we couldn't bear. Bone cancer, pain, loss, dreams, psychotic breakdowns, mental illness.
Some times I wonder whether or not I'd be better off just going to a monastery, abandoning everything so I can suffer with less responsibility on my mind.
This thread seems to see death from a realistic/materialistic point of view so maybe what I am typing might come across as fantastic ;)
For the monk, and many those who have the knowledge of beyond, overcomes SI was merely a result of knowing. He knew that body is merely a garment, and pain or happiness or whatever senses or feelings are illusions. Hence being burned alive is not as painful to him as to us, both psychologically and physically.
Yes there are practices that can give a person certain supranatural abilities, such as withstanding extreme pains, not sleeping for a long time, communicating with spirits etc.
It is submitted that meditation brings many benefits such as mental clarity, emotions stability and certain level of health etc. Yet for healing cancers, extreme pains etc. I personally believe it takes more than mere meditations. At the very least it requires unshakable faith/beliefs, then it takes quietness in mind/a high level of concentration. Just like any kinds of talents, some people are natural, for them they can self study and practice all by themselves without guidance while being fruitful. For others it takes mantras and rituals, and even then, the less talented will take years to reach the basic.
I thought about joining a monastery simply for running away too. Yet I found out monasticism in general, be it Buddhist or Christian, is hierarchical in nature. From what I know, you have to obey seniors' orders and teachings, not to mention there are rules ruling you literally 24/7. Also I realised that I was actually using spiritual knowledge to fill my material emptiness, which is very ironic since it's meant to be the other way around. Like Jesus said, know yourself, for me it's not necessarily spiritual, it's about to know exactly why we want what we want, what we really want. I am still discovering myself.
