Transference of Consciousness at the Time of
Death
Lama Thubten Yeshe |
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Fourth Discourse: 4th March
Question and answer session
Student: When I clench my hands and feet
during this practice I develop rlung. Is it alright
to practice without clenching these muscles?
Lama: Yes, you do not have to clench them if it is uncomfortable.
In fact, if your concentration is good enough, you can do
away with even the breathing techniques. But people who find
it helpful should hold their breath and tighten their lower
muscles as described. As mentioned before, it is very possible
that our concentration will not be good when death actually
arrives; if that happens, the forceful breathing and muscle-clenching
techniques can prove very helpful.
Student: You have said that yogis in the past have
used po-wa to escape from difficult situations. How
can we tell when it is appropriate to use these techniques
in such a way?
Lama: Well, take the example of the monk who knew the Chinese
were coming. He was over fifty years old and knew that there
was very little that he could do if he stayed around. Knowing
this clearly, he decided to leave. Similarly, if you know
with certainty that you're in the same situation and that
it would be completely useless for you to retain your present
form, then it is possible for you to use these techniques
as well. However, you need to use wisdom.
Student: I asked this question because in West many people
believe that life is given to us by God and therefore should
not be given it up before He takes it back.
Lama: Having your consciousness enter Amitabha's
heart and having it taken back by God are the same thing.
For me there is no difference between God and Amitabha. Therefore,
if your consciousness is taken by Amitabha it is alright.
What is important is to break the iron chain that binds us
to worldly pleasure. If this is not broken there is no way
to be successful. There is the story of the rich businessman
who at death was extremely attached to his many possessions.
He was reborn as a snake who lived in the same house and would
attack anyone who even touched his belongings. There is also
the story of the monk who was so attached to his begging bowl
that after he died he was reborn as a preta who followed
that begging bowl around from owner to owner. Therefore, even
if we are familiar with these techniques at the time of death,
if our mind is too involved with concrete ego-grasping it
will be impossible to transfer our consciousness successfully.
This is why we need forceful techniques.
Student: Please comment upon the absorption into Amitabha
Buddha's heart. Should one visualize his pure land at that
time?
Lama: At that time it is not necessary to visualize Amitabha's
pure land. Merely feel that when you reach Amitabha's heart
you have become unified with the omnipresent, non-dualistic
wisdom. It is better to place more emphasis upon becoming
one with this wisdom than it is on visualizing the pure land
itself.
Student: If we gain the ability to transfer our consciousness,
why should we not do it right away?
Lama: It is considered a mistake for one who has
received an empowerment into the highest class of tantra to
give up his or her body and life before the correct time.
This would be similar to taking the life of a tathagata
or committing suicide.
Student: But isn't it true that by reaching Amitabha's
pure land you will be able to become enlightened very quickly
and thereby be able to help others even sooner?
Lama: Yes, because in the pure land we do not have
the hassles of looking for a job, raising children and so
forth; your practice of the path is nonstop.
Student: If you had the motivation of benefiting
others, therefore, leaving your body would not be suicide.
Lama: If the time is right and you decide to go,
then this is okay.
Student: Isn't it true that if our karma to remain alive
does not run out, the quickest way to achieve enlightenment
is with through our present human form?
Lama: This is definitely possible, but it depends on how you
put your life together. What frightens me is the way so many
Westerners live their life. In America, for example, from
the moment they wake up most people are running, running,
and it is very hard to live there without being sucked into
that way of life. If you are, it is virtually impossible to
make the best use of your human life.
Student: If we have the appropriate empowerment,
is it permissible or advisable to visualize ourselves as a
meditational deity while performing the po-wa practices?
Lama: Yes, this is alright. In fact, some people find it easier
to see themselves as Chenrezig, for instance, and thereby
remove the concrete conceptions of themselves in general and
their physical bodies in particular. This can be very beneficial.
Student: I have heard that there are animals in the pure
land. Is this true?
Lama: Yes, in the pure land you find birds, deer and many
other types of animals. However, they all serve to energize
and enhance one's own practice; they never give negative vibrations,
they serve only to help one's practice.
Student: So are these animals in reality bodhisattvas,
or are they unfortunate beings who somehow made a mistake
during their practice of po-wa?
Lama: They are bodhisattvas. (Laughter)
Student: While in the pure land is it possible to perceive
the suffering of sentient beings?
Lama: In the pure lands themselves there are no suffering
beings.
Student: How then does one develop compassion?
Lama: There are many other states of existence, many other
solar systems. Though there is no suffering in the pure lands
themselves, a bodhisattva can easily see beings residing in
other realms and develop compassion for them.
Student: Is it possible to enter in the states of absorption
through this practice?
Lama: Yes. If you have strong concentration on the clear drop
in your heart, all the winds will dissolve into your central
channel. Whenever this happens you experience the signs of
absorption. All that is required is perfect concentration.
In fact, if you are aware enough, you can observe these same
absorptions during the bliss of sexual orgasm.
Student: Are there certain signs that tell us we
are going to die soon so that we can prepare for the practice
of po-wa?
Lama: Yes, there are many such signs. We can detect them in
our dreams, in changes in our breathing pattern, in our bodily
aura and so forth. Many old people know they are about to
die. Detailed explanations of these signs of death will be
given later.
Student: Is it possible to reach Amitabha's pure land solely
through devotion?
Lama: Yes, that is definitely possible. The texts say that
rebirth in a pure land is not the result of creating a specific
karmic action. Rather, it comes about through the force of
strong prayer and concentration.
Student: If after reciting HIC you completely dissolve into
Amitabha Buddha's heart, who is it that recites KAAH to bring
your consciousness back down again?
Lama: It is the subtle level of mind that goes up and down;
the gross level of mind is the one that recites HIC and KAAH.
During the actual practice, however, you should not concern
yourself with such questions as who is doing the reciting.
Merely recite these sounds and take them as the signal to
send your mind up and bring it back down again.
Student: Is there a way for us to use this practice to assist
Christian friends who are dying?
Lama: Yes. For example, you can help that person visualize
going into Christ's heart, or remind him of a pure and holy
environment.
Student: Is it necessary to sit up when you are
dying?
Lama: No. Many practitioners die while lying down
in the posture of Buddha's passing away, and po-wa
can be practiced this way too.
Student: Some of us may be faced with the situation
of seeing people die in very disturbing circumstances: there
are no highly realized beings around, the dying person's body
will be moved before the consciousness has had a chance to
leave the body, and so forth. In such cases, should we stimulate
the person's crown center before someone else disturbs them?
Lama: That's a good idea: you should do that if you
can. Also, if you are skilled you can even perform the transference
of consciousness for that person. Concentration is the main
point: if yours is strong, you can visualize the person's
mind in his heart and then visualize it being sent up his
central channel, out the crown of his head and into Amitabha
Buddha's pure land.
Student: You said that it is dangerous to practice
these techniques alone. If we are practicing together with
someone else, what can we do to help if trouble arises?
Lama: First of all, if someone does not have good
concentration there is very little danger in the practice.
However, it can happen that someone begins to space out; his
or her consciousness may be accidentally departing through
the force of the practice. If you see someone spacing out
like this, you can help by striking him sharply in the area
around their knees: this helps bring his consciousness back
down into his body. You can also shout KAAH very loudly.
Student: At the time of death, how can you decide
whether to practice po-wa or to follow instead other
tantric techniques and take the clear light of death as the
path to the Dharmakaya?
Lama: If you are confident that you can catch the clear light
experience and unify it with emptiness, then definitely this
is what you should do: in this case there is no need to practice
po-wa. However, if you have not developed complete confidence
in that practice, you should do po-wa instead. A real practitioner
will be able to judge correctly which technique he or she
is best prepared to use. Also, you should remember the great
protective power of the three principal paths. For example,
if you have developed the actual mind of bodhicitta, it doesn't
matter what you do at the time of death: you no longer have
anything to worry about. Merely pray, "May I be reborn
in whatever place is most beneficial for other sentient beings.
Oh, buddhas and bodhisattvas, please take me to wherever I
can be most useful. Should that be even the hell realms, I
do not mind."
Student: How should we practice once this retreat
is over?
Lama: You should practice every day until you receive
the signs that your practice has been successful. Then it
is necessary to review the practice only occasionally, say
once a month, just to remind yourself of it.
Student: It is said in the practice that the seed
syllable in the heart should be seen as very radiant. I can
visualize the syllable but it does not radiate light. Is this
a mistake?
Lama: No, as long as with good concentration you
can visualize your very subtle mind as a drop in your heart,
it does not matter whether it radiates light or not. The purpose
of the meditation is served if you can visualize and concentrate
on this drop well; it is not essential for it to emit light.
What is really important is to make contact with the object
of meditation, which can be seen even as a tiny drop of blood
or a clear drop of dew. If you can concentrate on such a drop
in your heart you needn't worry whether it is shining or not.
Student: You have said that it is dangerous to practice
alone because it is possible to leave the body accidentally.
Why is this dangerous?
Lama: It is one thing to leave your body after making
a strong decision to do so, but quite another to do so accidentally.
In the latter case, you do not intend to go, but the force
of your meditation accidentally sends your mind out of your
body; because you are not prepared for this you may still
be bound by the chains of your attachment to samsaric pleasures,
and as a result be reborn as a hungry ghost instead of in
a pure land.
Student: Does that mean it is possible for the consciousness
to leave through the crown chakra and still be reborn in a
lower realm?
Lama: Yes, this can happen simply because your consciousness
leaves accidentally as a result of the force of your meditation.
Therefore, to avoid mishaps like this, it is good to meditate
with someone else when you are experimenting.
Student: Why did you say that it is better to catch the experience
of clear light at the time of death than to practice po-wa?
Lama: If through training in tantric practices you
can use the experience of the clear light of death to gain
an intuitive realization of emptiness, you will be able to
attain the first bodhisattva bhumi. This is much
better than simply being reborn in a pure land. Once you have
attained this first bhumi you are not only more advanced
than an ordinary bodhisattva in a pure land, who still has
to practice from the beginning of the path, but you also have
the ability to visit pure lands at will. Thus at the time
of death, using such tantric techniques is better than practicing
po-wa. However, if you are not fully confident that
you can use these techniques, then the practice of po-wa
is better. The technical methods of po-wa meditation
are very beneficial even if they are not combined with the
special breathing techniques. In general, our problems arise
because our energy is flowing in the wrong direction and in
the wrong places; this is the source of both our mental and
our physical diseases. However, if we concentrate upon our
central channel and the seed syllable in our heart, we can
help improve the energy flow within our body and thereby cure
many of our problems. Keeping our concentration focussed inside
the central channel removes the distractions that cause our
difficulties. Focussing upon a meditation object inside the
central channel is much more powerful than focussing upon
one that is outside. Merely contemplating upon the central
channel at the level of the heart is a very easy, powerful
and beneficial meditation.
Student: Could you explain more about the hook of
red light that comes from Amitabha's heart?
Lama: It is not absolutely necessary to visualize
this red light. It is included simply as an extra aid in moving
your consciousness up through the central channel—you
can leave it out if you are not comfortable with it. Also,
it need not be visualized as a hook. Rather, you can think
that red light shoots down from Amitabha's heart like lightning
and that this light exerts a magnetic attraction upon your
mind. This is another way of visualizing and you might find
it more comfortable.
Student: You have advised us to visualize the very subtle
mind at the level of the heart. Is this the best place to
visualize it?
Lama: Yes, there are many advantages of concentrating upon
the heart center. The heart chakra is a very special place
and opening it up through meditation is very helpful. Also,
if you are worried about the possible dangers of po-wa meditation,
when you recite HIC you need bring the seed syllable up from
the heart chakra only as far as the crown itself, and not
have it fly out of your body. Here there is no danger, and
the practice is still very beneficial.
Student: In the practice we send our mind into Amitabha Buddha's
heart in the form of a seed syllable. Does that mean that
we will be reborn in Amitabha's pure land as a seed syllable?
Lama: No. From Amitabha's heart our mind is sent into the
center of a lotus, whence we emerge with a completely purified
body of light. But you do not have to visualize this: it happens
automatically once you reach Amitabha's heart. Many practitioners
like to face west when they are about to die. This is probably
a sign that they are going to practice the transference of
consciousness to Amitabha's pure land. When meditating, I
myself find it more comfortable facing either west or east
than north or south _ perhaps this is just my own superstition.
In any event, many people have trained their mind through
these po-wa teachings and have died successfully, and there
is no reason why we should not succeed in this practice as
well. All we have to do is train ourselves properly.
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