Now we’ve come to the final meditation in this module. First sit comfortably and again bring all your attention to your breath. Do the breathing meditation for a couple of minutes or longer, if you so desire.

Motivation

Generate bodhicitta motivation by thinking, “I must reach enlightenment for the sake of all mother sentient beings. In order to do this I must complete the study and practice of the teachings on the path to enlightenment. Therefore, I am going to do these meditations on impermanence and death.”

Esoteric meditation on the aspects of death

Now let’s do the first of the two meditations that we’re going to do this session, the esoteric meditation on the aspects of death. In previous session we did an exoteric meditation, where we visualize ourselves dying and try to imagine how it would feel. In this meditation, we practice going through the dissolutions and experiencing the different visions and so forth as explained in the sixth teaching session.

Sit in the seven-point meditation posture and practice this meditation with the understanding that “This is going to happen to me, therefore, I must become familiar with this process in life so that I can handle it constructively when it actually happens.”

Think and visualize as follows:

“As my earth element dissolves, my body becomes thin, my limbs uncontrolled, and it feels like I’m being buried under a great weight of earth. My limbs seem to shrivel and my body becomes weak and powerless. My eyesight becomes unclear and I can no longer open or close my eyes. The radiance of my body diminishes; my strength weakens; and to my mind there appears a vision like a mirage.

“As my water element dissolves, my saliva, sweat and other fluids dry up. I can no longer experience physical pleasant, unpleasant or neutral feelings. I’m also no longer mindful of the feelings that accompany my mental consciousness. I no longer hear external or internal sounds; even the inner buzzing in my ears disappears, and to my mind there appears a vision of smoke.

“As my fire element dissolves, I can no longer digest food or drink. I lose mindfulness of the affairs of those close to me and I can no longer remember their names. My inhalation becomes weak and my exhalation labored and long. I can no longer smell things, and to my mind there appears a vision of sparks of fire.

“As my wind element dissolves, my inhalation and exhalation cease altogether. I can now no longer perform any physical actions; I cannot move at all. I’m no longer mindful of external activities, their purposes and so forth. My tongue becomes thick and short and its root turns blue. I can no longer experience taste or feel things with my body. To my mind there appears a vision like the last flickering of a candle.

“As my eighty gross conceptions dissolve, there appears to my mind the white vision: a clear emptiness filled with white light.

“Then there appears to my mind the red vision: a clear emptiness filled with red light.

“Then there appears to my mind the black vision: an emptiness filled with thick darkness.

“Finally there appears to my mind the clear light vision: complete emptiness and clarity.”

At this point, concentrate on the appearance of this clear light mind. Think, “All things are empty of inherent existence; nothing exists under its own power, from its own side. All phenomena are interdependent and exist by being merely labeled by the mind.”

With thoughts such as these, let your mind become one with infinite space in nature of clear light and concentrate for as long as you can on that.

Lama Yeshe’s OM AH HUM meditation

The second meditation we’re going to do here is what we call Lama Yeshe’s OM AH HUM meditation. This is not specifically a meditation on the death process but Lama Yeshe taught it during his “Life, Death and After Death” course, a transcript of which is included in your required reading. This meditation helps us train our mind so that we will be able to meditate on the clear light of death when it arises.

When you meditate, don’t squeeze yourself. Just sit comfortably and let your breath energy flow naturally; be just as you are. Don’t think, “I’m a meditator”; don’t think, “I’m humble”; don’t think, “I’m an egotist.” Don’t think anything; just be.

The first part of this meditation is purification of the body.

Place your hands in whatever position is comfortable for you and close your eyes. Visualize a white OM at the center of your brain, a red AH at your throat and a blue HUM at your heart. These letters are made of radiant light. If you can’t visualize these letters in Tibetan or Sanskrit, you can visualize them in English or any other language.

Concentrate on the white OM in your brain. Recognize that this white OM is the pure energy of the divine body of the buddhas and bodhisattvas.

Make the sound “OM” and visualize that radiant white light emanates from the syllable, goes down your central psychic channel and fills your whole body with blissful, radiant white light energy. All conceptions and impure energy of body are cleansed and purified.

It is important to visualize that your entire body, from head to toe, is completely full of blissful, radiant white light energy. Feel that. Continue making the sound “OM” for two or three minutes while you are meditating and purifying your body.

When you stop making the sound, don’t do or think anything. Remain perfectly still, fully aware, unconcerned with good or bad, not reacting, free of any internal conversation, with all your attention on the light consciousness at the center of your brain. Be there. Be intensely aware and let go, without sluggishness, without distraction, without expectation.

Intensive awareness leads to the experience of zero, or egolessness; emptiness; nothing. Comprehend this intense awareness and let go.

Next comes purification of the speech.

Concentrate on the red AH at your throat chakra, like the sun at sunset. Recognize that this red AH is the pure speech of the buddhas and bodhisattvas.

Make the sound “AH” for two or three minutes and visualize that radiant red light emanates from the syllable, goes down your central psychic channel and fills your whole body with blissful, radiant red light energy. All conceptions and impure energy of speech are cleansed and purified.

Again, when you finish the recitation, just be, without any expectation or interpretation, in a state of intense awareness of your own consciousness.

Understand your experience of the non-dual, of the non-self-existent I, of nothingness, zero, empty space as truth; as reality. This increases your energy for strong comprehension of reality. This experience is much more real than your waking, fantasy sense world.

When uncontrolled, distracting thoughts come during meditation, realize that not only you but also all other sentient beings are in the same situation of not being able to control the mind. On this basis, cultivate equilibrium and loving kindness for all others. Thus, your uncontrolled, distracted mind becomes a resource for the development of loving kindness. When it arises, direct that intense awareness of loving kindness towards your consciousness.

Hence, there are two ways you can meditate here. Either place intense awareness on your own consciousness or, when distractions arise, direct intense awareness of loving kindness on your own consciousness. Alternate these two.

Then, your loving kindness manifests in your central channel at your heart as a full moon disk.

This leads to purification of the mind

At your heart, on the moon disk, stands a radiant blue HUM. Recognize that this blue HUM is the non-dual wisdom of all the buddhas and bodhisattvas. Your heart is pure, cool and calm, opened by the radiant light of the moon and the HUM. Infinite blue light radiates from the HUM. All narrow thoughts disappear; all indecisive minds disappear; all obsessed minds disappear.

The radiant blue light from the moon and the HUM fills your whole body. Your whole body feels blissful. Filled with light, there is no room for fanatical, dualistic concepts. At the same time, make the sound “HUM” for two or three minutes.

Then feel infinite blue light, like your consciousness, embrace the entire universal reality. Your intensive awareness embraces all of universal reality. Feel and be, without expectation or superstition.

Lama Yeshe concludes by saying:

There are two essential experiences that we can achieve through this meditation: wisdom and method. The wisdom experience is intensive awareness of your own consciousness. The method experience comes when you get distracted and use that lack of control as a resource to re-generate loving kindness. Then, when you are again free of distraction, remain in the experience of wisdom. In summary, when your concentration is good, place your attention on wisdom; when you are distracted, generate loving kindness.

Recitation of the OM AH HUM mantra is very useful. Since you are often too busy to recite long mantras, you can recite this short one, which represents all other mantras. In particular, when you say “OM,” intensive awareness is energized and your consciousness awakens within you.

The purpose of meditation is to awaken us from the deep sleep of ignorance—to awaken us to universal reality, not to our usual fanatic reality. Mantra touches a wider reality; that’s why it’s useful.

Dedication

Now dedicate the merit of having done not only this meditation but also the whole module on death and rebirth, this part of the FPMT’s Discovering Buddhism program.

When you have time in your own practice, it’s good to sometimes do the more extensive dedications found in the FPMT Prayer Books, but here we’ll again do a brief one.

Think, “Because of the merit I have created studying and practicing the teachings on death and rebirth, may all spiritual teachers have long and healthy lives in order to teach Dharma, may the Dharma spread throughout infinite space in all directions, and may all sentient beings quickly reach enlightenment.”

Thank you very much.