A nurse who cared for many terminal patients has observed, "Ultimately, people only die as they have lived." To die happily is therefore extremely difficult. And since death is the final settlement of accounts for one's life, it is when our true self comes to the fore.
We practice faith to live happily and also to die happily. One who has faith in the Mystic Law will not die an unhappy death.
The workings of our mind are truly subtle. Some have noted that despite what is commonly believed, our memory doesn't necessarily deteriorate as we get older. Even supposing a certain degree of decline is inevitable, our acceptance of people's assertions that memory function deteriorates as a fact, usually causes us to become more forgetful. In reality, however, our brain is made so that we can keep learning at any age.
