Sathya Sai Baba on Buddha and the Indweller

from: saibaba.ws

Your body is composed of the five elements, and some day it is going to perish. The indweller of your body is the only permanent entity. When you inquire into truth, you will realize that there is nothing like old age and there is nothing like death for the indwelling Self. If you could understand that this indweller, who is your own reality, is God, then you will know the truth and enjoy infinite peace. 


Buddha who heard all these things with total detachment, replied to the person who brought the message, "Please, tell the King, 'Yes, my grandfather was a king. My father is a king, and I too was king. But now, I am a Sanyasin. I have renounced this world. And I believe my real parents are Sanyasins, and that my true ancestors are also Sanyasins. If you want me to come back, you must first answer these questions: Do you have the power to save me from death? Can you keep diseases away from me and guarantee to keep me in sound health? Do you have the capacity to prevent old age and senility from descending on me? Do you have the power to free me from all these evils? If you can give me the correct answers to these questions then I will immediately come back to the palace."
Buddha saw that birth was sorrowful, that life was sorrowful, and that the end was also sorrowful. He replied to his father in the correct way. After having seen all the sorrows of life and after having watched so many people suffering, he could not continue to wallow in ignorance and illusion; that would have been sheer foolishness. Buddha's life serves as a lesson for you. In the limited time given to you, you have to realize your true nature. That is the real objective of human life. Your body is composed of the five elements, and some day it is going to perish. The indweller of your body is the only permanent entity. When you inquire into truth, you will realize that there is nothing like old age and there is nothing like death for the indwelling Self. If you could understand that this indweller, who is your own reality, is God, then you will know the truth and enjoy infinite peace.
BHAGAVAD GITA DISCOURSES
by Baba

Buddhist Eight Stages of Death

From:Preparing for Death and Helping the Dying by Sangye Khadro 
The six consciousnesses  (seeing, hearing, smell, taste, touch and mental consciousness) dissolve over the first four stages of the death process, and the eighty instinctive conceptions dissolve in the fifth stage, following which one experiences a white vision. In the sixth stage, the white vision dissolves and a red vision appears. In the seventh stage, the red vision dissolves and a vision of darkness appears. The white, red and dark visions constitute the subtle level of consciousness. Finally, in the eighth stage, the dark vision dissolves and the very subtle mind of clear light becomes manifest. This is the most subtle and pure level of our mind, or consciousness. Experienced meditators are able to use this clear light mind

Summary from Various sources:
1st - 4th stages - Physical Death
Earth, Water,Fire, Wind (Mirage, Smoke, Sparks, Dying Flame)
4th Stage -Physical Death -  the ten winds move to heart (dharmaweb.org)
Stage of Subtle Energy
5th  white light - eighty conceptions winds in right and left - then enter central channel at top of head (dharmaweb.org) (conceptuality disappears)
6th - red light - winds in right and left  channels below heart enter central channel atbase of spine (dharmaweb.org) (heightened subtle mind)
7th - darkness -   upper and lower winds at gather at heart (still red light); then with thick darkness; winds enter drop at heart (darkness) (dharmaweb.org) (unconcious)
8th - clear - mind of black near- all winds dissolve into very clear vacuity free attainment the very subtle life bearing wind in the indestructible drop at the heart (the mind of the clear light of death)(dharmaweb.org) (clear emptiness)

When the clear light vision ceases, the consciousness leaves the body and passes through the other seven stages of dissolution (black near-attainment, red increase etc.) in reverse order. As soon as this reverse process begins the person is reborn into an intermediate state between lives, with a subtle body that can go instantly wherever it likes, move through solid objects etc., in its journey to the next place of rebirth. (dharmaweb.org)

The intermediate state can last from a moment to seven days, depending on whether or not a suitable birthplace is found. If one is not found the being undergoes a "small death", experiencing the eight signs of death as previously described (but very briefly). He/she then again experiences the eight signs of the reverse process and is reborn in a second intermediate state. This can happen for a total of seven births in the intermediate state (making a total of forty-nine days) during which a place of rebirth must be found (dharmaweb.org)

and excellent table from www.amitabhahospice.org

Buddhist doctrine of "anatta"

from:victorzammit.com
Where Buddha departed most radically from Hinduism was in his doctrine of "anatta", the notion that individuals do not possess eternal souls. Instead of eternal souls, individuals consist of a "bundle" of habits, memories, sensations, desires, and so forth, which together delude one into thinking that he or she consists of a stable, lasting self. Despite its transitory nature, this false self hangs together as a unit, and even reincarnates in body after body. In Buddhism, as well as in Hinduism, life in a corporeal body is viewed negatively, as the source of all suffering. Hence, the goal is to obtain release. In Buddhism, this means abandoning the false sense of self so that the bundle of memories and impulses disintegrates, leaving nothing to reincarnate and hence nothing to experience pain.