Discovering Buddhism - Death and Rebirth (13 November 2007)

0:05 connections and everything. The chord disappeared, so he used Claire. I don't know where the chord went to. What chord? That chord, yeah. So we ended up using Claire. Report an error in the passage at 0:05 Highlight the passage at 0:05

0:44 We made it into another week. Always worth rejoicing. Report an error in the passage at 0:44 Highlight the passage at 0:44

0:52 So why don't we just sit and meditate for a little bit. Could I ask a favor? Could you turn off that middle light? I have like a mild migraine today. I think not having, yeah, so much better. It's like, you know. Now I can relate to Peter. Report an error in the passage at 0:52 Highlight the passage at 0:52

1:12 Peter always needs that one turned off. All right, so again, just kind of give yourself a moment. Maybe, you know, you might want to lean from side to side and forward back to find your position on the cushion. Report an error in the passage at 1:12 Highlight the passage at 1:12

1:27 You might need to roll your shoulders or scrunch them and release them. Report an error in the passage at 1:27 Highlight the passage at 1:27

1:37 You can take some nice deep belly breaths and let go of your day. Report an error in the passage at 1:37 Highlight the passage at 1:37

1:48 Imagining with each out breath you're letting go of all the things that can keep you from being here. Any distractions or any things from your work day or whatever it's taken for you to come here tonight. Report an error in the passage at 1:48 Highlight the passage at 1:48

2:11 And with each deep belly breath just bring in your full awareness and concentration and presence. Report an error in the passage at 2:11 Highlight the passage at 2:11

2:38 We're going to start with just a few minutes of just watching our breath. So starting at either the level of your belly or your chest or your nostril. Just focusing on the sensation of the air entering and leaving your body. Report an error in the passage at 2:38 Highlight the passage at 2:38

3:01 Really try to be present with each breath, remembering that it's completely unique and that you'll never see it again. And every time you find yourself distracted, just gently bring the mind back. Report an error in the passage at 3:01 Highlight the passage at 3:01

· · · silence, 2 minutes

5:07 to begin with a short Version of the preliminary practices. Beginning first with taking refuge in whatever aspect of Buddhism means something to you. Report an error in the passage at 5:07 Highlight the passage at 5:07

5:23 So maybe it's the teachings of impermanence. Maybe it's the teachings that say that all of us have within us the potential to get enlightened and that nobody can take that away from us, not even ourselves. Report an error in the passage at 5:23 Highlight the passage at 5:23

5:43 Or maybe it's the teachings on karma. it. Report an error in the passage at 5:43 Highlight the passage at 5:43

· · · silence, 1 minute

5:47 So whatever it is, just take refuge in that. Report an error in the passage at 5:47 Highlight the passage at 5:47

6:07 And then generating bodhicitta is just imagining maybe one person that you know who has a problem, somebody who has some kind of suffering, physical or mental, and how much you wish you could take that problem away from them and bring them happiness, happiness that would actually last. Report an error in the passage at 6:07 Highlight the passage at 6:07

6:40 And then imagine that same depth of feeling. Spreading out for every living being. Report an error in the passage at 6:40 Highlight the passage at 6:40

6:50 It's like light beaming out of you in all directions. Report an error in the passage at 6:50 Highlight the passage at 6:50

7:03 The Buddha says if we can feel it for one being, then we can feel it for all beings. It just takes training the mind. Report an error in the passage at 7:03 Highlight the passage at 7:03

7:22 And then imagine in the air in front of you a teacher that you really respect, maybe the Dalai Lama or Geshe-la. Report an error in the passage at 7:22 Highlight the passage at 7:22

7:33 Or you can imagine any form of the Buddha that you might feel close to, like Medicine Buddha or Shakyamuni Buddha, Tara. And Report an error in the passage at 7:33 Highlight the passage at 7:33

7:46 we begin with just first thinking of a quality that you would want, that he or she has, and bowing down to that quality. So maybe it's the wisdom, that wisdom that actually gets how it all works, that no longer buys into saṃsāra and that knows. That there's so much more beyond. So much more that our minds and our hearts are capable of. Report an error in the passage at 7:46 Highlight the passage at 7:46

8:27 So honoring that quality is prostration. Report an error in the passage at 8:27 Highlight the passage at 8:27

8:41 Offering is just thinking what you would offer to have that quality yourself. Report an error in the passage at 8:41 Highlight the passage at 8:41

8:57 Imagining, filling the skies with that offering. So maybe you first think of offering light or offering jewels or offering rainbows or offering fireworks. Report an error in the passage at 8:57 Highlight the passage at 8:57

9:13 And then imagine just filling the whole sky with it. So not just one light or one flower, but entire sky is filled. Report an error in the passage at 9:13 Highlight the passage at 9:13

9:47 And then confession is just thinking about one thing that you regret, understanding that according to the law of karma, anything that we do that's negative actually brings us suffering eventually when it ripens, when that negative karma ripens. Report an error in the passage at 9:47 Highlight the passage at 9:47

10:15 The Buddhas and Bodhisattvas don't care what you've done. They already know. So just owning it and letting go of it is a way of just sort of getting it off our chest, which allows us to open our hearts wider and wider. So Report an error in the passage at 10:15 Highlight the passage at 10:15

10:40 it can be as tiny as feeling irritated with somebody instead of open to them, or cutting somebody off in traffic or grabbing a parking place you knew that somebody else saw first. It doesn't matter what it is. Just own it and let go of it. And that's confession. Report an error in the passage at 10:40 Highlight the passage at 10:40

11:28 And then rejoicing is the opposite. It's thinking about something that we've done good or just some way that we've tried. Report an error in the passage at 11:28 Highlight the passage at 11:28

11:41 So maybe it's coming tonight when you really didn't want to. Maybe it was doing the meditation one day this week when you really were tired or didn't feel well. Report an error in the passage at 11:41 Highlight the passage at 11:41

11:55 Whatever it is, you just rejoice from the depths of your heart. Report an error in the passage at 11:55 Highlight the passage at 11:55

· · · silence, 1 minute

12:34 And then the next two steps go together and that's asking the teacher or Buddha in front of you to stay, not to pass into blissful Paranirvana, but to stay with us and to teach. Report an error in the passage at 12:34 Highlight the passage at 12:34

12:53 And when we ask our teachers and the Buddhas to teach us, we have to stay open to the fact that they may teach us in lots of different ways through whatever it is we're reading or... Through somebody next to you on the bus, somebody that you meet at the bank. It doesn't necessarily have to be formal teaching. Report an error in the passage at 12:53 Highlight the passage at 12:53

13:15 So Report an error in the passage at 13:15 Highlight the passage at 13:15

13:20 we just ask, please stay, please don't ever pass away from us until we get enlightened ourselves. And Report an error in the passage at 13:20 Highlight the passage at 13:20

13:46 then you do a little dedication, dedicating the merit from these preliminary practices to the happiness of all beings. And Report an error in the passage at 13:46 Highlight the passage at 13:46

13:59 especially that being you thought of at first. Report an error in the passage at 13:59 Highlight the passage at 13:59

14:18 When we think about the second part of this meditation, that the time of our death is uncertain, Report an error in the passage at 14:18 Highlight the passage at 14:18

14:31 we might begin to get it that death itself is certain, but there's still some part of us that's in deep denial that our own death could happen at any time. Report an error in the passage at 14:31 Highlight the passage at 14:31

14:45 We still keep thinking that maybe it's really conveniently far in the future. Our Report an error in the passage at 14:45 Highlight the passage at 14:45

14:58 mind is so stubborn. Report an error in the passage at 14:58 Highlight the passage at 14:58

15:06 As the Buddha said, we really don't know which will come first, tomorrow or the next life. Report an error in the passage at 15:06 Highlight the passage at 15:06

15:24 The lifespan in our time and realm is uncertain. People can die at any point. Report an error in the passage at 15:24 Highlight the passage at 15:24

15:36 Babies die in the womb. Report an error in the passage at 15:36 Highlight the passage at 15:36

15:41 Babies die at birth. Report an error in the passage at 15:41 Highlight the passage at 15:41

15:47 Little kids die. Teenagers die. And people in our 20s and 30s and 40s and 50s die. Report an error in the passage at 15:47 Highlight the passage at 15:47

16:05 All of us can think of examples, even if we ourselves have been fortunate enough not to lose anyone. Report an error in the passage at 16:05 Highlight the passage at 16:05

16:20 Think of anyone that you know or have heard of who died younger than you are right now. Report an error in the passage at 16:20 Highlight the passage at 16:20

16:43 Even the youngest of us in this room knows somebody younger than ourselves. And those older probably know many, many, many cases. Report an error in the passage at 16:43 Highlight the passage at 16:43

17:06 Why is it that I'm so sure that I won't die? Why do I think I'm so special? Report an error in the passage at 17:06 Highlight the passage at 17:06

17:18 It's not really logical. It's just some sort of comfort mechanism. Report an error in the passage at 17:18 Highlight the passage at 17:18

17:32 Age is no guarantee because we all know people who have died younger than their parents. Report an error in the passage at 17:32 Highlight the passage at 17:32

17:50 Health is no guarantee. Healthy people die before sick people all the time. Report an error in the passage at 17:50 Highlight the passage at 17:50

17:58 We label people sick who have received some diagnosis. But a lot of times sick people don't even really know that they're sick. And Report an error in the passage at 17:58 Highlight the passage at 17:58

18:13 a lot of times people die in accidents and it doesn't matter whether they're healthy or sick. Report an error in the passage at 18:13 Highlight the passage at 18:13

18:40 Sometimes the most beautiful and healthy... Famous people or celebrities can die in an instant in some freak accident. Report an error in the passage at 18:40 Highlight the passage at 18:40

18:59 I think about some of the cases that we talked about where people had been told by their doctors that they were healthy and could travel and then died the next day. Report an error in the passage at 18:59 Highlight the passage at 18:59

19:25 Future plans are no guarantee. Most people I know who have died had plans. Even so-called sick people had plans all the way up until the final. You Report an error in the passage at 19:25 Highlight the passage at 19:25

19:57 can think about all the political or spiritual leaders who die before they finish their work Report an error in the passage at 19:57 Highlight the passage at 19:57

20:06 or yogis or spiritual masters who die while meditating or doing retreat or even teaching. Report an error in the passage at 20:06 Highlight the passage at 20:06

20:25 We can't even be certain that we won't die today. We just don't know. Report an error in the passage at 20:25 Highlight the passage at 20:25

20:38 The things that kill us are many while the things that keep us alive are few. Report an error in the passage at 20:38 Highlight the passage at 20:38

20:47 We start with thinking about external conditions like Fires or floods or earthquakes, accidents, Report an error in the passage at 20:47 Highlight the passage at 20:47

21:00 maybe poison or poisonous animals or plants, maybe falls. Report an error in the passage at 21:00 Highlight the passage at 21:00

21:15 My cousin had just finished dinner with his wife and walked out on the streets of D.C. and was mugged and killed just Report an error in the passage at 21:15 Highlight the passage at 21:15

21:27 like that. Report an error in the passage at 21:27 Highlight the passage at 21:27

21:40 I had a good friend whose aunt went to pick up someone at the airport and died in a car accident. Report an error in the passage at 21:40 Highlight the passage at 21:40

21:48 People die like this all the time. Report an error in the passage at 21:48 Highlight the passage at 21:48

22:01 Internal conditions like diseases, organ failure. Report an error in the passage at 22:01 Highlight the passage at 22:01

22:12 Sometimes things we don't even know have gone wrong. Probably often things we don't know have gone wrong. Report an error in the passage at 22:12 Highlight the passage at 22:12

22:26 My grandfather just went to work one day and died on the loading dock at work of a heart attack. Report an error in the passage at 22:26 Highlight the passage at 22:26

22:51 And even the things that are so-called life-sustaining, like medicine and food in our homes, can become a cause of our death. Report an error in the passage at 22:51 Highlight the passage at 22:51

23:02 If we have an allergic reaction, Report an error in the passage at 23:02 Highlight the passage at 23:02

23:07 if we overdose, even accidentally, if we choke. I Report an error in the passage at 23:07 Highlight the passage at 23:07

23:20 remember that friend who I was mentioning who was in a house in Pacifica during the mudslides and the whole house went down. Report an error in the passage at 23:20 Highlight the passage at 23:20

23:31 Of course this happened in Katrina as well in New Orleans. Report an error in the passage at 23:31 Highlight the passage at 23:31

23:45 This body is so fragile and is itself impermanent. Report an error in the passage at 23:45 Highlight the passage at 23:45

23:56 If we can see the huge trees. Mountains, lakes, even this planet is impermanent. And of course our fragile, frail bodies are. Report an error in the passage at 23:56 Highlight the passage at 23:56

24:12 We're always so shocked when we hurt ourselves. But actually it's pretty amazing that we don't do it more often. Report an error in the passage at 24:12 Highlight the passage at 24:12

24:31 Something as tiny as one nail or one germ can become the cause of our death. Report an error in the passage at 24:31 Highlight the passage at 24:31

24:53 Think about the times in your life when everything suddenly changed due to illness or injury. Something as... Simple as getting out of the shower wrong or closing the car on your hand and how shocking it is. Death is like that. Report an error in the passage at 24:53 Highlight the passage at 24:53

25:16 And sometimes a simple injury can turn into something more serious without our ever knowing. Report an error in the passage at 25:16 Highlight the passage at 25:16

25:31 We always act like people shouldn't die, but people die and they die all the time. Report an error in the passage at 25:31 Highlight the passage at 25:31

25:40 Somehow we think we're different, that it won't happen to me, but we're not different. Report an error in the passage at 25:40 Highlight the passage at 25:40

25:53 Our body is a compounded phenomenon. It's come together due to causes and conditions, and so it's necessarily impermanent. It's like everything else in this world. It's no different. Report an error in the passage at 25:53 Highlight the passage at 25:53

26:17 At some point, and we don't know when, we'll breathe out, and we won't breathe in again. And it all boils down to that one instant, that one breath. And Report an error in the passage at 26:17 Highlight the passage at 26:17

26:35 even in a person's last few moments of life, they can believe that they're not dying, that somehow they'll live forever. Report an error in the passage at 26:35 Highlight the passage at 26:35

26:50 Knowing that we could die at any time, we can resolve to practice now, to stop procrastinating. Report an error in the passage at 26:50 Highlight the passage at 26:50

27:04 We just don't know how much time we have left and Report an error in the passage at 27:04 Highlight the passage at 27:04

27:11 we have so little time to make a difference and to work with our mind. Report an error in the passage at 27:11 Highlight the passage at 27:11

27:23 So let's motivate this class and this meditation to learning to live this life with our whole heart and using whatever time we have left to work in our minds and to benefit others as much as we can. Report an error in the passage at 27:23 Highlight the passage at 27:23

27:46 To really see this day, this moment, this life as the precious gift that it is. Report an error in the passage at 27:46 Highlight the passage at 27:46

28:06 On time, when you're ready, you can end your meditation and we'll start with opening prayer. Report an error in the passage at 28:06 Highlight the passage at 28:06

28:39 Anybody else? Report an error in the passage at 28:39 Highlight the passage at 28:39

28:55 With the wish to free all beings, I shall always go for refuge to Buddha, Dharma and Saṅgha until I reach full enlightenment. Inspired by wisdom and compassion. Today in the Buddha's presence, I generate the mind of full awakening for the benefit of all sentient beings. As long as space remains, as long as sentient beings remain, until then may I too remain and dispel the miseries of the world. Report an error in the passage at 28:55 Highlight the passage at 28:55

29:29 With the wish to free all beings, I shall always go for refuge to Buddha, Dharma and Saṅgha. Until I reach full enlightenment, inspired by wisdom and compassion, today in the Buddha's presence, I generate the mind of full awakening for the benefit of all sentient beings. As long as space remains, as long as sentient beings remain, until then may I too remain and dispel the miseries of the world. Report an error in the passage at 29:29 Highlight the passage at 29:29

30:04 With the wish to free all beings, I shall always go for refuge to Buddha, Dharma and Saṅgha until I reach full enlightenment. Inspired by wisdom and compassion, today in the Buddha's presence, I generate the mind of full awakening for the benefit of all sentient beings. As long as space remains, as long as sentient beings remain, until then may I too remain. Report an error in the passage at 30:04 Highlight the passage at 30:04

30:35 And dispel the miseries of the world. Report an error in the passage at 30:35 Highlight the passage at 30:35

30:50 So does anybody have anything that they want to talk about? You guys are working on this meditation this week. Anything come up for you doing it, either just now or at home or unrelated, anything to do with the reading or just thinking about it? Report an error in the passage at 30:50 Highlight the passage at 30:50

31:13 I Report an error in the passage at 31:13 Highlight the passage at 31:13

31:19 don't know if we're keeping tally of who's experiencing, who experiences a loss during this class. But... A friend of 25 years who's been struggling with brain cancer is finally deteriorating fast, run out of options and going into hospice care. So he's very much on my mind. Yeah, it was interesting. Right after class last week, I got word that a friend of mine had died. Report an error in the passage at 31:19 Highlight the passage at 31:19

31:49 She's been fighting cancer for four years, actually. So it wasn't a shock, but it was still a loss. It still is a loss. And we're coming up on John's 49th day, I think, really tomorrow. Well, if you'd like, those who would like to can stay and we can read the King of Prayers after class for all three. Report an error in the passage at 31:49 Highlight the passage at 31:49

32:10 Whoever would like, we could do that, yeah, if people would like to do. Report an error in the passage at 32:10 Highlight the passage at 32:10

32:17 Anything else? Anybody else? Any other experiences or thoughts, feelings? Report an error in the passage at 32:17 Highlight the passage at 32:17

32:31 Okay, well, you can still say them later. Report an error in the passage at 32:31 Highlight the passage at 32:31

32:36 Tonight we're going to talk about sort of the grand finale. Report an error in the passage at 32:36 Highlight the passage at 32:36

32:42 This is part three and what's really going to help us at the time of death. So we're going through this meditation thinking about first the fact that our own death is certain, that death is certain for all beings. And then that moment of our own death is completely uncertain. And now we're getting to the point, which is what's really going to help us. Report an error in the passage at 32:42 Highlight the passage at 32:42

32:40 what... Report an error in the passage at 32:40 Highlight the passage at 32:40

33:09 It's true probably for everyone, but I think it's best to start with ourselves, making our own mental preparation. We're going to spend some time in later classes thinking about what that might look like, practically speaking, but this is just at first to try to help you get to the point where you realize that it could be useful. Report an error in the passage at 33:09 Highlight the passage at 33:09

33:31 It could be really useful to have some stability of mind at that moment. It could be really useful. You know, to have purified, you know, any negative karma, if you know how to do that, which we'll, of course, talk about, and accumulated some positive karma because at that moment, really, nothing else is going to be of much help. Report an error in the passage at 33:31 Highlight the passage at 33:31

33:55 You might have the good karma where you have a peaceful death and you might have the good karma to have really kind people around you, but even so, ultimately. You know, just like we're born alone, we ultimately have to die alone, so we can't take any of those things with us. So this point is basically trying to help us see that because there's still some part of us, I think, that still Report an error in the passage at 33:55 Highlight the passage at 33:55

34:25 puts a lot of stock in having, you know, thinking that somehow others can help us or even the things that we love the most can help us. And so this is sort of... And even our body, we certainly spend a lot of time, and I know I'm certainly the queen of that one, with all of our supplements and doing all of our conventional things to keep this body going. Report an error in the passage at 34:25 Highlight the passage at 34:25

34:49 And the Buddha never said not to. Actually, in Tantra, we make a vow to take care of our bodies because we want to make sure that we can keep using them in this life. So it's not that it's a bad thing, but I think as a culture we tend to... Place a little bit too much import on this body. And in the end, of course, this body is really, really fragile and can't do anything when its time is up. Report an error in the passage at 34:49 Highlight the passage at 34:49

35:17 On its own, it doesn't have the power from its own side to suddenly get up and run away when our time has come. So this one starts with basically what will help us at the time of death. Report an error in the passage at 35:17 Highlight the passage at 35:17

35:33 And really the only thing that's going to help... Help us at this time is having some stability of mind from having worked with our minds in life. While we have the conditions now, working to train our mind, working with our mind, subduing the afflicted kind of thoughts. Report an error in the passage at 35:33 Highlight the passage at 35:33

36:00 Analyzing our anger, looking at developing minds of compassion and patience and tolerance. And often you can practice by being sick now at how well we can face the illness and the problems that come up in our lives now are certainly good ways to prepare ourselves. And if you've ever spent time being really, really sick, this is a great way to practice. Just being able to accept. Report an error in the passage at 36:00 Highlight the passage at 36:00

36:30 You know, that you can't get up that day, for example, and that you have to just sort of, you know, lie there and have whatever discomfort or pain that you have. It's actually a really wonderful opportunity to work on your mind. But basically, anytime, I mean, that's a really big Buddhist teaching, that basically anything that happens to us that we don't want to happen to us is a great way to train our minds. Report an error in the passage at 36:30 Highlight the passage at 36:30

36:55 Whether it's, you know... The car breaking down on the tunnel, which is something that actually happened to Lama and I one time when we were on our way to a teaching, having the car break down in the middle of the tunnel of the Bay Bridge at rush hour without any lights. Report an error in the passage at 36:55 Highlight the passage at 36:55

37:11 Talk about a great way to train your mind. And it was also a great test of how far you'd come. Report an error in the passage at 37:11 Highlight the passage at 37:11

37:18 All the way to just waking up and you have plans for the day to go hiking and it's raining. How do we deal with these little problems? Because there are practices for the big stuff. We can't start right out. Hopefully we don't have to start right out with facing a diagnosis of terminal cancer. There are ways that we can get there, and that's with sort of learning how to accept the little stuff that comes along. So we're thinking right now of what we can be doing in our life moment by moment to prepare our minds for this moment, the biggest moment. Report an error in the passage at 37:18 Highlight the passage at 37:18

37:56 Of our life, which will come. And here when we do this meditation, sometimes you can take the time, and you can try this out this week, to actually imagine yourself on your deathbed. And in this setup, you actually take time, and it's not that you're imagining that you've just found out, because that's a whole different meditation. That's a whole different thing. Report an error in the passage at 37:56 Highlight the passage at 37:56

38:21 You know, we did that right at the... Report an error in the passage at 38:21 Highlight the passage at 38:21

38:26 Dying Well Weekend, the second meditation, I think it was, that Tenzin Chokyi let us in. Or no, it was Lenny that let us in that one, which is, of course, even more realistic because she's a nurse, so she knows all these kind of terms and who you'd go to and all these things. Report an error in the passage at 38:26 Highlight the passage at 38:26

38:42 That's a whole different meditation and a useful one to do. This is one where you have already gone through some sort of... Denial and acceptance and all of your steps and now you're just in the final stages and you're just imagining kind of going through what would actually help me die peacefully. Report an error in the passage at 38:42 Highlight the passage at 38:42

39:03 And the first one is that your possessions, certainly not your money, none of that can help you at that moment. And this is a useful one to remember, even though I think most of us, it's not like we have to convince ourselves of this one. I think realistically we know that we can't take the bank account with us. Report an error in the passage at 39:03 Highlight the passage at 39:03

39:21 We know that our most precious, whatever they are, objects, whether it's the house itself or the car or any little things that mean something to you because someone gave them to you, probably somebody else who's dying. I know for me those are the things that matter to me the most. Or even once you start practicing Buddhism, even your Dharma objects can't come with you. Your pictures of your lamas or your dorjis and bells or malas or whatever, you can't take those with you. Report an error in the passage at 39:21 Highlight the passage at 39:21

39:57 But you can think about how we still cling. We cling to these things. And it's not to say we can't enjoy things or that we have to give away everything. But one of the things that... Report an error in the passage at 39:57 Highlight the passage at 39:57

40:11 We talked about actually in the Dying Well Weekend is that it's quite useful to remember that at that moment they will be gone in an instant and you will have to let them go at some point. You'll have to let go of those things or they might break before that point. Report an error in the passage at 40:11 Highlight the passage at 40:11

40:30 So, I mean, just to reduce our attachment to them in whatever way makes sense to us. So you can... You can visualize one of the things we talked about that day, actually. Lenny was talking about how she's already, she's in her mid-60s, I think. Report an error in the passage at 40:30 Highlight the passage at 40:30

40:50 Maybe late 60s. And she's already started sort of marking the things that go to different people in her life. My mom started doing that, too, actually. Report an error in the passage at 40:50 Highlight the passage at 40:50

41:02 And, you know, and that's like a step. That's a step of... Remembering who they're going to go to and that as far as she's concerned, then they aren't hers anymore, at least less hers by making that step. You can also just visualize actually giving them to people, you know, just taking that step. Venable Rita, who did sort of a quasi-dying well day last year. Report an error in the passage at 41:02 Highlight the passage at 41:02

41:28 When she was here, she said one really important thing that you could try is visualizing, especially, this is really useful, imagine somebody you hate getting all of your things, putting them in a big garbage bag and tossing them over a cliff. Report an error in the passage at 41:28 Highlight the passage at 41:28

41:43 She says it does wonders to your letting go of these things. And she said it has to be a big black garbage bag too. Don't imagine them wrapping them nicely or anything, taking care of them. And actually, of course, Even though hopefully we don't take somebody's precious things in big garbage bags. But I actually had to go through this. And those of us who have lost parents, I think you have gone through having to look at a lifetime full of things. Report an error in the passage at 41:43 Highlight the passage at 41:43

42:12 I mean, I had to do this with my grandmother too and my dad. But looking at things that meant something to this person and really have no value to anyone if they didn't hear some story or they don't know why this, you know. Report an error in the passage at 42:12 Highlight the passage at 42:12

42:30 Shirt meant something to somebody or whatever. And so you end up having to get rid of quite a lot of it, you know, and hopefully you can at least take it to a thrift store so somebody can gain something out of that. But we, of course, had to do a lot of that. And it's emotionally draining to do that. It's actually better if we can do that for the people who follow us. And at some point, you know, somebody will do that for us. Report an error in the passage at 42:30 Highlight the passage at 42:30

42:53 You know, we'll take time and go through our things and probably... Toss a good number of them. I mean, if you can actually take a day and just look at your stuff and think, it's actually a really interesting exercise to think, you know, if somebody who didn't know me at all had to go through this, which is also possible. Report an error in the passage at 42:53 Highlight the passage at 42:53

43:14 We always imagine loved ones doing it, but, you know, what if the loved ones go with us or something? And so then it's just like, you know, somebody going through it who's just like your landlord or something, who doesn't have any real feeling for you, and they're just kind of like, huh. These are really ugly cups, you know, and just, it's sort of a way that we can kind of begin to cut our attachment to this stuff. Report an error in the passage at 43:14 Highlight the passage at 43:14

43:37 Because actually at the time of our death, not only do we have to let go of it an instant, but if we haven't begun working on this stuff, we don't like to think of ourselves clinging to this, but we could cling to it. They actually say that in some ways it's actually better. Not to die at home for that reason, because you're surrounded by all these things that you have loved and all these pictures of people that you love, and so it actually makes it harder to just transition and let go of this particular identity and this particular life, which I had never thought about before. Report an error in the passage at 43:37 Highlight the passage at 43:37

44:09 That one came from Lenny in another workshop. I don't know if she mentioned it again this time. And it's one of the points of a place like a residential hospice or a place, end-of-life care, like a Tara home. Report an error in the passage at 44:09 Highlight the passage at 44:09

44:22 Because it can have really great, beautiful environment. It can have a home-like environment so that it's not a hospital, for example. And in fact, it can have very holy images, which could be really, really great. But it won't be our home. It won't have our cups. It won't have our, you know, brother smiling on the wall or something, you know. Report an error in the passage at 44:22 Highlight the passage at 44:22

44:47 And I remember... Pointing that out to my sister, because my sister, when my mom was in the process of dying, my sister started bringing in all these pictures from home, and I'm like... So I took her out in the hall. Fortunately, she was really, really open to it, and I said, you know, actually, that can make it really hard for her. You know, she wanted to play, like, her favorite music, and so she was playing. Report an error in the passage at 44:47 Highlight the passage at 44:47

45:06 But it wasn't, like, religious music. It was, like, Nat King Cole or something, you know. And, you know, actually, it can cause more grasping. In their minds. And she was actually open to it. And so then we would just kind of sing to my mom hymns or things that might keep her mind happy, but not necessarily like, you know, autumn leaves. Report an error in the passage at 45:06 Highlight the passage at 45:06

45:31 I won't do my Nat King Cole imitation. You'll be happy to hear. Because often people just don't even think about it. You know, she hadn't really thought about it before. Report an error in the passage at 45:31 Highlight the passage at 45:31

45:42 So, and that's also, of course, a way to cut our attachment to things. Now, it's just to think, you know, if I were to die tonight, this wouldn't really matter to me. Or if you're in a conversation and somebody, you know, expresses interest or likes something, which is something that Lenny said, too. Report an error in the passage at 45:42 Highlight the passage at 45:42

46:03 She would just make a metal note if somebody said, oh, I really, really love that statue. Then she'd, as soon as they left, she'd write their name on the statue or whatever, you know. So, you know, it's kind of just a way of just reducing our attachment. Report an error in the passage at 46:03 Highlight the passage at 46:03

46:20 And again, it doesn't mean we can't own things. It doesn't mean that we have to live as a medicant in a cave or something like that. But it does mean that it is really useful for us to cut some of our attachment to this life, to this particular life. Because realistically, this life only lasts so long. Report an error in the passage at 46:20 Highlight the passage at 46:20

46:43 And if we're clinging all the way, it actually limits. The sort of freedom and spaciousness that we can have in this life. And then certainly when it's time for us to go, it's going to make it much harder. And they say dying with a mind of extreme attachment actually just creates causes for a negative rebirth. Report an error in the passage at 46:43 Highlight the passage at 46:43

47:05 It's just like any other afflicted state of mind. We don't so much recognize. Attachment is an afflicted state of mind in this culture. In fact, we actually encourage attachment in this culture. But the Buddha taught that it brings suffering, and so for that reason alone, it's considered an afflicted state of mind. Report an error in the passage at 47:05 Highlight the passage at 47:05

47:25 And then, of course, the second step is that friends and family can't help us at that moment. It doesn't mean that we all have to go and die alone, but it does mean that it does change sort of the way that we think about Report an error in the passage at 47:25 Highlight the passage at 47:25

47:44 Who we would want with us at that time. And for those of us that have even taken a moment to think about that, Paul and I had this conversation a couple Saturdays ago when we did the Dying Well weekend. And I said that every time I meditated on it, it sort of differed who I would actually want there. You know, it went from having my best friends and some sort of a party or something. Report an error in the passage at 47:44 Highlight the passage at 47:44

48:08 And then realizing that actually now. I don't think I'd want that. Then it was like my closest Dharma friends. And then it got down to Tenzin Choki, who was actually probably my very closest Dharma friend. And then it really got down to, you know, they could be there if they wanted to, but I really wanted Lama Zopa there if I was going to go. But if I could visualize the best, why not go for the best? Report an error in the passage at 48:08 Highlight the passage at 48:08

48:32 I would want Lama Zopa there. So maybe Lama Zopa with Tenzin Choki. Just people that could know what to do and could practice and could help me out of this life the best, with the most grace and the most positive state of mind. Report an error in the passage at 48:32 Highlight the passage at 48:32

48:52 And actually could even be cheerful about it, which is an interesting thing too. Because even though you would think at that moment that things aren't cheerful, they actually can be quite cheerful. It's odd, but it's true. There's something very... Report an error in the passage at 48:52 Highlight the passage at 48:52

49:09 I don't know, you know, I mean, it's like one of the sweetest gifts that you can do for somebody to be there. It's very intimate. So that letting go and that creating that space around them to let them let go, help them let go. Report an error in the passage at 49:09 Highlight the passage at 49:09

49:25 So, you know, even if all of our friends are like clinging to us, we still have our own journey to make. We have to just go. And their attachment to us actually could cause more problems if they don't really understand that. Report an error in the passage at 49:25 Highlight the passage at 49:25

49:42 It can definitely cause a lot of pain. It could cause more pain on our side, of course on their side, but on our side as well. So it's important to know that if you're in this situation and someone is dying that you love, to just try to help them by creating that space around them and let them go in their own time without Report an error in the passage at 49:42 Highlight the passage at 49:42

50:08 clinging to them. It doesn't mean that you can't say that you love them, but without... Grasping onto them, holding onto their ankles basically. And so again, just like with our things, we can think about how can we reduce this sort of clinging attachment to those we love. You know, sort of that old adage about loving people with the palm up rather than, you know, with the closed fist. Because honestly, we are all on our own paths and we are... Report an error in the passage at 50:08 Highlight the passage at 50:08

50:41 Ultimately, we do have to continue on our journey on our own. Report an error in the passage at 50:41 Highlight the passage at 50:41

50:50 Love, in the Buddhist sense, is basically wanting the other to be happy, not with any conditions of me being involved. Just wanting the other to be happy is the Buddhist definition of love. Our love now, without any meaning or any intention, is always blended with some attachment. just learning to, I mean. Report an error in the passage at 50:50 Highlight the passage at 50:50

51:13 You know, we're not enlightened beings yet. And so it's just kind of learning to see where that attachment is and letting go of that attachment. You're practicing through practice. None of us can do it right away unless all of you are enlightened and you're just trying to help me out. But assuming that you're ordinary, and definitely I'm ordinary, learning to work with that little bits all the time, ways that we find ourselves. Report an error in the passage at 51:13 Highlight the passage at 51:13

51:39 Clinging to people or wanting them to stay the same or wanting them to always be with us and then remembering actually that for their happiness they might not stay with us and that that's okay and in fact is necessary. Report an error in the passage at 51:39 Highlight the passage at 51:39

51:58 So again, figuring out ways to work with that while we have time in this life. And then the final of the three points is not even our own body can help us. And actually this can be the biggest hindrance to us at death if we're really, really attached to this body. And especially if we think of this body as me, which is a real confusion that can enter our minds during our lifetime. Report an error in the passage at 51:58 Highlight the passage at 51:58

52:26 I mean we've had this body since birth even though of course it's changed drastically, radically I can say. But still it's like the one companion that... That we've had since the beginning and will have until the very moment of the end. And we've pampered it and we've cared for it and we've done everything to it, you know, good and bad. Report an error in the passage at 52:26 Highlight the passage at 52:26

52:51 We've protected it and we've also, you know, abused it and worked it into the ground and ignored its hunger pangs and overslept it and underslept it. Worried about it, bought thousands of supplements for it, you know, taken it to the gym. Report an error in the passage at 52:51 Highlight the passage at 52:51

53:10 Run it into the ground. So in many ways it is our most treasured possession, which is definitely true for all beings. This is the one thing that is the closest to being me, but it's not me. I mean, it's the vessel for the mind, and the gross mind is dependent upon this body, but the mind itself isn't, and that mind itself, the subtle most mind, does move on into the next life. Report an error in the passage at 53:10 Highlight the passage at 53:10

53:40 So beginning now to see that I'm not this body and I'm, you know, in fact, I say sometimes, you know, I'm sick, right? The body is sick. I'm sick. The mind is sad. I'm sad. You know, we identify really closely with this I, you know, thinking that this body or this mind is me. And actually this I is something that's just a mental construct. So we can begin reducing our attachment to and our dependence on this body right now. Report an error in the passage at 53:40 Highlight the passage at 53:40

54:19 We can start working on that. You can kind of start examining it at certain times in your life where you're, you know, especially if the body is experiencing, you know, for example, hunger. I'm hungry. It's like, no, the body's hungry. And often the body is quite satisfied with a cracker rather than an entire bowl of mashed potatoes. Report an error in the passage at 54:19 Highlight the passage at 54:19

54:46 We often try to feed something else. The body is quite happy with something very, very simple. I'm thirsty, and so we have a gallon of... Orange juice or something rather than just a glass of water. When Lama Yeshe was in the final stages of his, he had this really enlarged heart, which I think is an interesting karmic occurrence. Report an error in the passage at 54:46 Highlight the passage at 54:46

55:18 This is why he died, why he manifested passing on. But of course his students were clinging to him desperately, which I can only imagine. And he used his dying process to really... To be a teaching, much in the way that Kirti Sancho Rinpoche taught his students. And in fact, actually, this is described in great detail in this book that was supposed to be the required reading, and it now has gone out of print, Reincarnation, the Boy Lama. Report an error in the passage at 55:18 Highlight the passage at 55:18

55:51 But it's an amazing book, and it talks a lot about his final years, and of course Lenny is there, so it's kind of interesting to read it, those of us who... Now know people who are still living and working at Vajrapani. They all figured in this final year of Lama's life. But one of my favorite quotes from him in that time period is simply, am I this body? Report an error in the passage at 55:51 Highlight the passage at 55:51

56:15 He just said that repeatedly to his students, am I this body? And it's true, it's a question that we can ask ourselves. And that's one you can just sit and meditate on for forever. It's just... It feels like I am in some way. I am this body. And then, of course, you know you're not. And that, of course, leads to what am I, which is a whole different question. Report an error in the passage at 56:15 Highlight the passage at 56:15

56:38 But we can at least eliminate that I'm not this body. Because otherwise, when this body begins to sort of wither and fail, what's happening to me? And then that panic arises. Report an error in the passage at 56:38 Highlight the passage at 56:38

56:59 It's important to remember that in the time that we die, when we actually reach that moment where we die, everything that we know and have experienced ends. And we enter this state that we have no memory of. It's sort of like going to a foreign country or on a journey to a foreign country. And we usually, before we go to a foreign country, we read up on it and we prepare for it. And so the Buddha is basically saying, This is like the biggest journey of your entire life. And most of us just pretend it's never going to happen. Or if we do, if it comes up in our mind, then we immediately squash it and try to pretend it's never going to happen. Report an error in the passage at 56:59 Highlight the passage at 56:59

57:44 And he's basically saying, look, we've done this billions of times. Like, yes, it is going to happen. And yes, it's really useful to prepare for it. Report an error in the passage at 57:44 Highlight the passage at 57:44

57:53 Because in that moment, there's so much and so many other things happening. And our body is disintegrating and probably in some discomfort. Our mind is also getting more and more subtle, which is actually the good news. But still, they say that sort of as our body is disintegrating or as our body is dissolving, that we have a lot of experiences that can happen really quickly in turn, which is a little like hallucinating. Report an error in the passage at 57:53 Highlight the passage at 57:53

58:25 so it's not like it's It's not like we're as clear as we even are right now, and I don't know about you, but not all of us are necessarily all that clear right now, under the best of circumstances. So the idea is to work with our minds now, to remember to work with our minds now while we have this time and this clarity, as much clarity as we have right now, and the conditions that we actually do have right now, without waiting again for something better to come along, without thinking. Report an error in the passage at 58:25 Highlight the passage at 58:25

58:56 At some point, I'm not going to have those sirens going by. We take the time to familiarize ourselves with these positive states of mind and to learn to concentrate our mind. Because if we have a hard time with that siren, how are we going to have a hard time? If we have tons of machines going on in our room or nurses and doctors running in and out or nurses and doctors running by on the ward. Report an error in the passage at 58:56 Highlight the passage at 58:56

59:24 It's going to be hard to concentrate too. So just realizing that we can try to work with our minds and strengthen them and strengthen that mode of concentration now to prepare for this moment because it will come. Report an error in the passage at 59:24 Highlight the passage at 59:24

59:38 So the resolution for this section is knowing that nothing else can help us or me. It's always done with we's, isn't it? This one I think is actually more powerful to do me. Knowing that nothing else can help me, I must devote myself wholeheartedly. Report an error in the passage at 59:38 Highlight the passage at 59:38

59:58 To pure Dharma practice. Now here, you know, of course this is a Buddhist meditation, so we say Dharma practice. But you can also just substitute Dharma with spiritual practice. I guess maybe you haven't decided that Buddhism is your way. And pure, I began realizing this weekend, because I've been trying to do these meditations too, the same meditations that I'm giving you. Report an error in the passage at 59:58 Highlight the passage at 59:58

1:00:19 So I was meditating on this weekend, and I went down to some trainings at Vajrapani. For those of us that work in the centers and projects of the FPMT in America, both North and South. I mean, actually, it was supposed to be North and South America, but nobody was there from South America, so I can say from Canada and the U.S. So there's probably about 50 of us there. And it has nothing to do with what I'm going to say, but anyway, it was a great weekend. Report an error in the passage at 1:00:19 Highlight the passage at 1:00:19

1:00:51 But in the morning, I'd always actually get up quite early, and I would go into their meditation hall, which is... This center, this is where Lama Eshi passed away, actually. He was cremated on the land at Vajrapani there, which I think Lenny talked about too, didn't she? Yeah, she talked about his passing. And so it's a very strong energy of him there. So I was meditating on the first two steps. Report an error in the passage at 1:00:51 Highlight the passage at 1:00:51

1:01:17 So I wasn't meditating so much on this one. And I was really thinking about... The wordings of these meditations, and I was thinking this one with pure, with this idea of pure Dharma practice, it's really sincere Dharma practice, isn't it? Pure sounds somehow more amazing than I could do. But I can do sincere. I can do heartfelt. Report an error in the passage at 1:01:17 Highlight the passage at 1:01:17

1:01:40 That I can do. Pure sounds somehow like Tiziana. It's like these amazing, we had this amazing Italian nun who was here and just was so, she just seems, still seems to me so amazingly pure. She's gone off to do the master's program in Italy. Just an amazing being. And that sort of seems like almost like naturally pure. And so then I think, well, I can't be pure. Report an error in the passage at 1:01:40 Highlight the passage at 1:01:40

1:02:04 Like that's too pure for me, you know. But sincere I can do. You know, that's something that this realization of the fact that none of my possessions can help me, none of my friends or family could help me at that moment. Definitely this body can't help me. I mean, I can already see it. Those of us who are aging kind of begin to lose faith in the fact that maybe our body is going to get us out of it. Report an error in the passage at 1:02:04 Highlight the passage at 1:02:04

1:02:31 And so that I can definitely understand that the more sincerely I can practice, the better the results. That makes sense to me. I began to sort of get that one this weekend. I was like, okay. Because that's what's going to generate the kind of qualities of even a tiny bit of wisdom, even a tiny bit of kindness and compassion, even a tiny bit of stability of mind is going to help me more at that moment than not having it. Report an error in the passage at 1:02:31 Highlight the passage at 1:02:31

1:03:02 So it's not like we have to suddenly become Lama Yeshe. We just... Use the time that we have now to just generate the kind of qualities, the best kind of qualities that we have, just day by day, moment by moment. Report an error in the passage at 1:03:02 Highlight the passage at 1:03:02

1:03:17 We started also doing this practice together that I'm going to teach in the karma class because Lama Zopa Rinpoche often, I mean that's kind of what he's known for, which is why we have so many versions of the prayer books, the different prayer books. He'll like think about something and then say, no wait, we should redo. Report an error in the passage at 1:03:17 Highlight the passage at 1:03:17

1:03:37 Redo everything. This is actually a good idea. So for the master's program, he developed this practice, a daily practice where, and I taught this last time in a karma class, and then he's expanded it, where you check your mind during the day periodically on how often different kleshas arrive, different mental afflictions arise. Report an error in the passage at 1:03:37 Highlight the passage at 1:03:37

1:04:00 He was really a rise. He was really focusing on anger. The number of times, intensity, duration. And so forth that anger arises because these are especially with the master's program students, these are supposed to be people who are going to be teaching the Dharma. So if we're teaching the Dharma, it's really bad form to have a lot of anger. Report an error in the passage at 1:04:00 Highlight the passage at 1:04:00

1:04:22 It makes sense, right? There's a lot of anger when the master's program students learn that they had to do this practice. They hadn't signed up for that one. Kind of interesting. So when I read that, I thought, well, wow, since I'm now teaching, I better do this too. So I started, I kind of incorporated it into a daily practice that I already do where I'm watching the vows as much as I can throughout the day. Report an error in the passage at 1:04:22 Highlight the passage at 1:04:22

1:04:44 So now he's added another one. He calls it the internal job description, which I think is a kind of bulky thing. But of course, it's my Lama, so I'm going to keep calling it the IJD. But it's basically you are looking at the positive states of mind. That you're wanting to cultivate. So how often during the day and then like periodically checking this. And we were doing this yesterday. We had an all-day meeting of all these same centers, projects and different activities, services. Report an error in the passage at 1:04:44 Highlight the passage at 1:04:44

1:05:17 And every time we took a tea break. The woman that was facilitating it would say, okay, everybody get out your IJDs until we get out. And there's basically this list of all these qualities that we want to generate, we want to cultivate, and then regretfully not always do. You know, everything from mind-cherishing others more than ourselves to, you know, patience. Report an error in the passage at 1:05:17 Highlight the passage at 1:05:17

1:05:44 Sometimes you're just sitting there in a meeting, you're not really doing all that, but then you notice the very last one would be unbiased listening and be like, hmm, regret. Because at least somebody had said something in some way that triggered some mental affliction of impatience or judgment or something had come up. Report an error in the passage at 1:05:44 Highlight the passage at 1:05:44

1:06:06 It's just interesting because these methods of self-evaluation are so useful because you can basically think you're doing just great until you stop and look at it. It's really like a scientific way of checking up on your mind throughout the day. I'm going to incorporate that into what I teach the Karma class in the self-evaluation. Report an error in the passage at 1:06:06 Highlight the passage at 1:06:06

1:06:27 It's the final class for that class because it's such a great way of just... Checking your mind throughout the day. And you can do this on your own in any way, just to have a list of the kind of qualities that you are really interested in cultivating. Because it's not only that we want to restrain from negative ones, but we also want to actively try to cultivate. And so sometimes ones like kindness and helpfulness, you need little nudges to remember to cultivate them during the day. Report an error in the passage at 1:06:27 Highlight the passage at 1:06:27

1:06:59 So it's actually quite useful. So it was an interesting process. But anyway, that's really what practice is. I mean, that's what my understanding of practice is, is basically working with our minds as much as we can, moment by moment, trying to eliminate the negative states of mind and trying to actively cultivate the positive states of mind, like love and patience and tolerance and unbiased listening. Report an error in the passage at 1:06:59 Highlight the passage at 1:06:59

1:07:29 for listening. Report an error in the passage at 1:07:29 Highlight the passage at 1:07:29

1:07:32 And it's also important when we're doing meditations like this, we really need to cut ourselves some slack that some other feelings are going to come up. You know, these, especially those of us that have lost people somewhat recently, you know, there will be some sadness, there will be some fear. But it's to try to channel that into action, you know, rather than just letting it pull us down or definitely contact me. Report an error in the passage at 1:07:32 Highlight the passage at 1:07:32

1:08:01 You know, and I can try to help with that. But the point of these meditations is for us to prepare our own minds for this eventuality, like in the best way that we can, to use this time now to practice the best we can to prepare our own minds, to reduce our clinging and our self-cherishing as much as we can, and also those states of mind like irritation, impatience, anger. Report an error in the passage at 1:08:01 Highlight the passage at 1:08:01

1:08:31 And they're just going to turn off the light. And I just talked to her about not turning off all the lights. I'm like, wait. Report an error in the passage at 1:08:31 Highlight the passage at 1:08:31

1:08:39 Yeah, so just trying to remember if our mind does go into these minds of like sort of a lot of sadness or fear to just kind of think, you know, the point of these meditations is to remember that we have so little time so that we can use that time. Because the reality hasn't changed, it's just our awareness of the reality that's changed. Just trying to keep our death in the sort of easy, open way that just allows us to be more mindful of how we live and how we act and how we think. Report an error in the passage at 1:08:39 Highlight the passage at 1:08:39

1:09:19 Trying to become more and more beneficial for others. Trying to be more useful for others. Use our lives to help others and ourselves while we have this chance. Because it's basically just reminding us that we can give this enormous energy to our lives not to waste these moments as often as we tend to do. Report an error in the passage at 1:09:19 Highlight the passage at 1:09:19

1:09:46 And I'm as guilty as the next one. But to try to live as effectively as we can while we have this time. Lama Zopa Rinpoche said... Impermanence and death don't wait for us. Every moment of this life is a preparation for death. Every moment is to accumulate merit with the thought of bodhicitta. And bodhicitta, again, for those of you that aren't familiar with that term, bodhicitta is this vast courageous mind that sees the suffering of others and wants to remove it and wants to give other beings lasting happiness. Report an error in the passage at 1:09:46 Highlight the passage at 1:09:46

1:10:23 And the method... Is to attain Buddhahood. So our becoming a Buddha is just simply the best means of achieving, taking away the pain of others and bringing them happiness. Report an error in the passage at 1:10:23 Highlight the passage at 1:10:23

1:10:38 And John Main, who was a Benedictine monk, said, to have life in focus, we must have death in our field of vision. Because otherwise we lose the focus, don't we? We actually lose the important stuff. We just get caught up in kind of the goofy stuff. Report an error in the passage at 1:10:38 Highlight the passage at 1:10:38

1:10:57 So we can take questions and then we can have a break if anybody has any questions or any thoughts. Report an error in the passage at 1:10:57 Highlight the passage at 1:10:57

1:11:08 Chad, yeah. Report an error in the passage at 1:11:08 Highlight the passage at 1:11:08

1:11:13 So I notice at the end of a lot of meditations we request the Lama to remain and that kind of thing. How do we reconcile that with not wanting to attach and giving the space to die? Yeah, remembering that the Lama is not necessarily that body. So in some form to stay connected to that Lama from lifetime to lifetime until I can gain enlightenment. If I actually think that my Lama, Lama Zopa Rinpoche, my guru, is a Buddha, then it's possible for him to manifest in any form that's necessary for me. Report an error in the passage at 1:11:13 Highlight the passage at 1:11:13

1:11:56 And so... You know, this request is basically that I not lose that connection, no matter how many lifetimes it takes for me to come to my senses and get serious and become a Buddha myself. At which case, I probably won't desperately need him anymore. Geshe calls it sort of like, you need a boat to cross the river, just like we need the Dharma now, but by the time we internalize and embody the Dharma, then we don't need it. Report an error in the passage at 1:11:56 Highlight the passage at 1:11:56

1:12:28 So then it just sort of passes away. So it's not that we're so much telling, you know, him, you know, he's not an ordinary being, basically, neither the Buddha or the Lama, if you're seeing the Lama as, you know, in the terms that we talked about in the spiritual teacher class. Report an error in the passage at 1:12:28 Highlight the passage at 1:12:28

1:12:47 So it's not like he's a normal being dying. He's a holy being manifesting death for us to be able to learn about impermanence. But his mind can go into then another form to help us. And so we're basically just asking that we don't lose that connection until we can get enlightened. Because in my case, I think it will take many, many lifetimes. But I'm hoping that I'll be pleasantly surprised. Report an error in the passage at 1:12:47 Highlight the passage at 1:12:47

1:13:15 Yeah, so it's not like that. So it's, you know, it's impossible for us not to cling. To the Lamas. And actually that's a way, a skillful use. Guru devotion is often sort of just the skillful means because our minds are so filled with attachment in this realm. This is the desire realm. And we'll talk about the different realms of existence according to the Buddha. But this realm is just filled with this mind of clinging attachment and all of our relationships with anything, much less people. Report an error in the passage at 1:13:15 Highlight the passage at 1:13:15

1:13:47 are filled with it. So in a way, the practice of Guru Devotion is sort of a way to use that in a more skillful way until we don't need it anymore, until we come into contact with our own Guru, our own inner wisdom, which is our true Guru. This is our own having a mind of wisdom, a mind that directly perceives emptiness, a mind that directly generates bodhicitta so that we actually have these attainments within our own mind. Report an error in the passage at 1:13:47 Highlight the passage at 1:13:47

1:14:19 Then we don't need the external guru as much anymore. But until then, it's sort of like, yeah, we do do some clinging. Yeah, we do do some grasping. Report an error in the passage at 1:14:19 Highlight the passage at 1:14:19

1:14:30 And then they try to use that again to show you that... They're not even what you think they are. We have this view of them just like we do of everybody else that's mistaken. Until we have the direct perception of emptiness, nothing we perceive is accurate. It's always clouded and layered with all these projections, including our images of our teachers. But we can use that to get enlightened. Report an error in the passage at 1:14:30 Highlight the passage at 1:14:30

1:15:04 That's a good question, though. Yeah, they say that we have to request them to stay or they won't stay. It's like when we request teachers, people won't teach, our gurus won't teach unless we actually request. And they say it's actually good for us to request sincerely three times. And the reason that came up is just, you know, sometimes people jokingly request or not very sincerely, insincerely request. Report an error in the passage at 1:15:04 Highlight the passage at 1:15:04

1:15:32 But they aren't so interested really. And so there's this huge sort of taboo about people just deciding to teach on their own. You just don't do that. You have to be requested. So from our side, we have to request. So we have to request him to stay and we have to request him to teach. And Ananda, I believe it was, was a disciple of the Buddha who... Report an error in the passage at 1:15:32 Highlight the passage at 1:15:32

1:15:59 Didn't request him to stay when he was manifesting, passing away. And he said, as he, of course, passed away, he said that he mentioned that, that he would have stayed or something like that, if only Ananda. Report an error in the passage at 1:15:59 Highlight the passage at 1:15:59

1:16:12 Ananda's like... So it's kind of like, I don't want to be Ananda next time through. So, yeah, when, I don't know whether I mentioned that, but when... Kirti Sencha Rinpoche was manifesting, passing away. Lama Zopa Rinpoche kept having us do all these different practices and one of them was repeatedly, even when he was actively already dying, he had actually not just manifested the liver cancer but he was actually going through the actual dying. Report an error in the passage at 1:16:12 Highlight the passage at 1:16:12

1:16:44 We were still doing all these extra practices for him and it finally dawned on me that it was actually just creating this connection with him. Not so much asking Him to stay in this body, but creating the possibility of us connecting with Him when He returns in whatever form that is. Yeah, which I certainly hope is the case. Which is why I'm still saying a prayer every day for both Him and for Rupert Rinpoche to be found very quickly and then for me to remain connected with them in whatever form that is. Report an error in the passage at 1:16:44 Highlight the passage at 1:16:44

1:17:24 Some little kids, somewhere. Sandy, you want to pass that? Whitney, you want to pass it to Sandy? Next to you. Okay, you talk about the body. That's not, I mean, you have to let go of it. I had an aunt who had a severe stroke and was in a coma for seven years. Report an error in the passage at 1:17:24 Highlight the passage at 1:17:24

1:17:48 No life support, just living on her own. Now, in that particular case, is the mind, the consciousness still in that body or does... Did it leave and just left the shell of the body? No. They actually say that as long as the body is still alive, then the subtle mind is in there. It could be just deeply in there. The gross mind could have been really damaged. And I don't know. I don't know. Was she considered brain dead? No. Report an error in the passage at 1:17:48 Highlight the passage at 1:17:48

1:18:17 She was just in a coma. She was in a coma. Yeah. And they often say when someone's in a coma... That it's very, very possible that they can hear you and they can actually think and they actually have some experience of reality in that state. And so it's always really, really important when somebody's in a coma to remember what you're saying and be aware that they could actually listen to you. Report an error in the passage at 1:18:17 Highlight the passage at 1:18:17

1:18:42 And there are all these different stories of people who then wake up from the coma and say, yeah, I heard Whitney and Paul fighting over my purse and stuff like that. So it's always really, really important to watch what you say in their presence because they have some existence. But even if she had been thoroughly brain dead, if her body was still living on its own, and I'm not talking about if it had been on strong life support because sometimes that's an artificial way of keeping that. Report an error in the passage at 1:18:42 Highlight the passage at 1:18:42

1:19:13 If she was on her own, then that subtle mind has not left the body yet. It's still just in this state of... Wearing off that negative karma. Karma ripening. It takes seven years to do that. And sometimes longer, depending. Interesting. Whitney? So can there be a case where somebody's connected to a machine, a breathing machine, and their subtle consciousness has left their body already? Report an error in the passage at 1:19:13 Highlight the passage at 1:19:13

1:19:45 But their heart's still beating? I don't know. That's a good question. I certainly wouldn't want to be that person. And like what is that that's left there? Yeah, I don't know. I mean if, you know, because we have so many weird ways that we keep the body alive when it wouldn't, like long past when it would have passed on its own. Report an error in the passage at 1:19:45 Highlight the passage at 1:19:45

1:20:10 I don't know. I would assume, I think at this point, and until we hear otherwise, let's assume that if the body is still alive in some way that the subtle mind hasn't left it. And I'll ask Eshala. I don't know anybody. I'm just curious. Yeah, yeah, I know. I'll ask Eshala. You know, these are instances that didn't come up in the Buddhist time and didn't come up in Tibet either, in the old Tibet. Report an error in the passage at 1:20:10 Highlight the passage at 1:20:10

1:20:35 Probably not much in the new Tibet either because they probably don't have the best medical care. But it's an interesting thought, and I'm not sure. I'm not sure. Do you have any thoughts on the effect that that would have or keeping somebody alive like that, if it's a good idea? Report an error in the passage at 1:20:35 Highlight the passage at 1:20:35

1:20:52 Well, if it's a good idea, it gets into a whole realm of ethics and how it has to do with your motivation for doing it and definitely your motivation. In other words, what kind of karma you would create by doing it. Sometimes people are doing it because they just don't want to let go of the person. And so they just do everything in their power to keep that body alive as though that body is Whitney. Report an error in the passage at 1:20:52 Highlight the passage at 1:20:52

1:21:22 But if you're doing it because you are thinking that somehow it will... you know. Report an error in the passage at 1:21:22 Highlight the passage at 1:21:22

1:21:26 benefit that person or there's some chance of that person waking up even though the doctors have all told you that there is no chance because that's usually when the lamas will say in that case then there's there's no point no need as gashla would say And with a coma, you just don't know. The person actually can wake up, you know, months or even years after. Report an error in the passage at 1:21:26 Highlight the passage at 1:21:26

1:21:58 But if it's something like, say, the heart or the liver, everything's been replaced almost with mechanical means and there's really no way that this person could ever live off of support and that they will never wake up and that's all been documented and you still keep them on, then it almost becomes this mind of attachment to just letting that person go. Report an error in the passage at 1:21:58 Highlight the passage at 1:21:58

1:22:25 I don't think you can ever say, is it a good idea? Until you're in the situation, you have to decide. And then whatever the people in that situation decide, you just have to help them decide it or respect it. Report an error in the passage at 1:22:25 Highlight the passage at 1:22:25

1:22:39 And pray you're never in that situation with your own loved ones. I think there's so many different conditions that would go into every single situation. Report an error in the passage at 1:22:39 Highlight the passage at 1:22:39

1:22:51 When Report an error in the passage at 1:22:51 Highlight the passage at 1:22:51

1:22:55 I consider lineages and reincarnation, it seems as if... The reincarnations are done in a linear time form that they seem to come one after another into the future. Yet I think of time as beginningless and endless. And if they can manifest in any form, can they also manifest in any time? Report an error in the passage at 1:22:55 Highlight the passage at 1:22:55

1:23:28 Keep going. Like on into the future? Or into the past. Into the past. That I don't know. I do know that it's possible for one being to manifest in several forms simultaneously, which I think is an interesting thing. Report an error in the passage at 1:23:28 Highlight the passage at 1:23:28

1:23:50 But I don't know how beneficial it would be to move into the past, but I don't know. And maybe that's it. Maybe that's what they're just going on is like, what's the most beneficial place and time for me to manifest? And so then they're just choosing based on that and that. Which is also, I think, interesting that some are still choosing to be born in Tibet while others are choosing to be born in the West and others are choosing to be born into exiled families in India and things like that. Report an error in the passage at 1:23:50 Highlight the passage at 1:23:50

1:24:23 It's not it. There's never one right. They're choosing probably based on karmic connections to certain students in certain places and like that. Report an error in the passage at 1:24:23 Highlight the passage at 1:24:23

1:24:34 Those who are doing their little prayers. Trying to lure them back. Paul, you had a question. You mentioned Lamas, enlightened Lamas, manifesting the illness that ends up being what causes their death. And I'm just curious if you know if they consciously decide for it to manifest in such a way or what the thinking is behind that. Report an error in the passage at 1:24:34 Highlight the passage at 1:24:34

1:25:02 Yeah, I don't know. I mean, I think that it's not like, I mean, this all gets into this whole idea of... Seeing the masters in a certain way too. But the teachings are that they leave us, they're coming to us and they're leaving of us is due to our karma, not theirs. So if a Lama leaves, it's our karma. Our karma has shifted to see that holy being in our lives. Report an error in the passage at 1:25:02 Highlight the passage at 1:25:02

1:25:35 So that's why we do a lot of practices and things like that to stay connected to that holy being. And so whether or not, you know, Kirti Sanchap Rinpoche, I don't think it was like a conceptual thought on his part. I think now I'll develop liver cancer. And when he spoke of it, it was sort of like he was as surprised as we are. Report an error in the passage at 1:25:35 Highlight the passage at 1:25:35

1:26:00 But I also think, you know, His Holiness all the time and every single talk I've ever heard him give says, I'm nothing but a simple Buddhist monk. And I don't think... I don't believe that for a second. So I think that they manifest these things and these things probably occur due to our karmic perception and they then use them to show us how to go through it. Report an error in the passage at 1:26:00 Highlight the passage at 1:26:00

1:26:27 That you can actually die with a happy mind. Lama, it said, Lama Yeshe, it said it was like good nature, you know. Laughing and thinking of others all the way to the end, you know, and Kirti Sinjama Brashe was the same, you know, always thinking of others. I actually knew this nun who wasn't, I mean, apparently a holier being than she manifested. She was quite the soccer fan as well. Report an error in the passage at 1:26:27 Highlight the passage at 1:26:27

1:26:57 But she got cancer and died, I think, at like 32 or something. And at the end, she was always thinking, you know, when people come to visit, she would always be like taking care of them and, you know, making sure they had something to drink and things like that all the way. She just had that that kind of nature. So I think it is possible for them and probable for them to use these things to help us let go of this idea that death is always scary. Report an error in the passage at 1:26:57 Highlight the passage at 1:26:57

1:27:28 Death is always, you know, horrible. And to just kind of go, well, wait a second, if you've worked with your mind, you can let go of this body just like putting on a new costume. They always say that, you know, it's like if you have this understanding of the way the subtle mind moves from life to life, it's like putting on different parts in a play. Report an error in the passage at 1:27:28 Highlight the passage at 1:27:28

1:27:52 And the mind is just, you know, this life, you're, you know, you know. White male, certain build, certain height, certain eyes, you know, next life could be black female, you know, in Ghana, you know, and it's just like that. And we just get totally invested in this particular persona and personality and identity and the reality is just that it really is just all illusion. Report an error in the passage at 1:27:52 Highlight the passage at 1:27:52

1:28:19 It's just like that. So I think they manifest in all these different ways to show us that. That is so much lighter than we ever imagined. It's interesting. Anybody else? Report an error in the passage at 1:28:19 Highlight the passage at 1:28:19

1:28:39 You were talking about bodhicitta. And so I have a question, maybe briefly. What is a bodhisattva? Someone who's generated bodhicitta. So it could be anybody. It's not like a Buddha. No, it's an early step towards becoming a Buddha. You have to have bodhicitta to become a Buddha. You have to actually generate that mind. And that's what differentiates somebody on the solitary realizer path. Report an error in the passage at 1:28:39 Highlight the passage at 1:28:39

1:29:08 You know, somebody who is attaining their own nirvāṇa versus somebody who attains enlightenment, full enlightenment, is this mind of bodhicitta. Without this mind, you can directly perceive emptiness, but you can't become enlightened. So you have to generate this mind. And this mind of bodhicitta is... Report an error in the passage at 1:29:08 Highlight the passage at 1:29:08

1:29:29 It's not like compassion and it's not like love, but it's based on them. And you have to develop love and compassion in order to develop it, but then you have to develop love and compassion for all beings. And then, you know, then you actually, based on that, have to develop this mind where it's called the mind of universal responsibility where you yourself decide, well, no matter what anybody else does, I'm going to go for this. Report an error in the passage at 1:29:29 Highlight the passage at 1:29:29

1:29:58 Basically, and then you develop bodhicitta based on that. And then you've got to keep strengthening that bodhicitta. Because at first it's very fragile and can, you know, all it takes. You have this great experience where you generate it and then, you know, there's this, there's all these levels of bodhicitta and they actually call it the bumis, the different levels of the ten levels. Report an error in the passage at 1:29:58 Highlight the passage at 1:29:58

1:30:22 It's B-H-U-M-I. Report an error in the passage at 1:30:22 Highlight the passage at 1:30:22

1:30:27 B-O-O-M-I. So there's these different levels of bodhicitta. And I think it's eighth level and above, then it's irreversible. But up until that point, you can still lose it. And there's the story of this bodhisattva who generated bodhicitta. And once you attain these high levels of bodhicitta, you do anything. Report an error in the passage at 1:30:27 Highlight the passage at 1:30:27

1:30:53 If it would help a sentient being, you know, I mean anything at all. So there's a story of this bodhisattva who's like walking along and someone comes up to him and asks for his eye, asks for his eye. So he plucks out his left eye and just happily gives him his eye. And he said, not with your left hand, which of course is usually used as the bathroom hand in India. Report an error in the passage at 1:30:53 Highlight the passage at 1:30:53

1:31:15 And he got so irritated he lost his bodhicitta just in that instant. And he had to start over, but he did get enlightened. It's okay. So you have to be really careful. Rinpoche had this great quote where he said that you've got to protect any bodhicitta that you have. It's like a flame, like a fire, and you don't want it to go out. So you just protect it day and night, you know, because they say just holding anger in your mind at once and even being for 24 hours, you lose anything. Report an error in the passage at 1:31:15 Highlight the passage at 1:31:15

1:31:49 Any bodhicitta that you've managed to generate. So the bodhisattva vows are a lot about that. Really watching your mind, not holding on to anger at other beings and things like that. Doing everything you can to help to generate these minds of helpfulness, kindness. Not like in a wishy-washy way. Actually, I think bodhicitta sometimes gets a bad rep too. Report an error in the passage at 1:31:49 Highlight the passage at 1:31:49

1:32:14 It sort of sounds, there's this... I think it's this fierce, it's like being a warrior, but it's just of love and compassion rather than hatefulness. So it's actually, I always make sure to mention that it's really huge and courageous because I think sometimes people think that being a bodhisattva is like being a doormat and it's not at all because you're actually willing to do anything for the happiness. Report an error in the passage at 1:32:14 Highlight the passage at 1:32:14

1:32:41 And well-being of all beings, you know, which is actually pretty brave, you know. And you're willing to spend this life and all your lifetimes doing it. So it's actually this amazingly brave mind. But I think sometimes in our society, I think, wasn't it, Tencent Chokyi was calling it, it doesn't mean that you're a black belt codependent. Report an error in the passage at 1:32:41 Highlight the passage at 1:32:41

1:33:04 I love that term. Because I think sometimes it can be confused with that. It's like, no, no, no. So why don't you guys get up and stretch around and then I'll lead you through this meditation if you feel up for it. And then those who would like, we could do the King of Prayers for those who need it or might need it. Report an error in the passage at 1:33:04 Highlight the passage at 1:33:04

1:33:34 I'm going to pass out the homework too. When Report an error in the passage at 1:33:34 Highlight the passage at 1:33:34

1:33:43 I was at the Dying Well workshop, Tenzin Chokyi said that... Lama Zopa is now not recommending that ashes be made into tsatsas and that they shouldn't be mixed with the mortar themselves and that they should be placed below a stupa and they were using the context of the one over at the land. But I'm wondering if you know anything more about that. Sorry. Report an error in the passage at 1:33:43 Highlight the passage at 1:33:43

1:34:16 I didn't actually. I missed that part. I must have been doing something in the kitchen. That's changed from even when they did it before, the workshop before. Report an error in the passage at 1:34:16 Highlight the passage at 1:34:16

1:34:25 But one thing I remember her saying about why the stupa thing was good is that then afterwards your loved ones will come and bring flowers and offer it to a holy object. So it's actually a kind of skillful means that without even being Buddhist themselves. They would just come and see these holy objects, which they wouldn't have otherwise, and make these offerings. So they actually get merit, even though they don't necessarily understand what it is they're doing. Report an error in the passage at 1:34:25 Highlight the passage at 1:34:25

1:34:56 When I heard that, then I... Then I made a note that I wanted to go and adapt my five wishes document because I thought, that's really cool. But I don't know, and I didn't hear about him saying that about satsas. Geshe-la, I think, still does say the thing about satsas. So that would be interesting to get more information on that. Of course, you will get differing advices from different lamas, too. Report an error in the passage at 1:34:56 Highlight the passage at 1:34:56

1:35:20 So that's all I know, as I remember hearing that at the last one that he had advised. That they be placed in a shrine room sort of similar to the one at Land of Medicine Buddha, so that then they would be able to come to a holy place and actually do create virtue just by, they think they're just coming to see Angela's final resting place basically, but actually then they're making offerings to holy. Report an error in the passage at 1:35:20 Highlight the passage at 1:35:20

1:35:53 Enlightened Mind, images, representations of Enlightened Mind. So it's kind of interesting. It's sneaky, yeah. We call it skillful means, but yeah. It's very sneaky. Actually, I liked it, too. I thought, you know, because I don't know that necessarily my brothers and sisters would do that, but my nieces and nephews would, you know, totally. Report an error in the passage at 1:35:53 Highlight the passage at 1:35:53

1:36:10 I could imagine them, like, coming and then by doing that, actually getting even just the imprint of seeing a place like Land of Medicine Buddha, which they never would have before. I thought, hmm, that's kind of cool. I'm going to put that one in my five wishes document. Report an error in the passage at 1:36:10 Highlight the passage at 1:36:10

1:36:29 Anything else? Do we have time to go through this one real quick? Seven and a half minutes? Two minutes for each point. Report an error in the passage at 1:36:29 Highlight the passage at 1:36:29

1:36:43 So I'll just do it really quickly. Report an error in the passage at 1:36:43 Highlight the passage at 1:36:43

1:36:49 So you could actually imagine yourself on a deathbed. If you'd like, you can lie down. If you'd like, you could do that. But if you think you might fall asleep, then perhaps not. You can also imagine sometimes, of course, the whole process of actively dying is a slow one in that there are times, of course, that you're able to sit up during that process. Report an error in the passage at 1:36:49 Highlight the passage at 1:36:49

1:37:15 So maybe imagine yourself at that point. Again, imagining already that you've gone through some period of acceptance. Report an error in the passage at 1:37:15 Highlight the passage at 1:37:15

1:37:25 You know, and then, you know, all the denial and all that stuff is already gone. Report an error in the passage at 1:37:25 Highlight the passage at 1:37:25

1:37:32 And so now you're just sort of asking yourself what will help you die the most peacefully. Report an error in the passage at 1:37:32 Highlight the passage at 1:37:32

1:37:43 So your money and your possessions definitely can't help you at this time. Just think which of all your things can help you now. Report an error in the passage at 1:37:43 Highlight the passage at 1:37:43

1:37:56 Maybe think about them one by one, the things that mean the most to you, Report an error in the passage at 1:37:56 Highlight the passage at 1:37:56

1:38:04 the things that you treasure the most. Report an error in the passage at 1:38:04 Highlight the passage at 1:38:04

1:38:10 Can they help you now? Report an error in the passage at 1:38:10 Highlight the passage at 1:38:10

1:38:15 How can they help you now? Report an error in the passage at 1:38:15 Highlight the passage at 1:38:15

1:38:21 Actually, any attachment you have to them might hurt you, might cause you more pain. Report an error in the passage at 1:38:21 Highlight the passage at 1:38:21

1:38:32 We come into this life naked and empty-handed and we leave the same way. Report an error in the passage at 1:38:32 Highlight the passage at 1:38:32

1:38:42 Death is the great leveler. Report an error in the passage at 1:38:42 Highlight the passage at 1:38:42

1:38:47 A king and a beggar and everything in between experience death in the same way. Report an error in the passage at 1:38:47 Highlight the passage at 1:38:47

1:39:00 None of our belongings or objects of attachment can help us. Report an error in the passage at 1:39:00 Highlight the passage at 1:39:00

1:39:08 None of our memories. Our plans can help us. Report an error in the passage at 1:39:08 Highlight the passage at 1:39:08

1:39:16 None of our wealth can help us. Report an error in the passage at 1:39:16 Highlight the passage at 1:39:16

1:39:25 Again, this doesn't mean we have to give away everything we own. Report an error in the passage at 1:39:25 Highlight the passage at 1:39:25

1:39:32 It's more about cultivating this mind that's able to let go. Report an error in the passage at 1:39:32 Highlight the passage at 1:39:32

1:39:42 We waste a lot of time on our things, getting them and worrying about them, protecting them. But will any of this actually help us at the time of death? Report an error in the passage at 1:39:42 Highlight the passage at 1:39:42

1:40:03 At the moment of our death, everything we know. Everything we own will be gone in an instant. Report an error in the passage at 1:40:03 Highlight the passage at 1:40:03

1:40:18 So maybe play with that idea, Venerable Rita, of imagining your worst enemy packing up all your belongings in a big plastic bag and throwing it off a cliff. Report an error in the passage at 1:40:18 Highlight the passage at 1:40:18

1:40:37 Or imagine giving them now in your mind to your friends and family. Report an error in the passage at 1:40:37 Highlight the passage at 1:40:37

1:40:53 Just start letting go of your attachment to them and your dependence upon them. Report an error in the passage at 1:40:53 Highlight the passage at 1:40:53

1:41:07 Our friends and family can't help us. And actually they could make it harder for us to die peacefully by clinging to us or stirring up really strong emotions in us at a time that we need to have a peaceful, calm, stable mind. Report an error in the passage at 1:41:07 Highlight the passage at 1:41:07

1:41:31 And even if all the people we love most in the world happen to be with us and were all holding on to us, we'd still have to go on our way on our own. They couldn't keep us from dying. Report an error in the passage at 1:41:31 Highlight the passage at 1:41:31

1:41:49 And their attachment to us. Might cause us to give rise to attachment and pain. Report an error in the passage at 1:41:49 Highlight the passage at 1:41:49

1:42:02 Most of the time, they don't even know what to do or say to help us have a peaceful mind at death. Report an error in the passage at 1:42:02 Highlight the passage at 1:42:02

1:42:16 So this doesn't mean that we can't love people, but we can begin to cultivate the Buddha's idea of love, which is wanting happiness for others, whether it involves us or not, whether we're there or not. Just wanting their happiness and Report an error in the passage at 1:42:16 Highlight the passage at 1:42:16

1:42:41 trying to reduce our attachment. Report an error in the passage at 1:42:41 Highlight the passage at 1:42:41

1:42:50 We can practice now trying to love without attachment or clinging. Report an error in the passage at 1:42:50 Highlight the passage at 1:42:50

1:43:00 No one can share our experience of death with us, even if they're helping us. Ultimately, we have to do this part alone. Report an error in the passage at 1:43:00 Highlight the passage at 1:43:00

1:43:18 Not even our own body can help us, and actually our attachment to this body can be a huge obstacle for us at death. Report an error in the passage at 1:43:18 Highlight the passage at 1:43:18

1:43:36 Our body has been our constant companion since birth. We know it more intimately than anything or anyone else. Report an error in the passage at 1:43:36 Highlight the passage at 1:43:36

1:43:50 We've cared for it, protected it, worried about it, kept it comfortable and healthy, well fed, experienced all kinds of pleasure and pain with it, and Report an error in the passage at 1:43:50 Highlight the passage at 1:43:50

1:44:07 it's been our most treasured possession. Report an error in the passage at 1:44:07 Highlight the passage at 1:44:07

1:44:12 But now you are dying, and so you become separated from it. It becomes weak and useless, and your mind will separate from it. Report an error in the passage at 1:44:12 Highlight the passage at 1:44:12

1:44:28 It can't help you at all right now. Report an error in the passage at 1:44:28 Highlight the passage at 1:44:28

1:44:42 So we can begin now to reduce our attachment to independence on this body and learn to see that we are not our bodies and never have been. Report an error in the passage at 1:44:42 Highlight the passage at 1:44:42

1:44:56 Our body is simply our vessel for this mind this time around. Report an error in the passage at 1:44:56 Highlight the passage at 1:44:56

1:45:13 When we die, everything we know and have experienced will end and we'll enter a state we have no memory of. Report an error in the passage at 1:45:13 Highlight the passage at 1:45:13

1:45:23 We go on completely alone with no people, no body, no objects at all. Even our own identity dissolves and it's all lost uncontrollably. So Report an error in the passage at 1:45:23 Highlight the passage at 1:45:23

1:45:43 we have to work in our minds right now while we have some time and clarity to do so. Report an error in the passage at 1:45:43 Highlight the passage at 1:45:43

1:45:51 We can't start to develop a Dharma practice at the time of our death. Report an error in the passage at 1:45:51 Highlight the passage at 1:45:51

1:45:59 The more we familiarize ourselves and cultivate these positive states of mind, the more likely they can spontaneously arise at that time. Report an error in the passage at 1:45:59 Highlight the passage at 1:45:59

1:46:14 So knowing that nothing else can help us. We can devote ourselves wholeheartedly to sincere practice. Report an error in the passage at 1:46:14 Highlight the passage at 1:46:14

1:46:32 It's only the strong mental qualities like wisdom, patience, kindness and faith that continue as our subtle mind goes forth into the next life so Report an error in the passage at 1:46:32 Highlight the passage at 1:46:32

1:46:47 we can cultivate these minds moment by moment, day by day. This is really what practice is, just working with our minds in every moment of every day, eliminating the harmful minds. Report an error in the passage at 1:46:47 Highlight the passage at 1:46:47

1:47:06 And developing the positive ones. Report an error in the passage at 1:47:06 Highlight the passage at 1:47:06

1:47:18 Awareness of death should give us some sort of enormous energy not to waste our life, but to live it as effectively as possible. Report an error in the passage at 1:47:18 Highlight the passage at 1:47:18

1:47:32 So let's dedicate this class and this meditation to each one of us being able to do this. Report an error in the passage at 1:47:32 Highlight the passage at 1:47:32

1:47:43 Being able to recognize how precious our lives are, how perfect our current conditions are, to Report an error in the passage at 1:47:43 Highlight the passage at 1:47:43

1:47:56 be able to work with our minds. Report an error in the passage at 1:47:56 Highlight the passage at 1:47:56

1:48:02 So that when this moment does come, we can each die peacefully and move into another life from which to practice. Report an error in the passage at 1:48:02 Highlight the passage at 1:48:02

1:48:26 And when you're ready, in your own time, you can end your meditation. Report an error in the passage at 1:48:26 Highlight the passage at 1:48:26

1:48:44 So if anybody would like to do the King of Prayers, we can do it. You want to do? Yeah? Do you want to do? Okay. Does anybody else? If you can't, if you need to go, that's okay. You can just leave and then we can... We can close up shop. Report an error in the passage at 1:48:44 Highlight the passage at 1:48:44

1:49:05 Paul, do you know where the gold prayer books are? Yeah, they're right there on this. Is anyone else able to stay? Yeah, okay. Paul, do you want to go? Yeah, that's okay. I'm sorry. Report an error in the passage at 1:49:05 Highlight the passage at 1:49:05

1:49:25 I think just add anything. Sandy, are you going? Ten minutes. We'll read it fast. We'll read it at a study clip. Cedric, are you? Yeah? Whitney? Okay. One, two, three, four, five, six. Seven. Okay. We're only losing two. Let's leave it on. Report an error in the passage at 1:49:25 Highlight the passage at 1:49:25

1:49:54 Yeah, I'd like to especially think about, so what's your friend's name? Mike. And also my friend Asako, who passed away last Monday. Report an error in the passage at 1:49:54 Highlight the passage at 1:49:54

1:50:08 You think about John, John Shaw, who's 49th year. Sorry? Yeah. We can think about Bruce, too, because his. One year anniversary is coming up. Report an error in the passage at 1:50:08 Highlight the passage at 1:50:08

1:50:30 Yeah, Report an error in the passage at 1:50:30 Highlight the passage at 1:50:30

1:50:34 somebody else wants to help. What do we say? One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight. Yeah, just to do this prayer is really useful. It's helpful if you're really sick. It's helpful at the time of death. So if you're ever with somebody as you're dying, it's a good one to read. It's helpful after they've passed for the full 49 days. Oh, you've got to give them to me. I don't have it memorized yet. Report an error in the passage at 1:50:34 Highlight the passage at 1:50:34

1:51:09 It's just meant to be a very, very powerful prayer. And one of the things that's really powerful about it, especially for those of us that are practicing Buddhism in any way, is it sort of reminds us of all those, you know, we were just talking about the bodhisattva. And generating this mind of bodhicitta, it's a real praise of all those qualities of the bodhisattva. Report an error in the passage at 1:51:09 Highlight the passage at 1:51:09

1:51:35 So if you're actively dying, it sort of reminds you of those virtuous states of mind. And so actually becoming familiar with it in life, it can become a really calming thing at that time. And reminds you of all that you're capable of before you go into this transition so that you... Seek those same conditions again as much as you can so you have those positive states of mind. I especially remember thinking about that while we were reciting it for John at that time because he had so many of these qualities and I was hoping that it was reminding him of all of his finest qualities. Report an error in the passage at 1:51:35 Highlight the passage at 1:51:35

1:52:16 Anyway, so it's on page 249 and Report an error in the passage at 1:52:16 Highlight the passage at 1:52:16

1:52:22 we'll just read it at a steady clip. It's a long one but it's beautiful as well. And so if you just get tired of reciting, just close your eyes and listen. 249, yeah. Report an error in the passage at 1:52:22 Highlight the passage at 1:52:22

1:52:38 I bow down to the youthful Arya Manjushri. You lions among humans, gone to freedom in the present, past and future, in the worlds of ten directions, to all of you with body, speech and sincere mind, I bow down. With the energy of aspiration for the Bodhisattva way, with a sense of deep respect. And with as many bodies as atoms of the world, to all you Buddhas visualized as real, I bow down. On every atom are Buddhas numberless as atoms, each amidst a host of bodhisattvas. Report an error in the passage at 1:52:38 Highlight the passage at 1:52:38

1:53:13 And I am confident in the sphere of all phenomena is entirely filled with Buddhas in this way. With infinite oceans of praise for you and oceans of sound from the aspects of my voice, I sing the breathtaking excellence of Buddhas. And celebrate all of you gone to bliss. Beautiful flowers and regal garlands, sweet music, scented oils and parasols, sparkling lights and sublime incense, I offer to you victorious ones. Report an error in the passage at 1:53:13 Highlight the passage at 1:53:13

1:53:43 Fine dress and fragrant perfumes, sandalwood powder heaped high as Mount Meru, all wondrous offerings in spectacular array, I offer to you victorious ones. With transcendent offerings peerless and vast, With profound admiration for all the Buddhas, with strength of conviction for Bodhisattva's way, I offer and bow down to all victorious ones. Report an error in the passage at 1:53:43 Highlight the passage at 1:53:43

1:54:09 Every harmful action I have done, with my body, speech and mind, overwhelmed by attachment, anger and confusion, all these I openly lay bare before you. I lift up my heart and rejoice in all positive potential. Of the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas in the ten directions, of solitary realizers, hearers still training, and those beyond, and of all ordinary beings. Report an error in the passage at 1:54:09 Highlight the passage at 1:54:09

1:54:35 You who are the bright lights of the worlds in the ten directions, who have attained a Buddha's omniscience through the stages of awakening, all of you who are my guides, please turn the supreme wheel of Dharma. With palms together. Report an error in the passage at 1:54:35 Highlight the passage at 1:54:35

1:54:52 You who may actualize Paranirvana, please stay with us for eons, numberless as atoms of the world, for the happiness and well-being of all wanders in saṃsāra. Every slight positive potential I may have created by paying homage, offering, and acknowledging my faults, rejoicing and requesting that the Buddhists stay and teach, I now dedicate all this for full awakening. Report an error in the passage at 1:54:52 Highlight the passage at 1:54:52

1:55:19 May you Buddhas now living in the worlds of ten directions and all of you gone to freedom in the past accept my offerings. May those not yet arisen quickly perfect their minds, awakening as fully enlightened ones. May all worlds in ten directions be entirely pure and vast. May they be filled with bodhisattvas surrounding Buddhas gathered beneath a bodhi tree. Report an error in the passage at 1:55:19 Highlight the passage at 1:55:19

1:55:44 May as many beings as exist in the ten directions Be always well and happy. May all samsaric beings live in accord with the Dharma and may their every Dharma wish be fulfilled. Remembering my past lives and all varieties of existence, may I practice the bodhisattva way and thus in each cycle of death, migration and birth, may I always abandon the householder's life. Report an error in the passage at 1:55:44 Highlight the passage at 1:55:44

1:56:12 Then following in the footsteps of all the Buddhas and perfecting the practice of a bodhisattva, May I always act without error or compromise, with ethical discipline, faultless and pure. May I teach the Dharma and the language of gods, in every language of spirits and nagas, of humans and of demons, and in every voice of every form of being. Report an error in the passage at 1:56:12 Highlight the passage at 1:56:12

1:56:36 May I be gentle-minded, cultivating the six paramitas, and never forget bodhicitta. May I completely cleanse without omission. Every negativity and all that obscures this awakening mind. May I traverse all my lives in the world, free of karma, afflictions and interfering forces, just as the lotus blossom is undisturbed by the water's wave, just as the sun and moon move unhindered through the sky. Report an error in the passage at 1:56:36 Highlight the passage at 1:56:36

1:57:05 May I ease the suffering in the lower realms and in the many directions and dimensions of the universe. May I guide all wanderers in saṃsāra to the pure bliss of awakening and be of worldly benefit to them as well. May I practice constantly for eons to come, perfecting the activities of awakening, acting in harmony with the various dispositions of beings, showing the ways of a bodhisattva. Report an error in the passage at 1:57:05 Highlight the passage at 1:57:05

1:57:33 May I always have the friendship of those whose path is like mine, and with body, words, and also mind. May we practice together with the same aspirations and activities. May I always meet a spiritual mentor and never displease that excellent friend who deeply wishes to help me and expertly teaches the bodhisattva way. Report an error in the passage at 1:57:33 Highlight the passage at 1:57:33

1:57:57 May I always directly see the Buddhas, masters encircled by bodhisattvas, and without pause or discouragement for eons to come, may I make extensive offerings to them. May I hold within me the Buddha's genuine Dharma, illuminate everywhere the teachings that awaken, embody the realizations of a bodhisattva, and practice ardently in all future eons. Report an error in the passage at 1:57:57 Highlight the passage at 1:57:57

1:58:23 While circling through all states of existence, may I become an endless treasure of good qualities, skillful means, wisdom, samādhi, and liberating stabilizations, gathering limitless pristine wisdom and positive potential. On one atom I shall see, Buddha fields numberless as atoms, inconceivable Buddhas among bodhisattvas in every field, practicing the activities of awakening. Report an error in the passage at 1:58:23 Highlight the passage at 1:58:23

1:58:51 Perceiving this in all directions, I dive into an ocean of Buddha fields, each an ocean of three times Buddhas in the space of a wisp of hair, so I too will practice for an ocean of eons. Thus I am continually immersed in the speech of the Buddhas, expression that reveals an ocean of qualities in one word, the completely pure eloquence of all the Buddhas, communication suited to the varied tendencies of beings. Report an error in the passage at 1:58:51 Highlight the passage at 1:58:51

1:59:20 With strength of understanding I plunge into the infinite enlightened speech of the Dharma, of all Buddhas and three times gone to freedom, who continually turn the wheel of Dharma methods. I shall experience in one moment such vast activity in all future eons, and I will enter into all eons of the three times in but a fraction of a second. Report an error in the passage at 1:59:20 Highlight the passage at 1:59:20

1:59:45 In one instant I shall see all those awakened beings, past, present and future lions among humans. With the power of the illusion-like stabilization, I will constantly engage in their inconceivable activity. I shall manifest upon one single atom the array of pure lands, present, past and future. Likewise, I shall enter the array of pure Buddha fields in every direction without exception. Report an error in the passage at 1:59:45 Highlight the passage at 1:59:45

2:00:16 I shall enter the very presence of all my guides, those lights of this world who are yet to appear, those sequentially turning the wheels of complete awakening, those who reveal nirvāṇa, final, perfect peace. May I achieve the power of swift magical emanation, the power to lead to the great vehicle through every approach, the power of always beneficial activity, the power of love pervading all realms, the power of all surprising positive potential, the power of supreme knowledge unobstructed by discrimination, and through the powers of wisdom, skillful means, and samādhi. Report an error in the passage at 2:00:16 Highlight the passage at 2:00:16

2:01:00 May I achieve the perfect power of awakening, purifying the power of all contaminated actions, crushing the power of disturbing emotions at their root, diffusing the power of interfering forces. I shall perfect the power of the bodhisattva practice. May I purify an ocean of worlds. May I free an ocean of beings. Report an error in the passage at 2:01:00 Highlight the passage at 2:01:00

2:01:23 May I clearly see an ocean of dharma. May I realize an ocean of pristine wisdom. May I purify an ocean of activities. May I fulfill an ocean of aspirations. May I make offerings to an ocean of Buddhas. May I practice without discouragement for an ocean of eons. To awaken fully through this bodhisattva way, I shall fulfill without exception all the diverse aspirations of the awakening practice of all Buddhas gone to freedom in the three times everywhere. Report an error in the passage at 2:01:23 Highlight the passage at 2:01:23

2:01:57 In order to practice exactly as the wise one called Samantabhadra, all embracing good, the elder brother of the sons and brothers of the Buddhas, I completely dedicate all this goodness. Likewise, may I dedicate just as a skillful Samantabhadra with pure body, speech and mind, pure actions and pure Buddha fields. Report an error in the passage at 2:01:57 Highlight the passage at 2:01:57

2:02:20 I shall give rise to the aspirations of Manjushri for this bodhisattva practice of all embracing good. To perfect these practices without discouragement or pause in all future eons. May my pureities be endless, my good qualities boundless, and through abiding in immeasurable activity may I actualize infinite emanations. Report an error in the passage at 2:02:20 Highlight the passage at 2:02:20

2:02:44 Limitless is the end of space, likewise limitless are living beings, thus limitless are karma and afflictions. May my aspirations reach be limitless as well. One may offer to the Buddhas all wealth and adornments of infinite worlds and ten directions, and one may offer during eons numberless as atoms of the world even the greatest happiness of gods and humans. Report an error in the passage at 2:02:44 Highlight the passage at 2:02:44

2:03:10 But whoever hears this extraordinary aspiration and longing for highest awakening gives rise to faith just once, creates far more precious positive potential. Those who make this heartfelt aspiration for the Bodhisattva way will be free from all lower rebirths, free of harmful companions, and will quickly see Amitabha, infinite light. Report an error in the passage at 2:03:10 Highlight the passage at 2:03:10

2:03:36 And even in this very human life, they will be nourished by happiness and have all conducive circumstances. Without waiting long, they will become like Samantabhadra himself. Those who give voice to this extraordinary aspiration, Will quickly and completely purify the five boundless harmful actions created under the power of ignorance. Blessed with supreme knowledge, excellent body, family, attributes and appearance, they will be to vast interfering forces and misleading teachers. Report an error in the passage at 2:03:36 Highlight the passage at 2:03:36

2:04:13 And all the three worlds will make offerings. Going quickly to the noble bodhic tree and sitting there to benefit sentient beings. Subduing all interfering forces, they will fully awaken and turn the great wheel of Dharma. Have no doubt that complete awakening is a fully ripened result, comprehended only by a Buddha, of holding in mind by teaching, reading or reciting this aspiration of the Bodhisattva's practice. Report an error in the passage at 2:04:13 Highlight the passage at 2:04:13

2:04:43 In order to train just like the hero Manjushri, who knows reality as it is, and just like Samantavadra as well, I completely dedicate all this goodness just as they did. With that dedication, which is praised as the greatest by all the Buddhas gone to freedom three times, I too dedicate all my roots of goodness for the attainments of the Bodhisattva practice. Report an error in the passage at 2:04:43 Highlight the passage at 2:04:43

2:05:09 When the moment of my death arrives, by eliminating all obscurations and directly perceiving Amitabha, may I go immediately to Sukhavati, pure land of great joy. Having gone to Sukhavati, may I actualize the meaning of these aspirations, fulfilling them all without exception for the benefit of beings for as long as this world endures. Report an error in the passage at 2:05:09 Highlight the passage at 2:05:09

2:05:33 Born from an extremely beautiful superlative lotus, in this joyful land, the Buddha's magnificent mandala, may I receive a prediction of my awakening directly from the Buddha Amitabha. Having received a prediction there, May I create vast benefit for beings throughout the ten directions with a billion emanations of the power of wisdom. Report an error in the passage at 2:05:33 Highlight the passage at 2:05:33

2:05:59 Through even the small virtue I have accumulated, by offering this prayer of the Bodhisattva practice, may all the positive aspirations of beings be fulfilled in an instant. Through creating limitless positive potential, by dedicating this prayer of Samantabhadra's deeds, May all beings drowning in this torrent of suffering enter the presence of Amitabha. Through this king of aspirations, which is the greatest of the sublime, helping infinite wanderers in saṃsāra, through the accomplishment of this scripture dazzling with Samantabhadra's practice, may suffering realms be utterly emptied of all beings. Report an error in the passage at 2:05:59 Highlight the passage at 2:05:59

2:06:54 That's so beautiful. Report an error in the passage at 2:06:54 Highlight the passage at 2:06:54

2:07:02 So thanks you guys for staying and doing the extra prayer. And then you also get all that extra merit. See how it works? Skillful means. Report an error in the passage at 2:07:02 Highlight the passage at 2:07:02

2:07:15 Brownie points that are going to get you enlightened. Report an error in the passage at 2:07:15 Highlight the passage at 2:07:15