Young Tibetan Buddhist Nuns seated for daily prayers at a Monastery in Ladakh, India.

Kushinigar. Death, India. Just as death and impermanence was Buddha’s first teaching, it was also his first one. Some forty-five years after his enlightment he announced that he had completed his life’s works, and requested that his principal disciples meet with him in Kushinigar in order to be with him during his final days. On the day of his passing he delivered a final discourse to the gathering, entered meditation, and with full awareness departed from this world.

H.H. Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche teaching at Sechen Monastery to his close circle of Monks. H.H. Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche (1910-1991), Tutor to the present Dalai Lama and revered as one of the greatest exponents of Dzogchen-the teachings of the Great Perfection. Never forget how swiftly this life will be over, like a flash of summer lightning or the wave of a hand. Now that you have the opportunity to practice Dharma, do not waste a single moment on anything else, but practice with all your energy.” H.H. Dilgo Khyenste Rinpoche, The Heart Treasure of the Enlightened Ones It is often said that meditation upon death and impermanence was the first teaching the Buddha gave after his enlightenment, when he spoke of the four noble truths-suffering, its causes, liberation, and the path to liberation-because lack of awareness of impermanence and change is a principal cause of human suffering.