← Jonathan Landaw

Death and the Process of Dying (26 September 2008)

Jonathan Landaw · 26 September 2008 · 1 h 53 min · Tse Chen Ling via Internet Archive

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  • 37:25

    That is the total number of breaths that would make up this lifetime. So each time the breath flows in and flows out again, the number of breaths remaining to us diminishes by one. So the breath is not only keeping us alive,

  • 52:35

    the Buddha gave two types of teachings. They're not separate. They're completely interrelated. But one type of teaching we might think of as more general, was given to a wider audience. the discourses that made up those teachings are referred to as the sutras, -U-T-R-A, the sutras.

  • 1:09:55

    And so especially as you get into the highest range of the tantric teachings, there's a very detailed description of what is often referred to as the vajra body. Vajra body. Vajra is the hardest rock, the hardest mineral.

  • 1:34:47

    In the handout that I gave, you'll notice at one point there's the nine-part death meditation. On page two, for example, the nine-part meditation on impermanence and death. And in that, nine mistaken views are combated with nine correct views about the death experience.

  • 1:50:51

    And so there are many different dedications that we can make, but we can just start off with a really simple one. That by virtue of what we've done here today, However great or however little it may have been, to try to understand reality as it pertains to the dying process, as a result of this, may I be able to face my death with clarity, with understanding, and be able to do the same for others. And in this way, so that oneself and others can equally tread the path to spiritual enlightenment.

0:03 So, good evening everybody. I thought because we're kind of an intimate group that maybe we could start by just briefly introducing ourselves and give an idea of, more or less a brief idea of what our background is, if any, in Buddhist teachings and why we've chosen to come here this evening. evening, okay? Report an error

0:36 Maybe I should start. My name is Jon, Jon Landaw. I live in the Santa Cruz area. I've been living there for close to 20 years now. But I'm originally from the East Coast. My wife is Dutch and after we were married and started having kids then we moved from Europe to Santa Cruz. Staying first at the Vajrapani Center in Boulder Creek, some of you may have heard of, and then eventually moving to be closer to the Land of Medicine Buddha Center, where periodically I give teachings. Report an error

1:18 And my background in Buddhism is I first went over to India in 1971 and met the Tibetan Lamas who became my... my root gurus, my main teachers at that time. Report an error

1:37 I've been connected with the Tibetans and with the teachings for, oh my goodness, pushing 40 years now. I think when I started I would have thought after 38, 40 years I would have already been fully enlightened, but that didn't turn out to be the case. So I'm still very much a beginner, still very much a student, but I was fortunate in having met these teachers that I did. Report an error

2:10 And I myself am here this evening because the people who run Seichen Ling were putting together a program for the autumn and they asked if I would come three times to give these brief weekend... workshops and the first one was a little over a month ago and this one and then the last one on a practice that the Tibetans refer to as tong lend or sending and receiving a practice for a very powerful practice for cultivating compassion that'll take place in I believe it's about early November I forget the exact dates Report an error

3:03 So, in brief, that's who I am and why I'm here. And maybe we can start from this side of the room and move over. Report an error

3:17 practice Buddhism in the Thich Nhat Hanh School in Rome, now since almost 10 years. I have been in many retreats and I was actually teachings. Oh, wonderful. In Plum Village in France. Excellent. Oh, Report an error

3:55 wonderful. Is everyone in the room familiar with this teacher, Thich Nhat Hanh? Excellent, excellent. and more interested in Buddhism and the reason why I'm here is because my visa belongs to this community. Report an error

4:08 Okay, good. Wonderful, wonderful master. And I'm not going to have too much trouble remembering your name because your names are very similar, almost exactly the same as my two daughters. Ana, they pronounce it Ana and Lisa. Now I just have to keep it right. Report an error

4:40 I see. Report an error

4:56 And may I ask, your mother's passing was very recent? Report an error

5:03 The reason I asked that question was because even though from the Buddhist point of view, teachings around death and dying and meditations in that area are considered very, very valuable, very helpful. Report an error

5:23 Sometimes if we've just experienced a great loss, if we're still in the very, very early stages of dealing, With that trauma, that emotional upheaval that inevitably accompanies it to some extent, it isn't always appropriate at that point to focus, for example, on the dying process because our own connection with the passing of a loved one is so recent that focusing on it too strongly at that time is sometimes not so helpful. Report an error

6:04 People are different. It really depends on how much past connection we've had with that, how close we've been to the dying process and so forth. But for some people, it's not the best idea to, for example, meditate on the dying process very soon after a loved one has passed away. You need a little, like a cooling off period, a time to sort of settle back. Report an error

6:36 some emotions have leveled out a little bit. And then it's very beneficial. So I just mention that because I've run across that situation before it's a little bit too sensitive to derive benefit. Report an error

6:56 people are very different. I just thought I would mention that. East Coast, Report an error

7:12 and then I'm actually practicing Japanese Buddhism for about nine years now. And this undying is actually very close to me because I'm a volunteer. And in a very short time, I've hosted people already. But it has been really... Report an error

7:33 wonderful to know that... existence is only a just a short Report an error

7:45 Lama Tsongkhapa, Shantideva, His Holiness the Dalai Lama A great deal to have that knowledge of Buddhism about this and that. So I'm here to learn more so that I can help others who are grieving tremendously from their lost loved ones. I know there are some people who are still grieving after a few years. Report an error

8:17 I'd really like to help in some way others who are struggling with what I know. So I'm here to learn more about them, about the Buddhist perspective. Thank you. I should mention that Tomoko and I met for the first time only very recently, just a few weeks ago, when a dear mutual friend of ours passed away. Report an error

8:47 And we were speaking about this just before we came in here. that Report an error

8:57 Jon Landaw, Shantideva And so it was a tremendous demonstration that even in very dire situations and obviously the dying situation itself, it needn't be approached with the kind of fear and the trepidation and the panic that can be associated with a dying experience. And so I met... I met Jack, oh, must have been over 25 years ago when we were at meditation courses in India and Nepal. And I didn't know that he was deathly ill until just about a week or two before he passed away. Report an error

10:10 But I managed to visit him before he did. And it was extraordinary because physically he was much wasted away. And he was a real outdoorsman, a white water rafter, a real powerful physical specimen. And when I went to see him, he was half or a third of his former self. He had wasted away so much. But he was radiant, truly radiant. Report an error

10:41 And it was and remains such a powerful teaching that he was able to use his understanding. understanding, a understanding, than just an intellectual understanding, to take advantage of his experience and really, really helpful, helpful, not only It was quite an extraordinary demonstration. Report an error

11:15 Did you say genie? Thank you. Report an error

11:47 Oh, were you going to be taking a teaching from Emily? I just heard, I just heard. There's a wonderful teacher who teaches here Friday nights and maybe other times too as well, I don't know her full schedule, named Emily. And over the past couple of years we've become friends and she actually stays with old friends of mine who I also met in India and Nepal, many, many. Report an error

12:17 I was actually hoping I would see her today and then she was going to come tomorrow but then I just found out she was unfortunately she was ill. But I'm very glad you came here. Thank you. Report an error

12:52 Yes. Report an error

13:13 And can I ask and you don't have to answer this now if you don't feel like it but when you said you were morbid What do you mean by that? Afraid of it. Report an error

13:42 So it was like, yeah. Report an error

13:56 I was so curious to hear what you were going to say because in my family, death was a subject that was never discussed. And it made it even scarier. Report an error

14:22 Yeah. I mean, that certainly had become my viewpoint. But when I was young, it was quite clear that that was not a subject that you... Brought up at the dinner table. In fact, you didn't ever bring it up. And when I was young, I had almost no connection with death for one reason or another. Long-lived family, or perhaps one reason. But when I was still in grade school, the mother of a girl in my class, and not a girl I was really friendly with, but a girl I knew. Report an error

14:56 Actually, I didn't like her very much, to tell you the truth. Her mother passed away, and I found it really devastating, even though I think I met the mother maybe once, maybe twice. It was just that for the first time it came really close to me, a relative of someone that I actually knew, one of my contemporaries. Report an error

15:24 And I remember feeling like I couldn't eat. When I heard it, I think I was at the dinner table. In fact, when the news came, I couldn't eat. Report an error

15:35 So it was a very heavy subject, kind of a taboo subject. And then that added to its frightening power that you couldn't talk about it. And it stayed that way. I mean, it was similar for long, long periods of time. So hopefully, by speaking about it, By looking at it kind of with a clear perspective, that frightening aspect can diminish. Report an error

16:20 As Report an error

16:32 those years went by, I felt like I could handle it. So my subconscious, it was, you know, eat and kill and I was cool with it. Then my grandmother passed away last year and I was there through the whole process. process, and I was the last person, and she it when, but either, which I chose to be. Report an error

17:02 then at that point in time, I realized... Report an error

17:07 So right now I'm really challenging myself and it's really important that I am here so that I can get over my fears and understand the good part of death because there is. is you know um Report an error

17:27 And also, Jeannie didn't bring up, but a very dear friend of hers just passed away and I didn't really, you know, give sympathy to her. But I learned afterwards, I went into myself and I experienced that death in a different way. So that gave me common outlook. I could look at death in all kinds of different ways and just kind of put myself in check, you know. Report an error

17:59 um... Report an error

18:03 Yeah, Report an error

18:10 there's very, very powerful emotions connected with that experience, both as it affects someone else, especially someone dear to us, and as we imagine ourselves going, having that experience. Report an error

18:29 So hopefully, slowly, slowly, we become... simply familiar with it, but actually knowledgeable about it. Knowledgeable, you said the good things about death. people it hard to say something like that about death. But certainly within the Tibetan Buddhist tradition specifically, can actually be an extraordinary gateway. Report an error

18:55 It can be an experience of tremendous purification and spiritual... spiritual uh Lama Tsongkhapa We'll talk about that a little bit. So, Report an error

19:10 well thank you and what I'd like to do now is just give ourselves just a few minutes to a very brief meditative practice to set the stage for what we're going to be doing tonight and also tomorrow. Report an error

19:37 By calming, focusing the mind and then also cultivating the most kind of beneficial motivation we can have for coming together here this evening. So, in whatever way that you find most comfortable, you can sit in an easeful posture, check Report an error

20:06 our body to make sure it is relaxed and as comfortable as possible. And sit in a manner in which we feel well connected to the earth, as if we're well supported by the floor, by the cushion, by the seat. In Report an error

20:35 this way we establish a connection with the solid earth element beneath us. And Report an error

20:48 by enhancing that connection, it allows our mind to be well supported, well founded. And this is very helpful for cultivating concentration. Report an error

21:06 So let us withdraw the field of our awareness to our physical form, feeling the volume that it takes up as we sit here, the weight that our body asserts on the floor, on the seat, on the cushion, and Report an error

21:40 then having established this sense of being well grounded, having contacted the earth element beneath us in this way, then lift the... Posture up slightly, if it isn't already, to combat the feeling of sinking with sluggishness into the earth. We Report an error

22:12 can lift our breastbone, our sternum up slightly, still remaining relaxed and comfortable, not contorted or stiff in any way, but gently lifting our posture up so our attitude is one of alertness and vigilance. Report an error

22:34 combating any tendency towards drowsiness or sleepiness. And Report an error

22:46 this vigilant, upright posture will help enhance the mind's clarity, its alertness. And these two qualities, concentration on the one hand and clarity and alertness on the other, are the two factors that we balance for effective spiritual practice. Report an error

23:16 it's very helpful if we make the determination that for the next few For the duration of this introductory meditation practice, we remain as still as possible, avoiding Report an error

23:36 as much as we can any unnecessary movement. And this stillness itself allows the mind to settle, become clearly reflective. If Report an error

24:15 we note the tendency of our attention to drift off elsewhere, for example, Because of the sound of the traffic passing the window, if we notice that tendency, gently but firmly escort the attention back, however many times it's necessary, to Report an error

24:40 that sphere with inside our physical presence. To Report an error

24:56 put it another way, we experience our body from the inside and keep our attention within that scope of awareness, our physical presence. Report an error

25:22 And one thing we might notice is that even though we've made the determination to be as still as possible for the next few minutes, the body in fact is in continual motion. It Report an error

25:56 is the motion associated with our breathing, a rhythmic movement in which the pattern is invariable. Inhalation followed by exhalation followed by inhalation. Report an error

26:14 But while the pattern of in-breath and out-breath alternating in that way is invariable, each breath is individual. Each breath has its own character. So Report an error

26:44 for a few moments, take interest in the breathing process itself. Report an error

26:56 Observe the individual character of each breath. Try Report an error

27:11 to be aware, for example, of each inhalation from the moment the air begins to enter our nostrils until the in-breath is over, and all of that time maintaining an awareness that the breath is flowing in. And Report an error

27:34 in a similar fashion, from the moment that the air begins to leave the nostrils until the exhalation is completed, make the mental notation to oneself, breath is flowing out. Report an error

28:08 But as we pay close attention to the incoming and outgoing breath, see if we can relinquish control over the breath. Report an error

28:23 Simply allow it to happen of its own accord. And Report an error

28:50 as it flows in and as it flows out, allow our awareness to ride upon it gently. And Report an error

29:12 whenever our attention is hijacked away to anything else other than the breath, As we play Report an error

· · ·

30:27 closer and closer attention to this rhythmic movement, we may begin to notice things about the breath that were not immediately obvious. For Report an error

30:48 example, we may begin to detect a difference in temperature between the in-breath and the out-breath. We might notice that one is experienced as somewhat cooler and the other one as somewhat warmer. We Report an error

31:30 also notice that sometimes the inhalation is quick, sometimes it's slow, and Report an error

31:41 the same for the exhalation. Sometimes these breaths are deep, sometimes they're shallow. Report an error

31:56 Furthermore, on some occasions the breath moves in slowly and continuously. Smoothly. Other times the movement of the breath is rough and interrupted. So Report an error

32:17 without any sense of preference for one type of breath over the other, simply observe what's happening as if we were a disinterested scientist objectively Report an error

32:38 observing the individuality of each breath. This Report an error

· · ·

33:51 continuous movement rhythmic movement of each inhalation and exhalation. Report an error

34:13 as long as this thread is unbroken, Report an error

34:18 are alive in this body. Report an error

34:37 For this Report an error

34:47 pattern to Report an error

35:06 be broken, for Report an error

35:12 there to be an exhalation, this life to come to an end. Report an error

· · ·

35:17 With no inhalation to follow. Report an error

35:37 If and inevitably when this happens, when the continuity of the breathing comes to an end, so too does this life. Report an error

· · ·

36:35 If we had the ability to know exactly how long we were going to remain alive in this body, then we could say, I will live a certain number of years, a certain number of months. Report an error

36:53 We would Report an error

37:03 just as validly be able to think, I will live a certain number of breaths. Report an error

37:25 That is the total number of breaths that would make up this lifetime. Report an error

37:39 So each time the breath flows in and flows out again, the number of breaths remaining to us diminishes by one. Report an error

37:59 So the breath is not only keeping us alive, Report an error

38:07 But it's taking us step by step closer to the end of this life, Report an error

38:18 like a clock ticking. Paying Report an error

· · ·

39:36 attention to the breath in this way gives us a stronger sense of the inevitability of our own death, each Report an error

39:53 breath taking us closer to that experience. Report an error

· · ·

40:26 But exactly how are we going to experience the inevitable? As Report an error

40:42 the opening remarks by the people here, Brought out, death can be experienced in a wide variety of ways, with Report an error

40:59 fright, with panic, denial, Report an error

41:07 with Report an error

41:14 great trepidation, or Report an error

41:21 with acceptance, with understanding, seeing Report an error

41:34 death as a passage to Report an error

41:42 a purer existence, Report an error

41:51 allowing us to experience the deepest, truest nature of our own mind. Report an error

42:06 opportunity for great spiritual advancement. Report an error

42:21 have died in all of these different ways. Report an error

42:34 So Report an error

42:43 now, as we bring this introductory meditative experience to a close, let Report an error

43:01 us establish the best possible motivation for turning our mind to the subject of death and the dying process. Report an error

43:23 If there's any part of our motive here, for being here, that is limited to just the acquiring some intellectual knowledge, Report an error

43:38 recognize that for the time we spend together, for it to be worthwhile, for it to be meaningful, we Report an error

43:50 must have a better motive than merely collecting information. It Report an error

43:59 is not enough for our understanding to remain. On an intellectual or academic level, we're not talking about death in the abstract. We're talking about my life, my death, the Report an error

44:20 severing of the continuity of my breath. And Report an error

44:35 so clearly, one motivation is to be able to face this inevitability, our inevitable end of this life, without panic, without fear and trepidation. Report an error

44:59 be able to face it bravely. Report an error

45:11 taking advantage of it experience something deeper. This would Report an error

45:35 be a very good motivation for whatever we might do together this weekend. Report an error

45:45 But it is still limited. Why Report an error

45:51 is it limited? Report an error

45:57 Because up to this point, we have only been concerned with me being able to negotiate My death in the best possible way, avoiding fear and panic, cultivating understanding and acceptance, for me to be able to avoid a bad death and experience a good death. Report an error

46:30 But death is something that does not come only to oneself, as we know only too well. All Report an error

46:44 we have to do is look around briefly to Report an error

46:58 be aware that people's lives are coming to an end. And while Report an error

47:19 there are some people who do experience a so-called good death, for Report an error

47:28 many people even the thought of their eventual demise fills them with dread. So Report an error

47:46 think how wonderful it would be if little by little I could become familiar enough and knowledgeable enough about the process of death so that not only could I avoid panicking myself. Report an error

48:07 that I could actually become a refuge for others. Report an error

48:14 them negotiate their inevitable death. clarity, dignity, courage. Report an error

48:30 even using it a path for spiritual development. So Report an error

48:40 let's conclude with just a minute of silence during which we try to cultivate as altruistic a motivation for being here as can. Report an error

48:57 this experience not only to help ourselves, to put us in a better position to help others. Report an error

· · ·

50:20 So, what's being passed around now is some... So, Report an error

50:47 I've prepared some material. I don't expect that we're going to go through all of this in just a short evening or a short weekend. weekend Report an error

50:59 The material that's presented here is a compilation of teachings about death and approaches to the dying experience drawn from two different aspects of the Buddhist tradition. And these two aspects often go by the names sūtra and tantra. Report an error

51:29 For how many people here are these terms sūtra and tantra kind of vague or unknown? You know, something you don't really know so much what it means or what it refers to. Or let me put it the other way. How many people are well-versed with what these terms mean? No one's raising their hand. Okay. So am I right in assuming it's unknown for pretty much everyone? Right? The terms, the words, sūtra and tantra. Report an error

52:02 Have you heard of those terms? I need some feedback. I'm not clairvoyant. Deep understanding? No. But you've heard? Okay, good. Jeannie? I was going to say the same. The same. We'd like to know more. Okay. Well, roughly speaking, Report an error

52:35 the Buddha gave two types of teachings. They're not separate. They're completely interrelated. But one type of teaching we might think of as more general, was given to a wider audience. Report an error

52:54 the discourses that made up those teachings are referred to as the sutras, -U-T-R-A, the sutras. And during his lifetime, teaching career of 45 years, He gave many sutras, many discourses. Report an error

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53:16 Among them there are some that are very, very popular, still very widely studied, such as the Perfection of Wisdom Sutras, the Prajnaparamita Sutras, the Mahaparinirvana Sūtra, the Sūtra of the Great Nirvāṇa, the Great Passing Away, the Lotus Sūtra, the Sūtra of the First Turning of the Wheel of Dharma. Report an error

53:43 That was the very first discourse that the Buddha gave in which he elucidated the themes that he would comment on for the remainder of his career and that is the four noble truths, the existence of suffering, the fact that this suffering is not random but has a cause, that suffering can come to an end and that there is a path that leads to the end of suffering. Report an error

54:10 So that was the... The main subject matter of his very first sūtra, of his first discourse. So what is somewhat similar about all these discourses is that they were given more or less publicly, some to a wide number of disciples, some to a smaller but still more what we might call more exoteric, not hidden, not secret. Report an error

54:41 But then in addition to these kinds of discourses, there was another level of discourse that Buddha gave. And these, instead of being called sutras, were called tantras. Report an error

54:53 And tantra also can be translated as discourse. In that sense it has the same meaning, but it's a more esoteric discourse. Report an error

55:08 Its subject matter is deeper. deeper. Report an error

55:14 It's more hidden, as it were. And typically, these discourses, these tantric discourses, these tantric teachings were given to a smaller number of disciples, ones who the Buddha felt was ready to receive these teachings, these more advanced teachings. Report an error

55:35 And while the two approaches are not different in the sense of being unrelated, the tantric teachings are... They do have different emphasis. Report an error

55:57 And one of my teachers once provided an analogy, maybe it's helpful to share it, that elucidates a little bit the difference between the sūtra approach and the tantric approach. Report an error

56:21 Now, as I think everyone here knows, the whole purpose for the Buddha having given teachings is for us to be able to overcome suffering and experience our full human potential. Shantideva, His Holiness the Dalai Lama Isn't dependent on external phenomena, but it's totally dependent on what? And what's the internal phenomenon? Report an error

57:07 Our own self, but let's look at it a little bit closer. Report an error

57:16 Emotions or our mind, our consciousness. Mind being a word that covers thought, emotions, feelings. Now that, not everyone would immediately agree. Report an error

57:33 happiness and suffering is ultimately dependent upon the mind. I mean, certainly a lot of people live their lives as if that weren't true, as if happiness and suffering depended on my possessions, surroundings, my environment. Report an error

57:48 If I'm surrounded by beautiful things, nice companions, air, then I'm happy. if I don't have those things, if If I have the opposite, the opposite, I live in a kind of a dirty environment. If I don't have the things I want, if my possessions are second rate, then I'm unhappy. And there's a certain amount of truth to that. But what we notice when we start examining is that even if we were surrounded by the loveliest companions, the cleanest environment, the best possible first-rate possessions, that that itself, even though they can give us a certain amount of pleasure. Report an error

58:43 and of themselves, they don't have the ability to give us deep, lasting satisfaction and happiness. Report an error

58:52 Now, that's something we shouldn't accept as being true or reject as being false or fan. We really have to examine it in our own lives and the lives of others. Report an error

59:06 It is sometimes said that when we expend a great effort so that we can earn enough money to buy something that we covet, something that we think if I have this then I'll really be happy, then I'll own this thing, then this will be my possession, I'll have my heart's desire. If we do that, if we make that effort, either we're going to be successful or unsuccessful. Now if we're unsuccessful, if we're not able to... Report an error

59:37 enough money to buy that object or even if we make enough money we're still unable to purchase it for some reason That's frustrating. That's definitely a cause for unhappiness. But what happens if we are successful? What happens if putting in all that effort, earning that money, buying that possession, we're able to actually carry it out? Report an error

59:59 In some respects, that can be an even worse suffering. Because there we are, in possession with the coveted object, And yeah, it's nice, it's pleasurable, but it still does not deeply satisfy. It still leaves a sense, it's not touching that deep place in us that still remains needy, that still remains unfulfilled. Report an error

1:00:29 So, if our main focus in... Gaining happiness and avoiding suffering is limited to dealing with the externals of our environment, our surroundings, our possessions and things like that. Then inevitably it's going to leave us dissatisfied. So from the spiritual path, whether it be a Buddhist path or any other spiritual path, moves the focus of our attention from simply being concerned with external phenomena to the internal phenomena. Report an error

1:01:06 Lama Tsongkhapa own mind, our consciousness. Report an error

1:01:38 When they arise are very disturbing, you know, like how many people enjoy it when you become jealous? It's a terrible emotion and yet it arises. For some people it arises more often, for other people less often, but for anyone to whom the jealous mind, the jealous state of mind arises, it's an obvious disturbance. Report an error

1:02:01 It brings about pain and aggravation. And then there's a whole range of similarly Disturbing emotions. There's other emotions, however, when they arise, produce the exact opposite effect. For example, if there is someone who we greatly care for and we see that person experiencing happiness and this feeling of affection and love arises towards that person at that time, this kind of shared... Report an error

1:02:37 A joy in the welfare of someone else, that's also an emotion. It isn't just a dry intellectual thought, that's an emotional response. But the tone, the color of that emotion is very positive. It's something that we highly prize. It's kind of like the stuff of life, what makes life living. So there's a range of emotional responses that are very positive, very life affirming. Report an error

1:03:05 And the same thing we could say about thoughts, right? You know, the cognitive process, the way we understand things. There are certain thoughts that have a kind of a mean, narrow, mistaken, perverted aspect to them that brings suffering, and other thoughts that are clear, wise, incisive, which bring a sense of calmness and clarity. Report an error

1:03:30 So there's a whole range of mental, emotional experiences. That can determine whether our life has lived satisfactorily or unsatisfactorily, with happiness or with suffering. Report an error

1:03:48 And the spiritual path is primarily focused on understanding and transforming the nature of this inner reality, the mind itself. Report an error

1:04:01 So, the general, getting back to the distinction between sūtra and tantra, the sūtra approach Mainly focuses on this quality of consciousness and understanding the nature of consciousness, all the different states of mind and enhancing those states of mind which are life affirming and positive and happiness producing and combating and eventually uprooting the negative, destructive states of mind, the destructive emotions. Report an error

1:04:44 the main focus is on recognizing which state of mind is arising at any particular moment. And if we notice that it's one of the destructive ones, of the ones that leads to unhappiness and suffering, then we begin to arrange... Report an error

1:05:06 Lama Tsongkhapa, Shantideva, His Holiness the Dalai Lama weapon we have kind of two main weapons to shoot it down we can we can use the weapon of love or the weapon of patience those are two kind of uh of mind which oppose hatred you can't both hate and love something at the same moment of consciousness so if in the midst of Cultivating hatred towards someone, you can see something lovable in that person and generate some measure of love and acceptance and patience. Report an error

1:05:47 Then to the extent that we do that, the hatred that we were feeling previously will diminish. So we learn to substitute positive states or to cultivate positive states to overcome the negative ones. Then on a deeper level, We can cultivate a kind of an incisive wisdom that doesn't simply combat the negative destructive states of mind but actually pulls the rug out from under them. Report an error

1:06:17 And this is the subject of wisdom, of overcoming the ignorance of what's referred to as ego grasping, which serves as the foundation for all the other deluded emotions and the deluded states of mind. So, in all of these ways, We are dealing with the quality of consciousness by cultivating other qualities of consciousness that either oppose them or uproot them completely. Report an error

1:06:49 And the analogy that this teacher used, it's kind of interesting, Buddhism is a spiritual path that talks very much about peace and nonviolence and so forth, but a lot of the imagery that's used is quite violent imagery. And so this example that this teacher used was if an enemy soldier is attacking you on horseback, you can counterattack, you can defend yourself by shooting that soldier, shooting the horse rider. Report an error

1:07:28 So that's like cultivating a positive state of mind to overcome a negative state of mind. Report an error

1:07:38 But there's another approach. You can not only aim at the horse rider, that will save you from the attack, but you can aim at the horse, which is carrying the attacker. Report an error

1:07:53 And if you were able to shoot out the horse, that would also save you. And also the horse is a bigger target, so it might be a little bit easier to deal with. So what's the point behind that? Non-Buddhist violent imagery of shooting a horse rider or a horse. The point is this, that from the tantric point of view, now these are the more esoteric teachings, every state of mind is mounted on its own energy. Report an error

1:08:28 Now that energy is known by different words in different languages and different spiritual traditions. In English we often call them the winds or the airs. Report an error

1:08:41 But if you're familiar with yogic tradition, then this air, energy it rides on is called prāṇa. then from the Chinese tradition, this energy is referred to as qi. Report an error

1:08:56 all of this is the subtle energy which provides the motion the movement of a state of mind. from the tantric point of view Every state of mind is connected with its underlying air or wind or prāṇa or chi. Now the sūtra approach has many, many things to say of great profundity about the states of mind themselves, but has virtually nothing to say about the prāṇa, about the energy on which they ride. Report an error

1:09:33 In fact, I'm not sure in the sūtra teachings whether Buddha says anything There's hardly anything at all about this underlying energy system. There may be a little bit, but very little. But in the tantric teachings, there's a tremendous detailed discussion of this underlying energy system. Report an error

1:09:55 And so especially as you get into the highest range of the tantric teachings, there's a very detailed description of what is often referred to as the vajra body. Vajra body. Vajra is the hardest rock, the hardest mineral. Report an error

1:10:29 so the Vajra body, this kind of indestructible body from the tantric point of view the point of view of these highest tantric teachings physical body of ours Report an error

1:10:42 In a sense, it's just a container, a gross wrapping to this subtler vajra body. And the vajra body is made up of basically three elements. There is a system of channels, roughly analogous to the system of veins and arteries through which our blood flows. Only in a vaguest sort of way analogous to that. Could also be said to be analogous to our nervous system through which electrical and chemical impulses flow. Report an error

1:11:18 So these are referred to as the channels. The channels are the pathways of energy. The pathways through which the chi, the prāṇa, flow. So for instance, in acupuncture they'll talk about the meridians. The meridians are analogous to these channels, these pathways of energy. Report an error

1:11:47 airs, the prāṇa, the chi, winds. Report an error

1:11:54 of which support a different quality of consciousness. then, in addition to the channels and the winds, the other element, the third element that makes up this vajra body, this system, are referred to simply as the drops. The drops. D-R-O-P. A drop. Like a drop of water. Report an error

1:12:20 A drop of water. And the Sanskrit for that, if I'm not mistaken, is Bindu. B-I-N-D-U. Bindu. So we've got this system of channels, winds and drops. And together that makes up this subtle vajra body. Report an error

1:12:43 Oh, by the way, I gave you the Sanskrit for two of those elements but not the third, so just to be complete, the winds are prāṇa, the drops are bindu, and the channels themselves, a common name for them is nadi, N-A-D-I. Report an error

1:13:02 So in tantric texts they talk about the system of nadis. Instead of talking about veins and arteries and nervous system, they talk about nadis as being the channels through which these... Report an error

1:13:16 And Report an error

1:13:23 a basic, maybe we could say a truism of the Vajra body is that if the underlying energy, the wind, the prāṇa, if the underlying energy is pure and the channels through which they flow are smooth and open, and if the drops that move through these channels are also pure, Then the resulting state of mind is pure. Whereas if the winds are defective, if the channels are defective, if the drops are defective, then the state of mind associated with them is also defective, is also productive of, experienced in a negative way as suffering. Report an error

1:14:14 So from the tantric point of view, the way in which the air flows through the channels and moves the drops, will determine the quality of the consciousness that arises at any given moment. In other words, when the air is flowing through certain channels, the state of mind that arises is very narrow, mistaken, embittered. Report an error

1:14:38 Whereas when it flows through other channels, the state of mind that's engendered is very pure. And it goes the other way around as well. In words, the movement of the elements within the fadra body determine the quality of consciousness, but the quality of consciousness can also affect the flow of energy in the subtle body. Report an error

1:15:06 people who study a lot, have a lot to learn in a brief period of time, college students, scholars, those Tibetan lamas studying for their geisha degree, which is like a super degree. The Doctor of Divinity, where they study and memorize huge amounts of material. A lot of those people, East and West, experience a frustration of energy. Report an error

1:15:37 They're concentrating their mind so tightly that the energy, the flow of energy, especially through the area around the heart chakra, gets blocked. Report an error

1:15:47 And it's often experienced as a palpitation of the heart, a shaking, inexplicable crying. crying, know, nervousness. These are different syndromes of an imbalance in the underlying nervous system caused by too much tight concentration. Report an error

1:16:11 Instead of approaching the study in a kind of relaxed, open, gentle manner, it's kind of like forcing, forcing too much energy. Report an error

1:16:22 This system, this connection between the state of mind and the flow of energy through the Vajra body is a feedback system. It works in both directions. If the mind is pure, it helps the energies through the subtle body move in a pure fashion. If the energies are pure, the mind becomes pure and the opposite is true. So the body and the mind have this kind of intimate feedback relationship. Report an error

1:16:53 So, now getting back to that violent imagery of shooting down the horse. What Tantra does is, in addition to dealing with the states of mind, it has very powerful techniques for gaining control over the underlying energy. And that's like taking care of the horse. If you can deal with the energy, That's supporting a certain state of mind. Just the energy itself. That will immobilize the state of mind. Report an error

1:17:38 It's like depriving a horse rider of his mount, of his horse. So sūtra focuses solely on dealing with the state of mind. Tantra deals with both. The state of mind and the underlying energy system that supports those states of mind. Now I haven't gone... detail whatsoever on how this is accomplished, but just as a general idea of sūtra focusing on one, tantra focusing on both of them, with this kind of special emphasis on the underlying system of energies. Report an error

1:18:18 Is that Do you have a kind of a sense for what's involved in that? Report an error

1:18:27 we can begin to see analogies. For instance, if we go to a Tibetan doctor. Or if we go to a Chinese acupuncture and so forth. These doctors typically are educated to give a holistic approach to our health. So they not only prescribe for the body, they also prescribe for the mind. Because they know that if they only take care of one and not the other, pretty soon the same illness that was caused before will just reassert itself. Report an error

1:18:58 So, for instance, you could have the best medicine in the world. But if every time that you take it you get angry, then you're using the medicine to calm certain negative energies which support anger, but then you're becoming angry again, so it's having a contrary effect. So from that point of view, a holistic physician has to prescribe behavior which will work on the underlying energy system and work, you know, and instructions for generating positive states of mind. And then together, then health can be experienced. Report an error

1:19:40 But if we neglect one over the other, you know, if we deal with one and let the other one degenerate, then the health problem. I think you had a comment? Report an error

1:20:10 Exactly. Yes. Yes. Report an error

1:20:18 And by knowing the type that's predominant at any given moment, that gives you a clue as which approach is better. And in fact, for a little while when I was living in India, they were offering an introductory course in Tibetan medicine, just the basic theoretical background to it. And I took that with a bunch of my friends and it was very instructive because there they trace all disease. Report an error

1:20:47 To the same three poisonous minds that the sūtra teachings say are behind all suffering. And that is ignorance, desirous attachment and hatred. And those three types, whether all diseases can be classified as either mainly of the ignorance variety. The attachment variety or the hatred variety or a combination can be also a combination of these. Report an error

1:21:24 And so the medicine that's prescribed works not just on the, as I indicated before, the whole prescription works on the underlying energy system to keep those in balance as well as the state of mind which is productive of those imbalances. So it's very, very interesting, very interesting how there's such an intimate correlation between states of mind and the manifestation of disease and, by extension, the reestablishment of health. Report an error

1:21:59 By bringing the states of mind into balance, purifying the states of mind, we also end up purifying the body. And it's the medical science, from the Tibetan point of view, go back to the tantric teachings. That's where the in-depth discussion is of how to cure disease is in the tantric system, because the tantric system deals with this underlying energy system. Report an error

1:22:29 this isn't a course in that. That was just a kind of a side point. Oh, yes, please. As far as Report an error

1:22:45 I understand, Dzogchen is, in the Nyingma tradition, Tantras are divided up into different levels. I don't know whether the exact terminology, but I think there's three on the outer level, three on the inner level and three on the secret level, kind of more advanced. And Dzogchen is the highest of those. So it's within the general tantric range, but it's kind of like a distilled essence, as I understand. Report an error

1:23:21 um... Report an error

1:23:33 I have to remind myself why I'm talking about any of these things. I get so far afield, I forget. Report an error

1:23:43 it's all connected eventually. Report an error

1:23:50 subject of death and dying. covered in both the sūtra tradition the tantric tradition. Report an error

1:24:02 the emphasis what is explained has different... Specialties in each one. So for example, within the general sūtra teachings of death, these come under removing false or mistaken concepts that surround the death experience. Report an error

1:24:33 I'll give you an example of what I mean. One of the key themes in Buddhism in general, but certainly within the sūtra... One of the key themes in Buddhist thought is impermanence. I'm sure everyone here has received teachings or heard something about impermanence as part of the Buddhist teachings. Why is impermanence such an important topic? It's a very important topic. It was there in the first teaching that the Buddha gave on the Four Noble Truths. Report an error

1:25:10 And it was right there in the very, very last teaching that the Buddha gave. It's often said that the last teaching that the Buddha gave was, virtually as he was passing away, was all compounded phenomena are impermanent. In other words, everything you can see, smell, taste, touch and hear, all of that is changing, all of that's impermanent. And then he added, work out your salvation with diligence. Report an error

1:25:40 In general, those embodied the last teachings of the Buddha. So he taught it right at the beginning, he taught it all the way through, and then right at the very end, he reminded, by the way, things are impermanent. Don't forget that. So, why is that important? Well, my teacher Lama Yeshe used to say, one of the main causes for our suffering, and remember the whole... Report an error

1:26:09 The aim of the Buddhist teachings is to allow us to overcome our suffering and experience true happiness. One of the main sources of suffering is that onto impermanent phenomena we project an idea of permanence, of them being static. Report an error

1:26:26 So instead of seeing things as they are, as changeable, as momentary, we superimpose on them a mistaken notion of them being static, unchanging, solid. Report an error

1:26:42 Now, by and large, I would say this is not like an intellectual mistake. It's like with your kind of well-thought-out intellect, you look at something that in fact is changing and you come to the conclusion it's not changing. It's not like that. It's more an emotional response. So, for example, a person Report an error

1:27:13 buys a new car. And it's sitting in the driveway and it's all shiny and it's brand new. Report an error

1:27:21 To the owner who went to a lot of trouble and paid a lot of money to get this car and now feels this, you know, now I have this car that I've always wanted to have. To the owner's mind, very often that car appears as a solid, unchanging entity. It's always going to be shiny. It's always going to be new. It's always going to give me pleasure. Report an error

1:27:46 It's always going to be kind of bright and radiant that way. And if you ask that person intellectually if they think that, they'll probably deny it. But their emotional attitude is as if it was never going to change. And then when the car gets a little scratch on it, it's like this huge insult. It's like the universe just slapped him in the face. Report an error

1:28:13 And there's a feeling of indignation. How could you scratch my brand new permanently beautiful car? And then, of course, over time, the impermanent nature of the car becomes more and more evident. You know, when things actually start breaking down and not just get scratched but actually cease to function or get involved in an accident or something. Report an error

1:28:38 But from the Buddhist point of view, you don't have to wait. for something to in an obvious way and to break down, it to be impermanent. are impermanent the moment they come into existence. moment something comes into existence, it's already in a state of change, impermanence. Report an error

1:29:08 Looking at things as if they were solid, lasting. is to project an image which has nothing to do with their underlying reality. Another example is the way people who are newly in love view their partner. Report an error

1:29:28 Again, I'm painting with a very wide brush. The things I say are not true for everybody. But think about it. Think about the way, let's say, let's take an example of someone quite young for whom Falling in love is a very new experience. Well, the beloved often appears as a, you could say, as a frozen image, you know, like a snapshot. Report an error

1:29:56 You know, young, beautiful, radiant, smooth skin, beautiful smile, perfect teeth, like that. It's kind of this image of beauty, whether projected onto a man or onto a woman. much difference right in our society of course there's a kind of a tendency of projecting those imagery more on women than on men but it's in fact across the board you know the beloved the object of one's attachment is often seen as somehow or other permanently attractive Report an error

1:30:33 affection, that's not the right word. Report an error

1:30:41 This attachment to the other person is often somehow linked with whether the person is living up to this ideal image or not. So that kind of, the so-called love, it's not really love is it, but the love in what we call love that arises very often is conditional based on whether the person remains. remains or not. So the minute a wrinkle appears or the hair starts turning gray or something like that happens, then it often happens that the initial infatuation fades. Report an error

1:31:24 hopefully, hopefully it gets replaced by something deeper, but we know from our society that often it's not. What's it called? The trophy wife? You know, the guy who goes out and earns a lot of money and he's married and has this companion. But then when he finally makes it, then he throws over his old wife because she isn't young and attractive anymore. Report an error

1:31:52 She doesn't fit the image that she had when he first married her. So he throws her over and then gets a young trophy wife, someone 20, 30, 40 years younger than him. And it can work the other way around too, but that's kind of an example that we see in our society. Report an error

1:32:10 What's happening is that in those cases it's not as if the two human beings are meeting on a level of reality. Each one is looking at the other through the filter of these projections. And instead of relating to their underlying reality, are relating just in terms as to whether they're still appearing in terms of that initial projection. Report an error

1:32:43 Real human beings are changing all the time. But the image we have, the statue, the painting, the mental idea we have about that person, that's static. And if we confuse one for the other, that produces nothing but suffering. Report an error

1:33:06 We have in English this expression, to grow old gracefully. Well, I think the reason we have that is because so many people don't grow old gracefully. They try to present an image to the world and to themselves of what they looked like when they were teenagers or in their 20s. And you see people well up into their 60s, 70s, 80s who kind of paint themselves into an image of what they no longer look like. Report an error

1:33:39 Why? Because they have this permanent conception. This conception of permanence that they're holding on to. And it's not only projected on other people, it's projected on themselves as well. So, the reason then, or a major reason why Buddha emphasized impermanence and change is because we suffer from the delusion of permanence. Report an error

1:34:05 And as I said before, it's not an intellectual construct, it's more like an emotional response that we freeze. the image we have of other people into this kind of snapshot. then things are okay when the person still looks like that snapshot, but as soon as the person starts looking or acting differently, then... Report an error

1:34:27 So the sūtra approach helps to combat the unrealistic attitudes that we have surrounding the death process. Report an error

1:34:47 In the handout that I gave, you'll notice at one point there's the nine-part death meditation. On Report an error

1:35:06 page two, for example, the nine-part meditation on impermanence and death. And in that, nine mistaken views are combated with nine correct views about the death experience. Report an error

1:35:27 And you'll see that, you know, among them are an inability, you know, among the mistaken views is not fully understanding that our death is inevitable, but the time of death is uncertain. You know, some people have this permanent conception. They say, oh, yeah, I'll die someday, but only after I've lived, you know, 70 years, you know, then I'll die. Report an error

1:35:52 You know, because the insurance people say that. Men live to this age and women live to that age, so I'm sure I'm going to live to that age myself. Well, that's wrong. That's just the statistical average. It has nothing to do with what our lifespan is going to be individually. So as we look through this, this nine-point death meditation, this is completely drawn from the sūtra tradition and positive states of mind. Report an error

1:36:24 Positive understandings are cultivated to overcome mistaken states of mind, the mistaken ones leading to suffering, the positive ones leading to a realistic view of the death experience, and to make life worthwhile. Because the whole purpose of, or the main purpose of recognizing death is that it throws life into sharp focus. Report an error

1:36:53 In the face of death, how can I live my life in the most effective, most meaningful way possible? So that's one possible example of the sūtra approach to the death experience. Report an error

1:37:11 Cultivating correct states of mind to overcome incorrect states of mind, whether they be intellectual or emotional. Now, when we start... To take into consideration the tantric teachings on death, then those teachings talk not only about the states of mind that are connected with the death process, but the underlying changes that take place in the vajra body, in that system of channels, winds and drops. Report an error

1:37:46 And the more we understand those phenomena, then the more we recognize what actually happens during Thank you for listening. examining it, they think, oh, you die and you just go out like a light. in actuality, it's a process of evolution. evolves over a period of time. In the case of a very sudden traumatic death, it's possible that one goes through it so quickly one's not But generally speaking, death is a movement. Report an error

1:38:25 It's a process. It takes place. Over an extended period of time and during that, the changes that take place in this subtle body, the system of channels, winds and drops, produces changes in one state of mind. And if we recognize them, if we recognize this pattern, this movement, then we can actually remain conscious during the dying experience, fully conscious. Report an error

1:38:55 As we remain conscious during the dying experience, that awareness can go right down to the very, very subtlest, the finest state of consciousness, which is often referred to as the clear light of death, the clear light experience. And that clear light experience has an unrivaled ability to focus on reality. Report an error

1:39:24 Shantideva, His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Lama Zopa Rinpoche. ultimate cause of suffering, which is ignorance. in the sūtra approach, Report an error

1:39:37 is a cultivation of wisdom, The Perfection of Wisdom Sutras, for example. And many of you know that the technical name given for this kind of wisdom that understands reality is the wisdom of shunyata, or the wisdom of emptiness. Report an error

1:39:54 That's a technical term. It doesn't mean nothing exists. It's much, much more profound than that. But it's a wisdom which clears away ignorant misconceptions. But in the sūtra approach, this wisdom is cultivated with what we might say an ordinary waking state consciousness, which is a very gross level of mind. Report an error

1:40:19 In the tantric teachings, we learn how to remain conscious. As our mind is reaching a much subtler state, all the way down to the clear light, and then use that consciousness to meditate on emptiness, to cultivate the wisdom of emptiness. Report an error

1:40:41 So the emptiness, the reality being meditated on both in the sūtra approach and the tantra approach is exactly the same. It's not as if sūtra has one teaching on emptiness and tantra has a more profound teaching on emptiness. As far as the emptiness is concerned, as far as Shantideva reality is concerned, the lack of inherent existence, they're the same. What's different is the mind that's focusing on it. Report an error

1:41:07 In the sūtra approach, they only talk about meditating with pretty much what we might call the ordinary level of mind, like the level of mind as it's operating now, or as it can operate in states of meditation. Report an error

1:41:22 But in the tantric approach, We're able to meditate, to focus on reality, cultivate the wisdom of emptiness with a very subtle penetrating state of mind, the clear light. Report an error

1:41:38 And they say that's as different as the light that's produced from an incandescent light bulb and the light that's produced from a laser. Both have the ability to illuminate, but the laser has the ability to penetrate. penetrate, an ordinary light bulb doesn't. just illuminates the surface of an object. A laser cuts right through the object. Report an error

1:42:04 So similarly, an ordinary consciousness has the ability to understand, but the clear light has the ability to penetrate. And with that penetration comes an extraordinary purification. So one can begin to actually eradicate the root causes of suffering. Report an error

1:42:32 From a tantric point of view, death is an extraordinary opportunity because we talk about achieving this clear light state of mind. Well, through certain types of tantric meditation, we can cultivate that clear light state of mind during our waking state, during our sleeping state. We can cultivate that. But everybody, no matter whether they have background in... Report an error

1:42:59 in these teachings or not, everyone experiences the clear light when they die. Report an error

1:43:08 Now, not everybody can take advantage of it, however. If the mind's not trained, Shantideva, His Holiness the Dalai Lama During their waking state, during meditation, during sleep, during dream, and so when it arises at the time of death, they're right on top of it. They don't miss it. They can experience the clear light of death with full conscious awareness and then turn it into a path leading to enlightenment. Report an error

1:43:56 So, in this course, we're going to kind of have a little taste. of the sūtra approach and the tantra approach. And by doing that, it's only going to be a little taste, it's just a short course, but by the kind of meditations that we do and the things that we go into, we'll get a little bit of a flavor of how these two aspects of the Buddhist teachings deal with death and the dying process. Report an error

1:44:30 So we've reached the end for this evening. So, in the beginning we generated on the basis of a calm and collected mind, we tried to generate an altruistic motivation. In other words, use whatever we discuss and think about here, not just for some kind of intellectual gamesmanship or collecting information, but really to be able to use it so that we can face not only our own death with equanimity and understanding, but that we can help other people. Report an error

1:45:06 All right, so that in the beginning, there's this kind of compassionate, altruistic motivation for what we're trying to do here. And then during the middle time, during the main part of when we were together, then we tried to focus on the different items that are being brought up with as much clarity as possible. Report an error

1:45:27 Now, it's difficult because I don't always express it clearly. But from your side, at least you're trying to understand it clearly. So now we've reached the end of this first session. So if we have a good motivation in the beginning and as good concentration and attention in the middle, what do we need at the end? Report an error

1:45:48 Does anybody know? Maybe exposure to other teachings you've received? Especially in the Tibetan tradition, but I think it's found in others as well, for an action, any activity. To be really effective, it should have a good beginning, a good middle and a good end. The good beginning is to engage in that action with a proper motivation. Report an error

1:46:15 Ultimately, the motivation of being concerned with the welfare of others. Then in the middle, having a good middle means to be as well concentrated, pay attention, have a proper attitude. But what's the good end? Dedication. Good. I knew somebody would know. Dedication. What does that dedication mean? It means that during the activity itself, a certain change took place. Report an error

1:46:50 We could say we created something, something that wasn't there before. There's something here at 9 o 'clock that wasn't here at 7 o 'clock. It's an energy, an energy that each of us created individually. And that all of us created collectively as well. And this energy derives from the fact that to a greater or lesser extent our activity was sincere and it was directed towards something positive. Report an error

1:47:23 And that can be true even if the speaker is kind of a little sloppy at times and even if we didn't follow everything. The very effort to try to understand something about death So that we can live our life well, that we can die well, and that we can help others live and die well. Just that effort itself creates positive energy. Report an error

1:47:46 Even if I don't explain everything well, even if you don't understand everything well, the fact that I want to explain things well and that you want to understand things well, that itself creates positive energy. We're trying to get a grip on reality. And just that effort is very positive, especially when you consider how so much activity in this world is not aimed at all in trying to understand reality. Report an error

1:48:18 So much activity in this world is aimed at avoiding Report an error

1:48:29 reality. I'm thinking of like a narcotic. Instead of facing it. You know, to kind of obliterate it, you know, so we don't have to face it. You know, people, you know, whether it's alcohol or drugs or whether it's immersing themselves in work or whether it's becoming addicted to watching television, you know, that effort by and large, I mean, there can be exceptions, but by and large, none of that effort is aimed at getting a clearer idea of the way things exist. Report an error

1:49:01 It's more to kind of deaden any understanding of the way things really exist. So the very fact that we make an effort to understand how things exist, even if that effort is faulty, and certainly things that I say are faulty, still the effort is positive and therefore it creates a certain positive energy. Report an error

1:49:23 Now, that energy can dissipate over time like any energy can, and that energy can also be destroyed. In the sense of being frustrated, you know, unable to produce a positive result. For instance, you create, have you ever had the experience where you're in a good mood and you do something really nice and you create some really good energy and then right after it's over, you get really, suddenly something happens and you get suddenly really angry, really pissed off, you know. Report an error

1:49:59 And you get this sense that it's like you've deflated a balloon. You spend all this time blowing it up and then that moment of anger is like, it's like you prick it, prick the balloon and it just fades, you know. It's like all that good energy you build up is kind of destroyed, lost somehow. So, if we take the energy that we created over this last two hours and dedicate it so that it may produce a positive result in the future, that actually saves it. Report an error

1:50:34 From being destroyed, if something like anger were to arise. In a sense we put it in a safe deposit box. So even if subsequent anger arises, it's not going to have the ability to deprive that energy of its effect. And so there are many different dedications that we can make, but we can just start off with a really simple one. That by virtue of what we've done here today, However great or however little it may have been, to try to understand reality as it pertains to the dying process, as a result of this, may I be able to face my death with clarity, with understanding, and be able to do the same for others. Report an error

1:51:27 And in this way, so that oneself and others can equally tread the path to spiritual enlightenment. Report an error

1:51:42 And with such a sincere dedication, then whatever positive energy we've created, however big or however small it may be, is not going to be lost before that enlightenment is actually attained, even if it takes eons. Report an error

1:52:00 Such is the power of a well-directed dedication. Report an error

1:52:07 Okay. So, thank you. Thank you. And I hope I will see some of you tomorrow. We're going to do, as I indicated, certain meditation practices based from the sūtra approach and certain meditation practices based from the tantric approach, both having to do with, obviously, the subject of death and dying. Report an error

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  6. Tonglen Retreat: Developing the Courage of Heart and Mind (17 March 2012, morning)

    Jonathan Landaw · 17 March 2012 · 1 h 58 min

Talk by Jonathan Landaw, recorded 26 September 2008. Original at Tse Chen Ling Center for Tibetan Buddhist Studies via Internet Archive: https://archive.org/details/JL_Dying_200809. Licensed CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 US. 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

Listen on Internet Archive · CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 US