Part 2 - Definition of Adhimuttimaraṇa

Voluntary passing away by self-determination is called “Adhimuttimaraṇa”. It is the kind of death that takes place as soon as one resolves: “May death come unto me”. Such a death could happen only to future Buddhas and not to others.

Sometimes a future Buddha is reborn in a deva or a Brahmā-world where the span of life is extremely long. He is aware of the fact that, living in a celestial world, he has no chance whatsoever to fulfil and cultivate Perfections, Sacrifices and Practices and, therefore, he feels such a lengthy life in that celestial abode is boredom. Then, after entering his mansion, he shuts his eyes and no sooner has he resolved: “May my life-faculty ceases to be”, then he experiences the impact of death and passes away from that divine realm. His resolution materialises partly because he has little attachment to his body, as he has particularly conditioned the continuity of his body by attaining higher knowledge and partly because his resolution based on overwhelming compassion for beings is intense and pure.

As he has control of his mind, so has he control of his deeds. Accordingly, when he dies such voluntary death, he is reborn in the human world as a prince, a brahmin, etc. so that he can fulfil any Perfections he wishes to. That is why, though our future Buddha Gotama had lived in many existence in the Brahmā abode without losing his attainment of jhāna, he existed only for a short time in that Brahmā-world as he died voluntarily. He passed away from the Brahmā existence into the human existence and build up elements of Perfections.