← Carol Corradi

Discovering Buddhism - Death and Rebirth (3 May 2012)

Carol Corradi · 3 May 2012 · 1 h 59 min · Tse Chen Ling via Internet Archive

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  • 4:14

    I was looking at places today. It's very exciting. There's a lot out there all over the place. But it's like saṃsāra, because you find a place that looks great inside, but then the parking outside is all green zone, or the parking is one hour. Or you go inside, and there's no kitchen or sink. There's a bathroom, but that's it. It's just sort of, or this last place that I looked at is just... Like this shell, it's a very new building and it's great because it has 95 parking spaces, but it has to be finished out. So it's, and it's the kind of thing where they don't really tell you when they started pushing me or trying to grab the details out of the broker.

  • 5:50

    And we are going to talk about it a little bit tonight in terms of practices that we can do to prepare for the time of death. But it's a good way to begin our meditation and also to begin our class and to also set our motivation. So find that comfortable meditation pose. Shoulders back and head tilted forward slightly. Your feet crossed or, you know.

  • 17:43

    So one of the things we've talked about as we reflect back on the class, we talked about the meditation. On the nine points, the nine point meditation on death. And then we talked about preliminary practices and how we could create a practice. You know, we talked about how death is certain and the time of death is uncertain. And that the only thing that can really help us at the time of death is, you know, what we've done with our minds, you know, our spiritual practice if we have any.

  • 28:04

    The subtlest consciousness carries imprints. The tantric teachings talk about the The gross mind, the subtle mind, and the very subtle or most subtle mind. And it's on that very most subtle mind that the karmic imprints are carried. So we're actually going to do another...

  • 56:32

    So all that's left now is your subtle mind and the very subtle mind. The gross mind has dissolved. And the four physical elements have dissolved. So now the 80 instinctive conceptions dissolve.

· · ·

1:16 I'll just put it like that because I don't speak too much. Report an error

1:32 I think that's about it. Report an error

2:00 Okay, now, we have to do the, Jenna, oh Jenna, we have to hook up the computer, the, oh, thanks Lisa. Report an error

· · ·

2:42 Is it in the, in? Yes. Okay, great. It's a test. It's like that moment of truth. Is it in or out? And did I put it in the right? Nothing's happening. Report an error

2:58 Oh, now it's searching. It's okay. I think we're okay. Report an error

3:07 Of course. No, I think it's okay, though. Report an error

3:25 Okay. Finally. Well, welcome to our last class. And did everybody get the... I sent out slides today and I sent out a copy of the stages of dissolution, which Report an error

3:51 we will meditate on tonight. How'd your week of meditation go? For those of you who, and the readings and everything is somewhat in place there. Report an error

4:05 Good. Let's begin with a little meditation because I certainly could use some. Report an error

4:14 I was looking at places today. It's very exciting. There's a lot out there all over the place. But it's like saṃsāra, because you find a place that looks great inside, but then the parking outside is all green zone, or the parking is one hour. Or you go inside, and there's no kitchen or sink. There's a bathroom, but that's it. It's just sort of, or this last place that I looked at is just... Report an error

4:43 Like this shell, it's a very new building and it's great because it has 95 parking spaces, but it has to be finished out. So it's, and it's the kind of thing where they don't really tell you when they started pushing me or trying to grab the details out of the broker. He said, well, how does this usually work? Because he said, oh, you could probably, you know, be allotted like almost $100,000 to finish this up. Report an error

5:15 But I said, how does that work? He said, well, you usually pay it up front and then you get paid back. I was like, I don't think that's going to work. Thank you. Report an error

5:26 So let's do Report an error

5:37 a little tongue gland meditation. We haven't talked about tongue gland so much. And I don't know if you're familiar with it, but tongue gland means giving and taking. And we are going to talk about it a little bit tonight in terms of practices that we can do to prepare for the time of death. But it's a good way to begin our meditation and also to begin our class and to also set our motivation. So find that comfortable meditation pose. Report an error

6:13 Shoulders back and head tilted forward slightly. Your feet crossed or, you know. If you're really flexible, maybe you can do that whole double cross thing. Or if you're sitting in a chair, that's fine. And just check to see that your spine is straight, but not stiff. You can have your palms together, right palm on the left with your thumbs touching, maybe about four fingers below your navel. Report an error

6:42 Or you can rest your palms on your knees. Again, whatever's comfortable for you. And just begin with a few breaths. With each breath, just feel yourself letting go of the sensations around you, the sounds. Just Report an error

7:13 focus your attention on the breath. And as you take a few more, just comfortably paced breaths. As you exhale, just feel yourself letting go of all the day's concerns, all Report an error

7:32 the things on your mind. And Report an error

7:38 just imagine that you're exhaling all the tension in your body. Report an error

7:49 So your mind is relaxed. Your body's relaxed, but your attention is alert, focused on your breath. Report an error

· · ·

9:24 So now just visualize in front of you someone you love very much. It could be your mother, your father, your best friend, your husband or wife, your partner, your child. It Report an error

9:50 could be a favorite aunt or uncle. Report an error

10:02 And as you see this person, Report an error

10:08 just imagine the problems they have in life. Report an error

10:14 Physical problems like illness, age, Report an error

10:23 could be any kind of problem. Report an error

10:35 And just imagine as you breathe in, Report an error

10:41 you take the problems, you take away the suffering, you take away the illness, you take away the unhappiness, the disappointment, the frustration, whatever. Report an error

10:55 Just comes in with each breath and that dear one's load becomes lighter. Report an error

11:05 And then imagine that as you exhale, You send out happiness and loving kindness. Report an error

11:21 So this is the giving and taking. We're taking on the suffering of this dear person and sending out happiness. Report an error

11:40 As you're doing this, just imagine that at the center of your heart is kind of a black rock, just a mass that represents your self-cherishing, just sitting there, Report an error

12:04 just kind of frozen within you. And imagine that as you breathe on, as you breathe in, taking on the sufferings of this person, all of that energy just gathers at your heart and completely shatters that black stone. Report an error

12:32 And what's left is just the bodhicitta, the cherishing, loving heart that cherishes others. Report an error

12:55 Just continue taking on the suffering and sending out this loving kindness. Report an error

· · ·

13:34 And then just imagine that this person whom you love so much is now very happy and just feeling really relieved and well and joyful. Report an error

13:57 And then just think about how lovely it would be if you could do this for all beings. Report an error

14:13 And then make the wish that maybe someday I might be able to do this for all beings. Report an error

14:35 And then if you feel ready maybe you can take it a step further and say that definitely one day I'm determined to be able to do this for all beings. Report an error

· · ·

15:20 So keeping this motivation of cherishing others in your heart and generating the strong wish to develop your mind, transform your mind and really strengthen and develop this altruistic attitude, this bodhicitta motivation and Report an error

15:50 realizing that the best way we can help others is to continue on our journey in this path. Report an error

16:05 And to generate the wish to attain enlightenment to benefit others. Report an error

16:23 So just thinking that I'm going to keep this bodhicitta motivation, this wish to attain enlightenment now as my motivation for this class, for the rest of this evening and for the rest of my days. Report an error

· · ·

17:43 So one of the things we've talked about as we reflect back on the class, we talked about the meditation. On the nine points, the nine point meditation on death. And then we talked about preliminary practices and how we could create a practice. You know, we talked about how death is certain and the time of death is uncertain. And that the only thing that can really help us at the time of death is, you know, what we've done with our minds, you know, our spiritual practice if we have any. Report an error

18:25 So we talked about... A little bit about how to cultivate a practice. We talked about meditation. We've done various meditations to attempt to really internalize or better realize the truth about death because we tend to live as though death doesn't exist. We live as though we're going to live forever. And we all know that that's not true. Report an error

18:58 But we're still very, very surprised when the time comes. And equally surprised when death comes to someone near us. Even when it comes to people who are famous, that we maybe don't know personally, it's always a surprise. Report an error

19:21 So it's said that when we talked last week about the stages of dissolution, It said that we can use this moment of death to attain liberation or enlightenment, to attain a favorable rebirth, or to avoid an unfavorable rebirth. And there are different ways of doing this. Part of these, you know, in terms of to attain liberation or enlightenment, if we are practiced in recognizing the stages of dissolution. Report an error

20:02 This means that there's potential as we go through those stages and arrive at the clear light mind that that can be used to help us become aware of that experience and take it even further in terms of attaining liberation by recognizing the true nature of existence. That everything is empty of inherent nature. And then in the same way, enlightenment can arise out of that. Report an error

20:40 And then in terms of obtaining a favorable rebirth, just by having meditated on the experience, mentally on the experience of death and the fact that the only thing that's going to help us at that time is our spiritual practice. If we've meditated through our lives and we've created some sort of spiritual practice, then at least we can die with, you know, we know to die with virtuous thoughts on our mind. Report an error

21:10 You know, we'll turn our minds to virtue if we practice virtue. And then finally, just in terms of avoiding an unfavorable rebirth, by knowing the benefit of having a calm and peaceful death, By knowing that we've at least tried to live a moral life, then we can die without fear and without regret. So all of those things are advantageous in terms of helping us at this moment of death. Sogyo Rinpoche says, according to the wisdom of the Buddha, we can actually use our lives to prepare for death. Report an error

21:57 We do not have to wait for the painful death of someone close to us. Or the shock of a terminal illness to force us into looking at our lives. Nor are we condemned to go out empty-handed at death to meet the unknown. We can begin here and now to find meaning in our lives. We can make of every moment an opportunity to change and to prepare wholeheartedly, precisely and with peace of mind for death and eternity. Report an error

22:27 So remembering that death is basically another transition. It isn't an ant. So that's from the Tibetan Book of Living and Dying by Sogyo Rinpoche. So it's, you know, even, I mean, it's just an ordinary fact that, you know, we die the way we live. This isn't even Buddhist, basically, because if we, you know, it's what we encounter at death is determined by our lives and our state of mind at the time of death. Report an error

23:05 You know, if we've spent our lives living ethically, morally, living with some spiritual perspective, then we will die in the same way. So a life spent accepting life means we are likely to die accepting death. So what I mean here is, you know, accepting life is being open to the problems that arise. Report an error

23:33 Not living in a closed mind where there's a wish to, where there's frustration when things don't go your way, where there's constant expectations. Report an error

23:49 When problems arise, because that's the nature of this existence. It's cyclic existence, and we're going round and round, and we'll get to more of this, but the problem is... Our lives are basically ruled by karma and afflictions. So problems are kind of just the way things are. And so if we're going to get through life and be happy, we have to learn how to be happy with our problems. Report an error

24:31 Living with love and compassion means dying with love and compassion. Report an error

24:38 Venerable Antonio, he's a monk that has led some retreats at Vajrapani, some Vipassanā retreats. And he says, happiness is not synonymous with having no problems. Happiness comes from within. So again, it's what we do with the circumstances that life throws at us. Report an error

25:01 And Lama Zopa Rinpoche says, from transforming problems, instead of seeing all the harms, Caused by living beings and non-living things as sufferings, you should develop the habit of recognizing them as beneficial conditions, the cause of your happiness. So we have to train our thoughts in two ways. We've got to stop the automatic aversion that arises when problems happen. Because, you know, you can feel it. Report an error

25:29 You can kind of feel your heart closing up and it's like, ah! You know, it's painful. It's like, ah! You know, your plans are... disrupted, you know, it's Report an error

25:42 It just stops everything. And then we have to generate the thought of being happy to experience problems. So it's really transforming that. I mean, it sounds a little crazy, but once you get rid of that aversion, now at least you're open to thinking, okay, well, this is happening, but maybe there's a good side to this. Report an error

26:06 Maybe it means that... There's something that I'll learn out of this, something that will come of it. And if you think about Dharma, I mean, it's a tremendous opportunity to practice. Because if we don't have problems, if everything just goes smoothly, we have no time to practice. It's always said that your enemy is your best teacher. Somebody who's a problem, who gives you trouble all the time. Report an error

26:33 And we sort of naturally gravitate. You're kind of away from people like that. It's like, oh, you know, I don't need this. But if I don't need it, you know, then I never get a chance to practice patience. And when death comes, I'll have no patience. You know, I won't have the practice of mind because when death comes, there will be many, you know, many disturbing problems, you know. Report an error

27:07 It's going to make the problems I'm facing now seem like nothing. So if I can't even handle these problems, no wonder, you know, I mean, it's no wonder that, you know, I've probably gone through death so many times and it's been, you know, a very unhappy experience. But what's neat is that now I have the opportunity to do something about that. As Soyo Rinpoche says, you know, we don't have to wait for death to come to, you know, either around us or, you know, for our own. Report an error

27:36 Terminal diagnosis. We have this opportunity right now. Report an error

27:42 So remembering, as I mentioned, that death is just a time of transformation and not an end. So we talk about rebirth because that is the next step. Report an error

27:55 And rebirth arises due to causes and conditions. Report an error

28:04 The subtlest consciousness carries imprints. The tantric teachings talk about the The gross mind, the subtle mind, and the very subtle or most subtle mind. And it's on that very most subtle mind that the karmic imprints are carried. So we're actually going to do another... Report an error

28:36 Stages of Dissolution meditation. But if you recall when we went through those stages and talked about them, there's a point where the gross consciousness dissolves. And at that point, you know, we don't have a recognition of others anymore. And through this, so we have to be careful sometimes when we think about rebirth to not fall into a mistaken view of like, oh yeah, you know, this I, whoever that is, which... Report an error

29:05 It really doesn't exist. It's just going to go on to the next life. There is no, when we talk about this subtlest consciousness, it's a very subtle consciousness that just arises with these karmic imprints. Report an error

29:21 So, karma arises from, well, imprints arise from karma, and karma arises from action and intent. So, part of the, I mean, the karma is determined by the kind of action. But it's also determined by the motivation or the intent. So you can have kind of mixed karma where sometimes there's, you know, a bad action done for a good reason. Report an error

29:48 And this is kind of the subject of another class. But it just gives you an idea that, you know, throughout all our lives we're creating karma because when you do an action there's either positive, negative or neutral karma. You know, when you do neutral actions there's really no karma that arises. But when you do a negative action and you're aware of it, it leaves a karmic seed. And for that karmic seed to ripen, you need to have the seed and you have to have the conditions that make it grow. Report an error

30:21 So we'll talk more about that in terms of the conditions later. But suffice it to say that... The causes of our continual suffering in this cyclic existence arise from ignorance, anger and attachment. And when I say ignorance here, again I'm talking about that mistaken or misconception of viewing things as existing permanently and inherently. Report an error

30:49 So if we could see things as simply dependent origination, all of the attachment, all of the aversion... It wouldn't arise. It's our grasping at things that gives us trouble. It's not a problem with the things themselves. Again, it's our reaction. Sometimes when we talk about, you'll hear the phrase, the three poisons, and that's, again, this ignorance, anger, and attachment. Report an error

31:23 And the root of those three, the root of all of our suffering, is this ignorance or misconception. Because as I said, you know, it's mistakenly viewing things that leads to our wanting them or wanting to be away from them, that attachment or aversion. Report an error

31:46 So in Report an error

31:51 terms of what we can do about, you know, about helping ourselves at the time of death, there's a book called Facing Death and Finding Hope by Christine Longacre. And I think there's some contributions in there by Venerable Sanghe Kadro as well. And so she talks about these four tasks of living and dying. Report an error

32:19 And first she talks about understanding and transforming suffering. And this is pretty much what we've been talking about in terms of coming to an acceptance of problems, of difficulties and painful experiences, and learning to cope with them. Report an error

32:38 Kind of having that mind because all of these difficulties that arise, all of these challenges prepare us for the final challenge, which is going through our death experience. Report an error

32:54 And then secondly, she says making a connection, healing relationships and letting go. So this refers to our relationship with others and particularly with family and friends. Just learning to be honest with others, communicate, to try to develop compassion, to try to deal with others unselfishly. Report an error

33:24 And basically, I mean, and this is also not particularly a Buddhist thing, but, you know, you talk about nearing the time of death and we talk about resolving issues, you know, trying to... Trying to deal with things. So, you know, this is a good thing. It's a good way to live all the time. You know, let's just imagine, you know, when something happens and there's a misunderstanding or, you know, an argument or something hurtful with someone. Report an error

33:59 You know, it's a great idea to keep it in your mind to do something about it, you know, then. Don't wait because we don't know. We don't know what's going to happen in the next breath. We might be dying. And so if we make a habit of living this way, then we're constantly, we're not carrying baggage around. Report an error

34:20 We're just moving along with a very light load. So then the third is finding meaning in life. And this might seem kind of obvious, but I think it's really important. And sometimes we don't really think about it because The society we live in, meaning has such a different focus. Meaning is about acquiring material things or status or power. Report an error

34:54 And we already know that none of those things is going to help at the time of death. So you have to really, if you're going to cultivate a spiritual practice, you have to think about what is your meaning in life? What is your purpose? You know, and Report an error

35:12 Just having that in mind, whether it's this determination to transform your mind, to develop love and compassion, to work toward bodhicitta, to work toward enlightenment. It's your personal task. And it's something that I think prepares us well for our last breath, as well as for facing aging and any other... Report an error

35:42 You know, all the other problems that arise. It still keeps us sort of centered. And then finally, preparing spiritually for death. And Christine Longacre writes, every religious tradition emphasizes that to prepare spiritually for death, it's vital that we establish right now a daily spiritual practice. Report an error

36:06 A practice so deeply ingrained that it becomes part of our flesh and bones. Our reflexive response to every situation in life, including our experiences of suffering. If you think about that, that's saying quite a bit. That's more than simply paying lip service or, you know. And no one is saying that your practice has to be a Buddhist practice. Report an error

36:29 It's whatever works for you. But it should be something that's really your heart practice, if it's going to help you. Report an error

36:43 And she goes on to, there's some suggested practices which involve, as we mentioned before, living ethically or morally, studying spiritual teachings. So in whatever tradition, to go seek out those teachings. And we've talked before about the precious human rebirth. So we're all in this rebirth where we have this opportunity. And so this is the time to be able to examine. Report an error

37:14 Examine teachings, examine traditions and really figure out through your meditation, whatever that meditation tradition is. But when you meditate, you're really looking deeply and it's your opportunity to find what rings true for you and what works. Report an error

37:38 And this cultivating a spiritual practice. So that could be, as I said, any tradition. It could involve, you know, if it's a Buddhist tradition, it might involve taking refuge. There are many traditions that revolve around mindfulness, loving kindness, and even, you know, the meditation we did before that we started out with, the Tonglen meditation. Report an error

38:06 And I should say what we, you know, that was sort of a baby Tonglen practice. Because when we do Tonglen, Tonglen means... Taking and giving in Tibetan. And sometimes the traditional Tonglen meditations are based on envisioning yourself sitting with all sentient beings in front of you. So you can visualize your friends and family and the people you love behind you and then the people that... Report an error

38:43 Give you problems that you're not too happy with or that think very differently in front of you and then you can envision around them people you don't know. And then you can go ahead and envision all sentient beings in different forms or you can imagine that all sentient beings are in human form. And you just have this whole crowd. Report an error

39:03 And then you go into that same kind of practice. You realize that they're all suffering in many different ways and you take that on. But sometimes that's a little too much to start with. And there are a couple possibilities. One is just thinking of someone you love because, of course, this is a great way to start because it's still cherishing others. Report an error

39:22 And if that's difficult, you can even think about yourself in the future and think about the problems. Maybe it's next week. Maybe you've got something happening. And you can actually take on your own problems that way. So these are ways to sort of practice. And you can kind of expand as it's comfortable. Report an error

39:43 But the other side of this is just kind of envisioning that self-cherishing at your heart, which, you know, it could be a block of ice, it could be a block of stone, but the idea is that as we take on the suffering of others, it just completely shatters it. And then when we give out this loving compassion, there is just no end to it. It's an inexhaustible well of loving kindness. Report an error

40:13 So it's a really lovely practice to do, and sometimes it just feels good to sit down and, like I say, you can start slow and small and then kind of work into it. And that can be a daily practice. And then finally, there's another suggested practice is to become familiar with the stages of death, because as we talked about the benefit of the stages of dissolution, Beyond or besides the idea of actually using that time to realize emptiness, which might be a tall order, but I don't know. Report an error

41:00 This could be great. The thing is, just being familiar with the stages will calm our minds, because that's what we want to do. Report an error

41:10 It's a time we're going to do that meditation and we're going to... It's an interesting, when you start to do this meditation, lots of feelings arise. At least for me, they do. And I think the point of making ourselves familiar with this meditation is so that at some point when we experience, when we're starting to experience this process, it's like coming home. Report an error

41:36 It's like, oh, yeah, I know this. So that immediately takes away the fear and the panic. Even if we don't take it any further, even if we can't focus on the clear light mind, just being familiar with it allows us to maintain that peace and that calm. And if we've been doing these kinds of meditations and practicing through life, then we also have that virtuous mind that's with it. Report an error

42:03 So very powerful there. Report an error

42:09 And then, okay, I was going to say too, in the spiritual practice area, It's good, too, to remember meditation on emptiness because, as I was saying, Report an error

42:25 it's this misconception of existence, of everything and ourselves as existing inherently, that gives rise to our grasping at things or our aversion. So cutting through that. That misconception is another very powerful practice. Report an error

42:52 So I wanted to cover, since we're talking about rebirth, Report an error

43:04 maybe we'll go through these realms and then we'll take a little break and then we'll do that meditation. Report an error

43:18 You know what, let's do the meditation right now because we've been talking about this. And I think it would be good if we can do that now and then, because it's a pretty powerful meditation. Report an error

43:39 So again, just get yourself in a comfortable position. Report an error

43:51 Let's take a few breaths. As you exhale, just breathe out all of the distractions, all Report an error

44:07 of the hindrances to watching your breath. Report an error

44:15 Just let your mind feel concentrated and focused on the breath. Report an error

44:35 So imagine yourself lying in bed, kind of wondering what's next. Report an error

44:49 You're wondering because you were diagnosed with a terminal illness. And the doctor wasn't able to tell you exactly how much time you have left. But he told you that you probably have a month. Report an error

45:06 But you've awakened and you know that something's happening. Report an error

45:17 And you know that this could be the moment that you're dying. And it's a bit of a shock because you were counting on that month. It's only been a week. Report an error

45:32 It's a very strange feeling in your body. But something in your mind is telling you that death is very near. Report an error

45:47 So just think of how you're feeling. Maybe a little panic is arising as you contemplate what's going to be happening. But then you think about your death meditation practice. Report an error

46:04 You remember that there's nothing to be done but to generate peaceful thoughts right now, to Report an error

46:13 try to generate a virtuous mind, Report an error

46:19 thinking of cherishing others, thinking of a mind of loving kindness. So just gently remind yourself not to be frightened. Report an error

46:39 And when the panic starts to come back again, just thinking that you might not see your loved ones again, you might not get up out of this bed again. Report an error

46:51 Just, again, bring back that thought that everything will be okay. Report an error

47:04 That as long as you keep your mind calm, you keep these peaceful thoughts. And you know that there might be frightening visions, but they're all just appearance. Report an error

47:19 Just arising out of karma. And you don't have to respond to them. You don't have to act on them. Report an error

47:30 And instead, try to keep your mind focused on love and compassion. Report an error

47:41 Maybe turning your thoughts to the people around you, your friends, your family, your dear ones. And just thinking that they'll be okay without you. That you've meditated on this before. You've done the death meditation. You've recognized that this moment could come at any time. Report an error

48:10 And you thought about letting go of your loved ones, about letting go of your possessions, and even about letting go of your body. Report an error

48:25 Just remember this body is like a hotel room and that now you're moving on. We don't get attached. We stay in a hotel. It's just a place. Just a place to pass through. Our body is the same. Report an error

48:50 So as you're lying there in your bed, you're realizing that your limbs feel very loose. Maybe your body feels as though it's sinking under the earth and Report an error

49:05 you recognize this as the earth element dissolving. As the aggregate of form absorbs, the limbs become smaller, the body becomes weak and powerless, the luster of the body diminishes and Report an error

49:29 all your strength is consumed. Report an error

49:42 You realize now that your sight becomes unclear and kind of dark. Report an error

49:50 You feel like you can't perceive all sorts of things simultaneously. This is your mirror-like wisdom dissolving. Report an error

50:09 And as this is happening, you realize you can no longer open or close your eyes, and an appearance of a shimmering, silvery-blue mirage appears. Report an error

50:21 It's like an expanse, a shimmering expanse. Report an error

50:37 And at this point, you don't have any sense of time, but you realize that your mouth feels dry. Your bodily fluids are starting to dry. Report an error

50:50 And as they dry up, Report an error

50:54 The water element loses its power. Report an error

51:09 You begin to lose your body consciousness or your touch consciousness. You can't experience the three types of feelings that accompany the sense consciousness. Report an error

51:23 This means that the aggregate of feelings is absorbing. Report an error

51:45 Soon you realize that you're no longer aware of any feelings accompanying your mental consciousness. and this is The dissolution of the basic wisdom of equality, our ordinary consciousness. It's just kind of dissolving. Report an error

52:11 And then the buzzing in your ears goes silent. You realize you can no longer hear any external sounds or internal sounds. Your ear sense is gone. And what appears to your eyes, or appears, I shouldn't say it to your eyes, it appears in your mind. Report an error

52:33 There's like a puff of smoke. Or it's like the room is full of smoke. Report an error

53:02 And as this continues, you realize your body is changing. And as the fire element loses its power, you can no longer digest food or drink. Report an error

53:20 Discrimination absorbs and you're no longer aware of people around you, the room around you, anything. If people come in, you won't be able to remember their names. Maybe this is happening. Maybe you have some sense. Of someone being there, but it's a distant, distant view. Report an error

53:59 Your inhalation weakens. Your exhalation becomes stronger and longer. You realize that you've lost your sense of smell. Report an error

54:15 In your mind, there's an appearance of fireflies or sparks within dark smoke. Report an error

54:40 So as you're continuing in this dissolution, the ten winds move to the heart. And inhalation and exhalation cease. At this point, the wind element loses its power. Report an error

54:57 So the aggregate of compositional factors absorbs and you can no longer move and you also can't experience any different textures. Report an error

55:14 You're no longer aware of any external worldly activities, your own or others. It's just that association with worldly things is gone. Report an error

55:27 Your tongue becomes thick. And short and the root of your tongue becomes blue. You realize that you've lost your taste sense. Report an error

55:40 You can't really use your tongue anymore. And there's an appearance of a dull orangey red light, Report an error

55:52 kind of like a sputtering candle flame about to go out. And it sort of flickers and then it just holds steady. Report an error

· · ·

56:32 So all that's left now is your subtle mind and the very subtle mind. The gross mind has dissolved. And the four physical elements have dissolved. Report an error

56:48 So now the 80 instinctive conceptions dissolve. Report an error

56:56 That means your thoughts, your subtle feelings, your discernments, all these things are gone. The winds in the right and left channels above the heart enter the central channel at the top of the head. Report an error

57:17 And what arises in your mind is kind of a vast space filled with white light. This is the arising of the subtle mind. It's also called the white vision. Report an error

57:50 Now the winds in the right and left channel below the heart enter the central channel at the base of the spine. Report an error

58:00 The white vision dissolves and what appears in your mind is a vast space filled with a coppery red light. Report an error

58:12 So the experiences are becoming more subtle. Report an error

58:20 And then the upper and lower winds gather at the heart and the winds enter the indestructible drop at the heart. Report an error

58:34 At this point, the white vision dissolves. Report an error

58:53 I'm sorry, at this point, the red vision dissolves and just a darkness arises, kind of a black sky. Report an error

59:15 So the white, red and dark visions constitute the subtle level of consciousness dissolving. We Report an error

59:28 can only reach this level of consciousness in very deep stages of meditation. So maybe you... You've been through this before because of your very advanced meditation practice or maybe you've never experienced it. Maybe you've experienced it and just forgotten it from the last time of death. Report an error

59:55 But here it is happening. So this is the subtle mind dissolving. Report an error

1:00:05 And now all the winds dissolve into the very subtle life-bearing wind in the indestructible drop at the heart. Report an error

1:00:16 The darkness gives way to a vast space filled with clear light. You see this clear light in your mind, just like the sky before dawn in a very clear sky. Report an error

1:00:34 This is the most subtle and pure level of your mind. Report an error

1:00:45 And just try to be there, to be at peace with this. You've just gone through all the stages and you've gone through them peacefully. It's Report an error

1:01:13 just another journey and Report an error

1:01:19 one that you've prepared for. Report an error

1:01:31 So just focus on this dawning clear light. Report an error

1:01:48 Feel like you recognize this from your meditation practice and it's something familiar. Report an error

1:02:12 So now just imagine that this clear light gives way to the dark vision again. The dark vision gives way to the coppery red light. Report an error

1:02:29 The coppery red vision gives way to a white vision. Report an error

1:02:38 This is the reversal. This is like... This is the rebirth process where you've gone from the very subtle mind now to the subtle mind and then the Report an error

1:02:58 white vision gives way to the appearance of the dull orangey red light like the candle flame sputtering, that butter lamp vision and Report an error

1:03:20 that giving way to the appearance of fireflies or sparks and then the appearance of smoke and then back to the appearance of the mirage. Report an error

1:03:33 And now just imagine yourself back here on your cushion and Report an error

1:03:50 feel comfortable with having gone through these disillusioned stages. Report an error

1:04:03 And just walk them into your memory, this experience. And Report an error

1:04:22 when you're ready, you can just end this meditation and take a break. Report an error

· · ·

1:08:57 we just... Report an error

1:09:19 we'll go back the dark and we'll say, well, you're not seen. Report an error

1:09:33 we have been through it. Report an error

· · ·

1:10:24 mean, personally, sure. Report an error

1:10:43 I Report an error

· · ·

1:24:58 haven't actually looked it up, but colloquially I think it means, you know, just like a great authority. An excellent teacher, an accomplished teacher. Because I think pandit, I mean, it's not a Tibetan word. I think it just means someone who's recognized as an authority in his or her field. I Report an error

1:25:24 want to say it's from maybe Hindi or something. I'm not sure. Because I always hear about it with regard to Indian teachers, like the great pandit Naropa. But I don't know. It would be worth... Report an error

1:25:41 yeah, I'm not. I will check it out. Let's see if we can get this back. Hello. It's searching. Report an error

1:25:51 While we're waiting for this, did you get at least a feel of the dissolution stages meditation? And that's something, like I said, I sent the list. And you can make it as simple. You can have it even in the sense of you don't have to have all the, you know, to know sort of what's dissolving at the time. Report an error

1:26:13 You know, you can just focus on knowing that, oh yeah, first it's the mirage, you know, and then it's the smoke, and then it's the fireflies, and oh yeah, then it's the white appearance. And you can kind of, you know, as you go through that, just meditating on that gives you a little practice and familiarity. Report an error

1:26:44 I'm sorry? I got the list online. You know, it's, there's, I mean, I've been using one from, not from this book. I don't even think I brought my, did I bring my books today? No, I didn't. But the, there's, like I said, there was that, there's a really good book by His Holiness on, what was it? It was Dying and, oh, Sleeping, Dreaming, Dying is a very good one because that's Francisco Varela. Report an error

1:27:22 He's the editor on that. And that was with the Dalai Lama. So that's a good one. And that's on the older side, but it's still good. And then there's another one. I think it's like advice on preparing for death and living a good life. And that's by the Dalai Lama, too. And it's a small hardcover book. And both of those give pretty, I think, well, I know the practice book by His Holiness. Report an error

1:27:52 Has details of the dissolution processes. I think the other one does as well. It has a lot of information in it. And then there's also Sogyo Rinpoche's book, The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying, which has, it's a great book. So, and then there's another, you know, the Tibetan Book of the Dead. There's a good, good translation by Robert Thurman, which is a more scholarly approach too. Report an error

1:28:17 And that gives a fuller explanation of The rebirth process and the stages. There's another book by Lati Rinpoche and Jeffrey Hopkins, which also covers the stages of death. And I don't know that one. That's a good one, too. Yeah, I should have brought that one. Mark, I'm sorry. Do you remember the one? There's a book by Lati Rinpoche and Jeffrey Hopkins. Do you know that one? Report an error

1:28:52 On the stages of death? Okay. You know what, if you go, there's a, yeah, Report an error

1:29:24 Oh, I know her. Yeah, she's actually an American. She studied at the Institute of Dialectics in Dharamsala. She is also the founder of Sakyadita, which is an association of Buddhist women. She does a lot. She has a conference about every two years that involves bringing women from third world countries together with nuns and women from first world nations and trying to work together. Report an error

1:29:58 But she, yeah, she's Report an error

1:30:10 I'm not sure. Report an error

1:30:25 I thought Dzogchen was... Enigma, okay. Yeah, because Dzogchen is another... Actually, years ago, His Holiness the Dalai Lama came to San Jose and he gave Dzogchen teachings. And so you'll see that tradition as well. But again, Dzogchen is getting into Highest Yoga Tantra. But, yeah, tremendous much. Report an error

1:30:49 Okay, interesting, yeah. Okay. Report an error

1:30:57 That's it. That's it. Thank you. Thank you, Russ. Yep. And rebirth. Yeah. Because I think, yes, I do remember that one. Okay. So, yes. Report an error

1:31:18 No, that's a really good question. And that's one of the things that we should think about doing because as we, you know, prepare for our own deaths, it's good, you know, it gives us essentially a lot of opportunity to help others. And, of course, if you're dealing with someone who's Buddhist. Then it's pretty straightforward. You can recite mantras. You can try to have blessed objects around or representations of the three jewels. Report an error

1:31:54 I think we've talked before. I always have a hard time showing you a stupa, but a stupa is the representation of the enlightened mind. And you can place that on the person's crown or at their heart. And there are, actually, if you go to the FPMT website, there's... Shop FPMT. And there are, there's a very good book in there. It's kind of a, oh, here we go. This is a, thank you, Mark. Report an error

1:32:21 So this is a stupa. And I mean, a stupa, you can actually bless somebody by putting it on the crown anyway. You can do corwa or circumambulation around it. For the person who's dying, it's something you can place on their chest or on their head because we want to be careful not to disturb someone, but as they're going through the process, it's still okay. Report an error

1:32:44 I mean, it's more like once they appear to have died, then we really don't want to be disturbing them. And it's said, though, that it's, you know, for someone, again, if you're Buddhist, a lot of times it's great to have, like, the mantra. Mantras being chanted in the background, whether it's by live people or having a recording. It reminds the person and helps to keep the mind on virtue. Report an error

1:33:14 And if it's someone who has a spiritual tradition that isn't Buddhist, if you know that spiritual tradition or you can help bring them something that is comforting for them. I had a friend years ago who was... Dying and she really didn't have, what was interesting, she had kind of started with a, she came from a Catholic background but then had like an Indian meditation teacher. Report an error

1:33:47 But when she was on her, you know, she was basically her last night and I was with her and she wanted to say Hail Marys, you know. So, you know, we did some. Hail Mary recitation. And so people, you know, you don't really know whatever comes to their mind. It's good if you can provide something that's just comforting to them. Report an error

1:34:13 And if they have no spiritual tradition at all, then, you know, just trying to help keep their minds calm and peaceful. And, you know, you have to be careful because sometimes when people, I know in my family, Report an error

1:34:30 I've seen this happen where, like when my mom was dying, her sister came and, you know, her sister was younger and very close to her and unfortunately she was crying and, you know, sort of mourning. And I really, I kind of hated to see that happen, but I couldn't really stop it. So, you know, I tried to sort of calm her and... Report an error

1:35:00 And try to have her separate. So it's a difficult thing when someone isn't Buddhist. I mean, if you can talk to people ahead of time so that they don't come in like that, you know, and sort of prepare them for the, you know, for the time when someone's dying or died. I mean, in my mom's case, I think at that point she had actually, I think her... Report an error

1:35:26 Her consciousness had already left anyway. But even so, it's said in the Tibetan Book of Living and Dying that when we're going through those stages and then you're in the bardo, that for a time you don't realize that you've died. So you're sort of in this situation and to have people crying and calling you, it draws your mind there, but it's an upsetting time. Report an error

1:35:50 So what we want to try to do is keep things just as peaceful as possible. And however you can do that. Sometimes it's challenging. But again, I think it's something that if you've lived your life in this practicing morality and practicing virtue, then people are going to be drawn to you because you're going to have that calm about you. Report an error

1:36:20 And I think whether they realize it or not, that's a time when people gravitate to that. I think there's just something appealing and attractive about it. So if you can just keep that in mind and whatever people want to do, it's okay. Report an error

1:36:44 So we do need to just talk about these. When we talk about this rebirth, the first thing is to mention that there are these three realms of existence, the desire realm, the form realm and the formless realm. Report an error

1:36:59 And then this existence we have right now. Oh, shoot. Passed our time. I didn't realize that. How's everybody doing? Can you take another ten minutes? Are we okay? Great. So we live in this desire realm. And it's permeated by desire. Surprise, surprise. Desire for food, desire for drink, desire for sex. And we'll get to this. Report an error

1:37:25 There are actually six sub-realms. So sometimes it's confusing because you'll hear the six realms and then you hear three realms and you're thinking, what? But it's sort of like there are three realms, the desire realm, the form realm and the formless realm. And those are sort of in order of grossness. And then within the desire realm, there are like these six sub-realms. Report an error

1:37:46 And there are six classes of beings. The gods, the demigods, the humans, the animals, the spirits, and the hell beings. Report an error

1:37:58 So the god realm. It's just said to be a blissful realm. It's a realm, you know, the beings are beautiful. They have very pleasant lives, very long lives. But the problem is that it sort of comes from... Having created good karma, but without a greater motivation. And so in this God realm, you're having this great peaceful life that is totally pleasurable, but you're so distracted by that pleasure that you don't think about any kind of practice. Report an error

1:38:39 You're just sort of existing. You're not really thinking about a spiritual life. You have no problems. And it said that as you near the end of your life, you have a vision of what your rebirth is going to be. And so that last portion of your life is pretty intense and suffering because generally when you've exhausted all this positive karma and you haven't really created any through this long existence, your rebirth is going to be a lower run, a lower one. Report an error

1:39:12 So then there are these demigods or suras in Sanskrit. And it's, again, you know, this pleasant sort of rebirth, except that it's said that they're constantly jealous of the gods and fighting with the gods. Not that the gods are fighting, but it's like the, if you look at the, there's a, the portrait or the picture, the drawing of the Wheel of Life, you'll see these three, these six realms. Report an error

1:39:40 So you'll see at this top right corner, you'll see the gods, and then you'll see in this next little. area, the demigod. There's a tree there and the demigods are fighting for their side of the tree and the gods are just sort of there. Report an error

1:40:02 It's a little worse in the sense that when they're experiencing this jealousy and fighting they're creating negative karma and they're still not generating any positive karma. but you know so they're just yeah you know again they're just kind of creating Report an error

1:40:15 But it is said these are considered the upper realm. So there's the God realm, upper realm in the sense of levels of suffering. So you've got the God realm where there's really just a lot of pleasure, the demigods, and then you've got the humans. And, you know, you've got both suffering and happiness. And when we talk, you know, we've mentioned the perfect human rebirth because when you have this human rebirth that's endowed with the ten freedoms, Report an error

1:40:43 Or the ten endowments and the eight freedoms, then you are able to practice Dharma. And those endowments and freedoms involve being in a place where the teachings exist, having a life that allows you the freedom to attend teachings, to receive teachings, having a body and mind that are receptive to the teachings, that kind of thing. Report an error

1:41:09 So potentially... This human rebirth is the most optimum for practice and for basically attaining enlightenment and freeing ourselves from this cycle of this rebirth. Report an error

1:41:24 Then the lower three realms begin with the animal realm, which we have physical contact with. It's said that instinct is powerful here. Report an error

1:41:39 The animal realm encompasses animals, insects, just all beings that we interact with. And it's said that they want the same things we do in the sense of wanting to be free of suffering and to seek happiness or just a peaceful or a happy life. It said that there's a lot of fear in the animal realm. And it said that animals have mind, they can think and they can feel, and they suffer. Report an error

1:42:31 And that ultimately the cause or the experience of the animal realm is ignorance. Report an error

1:42:43 Animals are, you know, they don't have the discernment that we have. So they may be able to think, they may be able to feel, but, you know, a lot of their thinking, it's just limited. And it depends on what sort of rebirth, you know, in terms of there are higher level animals and lower intelligence animals. Report an error

1:43:03 So it's just said that this whole realm is the first of the three lower realms. And then it said that there are the spirit or praetha realms. Sometimes these are called ghosts or hungry ghosts. You'll hear the term nagas and praethas. And it said, you know, this existence is one of constant craving, but never really getting to experience the object of craving. Report an error

1:43:34 So it said that, you know, these beings, praetha being might be craving. Horribly thirsty, but unable to be able to swallow water. If they get water, it burns their throat or something. So it's like constant craving, frustration, and it's said that mirages of what's desired appear and then disappear. Report an error

1:44:05 And so they're just constantly craving something but never getting it. And then the final, the lowest realm is the hell realm. And it said, they're actually in the Tibetan tradition, there are teachings that explain a lot of different types of hell realms, but ultimately what hell realms involve is suffering. Report an error

1:44:28 And it's just kind of a constant suffering state of mind. And it said that, you know, this is a result of very great anger and hatred lead to rebirth in the hell realms. So that when we talk about these six realms, you know, you can take them as being literal or you can take them as, you know, looking at the human realm kind of, you know, consisting of all six of those because we can all relate to having experiences of those from time to time in life. Report an error

1:45:03 Or you can, you know, consider that all six realms exist within our minds because effectively all these things, when we... Experience these things, you know, it's like things seem very real to us, but they don't exist the way we think they do. So, you know, it sort of makes sense and it's, again, it's kind of open to the interpretation that makes sense to you. Report an error

1:45:42 So, okay, this is just the literal view that... Report an error

1:45:49 These places exist. That is the way this is traditionally taught. But when we think about emptiness and karma, nothing that we see exists as we see it. On the other hand, what we experience feels very real. So it's difficult to say from our own personal experience. And then, of course, I think, like I said, we've all... Report an error

1:46:18 Even if you haven't experienced it personally, if you read the news, you just find all of this reflected in the human realm, all six realms reflected in there, just the extremes of our existence. Report an error

1:46:35 And then mentally, if you think about our distractions of pleasure, anger, craving, these things arise in your mind, and they reflect all the experiences of these different realms. So then the second of, if you go back to the big picture, so they're the three realms, what we've been talking about up until now is the desire realm. Report an error

1:46:58 Now we're getting to the form realm, which is a little less coarse than the desire realm. And the form realm, we still have form bodies, but they're more subtle. Report an error

1:47:10 There's very little obvious suffering, but there's still ignorance and karma in the mind. Or afflictions in the mind. So that we're still in cyclic existence. We haven't realized emptiness. We haven't attained liberation. So this kind of form realm existence doesn't last. It's still part of cyclic existence. Report an error

1:47:35 So there's birth and then there's death. It still has desire, but a more subtle desire. And this realm comes from practicing deep states of meditation without any kind of motivation to help others, or kind of a contentless meditation watching your breath. So that would be the result of that kind of rebirth. And then you don't, when you stay in a meditative state, you're not creating negative karma, but you are exhausting good karma. Report an error

1:48:00 So, um, Report an error

1:48:17 And so it's likely you might take a rebirth in a lower realm. Your morality is very pure and you stay in a very, I think that's supposed to be blissed out meditation. So you don't tend to commit non-virtue. And those are called deep meditation vows because you're meditating so deeply you're not creating negative karma. Report an error

1:48:40 But keep in mind we've had countless lifetimes. So you have this. this store of karma. If you're not doing actions to either purify karma or create, you know, to accumulate merit and create positive karma, then the chances of, you know, unfortunate rebirths are just going to arise. Report an error

1:49:06 No, it's okay. Yeah? Report an error

1:49:14 If one was to assume this literal interpretation and one finds, you know, oneself in the lower realms, what is the duration? Report an error

1:49:26 Good question. Like the kitty cat. Is it the duration of her life? And then what happens after that? Rebirth. But how does the kitty cat move to one or the other realm? Is it just karma? Karma. I mean, how did we become human, you know? Yeah, from previous lives. I mean, one of the things you have to consider is that, at least from a... Report an error

1:49:53 Tibetan Buddhist, or Buddhist viewpoint, I shouldn't say Tibetan, all Buddhists would say that we have countless lifetimes, beginningless lifetimes. And so, you know, and although it said that it's very hard to attain this precious human rebirth, somehow in your life, in some of those lives, there was enough merit and the conditions ripened around your time of death for this human... Report an error

1:50:22 Perfect human rebirth to be realized for that to be your next rebirth. Now, I'm not sure what's in Bodhi's mind or what happens when Bodhi dies and what kind of a death she'll experience. But what the teachings are saying basically is that clearly if you're in the animal realm, if you take that kind of rebirth, it's much harder to create positive karma. Report an error

1:50:52 To create the causes. So that's why when you have this perfect human rebirth, you want to put a lot of effort into it. Now, yeah, I don't, yeah, it's a good question. And I mean, in terms of, we see how long, you know, animal realm, you know, animals, you know, cats may live 13 years, 15 years. Dogs may, you know, bigger dogs may live a shorter lifetime. You know, insects probably live a few days. Report an error

1:51:24 So it's what keeps your life, what determines your lifetime is your karma. So you've got this karma arising or this rebirth arising out of both your karmic imprints and the conditions at the time of death. And then as long as the karma lasts, that life continues. When the karma is exhausted, then death comes. That's what the teachings say. Report an error

1:51:53 Also, is the form realm considered a higher realm than the desire realms? Well, it said, you know, part of it is it's a more subtle realm, but it's obviously a little more difficult to practice. So to be born in a form realm is not really so conducive. It's much better to have a perfect human rebirth. Report an error

1:52:18 So, yeah, you don't have perhaps the same suffering that you would in the desire realm, but you also... Don't have the opportunity to create merit or as much of an opportunity. That's not to say that you can't create merit in some of these other realms. Because if that were the case, then once you lost your human rebirth, that would be it, right? Report an error

1:52:49 So then the third realm is the formless realm, which is even subtler than the form realm. So it's just mind, no physical bodies. Report an error

1:53:00 The mind is still controlled by mental afflictions and karma. So this is still part of cyclic existence. So there's going to be birth and there's going to be death. It's said that you're again wasting good karma and in the end you fall to a lower rebirth. Some beings think they've attained nirvāṇa but they haven't. And keep in mind when we talk about nirvāṇa. Report an error

1:53:26 We're talking about liberation from cyclic existence. So that's the realization of emptiness. So once you realize that, it's not like, oh, then you die and you're going to be reborn in cyclic existence. Once you realize emptiness, you've realized it. So you are now freed from cyclic existence. So the thing is here, there are beings who, you know, Because they're doing these meditations or something, you know, they think they've achieved realizations, which, you know, again, you can imagine people doing the same thing. Report an error

1:54:04 People sometimes think, you know, I remember hearing a group that just said, oh, yes, because we have the seed of enlightenment, we're enlightened. We just have to, you know, tell ourselves that. Well, you know, same kind of thing here. So you have this great meditation. Report an error

1:54:27 And then the other side of that is that they think they've attained nirvāṇa but they haven't. And then sometimes because they have those expectations and they realize that they haven't, then they lose faith. Report an error

1:54:39 They think there's no way to attain enlightenment or liberation. And it's the same kind of thing. When your karma finishes to have this existence, then... You just go back and you have another rebirth. So it could be you could be born in the desire realm again in any of the six sub realms or in the former formless realm again. Report an error

1:55:06 So it's just if we remember, you know, Dharma is really the tool to end birth and rebirth forever. It's the key to freeing ourselves from cyclic existence. Why do we practice Dharma? To go beyond death itself. OK, it's not just to have a peaceful death. It's to free ourselves from this cyclic existence, to attain liberation or nirvāṇa. And, you know, bodhicitta is key to enlightenment. Report an error

1:55:34 This bodhicitta is this altruistic mind, this wish to attain enlightenment to benefit others. Enlightenment is beyond the three realms, the form, the formless and the desire realm. So it's not part of cyclic existence. Now, the reason why Buddhas appear in cyclic existence is out of their bodhicitta, their compassion. Report an error

1:55:54 So they come back to help others. Unfortunately, they can't snap their fingers and make us enlightened. We all have to do that ourselves. And just in the same way, they were enlightened. But Shakyamuni Buddha came to show us, he manifested this whole path so that we could see that, oh, yeah, I can do that. Report an error

1:56:17 But one thing to remember is that when Buddhas do return to help us, They don't come with karma and the afflictions. Again, it's like when you attain enlightenment, you eliminate all of the afflictions and karma. When you attain liberation, you realize emptiness. So when Buddhas come into cyclic existence, they don't come as cyclic existence beings. Report an error

1:56:46 They manifest a body, but they don't take that. It doesn't come with... Everything that we've got. Yeah. Report an error

1:57:03 The incarnation that Shakyamuni Buddha had, he got that because the previous lifetime he had achieved liberation and enlightenment and then as a result of that he chose to incarnate. It's actually, if you read the life, like the Janaka tales, there are all these lifetimes that Shakyamuni Buddha spent even as a bodhisattva and became all these different creatures. Report an error

1:57:28 Did all these wonderful things. But it said that Shakyamuni Buddha came to this world, our world system, to demonstrate this practice. So he showed it to us. And the one we know about. Yes. Report an error

1:57:44 So Report an error

1:57:48 these negative states of mind that we talked about are mental afflictions or kleshas. And they're the source of all the suffering in the world from simple dissatisfaction to war and poverty and disease. From individuals, you know, to worldwide. And the Buddha found a way to eliminate all of these mental afflictions permanently along with their imprints or seeds and potentials. Report an error

1:58:14 And this is what is known as enlightenment. So when we're talking about enlightenment, we're talking about a being who has not only realized emptiness, which is liberation, but gone beyond that and eliminated all mental afflictions. Report an error

1:58:29 That's it. Thank you so much. for attending the class and it was you guys are all great so dedicate all this great merit May all beings Report an error

1:58:57 everywhere, plagued by sufferings of body and mind, obtain an ocean of happiness and joy by virtue of my merits. May no living creatures suffer, commit evil, or ever fall ill. May no one be afraid or belittled with a mind weighed down by depression. Report an error

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Talk by Carol Corradi, recorded 3 May 2012. Original at Tse Chen Ling Center for Tibetan Buddhist Studies via Internet Archive: https://archive.org/details/CC_DeathAndRebirth_20120322. Licensed CC BY-NC-ND 3.0. Transcript generated automatically and may contain errors; the audio is the authoritative version.

Recorded at Tse Chen Ling Center, San Francisco, and archived by the center on Internet Archive. More from Tse Chen Ling

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