A Buddhist looks at death as a breaking apart of the material of which we are composed. However Buddhism does not look as death as a continuation of the soul but as an awakening. Dying and being reborn has been compared by some Buddhist as a candle flame. When the flame of one lit candle is touched to the wick of an unlighted candle, the light passes from one candle to another. The actual flame of the first candle does not pass over but is responsible for lighting the second candle.
             Nirvana, a state in which there is an extinction of desire and suffering, is an absence of self. Buddhism views ignorance rather than sin as the roadblock to Nirvana.
             When preparing for death Buddhist generally agree a person's state of mind while dying is of great importance. While dying the person can be surrounded by friends, family and monks who recite Buddhists scriptures and mantras to help the person achieve a peaceful state of mind.
             What is the cause of suffering in Buddhism?
             255 There is no path in the sky and a monk must find the inner path. All things indeed pass away, but the Buddhas are forever in eternity.
             Buddha says life is suffering, caused by desire. To end the suffering, we must end desire. From a greater perspective, death causes pain because of our desire for life. We fear death because we hold onto life. Here, the folly of attachment is brought into the sharpest relief, because we know the body is as sure to die as it was born. Death is all around us. We will die and all the people we love will die. Understood this way, the only sensible course of action seems to be to seek that state where death cannot follow: Nirvana, the state of being awake. This is how Buddhism addresses the issue of death, and it has an intuitive, practical logic to it.
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