Venerable Ru-Du asked this question in his discourse on why one should be volunteering:
你临终的大考可以不可以及格？
will you be able to pass the big test when you are close to death?
I think the answer should be to start preparing now for this big test.
And this is by using every opportunity, obstacle and challenge to test ourselves - treating each like a mini test or revision so that we will be more confident when the next bigger one comes along.
This is encapsulated by the saying Venerable brought up:
静中十分，动中一分
动中十分，病中一分
病中十分，临终一分
my attempt at translation:
when things are quiet, the challenge is just 1/10 that when it is chaotic
when things are chaotic, the challenge is just 1/10 that when one is sick
when one is sick, the challenge is just 1/10 when one is near death
In Venerable Ru De’s discourse on the life of Master Atisa, this portion of the video helped me better realise that all practitioners will face obstacles, challenges, temptation.
See from the 3min 49s mark (start from the beginning of the video to better understand the context):
I read from Master Ri-Chang’s discourse that one reason of failing to overcome the obstacles we face during our practice is because we have not truly believed in the cause and effect of Karma. If we had, we would be working even harder on the causes rather than lamenting about the effect we suffered.
