Discovering Buddhism - Death and Rebirth (27 November 2007)

0:18 So, hey. Report an error in the passage at 0:18 Highlight the passage at 0:18

0:25 Sorry? Report an error in the passage at 0:25 Highlight the passage at 0:25

0:29 Oh, Paul Williams. Yeah, it's true. I don't know where he is. Yeah. That's a good question. I'll have to check in with him. I know he's gotten really, really busy with his school, you know, so maybe I'll just encourage him to come to the final week so we can, you know, see him and then to the practice day in January. Report an error in the passage at 0:29 Highlight the passage at 0:29

0:50 Because sometimes people, when they haven't been able to come, then they kind of feel like they shouldn't come anymore or something. Yeah, exactly. Report an error in the passage at 0:50 Highlight the passage at 0:50

0:59 Good point. Report an error in the passage at 0:59 Highlight the passage at 0:59

1:04 Okay, so I was going to actually lead you guys in the death dissolution meditation, if you feel up for it. So I was actually going to say, if you'd like, you could lie down. It's up to you. Yeah, Sandy's like, no way. Oh, thanks. Here, can you bring it? It's okay, you can wear your star shoes in here. I have something for you on the break. Report an error in the passage at 1:04 Highlight the passage at 1:04

1:33 Like now you have to sit there all patiently. The entire meditation, he's going to be like, what's that? It's like Christmas. Report an error in the passage at 1:33 Highlight the passage at 1:33

1:45 Yeah, so if people would like to lie down, then you can. And we can, I think we have the middle light off. We can't really turn off any others or I won't be able to read it. Report an error in the passage at 1:45 Highlight the passage at 1:45

1:56 It's up to you. I think this is an okay time for us to do it because people are kind of still agitated from their day, so it's actually not a bad time to kind of calm down. And I find it very effective to do this one lying down. It's also a great one to do before you go to sleep. They say that we actually naturally do it before we go to sleep. Report an error in the passage at 1:56 Highlight the passage at 1:56

2:19 But we just miss it because we aren't mindful enough. It might be good, Angela, actually to kind of turn your feet like towards the corner, maybe a little, yeah, because of all the holy objects, yeah. It's impossible not to have any holy objects, actually. This is a holy object minefield. Yeah, the doors are good. That's usually what I aim for when we have done yoga in here before, and those doors. Report an error in the passage at 2:19 Highlight the passage at 2:19

2:45 So we only have two takers. All right, you guys are the brave ones in the back row. You could. It's your own death. You might not. Yeah, that's true. Oh, Cedric's joining you. All right, well done. No, clearly if you are really tired, then it's probably not a great idea. And you'll have another chance if you come to the practice day. Report an error in the passage at 2:45 Highlight the passage at 2:45

3:12 We'll do this one. So why don't you just start with, you know, those of you that are sitting up, you need to sit in some sort of good posture to keep your alertness. Because you can fall asleep sitting up really nicely too. I've perfected that one. And Report an error in the passage at 3:12 Highlight the passage at 3:12

3:32 just let yourself take some nice deep belly breaths. Allow Report an error in the passage at 3:32 Highlight the passage at 3:32

3:41 yourself to come more and more into this room. More and more present. Leave behind anything that can keep you from being present here. Anything that might distract you. Whether it's just worries or thoughts or conversations or memories or anything. You just leave it outside. Report an error in the passage at 3:41 Highlight the passage at 3:41

4:19 And with each breath that we take, just imagine that you gain more alertness, more brightness, more concentration and more presence. Report an error in the passage at 4:19 Highlight the passage at 4:19

4:44 So try to imagine a scenario where you are lying in bed in a hospice or hospital situation and Report an error in the passage at 4:44 Highlight the passage at 4:44

4:58 you're very close. And now you're just sort of lying, staring at the ceiling, wondering what's next. Report an error in the passage at 4:58 Highlight the passage at 4:58

5:18 As the earth element within your body begins to dissolve, Report an error in the passage at 5:18 Highlight the passage at 5:18

5:26 Your body becomes more and more thin. Your limbs become more loose. And you might feel like your body is sinking under the earth, like a mountain is on your chest or weight. Report an error in the passage at 5:26 Highlight the passage at 5:26

5:54 As the aggregate of form absorbs, your body becomes weaker and powerless. Report an error in the passage at 5:54 Highlight the passage at 5:54

6:05 The luster of your body diminishes and all your strength is consumed. Report an error in the passage at 6:05 Highlight the passage at 6:05

6:25 As the basic mirror-like wisdom absorbs, Report an error in the passage at 6:25 Highlight the passage at 6:25

6:33 Your sight becomes unclear and dark and your ability to perceive many things at once decreases until it's gone. Report an error in the passage at 6:33 Highlight the passage at 6:33

6:52 This affects your eye sense and you can no longer open or close your eyes. You Report an error in the passage at 6:52 Highlight the passage at 6:52

7:04 experience an internal sign of a shimmery, silvery blue mirage. And Report an error in the passage at 7:04 Highlight the passage at 7:04

7:34 as the water element dissolves, Report an error in the passage at 7:34 Highlight the passage at 7:34

7:40 All the fluids in your body begin to dry up. Report an error in the passage at 7:40 Highlight the passage at 7:40

7:47 So saliva, sweat, urine, or your mucous membranes and so on begin to dry up. Report an error in the passage at 7:47 Highlight the passage at 7:47

8:02 I experience feeling pulled under, like being pulled under the waves, under the water. Report an error in the passage at 8:02 Highlight the passage at 8:02

8:18 As the aggregate of feelings absorbs, your touch consciousness can no longer experience the three types of feeling, pleasure, pain and neutral. Report an error in the passage at 8:18 Highlight the passage at 8:18

8:40 And as the basic wisdom of equality dissolves, you're no longer aware of these feelings. The Report an error in the passage at 8:40 Highlight the passage at 8:40

8:56 ear sense is affected and you can no longer hear external or internal sounds. Even this constant buzzing that we have in our heads goes silent. Report an error in the passage at 8:56 Highlight the passage at 8:56

9:16 You experience an internal sign. It's an appearance like the smoke of a stick of incense filling a room. And Report an error in the passage at 9:16 Highlight the passage at 9:16

9:47 as your fire element dissolves, Report an error in the passage at 9:47 Highlight the passage at 9:47

9:51 The heat of your body is leaving and you can no longer digest food or drink or fluids. Report an error in the passage at 9:51 Highlight the passage at 9:51

10:18 When the aggregative discrimination absorbs, you're no longer aware of the affairs of people close to you. And Report an error in the passage at 10:18 Highlight the passage at 10:18

10:35 as the basic wisdom of analysis dissolves, you can no longer remember their names or any of the things of this life. Report an error in the passage at 10:35 Highlight the passage at 10:35

10:57 Your inhalation weakens. And your exhalation becomes strong and lengthy. Report an error in the passage at 10:57 Highlight the passage at 10:57

11:09 Your sense of smell is gone. Report an error in the passage at 11:09 Highlight the passage at 11:09

11:18 You experience the internal sign of an appearance like fireflies or sparks within dark smoke, like throwing dry grass into a fire. Report an error in the passage at 11:18 Highlight the passage at 11:18

11:53 As the wind element dissolves, the ten winds within your body move into the heart and your inhalation and exhalation cease. Report an error in the passage at 11:53 Highlight the passage at 11:53

12:12 As the aggregate of compositional factors absorbs, you can't move or experience any different textures. When Report an error in the passage at 12:12 Highlight the passage at 12:12

12:30 the basic wisdom of achieving activities dissolves, you're no longer aware of external worldly activities or purposes. Report an error in the passage at 12:30 Highlight the passage at 12:30

12:46 Your tongue or taste sense is affected and your tongue becomes thick and short. The root of your tongue becomes blue. Report an error in the passage at 12:46 Highlight the passage at 12:46

13:04 experience appearance. Of a dull orangey red lamp about to go out like a sputtering candle flame in the wind. Report an error in the passage at 13:04 Highlight the passage at 13:04

13:29 From the western point of view, you would be clinically dead. And from a Tibetan point of view, only your gross mind and four elements have dissolved. Report an error in the passage at 13:29 Highlight the passage at 13:29

13:56 As the aggregate of consciousness dissolves, the 80 instinctive conceptions absorb and Report an error in the passage at 13:56 Highlight the passage at 13:56

14:10 all conceptual thought ceases. Report an error in the passage at 14:10 Highlight the passage at 14:10

14:20 The winds in the right and left channels above your heart enter the central channel at the top of your head. You Report an error in the passage at 14:20 Highlight the passage at 14:20

14:32 experience an internal sign, the appearance of a clear vacuity or vast space filled with white light. This is the arising of your subtle mind. Report an error in the passage at 14:32 Highlight the passage at 14:32

15:00 As this white vision dissolves, the winds in the right and left channel below the heart enter your central channel. At the base of your spine and Report an error in the passage at 15:00 Highlight the passage at 15:00

15:14 you experience an internal sign, the appearance of a very clear, vast space filled with coppery red light. This is called the red vision. Report an error in the passage at 15:14 Highlight the passage at 15:14

15:43 As the red vision dissolves, the upper and lower winds gather at your heart and then your winds enter the indestructible drop at your heart. And Report an error in the passage at 15:43 Highlight the passage at 15:43

16:00 first you experience a very clear Vast space filled with darkness like when night falls suddenly and Report an error in the passage at 16:00 Highlight the passage at 16:00

16:15 then as if swooning you fall into unconsciousness. Report an error in the passage at 16:15 Highlight the passage at 16:15

16:33 At this point all the winds dissolve into the very subtle life-bearing wind in the indestructible drop at your heart and you experience a very clear vast space filled with clear light. Report an error in the passage at 16:33 Highlight the passage at 16:33

16:53 Like the sky just before dawn in autumn in the Himalayas. This Report an error in the passage at 16:53 Highlight the passage at 16:53

17:04 is the most subtle and pure level of your mind. Just Report an error in the passage at 17:04 Highlight the passage at 17:04

17:11 focus on this light for as long as you can. And Report an error in the passage at 17:11 Highlight the passage at 17:11

· · · silence, 1 minute

17:48 then as this clear light of death ceases, your consciousness passes back through the stages of dissolution and reverse order. Report an error in the passage at 17:48 Highlight the passage at 17:48

17:59 From clear light into darkness, into the red vision, into the white vision, Report an error in the passage at 17:59 Highlight the passage at 17:59

18:12 into the flickering light of a candle. Report an error in the passage at 18:12 Highlight the passage at 18:12

18:17 Into the spark-like vision, into the smoky appearance and Report an error in the passage at 18:17 Highlight the passage at 18:17

18:29 then finally the shimmery blue mirage. Report an error in the passage at 18:29 Highlight the passage at 18:29

18:37 When this process ends, your mind would be born into an intermediate state or bardo from Report an error in the passage at 18:37 Highlight the passage at 18:37

18:48 which you take your next rebirth depending upon your karma. Report an error in the passage at 18:48 Highlight the passage at 18:48

19:04 So we take one moment now to motivate our minds for this class and this meditation that Report an error in the passage at 19:04 Highlight the passage at 19:04

19:14 we learn to prepare our minds now. Report an error in the passage at 19:14 Highlight the passage at 19:14

19:22 Not only for a peaceful death, but also for the positive rebirth to follow it so Report an error in the passage at 19:22 Highlight the passage at 19:22

19:33 that we can become the cause of happiness for ourselves and others in the world. And Report an error in the passage at 19:33 Highlight the passage at 19:33

19:49 just give yourself a moment and in your own time you can end your meditation and Report an error in the passage at 19:49 Highlight the passage at 19:49

19:59 we'll start with the opening prayer in a moment. Report an error in the passage at 19:59 Highlight the passage at 19:59

· · · silence, 1 minute

20:47 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 20:47 Highlight the passage at 20:47

21:20 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 21:20 Highlight the passage at 21:20

21:51 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 21:51 Highlight the passage at 21:51

22:23 You Report an error in the passage at 22:23 Highlight the passage at 22:23

22:28 know what, actually I just remembered. Paul's grandfather died like a lot quicker than they were expecting. So that's where he was last week. Report an error in the passage at 22:28 Highlight the passage at 22:28

22:40 And he said he was going to be gone. The funeral is today, tonight. So that's where he is. Report an error in the passage at 22:40 Highlight the passage at 22:40

22:52 We also just got word today that Geshe Jampa Gyatso, who was the resident teacher of Lama Tsongkhapa Institute and teacher of the master's program, just passed away this morning. This morning. Yeah. Suddenly, fairly suddenly, without much warning. So the next master's program is scheduled to begin within a month, basically. Report an error in the passage at 22:52 Highlight the passage at 22:52

23:21 And there were like 100 people signed up for it. So everyone's kind of, what's going to happen next? And of course those people who completed the master's program last time, like Emily, are quite, this is their Lama, you know, for 10 years, 9 years, you know. So it's very, it just shows you. Report an error in the passage at 23:21 Highlight the passage at 23:21

23:48 The subject is quite pertinent. Report an error in the passage at 23:48 Highlight the passage at 23:48

23:53 How did you all do with the meditation either this week or just now? If you didn't have a chance to do it this week, which is why I like to do them in class too, to give people an opportunity if you do get busy. Do people have any input? It doesn't have to be a question, it can be an experience as well, or something that came up for you doing it, or just some insight. Report an error in the passage at 23:53 Highlight the passage at 23:53

24:23 No one wants to be first. There you go. Chad will be first. Report an error in the passage at 24:23 Highlight the passage at 24:23

24:37 Everyone always asks whether our personality goes from life to life, or most people wonder that at the beginning. And I like in this meditation how your personality is part of what's dissolving. Your sense, your memory of other people's names, that kind of thing. Report an error in the passage at 24:37 Highlight the passage at 24:37

24:56 I just thought that was interesting. It is interesting, and clearly some people actually do retain some memory, and I think you probably would have had to have a really good memory in a lifetime, so I don't think that's going to happen to me. Report an error in the passage at 24:56 Highlight the passage at 24:56

25:08 But some people have just really sharp memory in life, and I think those might be the ones who are just ordinary beings who just happen to have these memories when they were a little kid of their past life, and you can read about some of these stories. Report an error in the passage at 25:08 Highlight the passage at 25:08

25:25 About people who just kind of are talking about like there's this one story about this little girl in India and she just kept talking about her house and her husband. And, you know, at first I thought it was just, you know, she just had this imagination or wasn't that cute. And then something about it made them feel like, well, maybe they should just take her there and point out, you know. Report an error in the passage at 25:25 Highlight the passage at 25:25

25:48 And so they actually took her to her and she pointed out which house it was. And she went up to the door and knocked on the door and she knew. It was her husband from her past life, and she knew enough that he recognized her, that he knew, you know, like things that nobody else, like she was like, why did you repaint it? Report an error in the passage at 25:48 Highlight the passage at 25:48

26:04 You know, why did you put this here? You know, she's clearly quite attached to all her things, and they were all in different positions. And her children all recognized her, and then she realized, and she actually maintained a connection with him for a little bit, and then she... She just had to let go. Like, she just realized it was just too much. They all kind of realized it was just too much, you know. So, you know, and who knows? Report an error in the passage at 26:04 Highlight the passage at 26:04

26:28 I mean, she must have had a great memory, and then she also must have been quite attached to that family still, you know. But she was just a little girl. She was like six or seven or something. Report an error in the passage at 26:28 Highlight the passage at 26:28

26:42 Yeah, so, yeah, it's not like... It'll be like Chad, you know, hopefully it'll be Chad in human body, but it's not like it's going to be Chad in like a bodhi body or something, you know, like still the same personality, you know, going up and hitting. Report an error in the passage at 26:42 Highlight the passage at 26:42

26:59 But I do think some little things can come through, but I think for the most part, for most of us ordinary beings, I think that's a gross mind, and that's an aspect of gross mind, and that mind dissolves, and the more subtle aspects come through. kidding. Report an error in the passage at 26:59 Highlight the passage at 26:59

27:12 So even though I said at certain points, you know, all your awareness of everything around you stops and all your conceptual thoughts stop, clearly it's not going to be the same for all of us and it won't be that absolute. It'll sort of depend upon the mind and its ability to break down and all that stuff and its strength probably and all that stuff. Report an error in the passage at 27:12 Highlight the passage at 27:12

27:36 And they say too that, you know, we meditate on this in a certain order. And we pretty much give it all about the same amount of time. But they say that, you know, the different levels can happen, like some can happen more quickly than others. And like one can be really long and then all of a sudden one short and then one longer like that. It's just, it's like, it's never the same. Report an error in the passage at 27:36 Highlight the passage at 27:36

28:00 It's never, you know, it's always a unique situation. So it's never the same two times in a row. So it's not like it's going to be evenly 15 minutes on each section, you know. It's really worthwhile to meditate on it that way because that way you get really familiar with each section and you know. And actually Lama Zopa says that you should be saying in your head the clear light, at least the clear light's coming. Report an error in the passage at 28:00 Highlight the passage at 28:00

28:27 I need to stay alert, the clear light's coming, you know, kind of remind yourself. But then there's also in His Holiness' book for those, I don't know if any of you are reading it now, this section is actually very well written about in His Holiness' book. Report an error in the passage at 28:27 Highlight the passage at 28:27

28:43 The Mind of Clear Light. And he talks about the importance of thinking the step right before, the step I'm in now and the step that's coming, which feels really bulky for me. I have a hard time with that one. So I'll just do the clear light's coming. But I can see that what you're trying to do is be able to, if you do it enough times like that, then you know exactly where you are and what's coming. Report an error in the passage at 28:43 Highlight the passage at 28:43

29:08 If you're able to hold on to any awareness of the whole process so that you can be like, okay, the, you know, the red vision just happened, you know, and like that. So you can kind of always place yourself no matter what, even if you completely lose everything else that you can kind of hold on to it because you're just used to that rhythm of it. Report an error in the passage at 29:08 Highlight the passage at 29:08

29:28 You probably get used to the rhythm of it, but for me that just feels really, really clunky. Yeah, anybody else? Anybody else have any? Report an error in the passage at 29:28 Highlight the passage at 29:28

29:39 You don't have to have. Yeah. Report an error in the passage at 29:39 Highlight the passage at 29:39

29:48 During that meditation, one thing that came up for me was as you were describing the dissolution of all that I consider myself to be. Report an error in the passage at 29:48 Highlight the passage at 29:48

30:00 It was scary. That was actually really scary. And I needed to share this as well. Today I flew back from visiting a friend for Thanksgiving. On a plane ride that had tremendous turbulence and I was freaking out. I was really freaking out. I've done this before. I knew to kind of expect that it was going to happen, but I didn't expect the turbulence to be as bad as it was. Was it Denver? It was. Report an error in the passage at 30:00 Highlight the passage at 30:00

30:32 It is always so. Really? This morning? No, it was in the afternoon. We left at 1.15. Denver is always so turbulent. I think it's because of the mountains. It's intensely a good place to practice. That's what I was really trying to do. I tried to hold an image of Buddha in my mind. Also, just being kind of practical and saying, you know, there's nothing I can do about this. Report an error in the passage at 30:32 Highlight the passage at 30:32

31:00 I can't stop this. And also... Kind of observing my body's reaction to it because even though my mind, at least I thought my mind was fairly calm, my body was just, I felt like my heart was going to pound out of my chest. And I, you know, all I could do was just sit there and be and think about, you know, falling out of the sky or something. Report an error in the passage at 31:00 Highlight the passage at 31:00

31:28 And so I got through it, you know, and I kind of... And something told me ahead of time that there's always a possibility when I get on a plane that this kind of experience is going to be what I'm going to have. And, you know, maybe that's it. Maybe that's the end and maybe it's not. But I guess, you know, I just really went to a place for a few seconds where there was a bit of calm that came over me because I had to let go. Report an error in the passage at 31:28 Highlight the passage at 31:28

32:02 I had to just release. And then getting back to this meditation, it's like the one thing that came to mind was, you know, suppose that my family is around me or my friends are around me. And, you know, I'm having to let go. And when you're saying that all of the personalities that I know in this life and all the memories I have of this life dissipate, you know, it really is kind of jolting. Report an error in the passage at 32:02 Highlight the passage at 32:02

32:31 Yeah. Yeah, I mean that's the thing. If you don't sort of start looking at that now and just kind of releasing a little bit or even just imagining it and imagining what I would do and using those experiences. And I think that's something about the plane I think because you have no control. Not that we necessarily have control anywhere else, but we think we do. Whereas at the plane you just don't. Report an error in the passage at 32:31 Highlight the passage at 32:31

32:57 And of course everybody else is. Reactions around you sort of can feed into your meditation. But yeah, I mean, if you don't start sort of playing with it now, how on earth could we expect to have any stability of mind while all of that's happening? I mean, the chances are really unlikely. Again, it's very much like, why on earth could you sit down and play Mozart if you hadn't practiced it? Report an error in the passage at 32:57 Highlight the passage at 32:57

33:24 And yet somehow we think magically. That we're going to be really calm and there's going to be exactly the right voiceover and exactly the right music and exactly the right angel sitting there and all that stuff. Report an error in the passage at 33:24 Highlight the passage at 33:24

33:39 Wishful thinking. So yeah, no, you did exactly the right thing to just try and to notice and to think and then to continue to think, which clearly you are. I think a lot of people would just be like, whew, that's gone. Okay, and just put it out of their mind quickly. With whatever means is necessary. And often you hear that when people have a scare, like they find out they have cancer, for example, and then they're able to beat it. Report an error in the passage at 33:39 Highlight the passage at 33:39

34:09 It's like they just don't even want to look at it again. Even though actually it's a door opening to the reality that at some point they won't beat it or something else will happen. But there's just this wish, this strong thought that... I will go on forever. And so this was just an aberration. And I'll get off the hook. Even if I'm 75, you know, this happens too, you know, where the person's actually quite elderly and still they're just kind of like, I don't want to think about that anymore, you know. Report an error in the passage at 34:09 Highlight the passage at 34:09

34:42 My mom was the same way. Yeah, so it's just to take those moments. Did you, so you experienced turbulence on your flight? Turbulation and turbulence. Actually, I came in on the 825 flight and it was very turbulent. But I was thinking, I wasn't panicking or anything. I kept thinking, well, okay, if this plane isn't going to make it, what's going to happen? Nothing's going to happen. I didn't feel a lot of anxiety. Report an error in the passage at 34:42 Highlight the passage at 34:42

35:19 Maybe it's because I'm taking some classes. cooking for a while. Well, that's good. That's a good advertisement. My question is, when you're talking about the clear light, where does the Bartle state or stage come in? I'm a little confused. So at the end, when that clear light of the mind ceases, your consciousness actually goes back through a sort of... Report an error in the passage at 35:19 Highlight the passage at 35:19

35:47 Forming of the new body. So all the things that dissolved in the old body now are forming. And then you're going through the reverse order of everything until you now wake up sort of in your Bardo body. And we're going to talk about the Bardo state tonight a little bit. Yeah. So what I know of it. Report an error in the passage at 35:47 Highlight the passage at 35:47

36:14 What came up for me was to visualize and feel empathically what... My friend who is dying is going through and every day he's losing more and more of this life. Went into hospice on Monday and was unable to answer me on the phone but could move his lips and today he's in a coma and has stopped eating and drinking. Report an error in the passage at 36:14 Highlight the passage at 36:14

36:46 So as you went through those stages I was vividly imagining him. As he's going through these stages. Yeah, Report an error in the passage at 36:46 Highlight the passage at 36:46

37:05 I've done that too, is sort of really thinking, because then it's all just vivid right now in your life too. And that's actually how you'll have more of an experience of that meditation. Because you're learning this meditation at exactly this time. It's very interesting karmically. And also, of course, at the anniversary of Bruce's death. Report an error in the passage at 37:05 Highlight the passage at 37:05

37:25 So it's like, it's a very potent time. For you to take this into your heart really deeply. I remember actually when my friend Laurel died, that was one of the most amazing spiritual times and what followed the year, year and a half that followed. Of course it's still continuing in a way, but the way that time, it just opens your heart up so much so that you can absorb. Report an error in the passage at 37:25 Highlight the passage at 37:25

37:55 There's nothing stopping you. Do you know what I mean? So it's actually... It's an incredibly potent time, and I really thank you for sharing that with us, actually. Not just your experience with him, but the fact that you're here in this class now, I think is pretty amazing. Thank you. Report an error in the passage at 37:55 Highlight the passage at 37:55

38:18 Anybody else? Anybody else have anything? Okay. Well, we have another little exercise coming up. I wanted to try this. So that you can actually split up into twos. Yeah, we're an even number. And it's not long enough. We don't have long enough. This actually came from a day-long workshop that Venerable Rita Rinneker gave last year on, I think we also called, we might have called that dying well as well. Report an error in the passage at 38:18 Highlight the passage at 38:18

38:52 Or some sort, maybe preparing for death and helping the dying or something like that. But she came up with three. I don't know where she got these. She gave us three questions and she said to think about them and so I'm going to give them to you. Do you guys all have pens and paper? Yeah. Report an error in the passage at 38:52 Highlight the passage at 38:52

39:10 And then I'm just going to, I'll say each one and give you like a little few minutes so you can write it down and write some thoughts down and then I'll have you split up into twos and then you can share with each other kind of what you've come up with. Just because I think you could share a lot better in twos than you were going to have time for in class. Now this is just a beginning. So it's not like you're going to have an ultimate answer for anything tonight. Report an error in the passage at 39:10 Highlight the passage at 39:10

39:36 But it's just a thought. And some of you probably have already thought about some of this stuff. And some of you, it'll be a beginning. But in either way, it's ongoing. So you can still continue it at home. So the first one that she said is to think about... Well, I'll say, she says five circumstances, but I would say think about a number of circumstances under which you definitely don't want to die in order to die well. Report an error in the passage at 39:36 Highlight the passage at 39:36

40:03 So an example might be, I never want to be in a hospital or whatever, you know, like if you have a really strong feeling about that. Or if there's like somebody in your family, for example, I know a woman very well who really doesn't want her daughter there when she dies. So if there's like a particular person, I know, I know, that's going to be a tough one. If there's a particular person that would just really make it difficult for you or if there's a particular place where you don't want to be. Report an error in the passage at 40:03 Highlight the passage at 40:03

40:36 And then think about, so this is all in the first one. What would you do if that happened to be the exact situation that you got? Report an error in the passage at 40:36 Highlight the passage at 40:36

40:50 You know, so think about a couple of points of things that you really don't want, and then what happens if that is? You know, just kind of like, just first thoughts that come into your mind. And Report an error in the passage at 40:50 Highlight the passage at 40:50

· · · silence, 2 minutes

43:28 just take another moment to finish up. Report an error in the passage at 43:28 Highlight the passage at 43:28

· · · silence, 1 minute

44:26 Remember, this is ongoing. And so the second one is sort of the reverse of that. What circumstances would you want, do you think right now anyway, would you want in order to die well? So, you know, if you feel like dying at home would be better, think about why and think about, you know, whether or not that really would be true for you, whether or not it would bring up more attachment for you. Report an error in the passage at 44:26 Highlight the passage at 44:26

44:55 Think about the people that you'd want with you, whether you want anyone playing music or, you know, just all the little details. And Report an error in the passage at 44:55 Highlight the passage at 44:55

45:11 remembering, of course, just like planning births that we don't really get a choice. But these are just ideas to have in mind. Report an error in the passage at 45:11 Highlight the passage at 45:11

· · · silence, 1 minute

46:42 We're doing this exercise where I'm just giving you some points to think about and then we're going to split into smaller groups to talk. And the first idea, you might want to, I don't know, do you have a pen? Does anyone have a pen? I'll give you last week's homework and you can write on the back of it. Report an error in the passage at 46:42 Highlight the passage at 46:42

47:06 The first one is just thinking about... Report an error in the passage at 47:06 Highlight the passage at 47:06

47:12 Some situations that you would definitely not want in order to die well. So that might be, you know, you don't want to be in the hospital, you don't want your mom there, like whatever. And then think, well, what if that ended up being the situation? Just to take a minute to think about that. And then the second one is, what do you think you'd want in place in order to die well? Report an error in the passage at 47:12 Highlight the passage at 47:12

47:38 And these are huge questions, but this is just the beginning. We're just taking a few minutes. So just write down some ideas, and then you can talk about it in a smaller group. Report an error in the passage at 47:38 Highlight the passage at 47:38

47:48 It can be anything. It can be if you think, you know, you want to have a hospice death, for example. Would you want that to be at home or in a residential facility? Would being at home actually be a good thing? Like at first thought it might be, and then there might be some reason not, you know, that you think about. Report an error in the passage at 47:48 Highlight the passage at 47:48

48:12 Maybe you want somebody there who actually would make it hard for you to die well because of so much attachment coming up or something like that. So just to think about those things. Report an error in the passage at 48:12 Highlight the passage at 48:12

48:46 And the final thing to think about is what do I have to change now so that I can prepare myself to die under any circumstances? Report an error in the passage at 48:46 Highlight the passage at 48:46

48:57 So if I don't get the circumstances I want, how can I prepare myself to accept whatever happens? Just Report an error in the passage at 48:57 Highlight the passage at 48:57

· · · silence, 2 minutes

51:33 take another moment to finish up. Report an error in the passage at 51:33 Highlight the passage at 51:33

· · · silence, 1 minute

52:18 So why don't we do Paul and Chad, Angela and Cedric. And actually, do you guys mind taking Whitney with you? You have a third. Report an error in the passage at 52:18 Highlight the passage at 52:18

52:29 And then Sandy in. Report an error in the passage at 52:29 Highlight the passage at 52:29

52:36 can share with them, yeah. So just take some time to actually listen as well as to speak. And I'll just sort of check in about halfway through to let you guys know it's time to turn. And I'll know that you guys need probably a little extra time in the middle. But just do your best just to share whatever feels like you'd like to share. You don't have to share anything, you know, also. Report an error in the passage at 52:36 Highlight the passage at 52:36

· · · silence, 6 minutes

59:04 So try to begin to finish up. Report an error in the passage at 59:04 Highlight the passage at 59:04

· · · silence, 3 minutes

1:01:50 If you haven't gotten to the third question, you probably want to move that direction. Report an error in the passage at 1:01:50 Highlight the passage at 1:01:50

1:02:00 No, you guys have. Report an error in the passage at 1:02:00 Highlight the passage at 1:02:00

· · · silence, 2 minutes

1:03:59 Okay, take a moment to wrap up. Report an error in the passage at 1:03:59 Highlight the passage at 1:03:59

1:04:29 Does anyone Report an error in the passage at 1:04:29 Highlight the passage at 1:04:29

1:04:39 have anything that they want to share? Because you don't have to. This is just mostly for you to be thinking. No, it was in Oh, okay. Report an error in the passage at 1:04:39 Highlight the passage at 1:04:39

· · · silence, 1 minute

1:04:45 Start this process of thinking. But if you do have something to share, feel free. This would be a good time. Report an error in the passage at 1:04:45 Highlight the passage at 1:04:45

1:04:56 So with the third question, what do I have to change now? Of course, Dharma practice came up. The other thing was, one of my best friends is very negative and very grasping. My first thing was I wouldn't want her there if I was dying. for both of us. Report an error in the passage at 1:04:56 Highlight the passage at 1:04:56

1:05:20 And so one of my solutions would be to explain that to her now and explain. No, we keep mentioning that with the woman who says she doesn't want her daughter there. I'm like, have you talked to her? I mean, just tell her, if you don't feel like you're going to be comfortable there, I'd rather, I'll be okay. Don't be here. Report an error in the passage at 1:05:20 Highlight the passage at 1:05:20

1:05:39 Like there are other ways she could support me, you know, or something like that. Give her other options. She could be home making the tuna casserole or something. Yeah. Report an error in the passage at 1:05:39 Highlight the passage at 1:05:39

1:05:47 Yeah. And there are, of course, documents. There's a document called the Five Wishes document that you can kind of lay out some things and talk about it and assign a position of an agent who, you know, when you get to the point where you are unable to state these things yourself, this person can help be an advocate for you. Report an error in the passage at 1:05:47 Highlight the passage at 1:05:47

1:06:13 And I would suggest having more than one because often the person... Could be out of the country or could be out of the state even or whatever. It's difficult for them to come. And then, of course, sitting down and talking about it all with that person. Like, don't just have this elaborate plan in mind and don't clue the person in because you don't want them to have to, like, what did she mean by this, you know? And, like, this is when the clowns come in. Report an error in the passage at 1:06:13 Highlight the passage at 1:06:13

1:06:40 So when you have these thoughts about what you would like in place, you know, and it really gives you... To have everything from medical advice or a directive to, you know, I would really like Geshe-la and Venerobina called, something like that. You know, I can be that specific. I really want, you know, these people called and here are their phone numbers and you can just keep updating it, you know. Report an error in the passage at 1:06:40 Highlight the passage at 1:06:40

1:07:09 So... Yeah, so it gives you a place to sort of write all this down and it's actually quite a meaningful exercise to take some time to do that and write all this stuff down and then go over it with whoever it is and think about it and even talk about it amongst people who you know are filling them out. Report an error in the passage at 1:07:09 Highlight the passage at 1:07:09

1:07:29 And actually I am looking at the schedule to try to think about when we could do a workshop. To talk about this and how you fill it out and then have a few, like maybe a month break and then come back together and talk about the process and how it's been for people. Because it is a sobering process to sit down and write this stuff down. But it's also, of course, very useful. And it's very, very useful for those you leave behind. Report an error in the passage at 1:07:29 Highlight the passage at 1:07:29

1:07:57 Who have to make these kind of decisions and don't know really what you want unless it's really clear or unless you happen to have talked about it with them and there's nobody else with any other ideas, which of course it can get confusing at that time period when somebody's like, no wait a second, I just talked to him last week and he said he wanted this, you know, and he had found God on Friday and I'm going to bring in the priest, you know. Report an error in the passage at 1:07:57 Highlight the passage at 1:07:57

1:08:20 So most likely, you know, that wouldn't happen, but you never know, especially in families where... Like in your family and in my family where there might be a family member who legally could have some say and might suddenly step in with something totally contrary for what you want. So it's really useful to have it in writing. Yeah, so anybody else? Any other? Yeah, Sandy. Report an error in the passage at 1:08:20 Highlight the passage at 1:08:20

1:08:51 Did you have a quick one? I'd like to have a death midwife to really be able to Report an error in the passage at 1:08:51 Highlight the passage at 1:08:51

1:09:00 um, Take responsibility for letting me know what's best for me to do rather than me have to become stressed out, trying to become clear enough to remember. Report an error in the passage at 1:09:00 Highlight the passage at 1:09:00

1:09:16 I remember when I was in labor, there was a point where I just had to let go of everything, everybody else and everything else and just go inward. Report an error in the passage at 1:09:16 Highlight the passage at 1:09:16

1:09:28 I would anticipate with dying that would happen too and it would be wonderful to have someone who could coach through that transition. Yeah, yeah. I think there are people sort of training themselves at this point to take that role. But yeah, I mean, and also if you don't have anyone like that in your life right now, you could team up with somebody and train yourselves. Report an error in the passage at 1:09:28 Highlight the passage at 1:09:28

1:09:56 I mean, that's what these workshops really are all about, is, you know... Planning and also knowing, you know also of the practices that are sometimes advised, you might have a real strong karma connection with, for example, the king of prayers. And you know that that would calm you down and you know you want that one read. So that one would be one to talk about with somebody. That one doesn't even have to be your midwife. Report an error in the passage at 1:09:56 Highlight the passage at 1:09:56

1:10:21 That could be just your friends. You could just go, especially dependent upon what your situation is, but even right now while you're thinking about it. Look, I know this sounds morbid, but we've been doing this class. You've got this great example. And I just want you to know these are some prayers that I would like if you happen to be the ones that are there with me. Report an error in the passage at 1:10:21 Highlight the passage at 1:10:21

1:10:42 And just hold them somewhere. Keep them in your glove compartment. Hopefully you won't need them for 50 years. So you could start the conversation with people that way and create your own midwives. But as a center, it is something that we are thinking about. you know, so. Definitely lay midwives, though, probably not certified nurse midwives. That's the school I came from, actually. Yeah, because often that's all. Report an error in the passage at 1:10:42 Highlight the passage at 1:10:42

1:11:09 I mean, I would hope that, just like with birth, that you could tune in to that voice wherever that voice was for as long as you could still stay connected to the world so that that voice would help you. And that's with the Tar Home often. You know, there are always people there. To help you die. And that situation, of course, is one that I would really love to replicate here. And, of course, it depends on so many things. Report an error in the passage at 1:11:09 Highlight the passage at 1:11:09

1:11:35 And that's not actually even legally a hospice. It's not a hospice. They actually work in conjunction with hospice of Santa Cruz. And so they are just trying to make those days as meaningful spiritually as you would like to whatever degree you'd like. If you don't want them to be doing Buddhist prayers in the same room with you, you know that they are somewhere in the property. So you just sort of are aware of what their options are at the very start. Report an error in the passage at 1:11:35 Highlight the passage at 1:11:35

1:12:02 But that sort of actually talking to you and saying, Angela, so now it's time for you to let go. It's okay. I mean, actually sort of taking that role is something that we're working on. We've got some midwives in training. Sandy, you had something? Report an error in the passage at 1:12:02 Highlight the passage at 1:12:02

1:12:28 Is this document the five wishes for things to happen while you're still alive on the deathbed or after? Both. Before, during, after. You can put anything you want and you can also have addendums and things like that. I actually have some copies. I think I have enough for all you guys. I could bring them to you guys. Can this be a legal document? Yes, it's legal in the state of California. It's legal in most of the states. I think there are still some states that don't recognize it. Report an error in the passage at 1:12:28 Highlight the passage at 1:12:28

1:13:01 And Lenny was suggesting that people have both durable power of attorney and this and that they be in conjunction. This one actually also has a place for medical directive, but it also has spiritual, which the durable power of attorney doesn't. I see. So you can have all of that in there, like call Lama Zopa, here's his number, like that kind of thing. Report an error in the passage at 1:13:01 Highlight the passage at 1:13:01

1:13:27 Keep the room quiet. I know after my mom's death, I came back and filled mine out within a couple months because I just thought, if I'm actively dying, who cares what my blood pressure is? Don't keep coming in and sticking things in my mouth. And that's standard procedure. In a lot of medical facilities, she wasn't even in the hospital. So just things like that, you can actually just state in writing that once you have entered the active death process, these are things that you would like respected. Report an error in the passage at 1:13:27 Highlight the passage at 1:13:27

1:13:57 Of course there's karma. You might get some annoying nurse on duty or something, you know, but that, you know, you can do what you can to create those conditions as much as you can. And clearly, you know, you could die in a car accident, you know, and you might not get this option. But I always feel like the more prepared the better, especially in a situation where, you know, we all show up to help out. Report an error in the passage at 1:13:57 Highlight the passage at 1:13:57

1:14:21 It's really great to know what you wanted, you know. And as much as we can, then we can try to recreate that for you. And then provided that no one else takes over and decides that they're going to do it their way. Exactly. Which happens a lot. Yeah. But not always. Especially if we have a document in writing. And if you've discussed that document. And that's really, really important to discuss it with anyone who it might pertain to. Report an error in the passage at 1:14:21 Highlight the passage at 1:14:21

1:14:48 So even though your family member, for example, your family members might be of a different religion, if you think that they could suddenly jet in and have some bearing, it's really best for you to just kind of, this is, I filled out this document, it's legal in the state of California, I've named Bob. Report an error in the passage at 1:14:48 Highlight the passage at 1:14:48

1:15:07 Millie and Al is my agents. I've talked about it all with them. I just want you all to know here's a copy of it for your own records or something like that. You can be very professional about it. Report an error in the passage at 1:15:07 Highlight the passage at 1:15:07

1:15:19 And then it's just all out there. And there's no surprise, too, for them when they suddenly show up and they see that you want to sit there for five hours. You know what I mean? Then it's not a surprise. They have it all and they know that you actually wrote this yourself and this is what you wanted. Yeah, it's useful. Report an error in the passage at 1:15:19 Highlight the passage at 1:15:19

1:15:42 I was just kind of thinking about something I, like most of mine were, I mean many of mine were things about the world that would just take good karma ripening to find the right place and the right time and things like that. And I was just thinking how that's not really in my control. And then I realized that the Buddha wouldn't be affected by these things. Report an error in the passage at 1:15:42 Highlight the passage at 1:15:42

1:16:14 It is in my control to work on stabilizing my mind and wisdom, and then those things wouldn't bother me. So I just thought that was an interesting little thing I caught myself like, thinking it was totally those things that were destroying my death. It's just the way I'm relating to them. I hate it when that happens. No, it's very, very true. And that's a great segue actually into the next part of this is working on our ability to accept what is. Report an error in the passage at 1:16:14 Highlight the passage at 1:16:14

1:16:47 And I think that's actually what Venerable Rita was getting at. It's sort of like think about the absolute worst and then what if that's the one. Person that was on duty in one place, you end up, you know, say it was like a hospital and, you know, Millie, you absolutely do not want Millie there and Millie is the only one who can come, you know. Report an error in the passage at 1:16:47 Highlight the passage at 1:16:47

1:17:07 How are you going to deal with it? Because it could happen, you know. And actually it could end up being the absolute, you know, it could end up being absolutely fine, you know. But if it's, if you haven't sort of thought about that possibility and you haven't been working on your acceptance. It could be horrible, and all you could do during your death is have a glacia attack. This whole mental affliction is happening out of control, and you die in that mind. Report an error in the passage at 1:17:07 Highlight the passage at 1:17:07

1:17:36 It's terrible. You don't even want to think about that. It's like the same thing. I make the joke about the nurse. I just remember this happening with a friend of mine. A friend of mine was dying at SF General. And this nurse just came in. She's just rumbling through the drawers. And I'm just like, you know. But, you know, hopefully Alec wasn't thinking that. Report an error in the passage at 1:17:36 Highlight the passage at 1:17:36

1:17:58 But, I mean, that kind of stuff happens all the time. It's like the minute we went into the clear light, did you guys hear the major motorcycle? That's karma, you know. There's not anything I can do about it, you know. So, I mean, it could totally happen. This nurse was just looking for some bedpans or something and she had to choose that moment of his death, you know, to like find those bedpans. And that was so pointed. Report an error in the passage at 1:17:58 Highlight the passage at 1:17:58

1:18:27 I mean, I just got it. I was just like, wow, you just have no control, especially in a public space like that. I mean, you might in a home or something and the likelihood is less, but it can happen. So the point is that we can't change this outside world. We can think about things and we can try to create the conditions, but the reality is we can't change the outside world. We can change our mind. So I just wanted to give you a little bit before you take a quick break. Report an error in the passage at 1:18:27 Highlight the passage at 1:18:27

1:18:55 Because we actually have quite a bit to do tonight. So, no, it's all right. You just take a five-minute break. But I wanted to just give you this quote from Venerable Antonio Sata, who is an Italian monk, who came and talked to our Vajrasattva group. I did a three-month Vajrasattva retreat at Tushita in Dharamsala. And at the very end, he came and he talked a little bit about working with our mind post-retreat, you know, what it was going to be like out there and all that stuff. Report an error in the passage at 1:18:55 Highlight the passage at 1:18:55

1:19:23 Like it had been blissful. It hadn't been a blissful retreat at all. But anyway, he thought it had been, I think. But he was talking about how we could sort of maintain our calm mind. And I was kind of like, actually. Report an error in the passage at 1:19:23 Highlight the passage at 1:19:23

1:19:38 But I found it so useful. I've often just written this quote. I mean, I've just written it down and brought it with me into retreat and put it on the walls and just thought about it. It actually can become an actual practice. And it's sort of a practice of mind training. Report an error in the passage at 1:19:38 Highlight the passage at 1:19:38

1:19:55 What he's talking about basically is preparing your mind on a daily basis, like accepting whatever comes. But it's just as good a place as any to start preparing for your own death. So he said, you know, basically thought transformation or mind training starts with acceptance. And usually when any problem comes or there's any... Report an error in the passage at 1:19:55 Highlight the passage at 1:19:55

1:20:19 Thought of a problem or any pain or any sickness or anything like that, we see that problem as the enemy. And we don't, we just want to escape it. We desperately, it's sort of like, you know, Report an error in the passage at 1:20:19 Highlight the passage at 1:20:19

1:20:33 Bodhi cornered a mouse this morning and called me. And I managed to distract her and the mouse ran. And that's the mouse running is the way we like to run from problems. That mouse running totally at top speed is the way we like to get away from any problem. So that's what I'm thinking of right now is that mouse running down the stairs saved his little life. Anyway, but his quote is, happiness is not synonymous. Report an error in the passage at 1:20:33 Highlight the passage at 1:20:33

1:20:59 This is a long quote. So I can copy it for you. How's that? I'll put it on. It's too long. You're like waiting for one of those, like, is this my body? Am I this body? Happiness is not synonymous with having no problems. Happiness comes from within. The problems themselves do not cause happiness or unhappiness. Report an error in the passage at 1:20:59 Highlight the passage at 1:20:59

1:21:24 It's how we see them. We must change our attitude toward them. We must first see the benefit of the problem. We need problems to learn. We learn by experiencing problems. The more problems, suffering and sickness we have, the more we learn to put up with pain. We learn the patience of suffering. You must view problems as friends so there is no more fear. You experience them with welcome, with happiness. Report an error in the passage at 1:21:24 Highlight the passage at 1:21:24

1:21:54 So he suggested that we wake up in the morning and just welcome whatever comes. Like just open the heart wide open, whatever. Report an error in the passage at 1:21:54 Highlight the passage at 1:21:54

1:22:05 And of course, does this bring more problems? No, it doesn't bring us more problems because we already have enough karma. And that karma ripening is what's going to bring us the problems or not problems. But it just allows us to be ready because we've already said it's okay. Like whatever comes is okay. So he said start with whatever small time window you feel like you can actually do. Report an error in the passage at 1:22:05 Highlight the passage at 1:22:05

1:22:28 So don't just say... Whatever comes to me this year, you know, don't do that. Or even the day, like just start with whatever comes to me this morning is fine. Whatever happens is fine. Whatever suffering or pain or problems come to me, it's just fine. And then kind of play with it a little bit and expand your time window so that you're able to at least do the whole day, you know. Report an error in the passage at 1:22:28 Highlight the passage at 1:22:28

1:22:52 But start smaller because your mind gets stronger and you become more able and willing. To deal with whatever comes. So of course this practice, just like with mind training, it doesn't cause the world to change. It doesn't make the problem go away, but it strengthens the mind because our mind, our attitude towards the problem changes. Report an error in the passage at 1:22:52 Highlight the passage at 1:22:52

1:23:14 So it actually, our experience of the world changes. So we don't get so upset when Millie's the one who shows up for her death. The one person we didn't want there when she's the one who's on duty that night, as your nurse as well. Report an error in the passage at 1:23:14 Highlight the passage at 1:23:14

1:23:31 It just sort of allows us to cope with whatever happens because we've trained our mind to just be much more accepting. And part of the whole mind training, and this is like the subject of a whole different class, mind training is actually this way of... Developing a new habit of how we actually look at problems. And there are texts on this and there's an entire bunch of teachings on it. Report an error in the passage at 1:23:31 Highlight the passage at 1:23:31

1:23:55 One of them is one that we will work with after the break, Five Powers as a daily practice in Five Powers at the Time of Death. And it's basically an entire group of teachings that's all about training your mind in how you're going to deal with, basically it's strengthening bodhicitta. The training of your mind is just how you're going to strengthen your bodhicitta. But it all comes from looking at the world in a whole new way, so that it's not so much me getting ahead and being happy, that you're instead thinking, actually, there could be some benefit to me having this headache, which is a whole different way of looking at life. Report an error in the passage at 1:23:55 Highlight the passage at 1:23:55

1:24:39 That's why I think it is an incredibly radical group of teachings. But why don't you guys just take a nice break and then we'll come back and talk about the five powers and the bardo. So we have both of those things to do. Report an error in the passage at 1:24:39 Highlight the passage at 1:24:39

1:25:00 Not to mention Tonglen. I think we need another whole class. Report an error in the passage at 1:25:00 Highlight the passage at 1:25:00

1:25:12 So this is this next. Actually, we're going to get into the bardo state and that's what we'll end with. But right before, I just wanted to really quickly give you these five powers. This was kind of just an addition. I just think it's really useful. And again, there's like a huge amount out there on this. So you can actually, I think Rinpoche has a little booklet on the five powers. Report an error in the passage at 1:25:12 Highlight the passage at 1:25:12

1:25:40 You can also Google. The five powers as a daily practice are five powers at the time of death. Sometimes they're called something else, I think five something else. But anyway, I've learned them as the five powers. They are part of this mind training system of teachings that were taught in the 11th, 12th and 13th centuries by these great Kadampa masters. Report an error in the passage at 1:25:40 Highlight the passage at 1:25:40

1:26:05 There's actually a Discovering Buddhism course on the Lojong teachings, the mind training teachings. That'll come up next year. I think it's in late spring, early summer. So we'll get into it more. But I think it's so appropriate for here because it's actually, not only is it a simple daily practice. If you don't already have a daily practice, this could be a great one. Report an error in the passage at 1:26:05 Highlight the passage at 1:26:05

1:26:28 And then also you just modify it slightly for the time of death. And they say it's actually for ordinary beings, like I'm assuming all of you are, and I definitely know I am, that this is actually much more useful for us to learn than the really high practices that we need empowerments for and things like that. Report an error in the passage at 1:26:28 Highlight the passage at 1:26:28

1:26:51 So the five powers is a daily practice. The first is the power of intention. And that's, this really is like what we do with being in a class where we really take a moment to set our motivation and we try to make it a positive one. So normally our underlying wish is to have happiness and to avoid suffering. Report an error in the passage at 1:26:51 Highlight the passage at 1:26:51

1:27:13 That's just the baseline all the time. So usually when we wake up in the morning, you know, we just are immediately thinking, okay, I need, fill in the blank, coffee, food. Report an error in the passage at 1:27:13 Highlight the passage at 1:27:13

1:27:26 quiet. The bathroom, you know, like whatever it is, it's just coming from that place. So this is to shift that 180, which these teachings are great for, and to think, okay, today I'm going to use my life to benefit others. How am I going to do that? You know, I want to make this day count. I want to use this day in whatever way I can to help others, to shift my mind, to train my mind so that I can... Report an error in the passage at 1:27:26 Highlight the passage at 1:27:26

1:27:56 And of course the best way to benefit others is to eliminate this selfishness that usually kind of is at our core and begin thinking about other people first. Report an error in the passage at 1:27:56 Highlight the passage at 1:27:56

1:28:11 And I'm not going to get deeply into these teachings, but this is sort of, you can interpret this for now, whatever you see benefiting others, however you see that. But just to start that. at the beginning of your day and also the beginning of any activity that you do can be riding your bike doesn't have to be like a you know down to meditate The second one is called The Power of Familiarity. Report an error in the passage at 1:28:11 Highlight the passage at 1:28:11

1:28:53 And this basically just means working with your mind all the time. Simply put, but not simply done. I mean the only, sorry, power of familiarity, yeah. Report an error in the passage at 1:28:53 Highlight the passage at 1:28:53

1:29:15 So right now the only reason that we're so familiar with this self-cherishing mind is because it's in our mind all the time. We don't really have to work at it, you know, we don't have to create. We don't have to generate the mind that wants the first, you know, the last piece of cake. That just comes. Only because it's habit. And so this is just saying that basically all we have to do is just train our minds in new habits. Report an error in the passage at 1:29:15 Highlight the passage at 1:29:15

1:29:40 So during the whole day, and you can figure out ways to do this where, you know, you can check up on your mind. You might, you know, when you're first arriving someplace, check up. You know, and like do something outrageous, like do something really, really kind for somebody, whether you know them or not. Like just surprise them, you know. Get them a cup of coffee when, you know, normally you wouldn't or something like that. Report an error in the passage at 1:29:40 Highlight the passage at 1:29:40

1:30:07 Give up the first parking place, you know, the last parking place. Whatever it is, like just go for it. Or you could do it like throughout the day, just do like sort of a little campaign of kindness. Wherever it is that you're working or you're studying or you're living or whatever. And it doesn't have to be people you know, but sometimes it's actually surprising. Report an error in the passage at 1:30:07 Highlight the passage at 1:30:07

1:30:32 But don't do it with any expectation. And one of the ways that I learned this too is that a really good way to do it is anytime you're sort of in transition. So if you're coming in and you're sitting down at work, that moment of arrival. Do something, check up on your mind. What's my mind doing? Am I, you know, still thinking of making my life meaningful? Okay, you know, what can I do to help somebody right now? Report an error in the passage at 1:30:32 Highlight the passage at 1:30:32

1:30:57 And just think about it, you know, and you may not have an opportunity at that moment, but you might. So you can think about it in transition, you know, you get on the subway, you get off your bike, you know, like those kind of like, you know, you're moving from one place to another. You can just take those moments to check up your mind. Every time you go to the bathroom, check your mind. It's quiet, contained. Very few people will talk to you during that moment. Report an error in the passage at 1:30:57 Highlight the passage at 1:30:57

1:31:27 So there's a built-in little meditation cell at your work. The power of the white seed is number three. Report an error in the passage at 1:31:27 Highlight the passage at 1:31:27

1:31:38 This is actually talking about bodhicitta, but here it's just kind of like doing virtuous deeds. Report an error in the passage at 1:31:38 Highlight the passage at 1:31:38

1:31:50 And those can be virtuous deeds from a Dharmic point of view, like prostrations or mantras or offering mandalas or volunteering here at the center. We can always use help. Supporting the Dharma in any way. Or it could be positive in a more worldly sense, you know, making a donation to Greenpeace or something like that. Report an error in the passage at 1:31:50 Highlight the passage at 1:31:50

1:32:15 But it's just like you're always aware of trying to do more virtue. Whatever that means for you. So you can also say that it's accumulating merit and purifying negative actions. The power of the white seed. The fourth one is called the power of repudiation. And it literally translates into ripping the heart out of the enemy. Report an error in the passage at 1:32:15 Highlight the passage at 1:32:15

1:32:42 And then you have to think about what is the enemy in this context. It's this self-cherishing mind. It's just this selfish mind. Report an error in the passage at 1:32:42 Highlight the passage at 1:32:42

1:32:56 Power of repudiation or eliminating the enemy. Report an error in the passage at 1:32:56 Highlight the passage at 1:32:56

1:33:07 Remembering again that you are not self-cherishing mind. This is just a mind that happens to permeate our mind stream a lot, but it's not you. Report an error in the passage at 1:33:07 Highlight the passage at 1:33:07

1:33:16 It's just like if you get angry, a mind of anger arises. Report an error in the passage at 1:33:16 Highlight the passage at 1:33:16

1:33:23 The bodhicitta teachings are that basically all of our suffering in this life, in our past lives and in our future lives, all comes from this. You know, so Report an error in the passage at 1:33:23 Highlight the passage at 1:33:23

1:33:33 Selfish mind. Because that's what causes us to do all this other negative stuff. It's that sort of baseline motivation that causes us to get angry. It causes us to hate people. It causes us to steal things. It causes, you know, it's like this sort of baseline me, me, me, me, me that we're just habituated to. Report an error in the passage at 1:33:33 Highlight the passage at 1:33:33

1:33:52 So that's the enemy. Report an error in the passage at 1:33:52 Highlight the passage at 1:33:52

1:33:58 Often these, when you look at these like wrathful deities, that's what that's all about. me. Report an error in the passage at 1:33:58 Highlight the passage at 1:33:58

1:34:03 That's how that enemy would look. That's what compassion would look like to the self-cherishing mind. All the fangs and the claws and the 50 million eyes and the wild hair and the snakes and all that stuff. It's all simply to rip out the heart of this self-cherishing that causes us to get into trouble from lifetime to lifetime. Report an error in the passage at 1:34:03 Highlight the passage at 1:34:03

1:34:30 And the final one is the power of dedication or prayer. So every night, just check out, how did I do today? And then, you know, I would say two things. Purify, and we'll talk about that next week on how to purify your negative karma. But also rejoice in what you did right. Report an error in the passage at 1:34:30 Highlight the passage at 1:34:30

1:34:57 And this is one that you definitely want to have this ability to rejoice. We just did this on Sunday morning. On the rejoicing practice and how important it is to balance the two. I want to purify the negative things I've done and regret them and let them go. And then I also want to really be happy about the little tiny steps. Maybe I was really kind in creative ways today. And this is something I'm working on, so I want to feel really happy. Report an error in the passage at 1:34:57 Highlight the passage at 1:34:57

1:35:26 I want to encourage myself and feel really happy that I am making strides, even if they're tiny baby steps. And that's something that's often really hard for us to admit, whereas Angela would be really, really happy for me if I came and told her I made these tiny baby steps today. But it's harder to be happy for ourselves that we made tiny baby steps. We want to make great strides. We want to become a Buddha instantly. Report an error in the passage at 1:35:26 Highlight the passage at 1:35:26

1:35:53 But I would totally be happy with all of you guys if you came up and told me your little baby steps that you made. So it's to have the same respect for ourselves. So at the time of death, we take these steps and we sort of alter them slightly, but they have the same names. And you can train yourself in these minds when you're going through them during the day, or if you want to take some time right before you go to sleep, you can kind of think, go quickly through them. Report an error in the passage at 1:35:53 Highlight the passage at 1:35:53

1:36:24 The power of intention at the time of death... Is this determination not to be separated from bodhicitta in your next life and to be able to meet the teachings again and to be able to take refuge. Report an error in the passage at 1:36:24 Highlight the passage at 1:36:24

1:36:39 And His Holiness says actually to try to train ourselves in this mind of may I be born wherever I can benefit others. Whatever form that might be, whatever realm that might be, under whatever conditions that might be, just to begin training your mind to think that way is huge. Report an error in the passage at 1:36:39 Highlight the passage at 1:36:39

1:37:01 You know how he said in the verse that we use with the wish to free all beings. And he says, until I reach full enlightenment. It's just creating this mind. As long as there's suffering in the world, let me be there and help. Report an error in the passage at 1:37:01 Highlight the passage at 1:37:01

1:37:24 And also, anytime you're afraid, have that thought. May whatever happened be whatever is most beneficial to all beings. It's like, let's go. It gets you outside of yourself. Or if you're on a plane that has amazing turbulence, you know, that's one that I always come up with. It's like, okay, it's out of my hands. There's nothing I can do. You know, may I, whatever happens, happen for the most benefit and may I be reborn wherever I can, you know, benefit others. Report an error in the passage at 1:37:24 Highlight the passage at 1:37:24

1:37:57 May I meet my teachers again. May I be able to take up where I left off, you know. And then I usually throw in ones like, you know, especially when my mom was still around, I'd be like, you know, may she not be too upset, you know, by this, you know. So if you have somebody you need to have that prayer for. Report an error in the passage at 1:37:57 Highlight the passage at 1:37:57

1:38:15 The power of the white seed in this one is about decreasing your attachment to the things that you're attached to, things or people. So you can't take it with you. You know that it's not going to bring you lasting happiness, so maybe practice giving away things in your mind so that if you are in this situation where you're dying, you can just let go of those things in your mind and they won't be causing you to be clinging to this life. Report an error in the passage at 1:38:15 Highlight the passage at 1:38:15

1:38:53 Sorry? Nope, it's a different order. Yeah, sorry. Yeah, same titles but different order. Report an error in the passage at 1:38:53 Highlight the passage at 1:38:53

1:39:03 So your best refuge at the time of death is all the good things that you've done and your Buddha nature basically. And at the time of death we can only do virtuous acts with our mind. Like our body is unable to do them anymore. So the power of repudiation, which is the third one in this case. Report an error in the passage at 1:39:03 Highlight the passage at 1:39:03

1:39:26 This one, so if you're trying to rip the heart out of the enemy in this case, you can, again you're going to be purifying actually. But with those of us who have Hayas Yoga Tantra, there's actually different practices that we can do that renew our vows and things like that. For those of us who have lower vows like lay vows and refuge, we can review our vows and purify them and retake them. Report an error in the passage at 1:39:26 Highlight the passage at 1:39:26

1:39:58 And with those who don't, just review and purify elements of your life, you know. And clearly if we start now, it's not like we should have any major surprises left for the deathbed. Report an error in the passage at 1:39:58 Highlight the passage at 1:39:58

1:40:14 That's the good thing about those three-month pressure suffer retreats. You can think of everything you've ever done. Power of familiarity is number four in this case. Report an error in the passage at 1:40:14 Highlight the passage at 1:40:14

1:40:25 And this one, there's two aspects of this one. This has to do with this pose that is taught that's supposed to be a powerful pose for us to die in, which is lying on our right side with our hand under our cheek and little finger actually closing the nostril. It's difficult, but you practice it so you get familiar with that pose. And actually, Tan Sin Chokyi was saying that when a student who recently died at Land of Medicine Buddha died, she was actually in a coma. Report an error in the passage at 1:40:25 Highlight the passage at 1:40:25

1:40:57 Rinpoche came to do prayers for her and immediately put her in that position. And she was actually in a coma at that point, but he made sure that she was in that position before she died. Report an error in the passage at 1:40:57 Highlight the passage at 1:40:57

1:41:10 Which is something you can put in your five wishes document if you'd like that. But the second aspect of power of familiarity is doing this meditation that you guys are going to have as your homework assignment for the next two weeks, actually. And probably all the way until we meet again for the practice day. Actually, you'll have it for the next two classes, which will be for the next, yeah. Report an error in the passage at 1:41:10 Highlight the passage at 1:41:10

1:41:32 We aren't going to meet next week. We have... Lama Tsongkhapa Day next Tuesday. So we won't have class next Tuesday. And then our final class will be on the 11th. But this meditation on Tonglen is basically, they say this is like the most powerful practice that we can do at the time of death. Report an error in the passage at 1:41:32 Highlight the passage at 1:41:32

1:41:53 And the whole point of it is to get completely out of yourself. It's totally other-based. You are focused totally on trying to... Free others from suffering. And so it takes this amazing courage and to use your final moments of this life for something that vast. They say it's the most powerful mind that we can have at the time of death. So it's a way of having our mind in this place of bodhicitta, basically, for those final moments. Report an error in the passage at 1:41:53 Highlight the passage at 1:41:53

1:42:27 So you can train yourself in this mind when you're sick or when you're falling asleep at night. Do it. The more you do it, the more familiar you are with it. So you can do it, you know, on the train. You can do it, you know, on buses. You can, you know, do it all the time. And if you get more and more familiar with it. But I think it's especially powerful if you're doing it when you're sick. You're not feeling well. Because that's, I think when we're sick, we like head totally into what Lama Yashi called self-pity mind. Report an error in the passage at 1:42:27 Highlight the passage at 1:42:27

1:42:57 You know, this baby mind of like, why me? Even if it's not serious at all, just a bad cold or something. So then putting other people's happiness before yours, it's a perfect time for that. It totally gets you out of yourself. Report an error in the passage at 1:42:57 Highlight the passage at 1:42:57

1:43:16 And then the power of dedication is, you know, as His Holiness is Aspiration, as long as space endures, as long as living beings endure, until then may I too endure to remove the misery of the world. Report an error in the passage at 1:43:16 Highlight the passage at 1:43:16

1:43:33 It's all about, you know, dedicating your life to this. May I be reborn wherever it benefits. It's the same. May I go there happily. You know, so just really trying to inspire your mind to develop this mind. Report an error in the passage at 1:43:33 Highlight the passage at 1:43:33

1:43:54 So I'm not going to take any questions on this one, actually. Just hold them, and I'm just going to talk a little bit about the Bardoping. Report an error in the passage at 1:43:54 Highlight the passage at 1:43:54

1:44:03 So at the end of... At the beginning of the class when we were doing this meditation on the dissolution of the body and then the bardo body begins forming at the end of the clear light and you go into this reverse order of the different dissolutions of your elements and what's actually happening is that your new body is forming which is your bardo being body. Report an error in the passage at 1:44:03 Highlight the passage at 1:44:03

1:44:30 In the bardo or intermediate state, Bardo is just the Tibetan for intermediate state. It's a state of being. It's not a place. They actually say that Bardo beings are all around us. We just don't see them. We can't see them. Those beings or those masters who have really highly realized minds can see Bardo beings. Report an error in the passage at 1:44:30 Highlight the passage at 1:44:30

1:44:54 Say, for example, that Lama Zopa Rinpoche sometimes will go like this and kind of... Push them to the side, and he'll do that sometimes with other spirit-like beings that he sees, but the rest of us are like, you know, not getting it. Report an error in the passage at 1:44:54 Highlight the passage at 1:44:54

1:45:11 But they say that bardo beings have this very, very subtle body of light, and it begins to take on the appearance of what the rebirth will be, so that potential is already manifesting, even though they haven't yet taken that birth. And in Tibetan, when they talk about these bardo beings, they label them by what they will become, not what they were. Report an error in the passage at 1:45:11 Highlight the passage at 1:45:11

1:45:37 So if somebody is going to become a human, then they would be called a human bardo being. And somebody that's going to become an animal would be called an animal bardo being, not based on what they were in their past. And those that are going to the same destination can see each other. Report an error in the passage at 1:45:37 Highlight the passage at 1:45:37

1:45:55 those that are of a different going to a different destination they don't see each other so like if I'm having a going to have a human rebirth then I And in this state, the mind, we've, we, our minds... Are really desperately looking for a new body. There's this sense of, I mean, since beginningless time, we have been grasping to our body as me. Report an error in the passage at 1:45:55 Highlight the passage at 1:45:55

1:46:38 Like what you were experiencing, actually, when you were talking about that. You know, all these things I thought of as me. If they're dissolving, then what's left is really quite frightening. So when that happens, there's this sense of like, you know, what is me if my body's disappeared, especially if I think I'm my body, right? Report an error in the passage at 1:46:38 Highlight the passage at 1:46:38

1:46:59 If my body's disappeared, then there's this feeling that I'm less than whole. I'm desperate for a body. Anybody, unfortunately. So the mind is sort of this disembodied mind. It does have a bardo body, but it's such a subtle body that it doesn't recognize it as a body. So it's seeking this sense of solidity. Something, again, to call mine. It's just this almost instinctively grasping mind. Report an error in the passage at 1:46:59 Highlight the passage at 1:46:59

1:47:31 Sometimes the consciousness stays in the place where it lived, but our family and friends can't see us. We can't eat. And often they say that there's this confusion, especially if the person died suddenly or like in an accident, like a really quick death or a shooting or something like that, that there's confusion and they don't even know that they've died until... Report an error in the passage at 1:47:31 Highlight the passage at 1:47:31

1:48:00 There are a couple of signs that you can remind yourself if this happens to you and you're actually to remember this. And I think in Tibet they talked about this so much. I read some stories when I was in a retreat by people who, it wasn't just like a near-death experience. They actually had died and gone into the bardo state and were sort of assessing their life and everything. Report an error in the passage at 1:48:00 Highlight the passage at 1:48:00

1:48:28 Went through this experience where they didn't even recognize their own body once they left it. They saw it as something really ugly. Well, actually it depends. One of them was like a master, like sort of a highly evolved, not highly evolved, but probably a pretty evolved teacher. And he saw it as something nice. Report an error in the passage at 1:48:28 Highlight the passage at 1:48:28

1:48:48 But the others saw it as like a dead dog or something really disgusting. And they were like, why are these people gathered around this dead dog? And why is it in my bed? Report an error in the passage at 1:48:48 Highlight the passage at 1:48:48

1:48:58 They had this experience. But in all those cases, when they were confused and they didn't know they had died, they realized that if you cast no shadow and if you can't leave footprints and if you can't leave a reflection in a mirror, those are the signs that you've died. And in all those cases, They recognize one of those things or something and they realize that they had died. And they say that the bardo being moves really, really quickly just because it's basically just mind. Report an error in the passage at 1:48:58 Highlight the passage at 1:48:58

1:49:29 And so it's like whatever thoughts arise in the bardo being's mind, the bardo being can be there in an instant. So you still could have some thoughts from your life and they could be like... Say Paris was really important in your life or something, and so this pops into your mind, Paris, and you're in Paris like instantly, you know, and then in the same instant suddenly you're like, you know, in Tennessee or something, you know, so this bardo being is being sort of shot, like ricocheted all over the place based on these experiences of mind, which is basically what all this is, right? Report an error in the passage at 1:49:29 Highlight the passage at 1:49:29

1:50:10 It's just an experience of mind. But because there aren't any, they don't have any... They can be suddenly in a house, suddenly out of a house, suddenly being shot to the Ukraine and suddenly they're in a school room in Virginia or something. Just boom, boom, boom, like wherever their mind, whatever is happening in their mind, that's where they're being shot around. But they try to communicate with the family and friends and the family and friends just don't have any. Report an error in the passage at 1:50:10 Highlight the passage at 1:50:10

1:50:42 They can't see them and they can't hear them. And so there's a lot more confusion being added. So it's this sort of confusing time of, like, could be confusing, most likely will be confusing, but not always fearful and not always frustrating. It depends on the karma that each being has, you know. Sometimes they don't have this frustration, they don't have this anger or, you know, emotional reaction to stuff. Report an error in the passage at 1:50:42 Highlight the passage at 1:50:42

1:51:15 With some people, of course, they're going to see incredibly virtuous things because if their life is like really virtuous. So in some cases, they actually will see. Report an error in the passage at 1:51:15 Highlight the passage at 1:51:15

1:51:27 There will always be sort of karmic agents arriving. Some of them will seem frightening depending upon your life. And some of them will be like angels, beautiful angels showing up or Manjushri himself showing up. Often some form of like a Lama will show up. Somebody who played that role in your life shows up. Whether or not it's that actual person, it's most likely that it's your mind. Report an error in the passage at 1:51:27 Highlight the passage at 1:51:27

1:51:54 These things are being created in your mind. Report an error in the passage at 1:51:54 Highlight the passage at 1:51:54

1:52:01 So they say that often in the Bardo we do relive our past life and we kind of review our life. So that part is actually similar in other religions, reviewing the details that we might not have anymore, but at that point we actually have really clear recollection. Report an error in the passage at 1:52:01 Highlight the passage at 1:52:01

1:52:18 And then again we may revisit some of the places that are important to us. The time of the Bardo beings' existence within the Bardo state... Every seven days for seven weeks, for 49 days, if the bardo being hasn't been reborn into the next life, then they experience a sort of death, a little death. They lose the bardo body again and then have a new bardo body. And the death is very similar to the death that they went through the first time, the actual death. Report an error in the passage at 1:52:18 Highlight the passage at 1:52:18

1:52:59 Most of the time people are reborn, people, most of the time beings are reborn very, very quickly. It doesn't take that long. But they say, you know, usually when we do prayers and practices and things like that, we do it for 49 days because that's the maximum amount of time that somebody would stay in the bardo. Report an error in the passage at 1:52:59 Highlight the passage at 1:52:59

1:53:23 But usually it's within the first couple of weeks that somebody is reborn. Report an error in the passage at 1:53:23 Highlight the passage at 1:53:23

1:53:32 They experience, the bardo beings supposedly experiences themselves as solid the way we do in dreams, where it seems like we have a body, but their body is more like, it's almost like a light body. And they also say that, you know, they can't eat, but they can actually live off odors. And they're actually, in Tibetan, they're actually called the smell eaters. Report an error in the passage at 1:53:32 Highlight the passage at 1:53:32

1:53:59 And so there's certain... Burnt offering practices that the Tibetans will do after somebody has died, where they'll burn these certain offerings. And they say that the bardo beans can actually live off of those and appreciate those. Report an error in the passage at 1:53:59 Highlight the passage at 1:53:59

1:54:17 And they also say that, especially for the first few weeks, I've heard three weeks, that the bardo bean is actually quite clairvoyant. And so they can hear thoughts. So if those thoughts are positive and sort of... That can be quite helpful to them. Don't be afraid. Just to be thinking these actual thoughts to them. Report an error in the passage at 1:54:17 Highlight the passage at 1:54:17

1:54:44 Don't be afraid. This is normal. It's time for your next rebirth. We're doing prayers for you. That kind of thing can be very encouraging to them. If instead the loved ones are fighting over their belongings or that kind of stuff, that can be very disturbing for them. Report an error in the passage at 1:54:44 Highlight the passage at 1:54:44

1:55:07 And, you know, again, it's like one's experience in the bardo is going to be similar to one's experience in life. If you had a really, you know, virtuous and peaceful life, basically, then your experience in the bardo will more likely be peaceful. And if you're, you know, sort of consumed by intense negative minds like greed or anger or so forth, then it could be very terrifying. Report an error in the passage at 1:55:07 Highlight the passage at 1:55:07

1:55:34 And it's the same. The calmer and sort of generally happier you are right now, then the more likely that your experience in the bardo state will also be happier. Report an error in the passage at 1:55:34 Highlight the passage at 1:55:34

1:55:46 So they say that you spend some time in a sort of confused longing state, you know, looking for a new body, and then you're drawn through karma, not through a decision from the Tibetan Buddhist point of view. You're drawn to your future parents. You see their happiness. And you want that happiness of living in saṃsāra again. You see that as happiness. You want that happiness again. And usually, of course, living in saṃsāra again means some sort of sexual pleasure. Report an error in the passage at 1:55:46 Highlight the passage at 1:55:46

1:56:15 You see that sexual union, that connection with other beings, and you want that. And through that clinging or that desire, you're drawn into the womb. And from that point, then you become a being again. So you can't come back out of the womb. So up until that point, you've gone through bodies, you've gone through walls, you've gone to Paris, you've gone to Ukraine, you've gone wherever your mind wanted to. Report an error in the passage at 1:56:15 Highlight the passage at 1:56:15

1:56:40 But at some point, you're drawn karmically into the womb of the mother who will give birth to you, whether she's a human or whether she's a fox or whatever. But there's no choice involved. You're just drawn through your own karmic connection and your own wanting. Hunting, clinging. And then you can't get out. And then you move into the next state, which is basically to be your next body, your next rebirth. Report an error in the passage at 1:56:40 Highlight the passage at 1:56:40

1:57:13 And it's totally caused by karma. We don't have any choice at all involved unless we are really highly evolved. And certain highly evolved beings can decide not only to use the time in the bardo to... Gain higher realizations, but they can also, of course, decide what's the most beneficial next life for me. Where will I get the best opportunity to practice the Dharma and help other beings? Report an error in the passage at 1:57:13 Highlight the passage at 1:57:13

1:57:41 So there's a lot of description of this Bardo state in the Tibetan Book of the Dead, Bardo Todol in Tibetan. And in Sogyur Rinpoche's Tibetan Book of Living and Dying. And we're also going to have available at least on the final practice day. After the practice day ends, I'm going to have a film that's, I think it's less than an hour, that was based on the Tibetan Book of the Dead. Report an error in the passage at 1:57:41 Highlight the passage at 1:57:41

1:58:15 So if people would like to watch it, it's actually a very interesting film. But this is all coming from the Nigma lineage. There's a lot of teachings in the Nigma lineage about the bardo. There's not so much in the Galupa lineage. And so I don't have, you know, other than these sort of generally available texts, I haven't really received a lot of teachings in this particular area, except what I've just told you. Report an error in the passage at 1:58:15 Highlight the passage at 1:58:15

1:58:42 So, um, They say that it is possible for really highly evolved beings to use this time in the bardo to deepen realizations, especially of bodhicitta and so forth, because their ability to concentrate is still so strong. But for most of us, we're just sort of being whipped around by our karma and delusions back into another samsaric rebirth. Report an error in the passage at 1:58:42 Highlight the passage at 1:58:42

1:59:14 Mostly based on our habits of grasping, that grasping mind and wanting something to call me and mine. So knowing that, I mean the biggest lesson that comes out of it is to work on those minds now, right? To try to, again, just like with the teachings on death itself, to try to learn to stabilize our mind now, to learn to create positive karma and to purify negative. Report an error in the passage at 1:59:14 Highlight the passage at 1:59:14

1:59:47 So that this mind that goes forward actually has as much positive potential in it as possible. Report an error in the passage at 1:59:47 Highlight the passage at 1:59:47

2:00:04 I'll just end with a quote. Geshe Sopa is still writing his commentary on the Lama Rinpoche, which I think just released Volume 3, and I think it's going to be five volumes. He's amazing, though. It's an amazing text. Geshe Sopa is one of Lama Tsongkhapa and Lama Yeshe's gurus, who taught for many, many years at the University of Wisconsin at Madison and still lives up in Madison. Report an error in the passage at 2:00:04 Highlight the passage at 2:00:04

2:00:30 He's in his 80s now. He said, Your experience at death and your rebirth are determined by your actions of body, speech and mind. Thus, death comes to each individual differently. Each person has his or her own unique experience at the time of death. For some, it might come very peacefully. For others, there will be great pain, suffering and fear. Report an error in the passage at 2:00:30 Highlight the passage at 2:00:30

2:00:53 The most powerful non-virtuous actions motivated by great hatred will produce the greatest fear. No matter how many loved ones surround you, No one can really help you chase away these strange and fearful things. People who practice the Dharma, who meditate, lead virtuous and peaceful lives and are compassionate will not experience this kind of terror at death. Report an error in the passage at 2:00:53 Highlight the passage at 2:00:53

2:01:17 Instead, various kinds of wonderful experiences and marvelous visions will appear. So that's the good news. Report an error in the passage at 2:01:17 Highlight the passage at 2:01:17

2:01:28 So we're not going to have time to do Tonglen. How many of you have actually done the meditation called Tonglen? Taking and giving. So actually, most of you, so you're the only one. So why don't we, I'm going to give it to you and we're not going to have time to do it together, but you can practice it and just email me or call me and we can chat. Report an error in the passage at 2:01:28 Highlight the passage at 2:01:28

2:01:54 It's pretty straightforward. I just talk you through it. You're going to have to do the thing where you're peeking at it and stuff like that. It's actually... This is a great one to be led in so you can just let go. But I'm having you, I think in the past, normally with this particular meditation, you can actually start with yourself, wanting to remove your own suffering, removing your own suffering and then giving yourself happiness. Report an error in the passage at 2:01:54 Highlight the passage at 2:01:54

2:02:19 They actually say that's a great way to start because if we can't have compassion for ourselves, then we can't have it for anyone else. But I think it's actually sometimes... Difficult to have it for ourselves. And so for this particular time, I'm having you choose somebody that you love very, very much. Because I think it's easiest to generate this mind for somebody you already totally love. Report an error in the passage at 2:02:19 Highlight the passage at 2:02:19

2:02:43 And you can play with this and get used to it. And then you can actually do the same meditation with, you know, first of all, yourself. And then secondly, with strangers, co-workers, housemates. Good friends, and then strangers, and then people you don't know at all, and then enemies, people that have actually harmed you. Report an error in the passage at 2:02:43 Highlight the passage at 2:02:43

2:03:04 You can do the same meditation with, but you have to get there. Don't start with Hitler. Start with somebody who you already just adore and would do anything to take away their pain already. Because in that, you don't have to manufacture that one. It just will come more naturally. You'll get the experience and then you can kind of extend it out and play with other people. And this is a great meditation if somebody is really pissing you off. Report an error in the passage at 2:03:04 Highlight the passage at 2:03:04

2:03:31 It's really, really great. We're losing Chad. So I know that you guys might have some questions and if you do, we could take some questions. But I think those of you that need to go, feel free to go since we're already so late. Maybe I should dedicate really quick. Report an error in the passage at 2:03:31 Highlight the passage at 2:03:31

2:03:52 In case you get angry on the way home or something and lose all this virtue. So before we break up, may we dedicate any merit from having been here together, having gone through the meditation, gone through the discussion, gone through any discussion of all the new material. Report an error in the passage at 2:03:52 Highlight the passage at 2:03:52

2:04:18 We talked about a lot of things tonight, and it's really powerful stuff. And so may any positive energy that we raised immediately go toward our own enlightenment, every one of us, that we're able to turn our minds around 180, Report an error in the passage at 2:04:18 Highlight the passage at 2:04:18

2:04:41 transform our minds completely to be fully awakened Buddhas so that we can perfectly benefit every living being without exception. Report an error in the passage at 2:04:41 Highlight the passage at 2:04:41

2:04:58 So if anybody has questions about what I've just said, but don't forget your homework. So again, no class next Tuesday. We'll meet in two weeks. And I'm going to go ahead and give you presentation ideas for the practice day in January. I know it's a ways out, but this way you can bring it back to the next class with questions that you might have in case you're thinking about doing one of these. Report an error in the passage at 2:04:58 Highlight the passage at 2:04:58

2:05:22 Again, presentation just means 10, 15 minutes. It's not big. And did I tell you guys that we decided I was going to have it be combined with the karma class, and we decided to split. So the Karma class, those of you that are in both classes are nodding your heads with the rest. So we're going to have just the death group would just be us on Saturday the 12th and then on Sunday the 13th of January is Karma. Report an error in the passage at 2:05:22 Highlight the passage at 2:05:22

2:05:50 Isn't that right? Is that correct? I think that's right because we talked about it in the Karma class. We didn't talk about it in here. So I think it's just more intimate, the material and stuff in here. It doesn't make sense. I don't think it's difficult to... To translate, you'll have tons of questions. But anyway, even though it's a ways off, you can still be thinking about it. During that day, those of you that would like, and I would really encourage all of you to just do a little 10-minute, 15-minute presentation on any of the stuff that we learned in here, any of the meditations that we've done in here. Report an error in the passage at 2:05:50 Highlight the passage at 2:05:50

2:06:25 It's especially great if you want to lead a meditation. We can use all the meditations. If we do six meditations, it won't be too much. Anyway. Report an error in the passage at 2:06:25 Highlight the passage at 2:06:25

2:06:36 Does anyone else have any questions about what we just talked about, the five wishes or the bardos or the whatever? Report an error in the passage at 2:06:36 Highlight the passage at 2:06:36

2:06:58 I'm confused about, so my question earlier was the dissolution meditation and the personality dissolving, but then in the bardo state it seems like we have our personality. I don't think you have your personality, but you do have some memories. Okay, and those are the ones that you follow around. Yeah, yeah. But it wouldn't necessarily be all of them and it wouldn't be necessarily Chad going through them. It would be this being that's in this, you're not going to look like you, right? Report an error in the passage at 2:06:58 Highlight the passage at 2:06:58

2:07:27 And the subtle mind of Chad is what's, you know, the one formerly known as Chad will have these various blips like happening where they're going to have memories and they're going to have like the sort of things happening like the main points of their life. They're going to pop up and that may cause them peace and it may cause them regret and it may cause different emotions to arise. Report an error in the passage at 2:07:27 Highlight the passage at 2:07:27

2:07:54 But it's not a complete person in the way this current identity is all packaged together. So it's almost like I'm reading the book of my life but I'm outside of it. Yeah, a little more removed. Yeah, sure. Report an error in the passage at 2:07:54 Highlight the passage at 2:07:54

2:08:14 Does anybody else have a question about any of that? Report an error in the passage at 2:08:14 Highlight the passage at 2:08:14

2:08:20 Okay, Whitney, what were you going to ask? Sure. I've had this question for a long time. Sometimes in teachings I see monks and nuns and more advanced practitioners, like if they're going to sneeze or if they're like coughing or picking their nose or something like that, they go into their robes or they put their shirt, you know, something. Report an error in the passage at 2:08:20 Highlight the passage at 2:08:20

2:08:46 I'm just wondering, I mean, I can imagine that it's about just training your mind because those things are associated with like... Not that they're inherently gross, but just that we associate them with being gross. That has more to do, because remember that most of the monks and nuns things have to do with suture teachings. Report an error in the passage at 2:08:46 Highlight the passage at 2:08:46

2:09:05 So it has to do with just sort of the simple idea that this is a respectful place, and so we would cover. Our mouths and like that. I mean, there's some of the rules about when you're in the company of your teacher, too. Do you remember from the Relying on the Spiritual Teacher class? About, you know, like you would cover your mouth if you're going to sneeze or cough or anything like that. This is, of course, before the days of germs, but it's just that idea of just being respectful, you know. Report an error in the passage at 2:09:05 Highlight the passage at 2:09:05

2:09:35 Why you put your robe over your head, I'm not really sure. I've had to do it myself, and I'm not entirely sure where that one comes from. And I always feel a little like, you know. Report an error in the passage at 2:09:35 Highlight the passage at 2:09:35

2:09:44 Like if you're not used to that, it looks a little weird. Yeah, because a lot of times people, you know, it's like really, like they go underground. Going under, yeah. I mean, yeah, I've seen Chodin Rinpoche do it too. I mean, it's the monastic thing. It's not so much a highly realized being thing. I've never seen a non-monastic do it. Report an error in the passage at 2:09:44 Highlight the passage at 2:09:44

2:10:05 Oh, okay. It's a monastic thing, yeah. I've seen more, like people who have been practicing for a while do it too, just with their shirt or something like that. Oh, yeah, yeah. That's true. I have seen that. I think it's probably just covering their mouth. Is that a good thing to do in the presence of a statue of the Buddha? I don't know. Report an error in the passage at 2:10:05 Highlight the passage at 2:10:05

2:10:25 Yeah, I don't know. You think it's more a monastic thing? I think it's more a monastic thing. It ends on a lighter note. I've been feeling bad every time I sneeze. Well, Whitney, cover your mouth. okay. Yeah, yeah, Report an error in the passage at 2:10:25 Highlight the passage at 2:10:25