Discovering Buddhism - Intro to Tantra (10 December 2008)

0:22 Come on in. Report an error in the passage at 0:22 Highlight the passage at 0:22

0:28 Wow. Report an error in the passage at 0:28 Highlight the passage at 0:28

0:32 I know, it's really small. Yeah. It's a good thing you came back, actually. We needed you here. I know. I have a feeling that some people will wander in. No, I need two boxes. They're mine. You can actually have your very own. It does feel warm, actually. Do you think you could turn it off? I just turn it, yeah, just actually literally take it from heat to off, yeah. We'll all be like... Report an error in the passage at 0:32 Highlight the passage at 0:32

1:10 Let's Report an error in the passage at 1:10 Highlight the passage at 1:10

1:18 just do a meditation on the breath. We have a lot to cover tonight. I do have a feeling that some people are going to wander in, but it's probably, you know, as we get closer and closer to the holidays, we're going to lose people. We only have one more class, actually, so. Then you guys get a break, and then you have to come back. Report an error in the passage at 1:18 Highlight the passage at 1:18

1:38 During the holidays, meditate some more. So let's just do a little meditation on our breath. Or at least allow me to do a little meditation on my breath. Report an error in the passage at 1:38 Highlight the passage at 1:38

1:54 So just take some nice deep cleansing breaths and just imagine it dissolving wherever it finds it. Blocks, distractions, sluggishness, Report an error in the passage at 1:54 Highlight the passage at 1:54

2:11 any kind of mental or physical blocks that you have right now. Report an error in the passage at 2:11 Highlight the passage at 2:11

2:25 And as you breathe in, just imagine breathing in curiosity, awareness. Freshness, making you more and more bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, as one of my teachers used to say. Report an error in the passage at 2:25 Highlight the passage at 2:25

2:59 And as your mind begins to calm down, and then just place your attention on your breath in either the level of your belly or the level of your nostril, and just focus. Try to watch a few rounds of ten of your breath. Try Report an error in the passage at 2:59 Highlight the passage at 2:59

3:20 to be really disciplined. Every time it starts to wander off, place it right back. Report an error in the passage at 3:20 Highlight the passage at 3:20

· · · silence, 2 minutes

5:33 And as your mind begins to calm down, start formulating your motivation for being here. Report an error in the passage at 5:33 Highlight the passage at 5:33

5:50 Maybe thinking about the sounds of all the traffic outside, all the people rushing off to do things, all with that motivation of trying to become happy, trying to avoid pain. And Report an error in the passage at 5:50 Highlight the passage at 5:50

6:07 that way they're exactly like us. Report an error in the passage at 6:07 Highlight the passage at 6:07

6:18 And of course the problem is that usually the things we do to bring us happiness and to take away our suffering actually just create more problems. Because we do them with ignorance. Report an error in the passage at 6:18 Highlight the passage at 6:18

6:41 But tonight we gather for the second to last class of this series on Tantra. Which is one of the most precious and amazing of all the Buddhist teachings. Report an error in the passage at 6:41 Highlight the passage at 6:41

6:55 And it's so amazing that we get to come together and look at these teachings. That we together have created the karma to meet as a class. There's Report an error in the passage at 6:55 Highlight the passage at 6:55

7:14 so few people in the city tonight that are looking at teachings on Tantra. And how they can use those teachings to transform their minds into enlightened mind. Report an error in the passage at 7:14 Highlight the passage at 7:14

7:34 So feeling deep happiness, but Report an error in the passage at 7:34 Highlight the passage at 7:34

7:43 also remembering all those people around us trying desperately to be happy and not getting anywhere. We do this class for them. Report an error in the passage at 7:43 Highlight the passage at 7:43

7:55 We do this class so that whatever we learn tonight, we can use to help every one of those beings that we hear right now. Report an error in the passage at 7:55 Highlight the passage at 7:55

8:08 Find exactly the happiness that they're seeking and the tools to always have it and the tools to bring it to every other living being. Report an error in the passage at 8:08 Highlight the passage at 8:08

8:39 Meditation and we'll do opening prayer. Report an error in the passage at 8:39 Highlight the passage at 8:39

8:47 I thought we might have lost you, Cedric. Cedric is now our new bookstore manager and usually what happens is when somebody goes on staff, we never see them in class again. Witness Chris. Report an error in the passage at 8:47 Highlight the passage at 8:47

9:04 He's not an official staff, but he definitely has been acting that way. So we'll do, I have the one with the page numbers in it. If you don't have the one with the page numbers, it's the one that, it should be around the middle of the book and it has a picture of His Holiness the Dalai Lama. Report an error in the passage at 9:04 Highlight the passage at 9:04

9:29 With the wish to free all beings, I shall always go for refuge to Buddha, Dharma and Saṅgha until I reach full enlightenment. Inspired by wisdom and compassion, today in the Buddha's presence, I generate the mind of full awakening for the benefit of all sentient beings. As long as space remains, as long as sentient beings remain, until then may I too remain and dispel the miseries of the world. Report an error in the passage at 9:29 Highlight the passage at 9:29

10:07 Okay, so tonight we're going to spend some time talking about the subtler levels of the body and mind. That we use a lot in Tantra. And we sort of touched on them a little bit with the meditation. We've been doing the nine-point meditation by Lama Yeshe. You're going to get a little bit more extensive version of that meditation. We're not going to have time to do it in class. Report an error in the passage at 10:07 Highlight the passage at 10:07

10:39 That has a little bit more detail about the subtle winds and channels. Report an error in the passage at 10:39 Highlight the passage at 10:39

10:49 According to the tantras, the body, there's a gross version of the body, someone's trying to reach us. There's a gross level of the body and then there's a more subtle level of the body and we don't usually access the subtle most level of the body and mind until we experience death. Report an error in the passage at 10:49 Highlight the passage at 10:49

11:18 But with Tantra, we actually actively pursue trying to experience the same states of mind that we experience during the normal, ordinary death process. And in fact, we use them to those especially subtle levels of our mind to practice these methods that the Buddha handed down. Report an error in the passage at 11:18 Highlight the passage at 11:18

11:41 So we're going to actually talk a little bit about the death dissolution. So for people that are familiar with the death dissolution meditation, we are going to do that tonight, and that's going to be your homework. Report an error in the passage at 11:41 Highlight the passage at 11:41

11:52 And it's also a meditation that we do in the death and impermanence class. So if you've done another lamrim class that has the death dissolution, it could be similar. I sort of, every time I do it, I try to find out more information on each level, so it kind of evolves. I think the same meditation. I don't ever do it the same way exactly because I try to research more. Report an error in the passage at 11:52 Highlight the passage at 11:52

12:17 There's a lot of really good information about these subtle levels of the body and mind in a book called The Mind of Clear Light by His Holiness the Dalai Lama. Report an error in the passage at 12:17 Highlight the passage at 12:17

12:27 Both about the dissolution at the time of death, but also just about winds and channels and so forth. And so a lot of the information that I am giving you guys tonight comes from that. It also comes from Geshe Takpa, our Geshe-la, who just sort of filled out a little bit of the knowledge that His Holiness has in his books. Report an error in the passage at 12:27 Highlight the passage at 12:27

12:52 So sometimes this subtle body is called the Vajra body. And in that sense, it's talking about indestructible. It's the most subtle aspect of our mind that goes from life to life. So in that sense, it's indestructible. Report an error in the passage at 12:52 Highlight the passage at 12:52

13:13 And just like our ordinary body is dependent upon and pervaded by a nervous system, this subtle... Um. Report an error in the passage at 13:13 Highlight the passage at 13:13

13:25 body is pervaded by all these channels and what are called channels and winds. In Sanskrit, it's nadi and prāṇa, so you might be familiar with those terms. Why again? Report an error in the passage at 13:25 Highlight the passage at 13:25

13:42 which is the source of that bliss that we have talked about already really really important in tantric practice why again Because it's that state of mind of bliss that allows us to directly perceive emptiness. And that's the whole point. Report an error in the passage at 13:42 Highlight the passage at 13:42

14:04 I'm forcing Mary. Mary's very interested in this particular topic. So I'm hounding her about it that she had to come tonight. Report an error in the passage at 14:04 Highlight the passage at 14:04

14:17 So this subtle body. It exists within us whether we do anything to access it or not. So it's not like we have to create this whole system. It's all there. We just are sort of ignorant of it and don't usually have anything to do with it. Report an error in the passage at 14:17 Highlight the passage at 14:17

14:40 And so it's not like we have to create it or we have to build it. It's not like, you know, we have to start from scratch. It's already within us and it's just like this sort of pure nature of our mind. Our point is to access it. And then figure out how to utilize it. So a lot of the teachings of Tantra, both levels of Tantra, generation and completion stage, are both about accessing these subtle levels of our body and our mind that are already there. Report an error in the passage at 14:40 Highlight the passage at 14:40

15:13 So once we do, all the problems that we have with our gross physical body sort of fall away. Because through these practices we can actually transcend the physical body. Remember the whole point of Buddhism is to transcend death. It's not just to calm our minds down while we age and die, as one of my teachers used to say. I think sometimes it's sort of sold as, but that isn't the point of Buddhism. Report an error in the passage at 15:13 Highlight the passage at 15:13

15:48 That wasn't why the Buddha wanted us to meditate. It wasn't just to slow down our... Aging process so we could watch it. It was to actually literally transcend death and that's what Buddhas do. And they actually access this subtler light body and then that becomes what we think of as their physical body. Report an error in the passage at 15:48 Highlight the passage at 15:48

16:15 So that's sort of the whole point. To be able to transcend this body, which is at this point, this body and actually our gross mind are the product of karma and delusions. And so anything that's the product of karma and delusions is impermanent and sort of faulty by nature. You know, it's it's It's problematic in and of the way it's created. So we want to create a body in a different way. Report an error in the passage at 16:15 Highlight the passage at 16:15

16:57 We want to create a completely different, we want to access a completely different type of body. Report an error in the passage at 16:57 Highlight the passage at 16:57

17:05 And there's a certain amount of these teachings that are quite open because they are used in the death teachings. Teachings on the subtle and subtle most levels of body and mind are discussed quite openly in the death teaching, so I figured they were all right to teach. And so some of the handouts that I'm going to give you actually came from a teaching on death and dying that Venerable Rita Rinneker gave. Actually, most of them came from that handout because it's the same. Report an error in the passage at 17:05 Highlight the passage at 17:05

17:37 We're studying the same. Tantric levels of body. All the medical system of Tibetan Buddhism comes from Tantra. It comes from this study of how the body works. And so those are all, at this point, open teachings. But some of the stuff we're going to get into next week, which we can't get into such detail on, about rising as the deity, which are the different... Report an error in the passage at 17:37 Highlight the passage at 17:37

18:04 Stages of generation and completion, we can't get into as much detail. We can just sort of broadly stroke, you know, what those things are. So it is important for us to understand this, both, even if you never feel like, you know, after this class you're like, man, I'm never getting into tantra. It's too weird. I can't do it. Just from the aspect of understanding how death works. Report an error in the passage at 18:04 Highlight the passage at 18:04

18:31 It can be incredibly useful to understand whether you yourself are dying. And we'll talk about that a little bit because the meditation is actually from the point of view of you being the person who's dying. But if you're helping somebody die, it's also useful. You can actually sometimes tell where they are in the process if you are aware of these different stages. Report an error in the passage at 18:31 Highlight the passage at 18:31

18:56 So it's quite useful for that as well. High Lamas will tell you where they are. I've actually heard Geshe Lama Konchak actually announced where he was in the process to his attendant and said, okay, now it's time for you to build the cremation stupa because I'm in this stage. And of course his mind is completely calm about it. It wasn't like, oh my God, you know, the way I would have been. So it's very useful because as far as Buddhism goes, it's just, you know, the reality is it's just a part of our life. Report an error in the passage at 18:56 Highlight the passage at 18:56

19:28 Even if we never enter Tantra, it's really useful for us to know these things. So there are 72,000 channels at least running through our bodies. Report an error in the passage at 19:28 Highlight the passage at 19:28

19:45 And we start developing them at the time that we are conceived, actually just after we're conceived. And they start at the level of what will become the heart. Report an error in the passage at 19:45 Highlight the passage at 19:45

19:57 And the most important of these is what's called the central channel. Or Shashuma. Sometimes you'll hear it called Shashuma. And that runs just in front of your spine, just the way it's described in that meditation that we did, nine round breathing. Report an error in the passage at 19:57 Highlight the passage at 19:57

20:15 Right in front of your spinal cord, but not, so it's a little bit in front. So it's not in the front of your body, but it's a little bit in front of the spinal cord. It's actually in the back of your body. Next to that, I should actually say that. Report an error in the passage at 20:15 Highlight the passage at 20:15

20:34 The central channel actually runs in a straight line from the crown of your head down to an area all the way at the base of your spine. Report an error in the passage at 20:34 Highlight the passage at 20:34

20:47 And then there are two channels on either side of it, which are just called the right and left channels. They have fancier titles, but that's good enough. That's usually how they're referred to. The outside of the central channel is blue, and the inside is red. And all three of these channels, they usually describe as the size of a stalk of wheat, although we usually visualize them a little bit larger. Report an error in the passage at 20:47 Highlight the passage at 20:47

21:14 And that's interesting. We will also, when I was reading His Holiness' book, it was the first time that I had ever seen, it stated that all of these, the system of channels and winds and Report an error in the passage at 21:14 Highlight the passage at 21:14

21:35 Bindu and chakras are all, the way that we study them, they're sort of stylized. So they're stylized especially for us to meditate on. And so they don't look exactly like this in our body, which is a little bit of a relief that they don't actually believe that they look like this in our body, especially once you start looking at the diagrams. Report an error in the passage at 21:35 Highlight the passage at 21:35

21:58 But it helps us to visualize them in this way. According to His Holiness, he said that it's actually an effective way of inducing these subtler levels of our mind. So the right channel is red on the outside and runs to the right of the central channel, obviously. And the upper end goes up and bends down and then ends at the base of the right nostril. And the lower end... Report an error in the passage at 21:58 Highlight the passage at 21:58

22:29 It comes down as far as the level of the base of the spine, or what's called the secret place. The left channel is white and runs to the left of the central channel, and the upper end goes to the crown and then ends at the base of the left nostril, or as I guess they'll call it the root of the left nostril. Report an error in the passage at 22:29 Highlight the passage at 22:29

22:53 And so it's in the back of the nose, though. It's not here where we might visualize if we were meditating. The lower end also ends at the level of the secret place or the level of the base of the spine. Report an error in the passage at 22:53 Highlight the passage at 22:53

23:10 And when we visualize them, which you do when you're doing the nine round, it's important to visualize them as actually filled with wind. To actually visualize them as round, like cylinders. But the central channel is visualized as flat. The only time that any wind moves in the central channel is when we're actually in the process of dying. That's the only time it moves there. Report an error in the passage at 23:10 Highlight the passage at 23:10

23:37 Unless, of course, we're great yogis and we're doing some of these practices. So along the central channel are several points that are called chakras. And I think this is, of course, all known in... In different Indian traditions as well. But it's not always the same. In the last class we had a couple people that have been practicing in the yoga tradition for a long time and there were some strong differences. Report an error in the passage at 23:37 Highlight the passage at 23:37

24:05 So it's best not to assume that it's the same. It's best to check up and see because there are some differences. So those chakras actually are where there are knots. Report an error in the passage at 24:05 Highlight the passage at 24:05

24:18 You know, a lot of times people think of the chakras as like these sort of beautiful places, you know, like breathing into the chakra and stuff like that. There are actually places where our central channel is being constricted. So whenever there's a knot on the right or left channels, it's called a chakra. Report an error in the passage at 24:18 Highlight the passage at 24:18

24:32 I did. I did. Report an error in the passage at 24:32 Highlight the passage at 24:32

24:40 And where they meet, it's actually, I'm not going to give you that much detail, but they actually do this amazing sort of counterclockwise knot. It's like this really intricate knotting process that's going on. And they're sometimes called channel wheels because they have a number of spokes that are coming off of them and they're described in quite a bit of detail because each one has different mounts of spokes coming off of them. Report an error in the passage at 24:40 Highlight the passage at 24:40

25:11 One by one they start wandering in. Report an error in the passage at 25:11 Highlight the passage at 25:11

25:16 Sometimes those spokes are also called petals, thus the lotus. You hear the lotus, different lotuses. So I'm going to give you some information. Those of you that are interested in more information, of course, can note it down. And those who aren't, just let it in, make it seeds for your, you know, later on in this life, hopefully. There are five great chakras and there are three small chakras. Report an error in the passage at 25:16 Highlight the passage at 25:16

25:42 The five great chakras are the crown chakra, which is called the chakra of great bliss. And the reason is because at its center is that drop of white essential fluid that's the foundation of the bliss. Report an error in the passage at 25:42 Highlight the passage at 25:42

26:00 The throat chakra is called the chakra of enjoyment because that's where tastes are experienced. The heart chakra is called the dharma chakra or chakra of phenomenon. And that's because it's the residence of the subtle most mind that moves from life to life. The subtle most mind and wind reside in what's called an indestructible drop. Report an error in the passage at 26:00 Highlight the passage at 26:00

26:29 And we'll talk about that in a moment. It's not actually indestructible. It actually opens at the time of our death. Report an error in the passage at 26:29 Highlight the passage at 26:29

26:41 The navel chakra. So we're going through the system of chakras right now. The navel chakra is located at the solar plexus. And that's called the chakra of emanation. And the reason is because the inner fire, tummo in Tibetan, is generated there. And that's the basis of generating the great bliss. Report an error in the passage at 26:41 Highlight the passage at 26:41

27:08 The chakra of the secret place is located at the base of the spine at the sexual organ. And it's called chakra of sustained bliss because the deepest level of bliss is sustained there. Report an error in the passage at 27:08 Highlight the passage at 27:08

27:23 So those are the five great chakras. And then the three lesser chakras are called, right, what sometimes is called the third eye, the wind chakra, in between the throat and the heart. Report an error in the passage at 27:23 Highlight the passage at 27:23

27:40 So I guess, let's see, somewhere right around, maybe where your thymus is, kind of. I remember we used to do a meditation thing called, I mean a massage thing called the thymus thump. Report an error in the passage at 27:40 Highlight the passage at 27:40

27:55 And that's called the fire chakra. And then at the very tip of the secret place is called the jewel chakra. Report an error in the passage at 27:55 Highlight the passage at 27:55

28:04 So all the looping of the channels around the central channel constricts, it results in this constriction of the heart. And that prevents the passage of winds in that central channel. Report an error in the passage at 28:04 Highlight the passage at 28:04

28:18 And this is also a reason why sometimes if you're focusing a lot during visualization on the heart, you can have a wind, what's called a wind disorder or wind imbalance. In Tibetan it's called lung, if people have heard of that, developing lung, because of that constriction that's going on along the central channel, especially in the heart chakra area. Report an error in the passage at 28:18 Highlight the passage at 28:18

28:44 So the most important of all those great chakras is the heart chakra. And that's where that indestructible drop resides. It's sort of like these two halves sort of put together. Report an error in the passage at 28:44 Highlight the passage at 28:44

28:59 And the subtle most mind, which is the mind or the entity of sorts that goes from life to life, resides there. And it's supporting wind energy, which is the subtle most wind. Report an error in the passage at 28:59 Highlight the passage at 28:59

29:17 Um. Report an error in the passage at 29:17 Highlight the passage at 29:17

29:21 At this point we don't access that during our lifetime unless we do yogic practice. The only time that we access it is at the time of death. And most of us don't recognize it at that time. So Report an error in the passage at 29:21 Highlight the passage at 29:21

29:42 most Report an error in the passage at 29:42 Highlight the passage at 29:42

29:52 of the time as the winds are moving through our 72... What they give rise to are these minds of confusion and hallucination and ignorance that cause all of our problems. But when they actually enter, abide and dissolve in the central channel, which happens at the time of death, all of the gross minds subside and this very, very subtle mind of what's called the subtle mind of clear light arises. Report an error in the passage at 29:52 Highlight the passage at 29:52

30:22 And at the time of death, all those constricting knots around the central channel dissolve. And there's a number of different teachings around that. Geshe-la said that they're unbound by the power of our karma and kleshas. So that's the sentence I used. I also just hear Lama Yeshe describes it a little bit more creatively. Report an error in the passage at 30:22 Highlight the passage at 30:22

30:49 And then the wind moves into the central channel for the first time. In this life, the only time in this life. So at that time, the environment in which our gross minds normally function completely disappear. And all those projections and stories and hallucinations that we normally are so imbued with. Report an error in the passage at 30:49 Highlight the passage at 30:49

31:16 Also dissolve and disappear. And we have this experience of what's called the clear light nature of our mind. We see what that subtle most form of our mind is really like. Report an error in the passage at 31:16 Highlight the passage at 31:16

31:32 So usually all of that happens and we miss it because we're overcome by all the different hallucinations that are happening as our body dissolves. Our gross body dissolves and our subtle body dissolves and our gross mind dissolves and our subtle mind dissolves. So we're sort of overwhelmed by all that's happening to us and we haven't really trained ourselves for the most part. Report an error in the passage at 31:32 Highlight the passage at 31:32

31:59 Most ordinary beings haven't really trained themselves to notice the various aspects of this process and to see the subtle mind as it arises. Report an error in the passage at 31:59 Highlight the passage at 31:59

32:11 And Tenzin Palmo actually said, When I went to see her a couple weeks ago, she said, ordinary people are startled by the clear light nature of the mind when they see it, and then we fall into unconsciousness, which I thought was interesting. There's a film out. Has anybody ever seen the film, or the two films actually, but one in particular that's on the Tibetan Book of the Dead? Report an error in the passage at 32:11 Highlight the passage at 32:11

32:36 Yeah, there's that kind of, remember, he kind of does that little, they try to animate it, which isn't always fully successful. It is, and I was trying to find my copy of it. I think I lent it again. I have this bad karma of lending out things and forgetting who I lent it to, and then I disappeared. So I think I'm going to own one. I'm going to actually purchase one and write my name all over it. Report an error in the passage at 32:36 Highlight the passage at 32:36

32:58 But there is that moment where he sees his own, I mean the whole thing, there's actually somebody who's dying in the film, but then they try to like animate, you know, the, yeah they do like the little, his little like subtle mind becomes, oh it's almost like a soul actually, it's kind of interesting. Report an error in the passage at 32:58 Highlight the passage at 32:58

33:15 But I think it's still a useful film actually, it's kind of interesting. But yeah, she said that normally we're startled by it, which makes sense because you're going through all that other stuff that's happening that when you would see even what is like this sort of pure and clear, subtle nature of your own mind, which for some people, of course, would be a really blissful, wonderful experience. Report an error in the passage at 33:15 Highlight the passage at 33:15

33:43 A highly trained yogi, it would. But for most of us, it's almost like it's happening too fast. There's too many other things happening. And so we don't even notice it. Because if you believe that we've been living since beginningless lifetimes, then we've gone through this experience over and over and over again, and I certainly don't remember it. Report an error in the passage at 33:43 Highlight the passage at 33:43

34:07 But in Tantra, we actually train ourselves to not just recognize this, but to actually use that penetrative, clear... Pure nature of the mind in meditation, in meditation practices before we are going through the stages of death and then during that period of death or death and dying, we can actually use it to meditate on nature of reality, on emptiness and some say to have direct experience of emptiness and some say even to get enlightened. It's possible even to get enlightened at the moment of death. Report an error in the passage at 34:07 Highlight the passage at 34:07

34:49 Although Geshe-la said, even to have a direct perception of emptiness is extremely rare unless you've been meditating for years and years on emptiness prior. So don't be thinking that, well, I'll just wait until I die then. It'll all be easier then. We have to prepare for it. Report an error in the passage at 34:49 Highlight the passage at 34:49

35:10 Because think how hard it is just to meditate now. And we're not dying. We're not losing our body, our lives, our identity, all of our friends and all the other things that we're used to. So we definitely have to put some effort into preparing for it. Report an error in the passage at 35:10 Highlight the passage at 35:10

35:30 But what happens, one of the things that when you experience this clear light nature of the mind, you have this sort of blissful... According to Lama Yeshe, you experience an explosion of indescribably blissful energy. And the union of that bliss and emptiness is the quickest path to enlightenment. You always hear in all of the tantric practices, they're always talking about the union of bliss and emptiness, union of bliss and emptiness. Well, it's talking about this mind of bliss becomes more and more subtle. Report an error in the passage at 35:30 Highlight the passage at 35:30

36:08 And with that mind. We can actually perceive emptiness. So it's that very, very subtle mind. So the winds, there are ten winds in the body. Report an error in the passage at 36:08 Highlight the passage at 36:08

36:23 And the mind, they say, the mind rides the winds like a horse. Like a rider on a horse. There are five primary winds and five secondary winds. I'll just mention the five primary winds. I think it's interesting, if nothing else. It sort of gives you some insight into the whole Tibetan medical system. The first is the life-bearing wind. Report an error in the passage at 36:23 Highlight the passage at 36:23

36:52 And its main seat is the set of channels at the heart. And its function is to maintain life. Report an error in the passage at 36:52 Highlight the passage at 36:52

37:00 It also gives rise to all the secondary winds, which I won't tell you. The second is what's called the downward voiding wind. So these are all responsible for any kind of energy movement. I mean, all these winds. So the life-bearing wind, I think, is the only one that just sort of stays in that set of channels at the heart. Report an error in the passage at 37:00 Highlight the passage at 37:00

37:19 The downward voiding wind is responsible for anything that's literally moving downward in your body. Its main seat is the set of channels in the lower abdomen, and it moves in the uterus, the seminal vesicle, the bladder, the thighs. It functions to aid in urination, defecation, menstruation, and so forth. Report an error in the passage at 37:19 Highlight the passage at 37:19

37:47 So it's just literally downward moving. I just remember the last time I did it, somebody did an imitation of Jesse Jackson at that point. um urination Urination, defecation, menstruation. Fire-dwelling wind is the third one. Its main seat is the channels as a solar plexus and this is where tummo or the inner heat is generated. Report an error in the passage at 37:47 Highlight the passage at 37:47

38:15 This wind functions to aid us in digestion. It also does what in Western science the liver and the spleen do. It separates the refined from unrefined parts. Report an error in the passage at 38:15 Highlight the passage at 38:15

38:30 Upward moving wind. Its main seat is the channels of the throat and its function is actually to cause speech as well as the taste of food, swallowing, burping, spitting, like literally anything that would be upward moving. Report an error in the passage at 38:30 Highlight the passage at 38:30

38:49 Pervasive wind. It's main seat is all of the joints. So it causes limber movement, being able to stretch and contract the limbs and open and close the mouth and the eyelids and so forth. Report an error in the passage at 38:49 Highlight the passage at 38:49

39:07 So again, normally there's no wind moving in the central channel except during the active process of death, which of course could take some time. Even years. But this is talking about actively in the active dissolution of the body. But during certain practices, during tantric practices, we can get it into, we can move, these are advanced practices, we can actually get it to move within the central channel and it actually allows for deeper and more subtle levels of our minds to arise. Report an error in the passage at 39:07 Highlight the passage at 39:07

39:52 During the final, the meditation that we're going to do has eight stages or eight phases of the dying process. During the final four, the winds that serve as the foundation for all the consciousnesses enter the left and right channels and then dissolve there. And then they move from those left and right channels into the central channel. And as it does that, The left and right channels deflate and the central channel inflates and by deflating the left and right all those channel knots are loosened up on the central channel and so then the winds can move in the central channel. Report an error in the passage at 39:52 Highlight the passage at 39:52

40:35 They actually say the movement of wind in the central channel is incredibly blissful and that again aids in having a direct perception of emptiness. Report an error in the passage at 40:35 Highlight the passage at 40:35

40:49 So, um... Report an error in the passage at 40:49 Highlight the passage at 40:49

40:58 In Tantra, this process of death actually is pivotal, actually, because this is how we access, first we have to study it and we have to practice it, but it's actually... The essence of Tantra in a way that I don't think most people would recognize. I think understanding the winds and channels and chakras and so forth we might recognize, but understanding the role that the dying process actually takes certainly was news to me when I first started studying Tantra. Report an error in the passage at 40:58 Highlight the passage at 40:58

41:39 But it's actually a really, really important aspect of Tantra. Ordinary death. or Dying, I should say, dying, death and rebirth just keeps us in saṃsāra. You know, we just keep taking more bodies and, you know, not always the best bodies. We're totally slaves to our karma and delusions. We don't have any control as to where we take rebirth, according to the teachings of the Buddha. Report an error in the passage at 41:39 Highlight the passage at 41:39

42:10 although Although we can change that if we change our karma, we can change that if we purify, we can change that if we work with our mind and start subduing our mind, you know, so that our mind isn't so crazy. Report an error in the passage at 42:10 Highlight the passage at 42:10

42:30 And so there are ways that we can even at our level, we can work with that whole process so that... Going through the process of dying and death doesn't have to be a scary time. It can actually be definitely, they say at the very least, it can be a time of no regret. Report an error in the passage at 42:30 Highlight the passage at 42:30

42:51 I think for a medium practitioner, at least it can actually be a joyful and a peaceful time. And for an advanced practitioner, it can be a time of great spiritual attainment. You can actually use it to... you know Report an error in the passage at 42:51 Highlight the passage at 42:51

43:06 To progress on the path. So a lot of really high holy beings actually are blissful as they enter into their dying process. And Tenzin Palma always has said that for somebody who had practiced and really become one with their practices, they say it's like a son going home to his mother. There's like no fear at all, which I think is very interesting. It's completely different from the way that our culture looks at death. Report an error in the passage at 43:06 Highlight the passage at 43:06

43:36 So, um... But of course, you know, these are for people who have studied these teachings and have practiced these practices throughout their lives. We were just talking about this a little bit earlier. If you are in the process where you haven't prepared your mind, It can be quite chaotic and sometimes it can be very scary. It's totally dependent upon the state of our minds because that's really the one that's going through it, right? I mean, our body, of course, is going through the dying process, but our mind is experiencing it. Report an error in the passage at 43:36 Highlight the passage at 43:36

44:14 So if our mind is not very subdued and on top of that we're experiencing the physical aspects of the dying process, it can be pretty chaotic and sometimes scary. Report an error in the passage at 44:14 Highlight the passage at 44:14

44:28 So we can't assume that without any preparation that we're going to enter into the dying process and have this blissful experience. It's sort of like that's not the time, as one of my teachers said, that's not the time to think that you're going to learn how to meditate on your deathbed. It behooves us to actually do the work before. Report an error in the passage at 44:28 Highlight the passage at 44:28

44:53 And the more that we can understand how emptiness works. Both emptiness and karma, but especially emptiness, that this being who is dying is not me, you know? Because that's what creates the fear. It's the ego grasping. It's feeling like this one who is called Chokyi is all there is. As Lama Yeshi said, am I this body? When his students were getting really upset that he was manifesting illness and death. Report an error in the passage at 44:53 Highlight the passage at 44:53

45:26 He was all mad at him because he'd been teaching emptiness for so long, and still they were only seeing that body as him. And his point was, no, we are so much more than this body. This body is like, Geshe-la is always talking about how it's sort of like we're putting on all these different plays, and then we get all attached to the costumes. Report an error in the passage at 45:26 Highlight the passage at 45:26

45:49 In reality, we've been doing all these different plays. Lifetime after lifetime, we're just putting on all these different... bodies just like we would a costume um we forget that that's not me you know that i actually have this incredibly subtle mind that's been through all of it we'll continue it's just like another adventure as to what's out there and if i've created the causes for happiness then i have nothing to worry about Report an error in the passage at 45:49 Highlight the passage at 45:49

46:20 so... When we're talking about how Tantra differs from Sūtra, In sūtra, you know, as you all did the meditation on the precious human rebirth, it is definitely within sūtra, a human body is considered really not a great thing. You know, it's actually taught to be a source of decay and pain and suffering, although we're taught to. Report an error in the passage at 46:20 Highlight the passage at 46:20

46:55 We appreciate the conditions that we have to practice the Dharma, but in Tantra it's taught from the very beginning that it's something incredibly precious because within a human body we have all the four elements that we need to practice Tantra and also all the winds and channels that we need to practice Tantra. Report an error in the passage at 46:55 Highlight the passage at 46:55

47:23 And I guess something about the configuration of the winds and channels is different in the human body than it is in the animal body, because I would think that the animals must also have it, but it must be a slightly different configuration. But I always forget to ask Eshola that one. Um, but, um, We also have within our body the white and red drops from the mother and father that we need for allowing that blissful energy to arise. Report an error in the passage at 47:23 Highlight the passage at 47:23

47:51 So they say that in order to practice tantra, we need a human body. And so from that aspect, that's why it's considered a precious human rebirth in the tantric perspective versus the sutric perspective. Report an error in the passage at 47:51 Highlight the passage at 47:51

48:09 without being If we couldn't practice tantra, then we couldn't get enlightened in one lifetime. Or at the very least, I think they say 16 lifetimes or something like that, which is a drop in the bucket, relatively speaking. If you're talking about three countless great eons, which is the sutric approach. So we can only do that with a human body. Report an error in the passage at 48:09 Highlight the passage at 48:09

48:32 and so that's That's why from the tantric perspective it's really useful to have a human rebirth. So the tantric perspective is that normally we have this totally ordinary, uncontrolled... experience of death and then the intermediate state or bardo which follows it and then uncontrolled And so we have these deluded thoughts and the thoughts arise and we create this karma and we sort of have this loaded package of karma that's created this whole situation for us. Report an error in the passage at 48:32 Highlight the passage at 48:32

49:17 And so the tantric approach is that Actually, all of our suffering is due to this ordinary experience of death, dying and the rebirth. I mean, the death itself, the ordinary death, the intermediate state and rebirth. Report an error in the passage at 49:17 Highlight the passage at 49:17

49:40 So the approach is to transform those three, you know, the process of dying and the process of the intermediate state and the process of... Report an error in the passage at 49:40 Highlight the passage at 49:40

49:52 Rebirth. And the way that those are transformed through these different visualizations, which we won't get into so much, but they'll come next week when we're talking about arising as the deity. The process of, as we go through this death process, we will note, like an ordinary death, this is what would happen next. Report an error in the passage at 49:52 Highlight the passage at 49:52

50:15 In Tantra, this is where you would then arise as the deity. Though the body that we end up taking on isn't just another human body or another animal body or another spirit body, it's instead the body of a Buddha. So we're constantly doing the meditation that we'll learn. You're doing it dissolving your body just the way you would in death and then arising as a deity over and over and over and over again, the way we talked about last week. Report an error in the passage at 50:15 Highlight the passage at 50:15

50:44 But this is a little bit more detail on it. So, um... Report an error in the passage at 50:44 Highlight the passage at 50:44

50:52 Part of that visualization has to do with the types of bodies that a Buddha has. When a Buddha gets enlightened, they simultaneously generate the three bodies of a Buddha. I mean, there are different ways to enumerate them, but we'll just talk about the three bodies of a Buddha, which is the Dharmakaya, the truth body, the Sambhogakaya, the enjoyment body. Report an error in the passage at 50:52 Highlight the passage at 50:52

51:25 And the nirmanakaya, which is the emanation body or bodies, all the emanation bodies that you can send out once you get enlightened. So the dharmakaya is just this vast, unlimited, unobstructed, omniscient mind. Report an error in the passage at 51:25 Highlight the passage at 51:25

51:42 And then the other two are how you manifest or how that mind manifests in order to help others. So, um... At this point, we haven't had that experience. At least I haven't. I'm an ordinary being. As an ordinary being, we haven't had this experience yet. So what we end up doing is, and the reason it's called the resultant path, we have had this similar experience of going through the death process. Report an error in the passage at 51:42 Highlight the passage at 51:42

52:09 And so then we use this experience to imitate. You know, to simulate arising in the body of the three different bodies of a Buddha. Report an error in the passage at 52:09 Highlight the passage at 52:09

52:24 And so we do what's called the three kaya meditation. Report an error in the passage at 52:24 Highlight the passage at 52:24

52:32 So I think before, why don't we take questions now and then we're going to start talking a little bit more about what the death process is and then we'll do the meditation. And I think this probably is a good time for a break, but why don't we see if there's some questions right now. I don't know if anybody, yeah. Can we do, we have to use the microphone, sorry. Report an error in the passage at 52:32 Highlight the passage at 52:32

52:59 I couldn't even formulate that. I was like, wait, something's wrong. What did you call the number two, downward voiding wind? Report an error in the passage at 52:59 Highlight the passage at 52:59

53:09 Yeah, downward voiding wind. Voiding wind? Yeah. V-O-I-D. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. Report an error in the passage at 53:09 Highlight the passage at 53:09

53:20 That was an easy one. Why they call it that, I'm not sure. I guess sometimes, do you call it that medically? I think when you void something, it's like you're defecating or something, right? Yeah, so it's like moving outward, I think, yeah. Anybody else? Report an error in the passage at 53:20 Highlight the passage at 53:20

53:45 Lots of silence. Yeah, Brian. Report an error in the passage at 53:45 Highlight the passage at 53:45

53:59 So you mentioned something about meditating on the three kaya's? At what point do you do that? Report an error in the passage at 53:59 Highlight the passage at 53:59

54:12 That's actually how, I mean, you actually do it at several places in your sadhana, in your tantric sadhana. And you have to have empowerment before you can do it in its full way. Report an error in the passage at 54:12 Highlight the passage at 54:12

54:31 But yeah, you do it usually at two different... At least two different places in your sadhana, dissolving the refuge field and dissolving the merit field usually are the two main places, but there could be other places. Report an error in the passage at 54:31 Highlight the passage at 54:31

54:50 Is there a time that you do that during the death process? You are simulating the death process when you do the three kaya meditation. Actually, yeah. And we'll sort of do a little fakie version of it next week. You know, as much as I can let you guys do. Report an error in the passage at 54:50 Highlight the passage at 54:50

55:13 Just to give you a little taste of it. Because you're learning the death meditation this week, or some of you are doing it for the, you know, have done it before. And then next week you're sort of like, how would that work in this way, you know. Report an error in the passage at 55:13 Highlight the passage at 55:13

55:29 But you have an empowerment so you can't actually arise as a deity. Report an error in the passage at 55:29 Highlight the passage at 55:29

55:38 Anybody else? Report an error in the passage at 55:38 Highlight the passage at 55:38

55:43 There's a seriousness tonight. All right, why don't you guys take a break? Report an error in the passage at 55:43 Highlight the passage at 55:43

55:53 And you can actually, you can take like a... Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Report an error in the passage at 55:53 Highlight the passage at 55:53

56:05 Well done. Report an error in the passage at 56:05 Highlight the passage at 56:05

56:09 What are Welsh cakes? Report an error in the passage at 56:09 Highlight the passage at 56:09

56:15 Oh, yeah. One of my favorite subjects. Report an error in the passage at 56:15 Highlight the passage at 56:15

56:28 So when we actually attain enlightenment, they say that, um... Report an error in the passage at 56:28 Highlight the passage at 56:28

· · · silence, 1 minute

56:34 We attain these bodies or achieve the three bodies that we just talked about all at the same time, like simultaneously Dharmakaya, Sambhogakaya and Harmonakaya. But when we visualize them, we actually take them in sequence. And a lot of times, like with Lama Yeshe, you're sort of thinking your way through it. Report an error in the passage at 56:34 Highlight the passage at 56:34

56:55 In real life, once we become Buddhas, it's of course we don't. There's no conceptual thought. We don't have to think, hmm, now I'm going to send out an emanation body because that would be really helpful. It's not like that. It's just if there's need, you go. The body, you just form and exactly, which is I think one of the coolest aspects of a Buddha. Report an error in the passage at 56:55 Highlight the passage at 56:55

57:20 As you all know, anybody who's ever taken classes with me before, that's my absolute favorite of all the Buddhist qualities is being able to send out whatever type of body. Wherever, to whomever, simultaneously, all the time, without thought or effort. It's like the perfect skill to have in your back pocket. Report an error in the passage at 57:20 Highlight the passage at 57:20

57:41 But when we meditate on it, because it sort of helps our conceptual mind, we visualize those in sequence. We visualize it. Report an error in the passage at 57:41 Highlight the passage at 57:41

57:52 One after another, Dharmakaya first, Sambhogakaya second, and Nermanakaya third. And that mirrors the unfolding of the death process. So that's the death process being the process of death, the process of the bardo or the intermediate state, and the process of rebirth. Report an error in the passage at 57:52 Highlight the passage at 57:52

58:14 So first we have to understand how the death process works in an ordinary. Death, which is what we're going to look at right now. And then we'll see next week how that's sort of transformed in tantric practice. Report an error in the passage at 58:14 Highlight the passage at 58:14

58:30 So at death, our subtle most mind separates from this body. You know, this gross body that we have and the subtle body inside. And that separation is what's called the process of dying. And that can take... Moments or days or weeks or years, it can take a long time. It can be, you know, due to an illness, it could take years and years, or it can be really quick in the moment, like if an accident or another sudden kind of death. Report an error in the passage at 58:30 Highlight the passage at 58:30

59:04 But you always go through these stages. So if it's a really quick death, you just would go through them really, really fast. And for the process of our meditation, we're going to have it be a very leisurely death so that we can focus on the different levels. And may we all have a very leisurely death. At first, I think a lot of non-Buddhists always pray for really quick deaths, often in their sleep. Buddhists actually don't want that for exactly these reasons because we use that process and we want to be aware of it. Report an error in the passage at 59:04 Highlight the passage at 59:04

59:42 We've missed it too many times in the past and we want to actually be aware of it when we go through it this time. Report an error in the passage at 59:42 Highlight the passage at 59:42

59:49 So what happens is the body, the different elements within the body gradually lose their ability to support consciousness and then at each level it's sort of, as it's dissolving down, it's sometimes called absorbing. It doesn't mean that like the liquids are absorbing, it just means that the ability of each of the... Report an error in the passage at 59:49 Highlight the passage at 59:49

1:00:11 um, elements, um, And then the next element is stronger and so then that one sort of dissolves out or disappears and the next one is stronger at that point and then that one dissolves. Report an error in the passage at 1:00:11 Highlight the passage at 1:00:11

1:00:26 So first the earth element dissolves into the water element and then the water element sinks into the fire element and then the fire element sinks into the air element. And then that air element sinks into the consciousness itself. And again, just like with... Actually, I probably should have handed out your little diagrams of channels and winds, but I'm not going to give it to you now because now you definitely would be reading it while I was telling you this stuff, so I'll wait. Report an error in the passage at 1:00:26 Highlight the passage at 1:00:26

1:01:02 So you are going to get little charts and stuff. But just like with the channels and the winds and the drops and so forth, This is descript-descript-descript Descriptive, not literal. Report an error in the passage at 1:01:02 Highlight the passage at 1:01:02

1:01:17 But it helps us to picture exactly what happens. His Holiness the Dalai Lama actually says that... It doesn't always happen in exactly the same order, too, which I think is interesting. I hadn't ever heard that before. We always visualize it in the same order when we do this meditation. And he said that actually things, like, they certainly, which makes sense, they certainly aren't always the same length of time, you know. Report an error in the passage at 1:01:17 Highlight the passage at 1:01:17

1:01:48 Sometimes the earth element will be, like, much, much longer, and then the other ones will go quicker and so forth. And that makes sense to me. I guess it's very individual when we go through it, but there's enough commonality that if we have practiced it, especially if we have a really subdued mind, we can recognize it. Report an error in the passage at 1:01:48 Highlight the passage at 1:01:48

1:02:15 And you actually can recognize it at least the early stages in another person, which I think is interesting. I had this experience when my mother was dying. I could kind of tell when... The earth element was dissolving. And I talked to another friend whose mother just passed away, and she had the same experience where she could really tell, oh, she's entered into this phase now, which is interesting. Report an error in the passage at 1:02:15 Highlight the passage at 1:02:15

1:02:39 It kind of, for me, it was useful because it kind of was like, oh, okay, this is what's happening. I'm not going anywhere, you know, whereas the rest of the family went home, you know. Report an error in the passage at 1:02:39 Highlight the passage at 1:02:39

1:02:49 But I didn't know enough to say, well. This is like my 17th time. I was more like I had never seen it before, but I could really tell when she had entered that phase. So in addition to all these physical things that are happening where the body is dissolving like this, the mind is also getting more and more subtle. Report an error in the passage at 1:02:49 Highlight the passage at 1:02:49

1:03:12 And so the dying person is experiencing all these different internal, meaning visible to them, signs of the different stages. Report an error in the passage at 1:03:12 Highlight the passage at 1:03:12

1:03:22 And so the meditation will be both you thinking about what would be happening if my body were dissolving like this, but also trying to generate that internal sign so that you can experience what that might look like. Although, as one friend said, Report an error in the passage at 1:03:22 Highlight the passage at 1:03:22

1:03:42 My experience of the fireflies and your experience of the fireflies are slightly different. Which is the real experience of the fireflies? I don't know. But we'll get to that. Report an error in the passage at 1:03:42 Highlight the passage at 1:03:42

1:03:55 So ordinarily, the dissolution of the different elements in the body can cause sort of hallucinations to start. It's sort of like when you have like a fever. The way you might actually, like a really high fever, you might have certain hallucinations that you experience and you don't necessarily know that they're hallucinations. Report an error in the passage at 1:03:55 Highlight the passage at 1:03:55

1:04:15 So sometimes, which is actually from a Tibetan medical point of view, that's when the elements are out of balance. So it's the same when the... Elements are actually dissolving, that we have sort of all these different hallucinations that arise. So it's really hard to remain sort of calm and go, okay, this is the next level, unless, again, we've worked on our minds. Report an error in the passage at 1:04:15 Highlight the passage at 1:04:15

1:04:43 So I'm just saying that this is all well and good as an intellectual exercise, but unless you actually practice it, it's not going to really be much help. Report an error in the passage at 1:04:43 Highlight the passage at 1:04:43

1:04:55 And it's quite pivotal in... This one meditation actually will come up over and over and over again. So it's a useful one to learn. They say that we actually do this when we go to sleep and we miss it. Report an error in the passage at 1:04:55 Highlight the passage at 1:04:55

1:05:12 We miss it every night. We have the opportunity to notice it. We just conk out somewhere from the earth element to this. It's like a mini version of this. It happens every night. Report an error in the passage at 1:05:12 Highlight the passage at 1:05:12

1:05:27 And so they say that it's a good time to practice it, is right, as we're actually trying to go to sleep. But it's also really hard if you're lying on your back in bed. Report an error in the passage at 1:05:27 Highlight the passage at 1:05:27

1:05:37 So it might be good to try to do it while you're sitting up in bed before you actually lie down. But it's a really useful one to practice on a regular daily basis. Report an error in the passage at 1:05:37 Highlight the passage at 1:05:37

1:05:50 And if we do, then it's like... We are experiencing our mind getting more and more subtle and more and more clear. And then it's not necessarily a frightening thing. It's actually a very cool thing. We're actually getting to the point where our mind is getting more and more subtle, the way that it does if you've been meditating for a long time. And the first time I did this meditation as part of... Report an error in the passage at 1:05:50 Highlight the passage at 1:05:50

1:06:18 I think it was part of the Copan course, actually, on lamrim, so it was just from the point of view of death. But I remember for me it was quite useful to think, oh, I would be, at the time of my death, I'm not going to be so fixated on everything that's going on. I'm going to be having my own experience. And that experience isn't necessarily a negative one. Report an error in the passage at 1:06:18 Highlight the passage at 1:06:18

1:06:39 And for me that was like a huge relief. It was like, great, I can just focus on that, you know, and I don't necessarily have to be so, that's why it's so important to keep the room quiet, especially for a practitioner, so that they can do their own work, you know, mental work with what they're going through. Report an error in the passage at 1:06:39 Highlight the passage at 1:06:39

1:06:57 If there's a lot of chaos going on around them, it just complicates everything, which of course often happens when somebody's dying. Report an error in the passage at 1:06:57 Highlight the passage at 1:06:57

1:07:06 So just keep everybody out of my room, okay? I have one friend who's really, really strong about, like, she does not want her daughter there. I'm like, well, what are we going to do, you know? I know she's going to want to be there. So if we think about the fact that in... During our waking hours or during our regular life now, we're constantly misapprehending reality. We can only imagine what it's going to be like then. So we really do. Report an error in the passage at 1:07:06 Highlight the passage at 1:07:06

1:07:37 I just have to keep underscoring we have to do the work now. They say that when the sort of descriptions of the experiences that you could have if your mind is sort of going through chaos. now Report an error in the passage at 1:07:37 Highlight the passage at 1:07:37

1:07:56 Is when the water element dissolves, it could feel, and the saw could, doesn't have to, but it has been described that some people experience it this way. As the water element dissolves, it feels like you're being carried away by river currents, fierce river currents. It's like you're literally being pulled under. And I have heard people describe, you know, loved ones saying that they feel like they're going underwater and stuff. Report an error in the passage at 1:07:56 Highlight the passage at 1:07:56

1:08:22 Um... Fire element, as the earth element dissolves, which was the first, it feels more like you're being weighted down or that you're going under the earth or that you're in an avalanche. And then the water, river currents, the fire that you're being consumed by flames. Air element may feel like you're just sort of, you know, kind of being tossed around by the wind. Report an error in the passage at 1:08:22 Highlight the passage at 1:08:22

1:08:50 So that can be scary. Especially if you've never even heard of any of this stuff before and you don't know what's happening. It can be scary. If you know what's going on and you're with somebody, then you can also just keep telling them it really is okay. We've done this before. You've done this before. Especially if you've been able to talk to them beforehand. But that is one thing that has helped for me is to just keep reminding the person. Report an error in the passage at 1:08:50 Highlight the passage at 1:08:50

1:09:22 What you're going through is okay. This is what we were expecting. We were expecting this. This is okay. Because so much of the time, death is treated as a medical failure in our culture. So it's like a just completely different attitude about death. Report an error in the passage at 1:09:22 Highlight the passage at 1:09:22

1:09:40 The final four phases occur after the body is considered clinically dead from the Western point of view. When the inhalation gets weaker and weaker and then stops from the western point of view, and the heart has stopped from the western point of view, the person has actually died. But from the Buddhist point of view, the mind still is in the body. And as long as there is warmth in the body, especially in the area of the heart, the mind, the consciousness hasn't left the body. Report an error in the passage at 1:09:40 Highlight the passage at 1:09:40

1:10:10 So the final four, like half of the, you know, this whole meditation occurs after that point. And that's when we're getting subtler. Into the levels of the mind. So the subtle white drop that we received from our father that we talked about at the crown actually descends and the descending of the white drop causes what's called the white vision or the white appearance, which we'll describe. Report an error in the passage at 1:10:10 Highlight the passage at 1:10:10

1:10:40 The ascending of the red drop that we received from our mother at conception. That causes the red vision or the red appearance. And then they meet at the heart chakra. And as they meet, they actually enclose this thing that we call the indestructible drop. And then it opens. And then that's what, that releases our subtle most mind. Report an error in the passage at 1:10:40 Highlight the passage at 1:10:40

1:11:10 And that subtle most mind being released finally is what arises as this clear light. That's when we actually get to directly perceive our own, the nature of our own mind, which is a way for us to experience emptiness itself at that moment. So, um... Report an error in the passage at 1:11:10 Highlight the passage at 1:11:10

1:11:37 So they actually call it dawning, you know, when the two parts of the indestructible drop open and this mind arises. It's like our mind arises to our own mind and it's clear and luminous and they describe it like the dawning of, it's like the clear light at dawn, like just before dawn in the Himalayas that really... Report an error in the passage at 1:11:37 Highlight the passage at 1:11:37

1:12:05 really really clear light neither it's not like um white light like just pre pre-dawn light yeah like that um So for an ordinary person, all of these things are happening and they're part of the hallucination so it's hard to tell even what of an ordinary process. What is ordinary process and what is hallucinations? Because our minds are kind of all over the place. But for those of us that have trained ourselves, when we see them, then we'll know and we'll actually recognize. Report an error in the passage at 1:12:05 Highlight the passage at 1:12:05

1:12:41 And Lama Zopa Rinpoche always has you to say, This is the white vision. Clear light is coming. This is the red vision. Clear light is coming. And it's partly just so that you're training your mind in what's going to follow. Sometimes for me it's like too much thinking to do that, but at least to do it kind of as it gets to the end. And then our mind also experiences it without fear. Report an error in the passage at 1:12:41 Highlight the passage at 1:12:41

1:13:13 You know, it's almost like this, sort of like clear light's coming, you know. And that, at that moment that the clear light arises or that the nature of our own mind is revealed to us, it actually is a blissful experience if we can stay present with it, if we can stay aware. And again, as we've been talking all along in this class, this experience, we tend to experience... Report an error in the passage at 1:13:13 Highlight the passage at 1:13:13

1:13:39 Pleasure at this point by going into a stupor. So again this is another moment that whenever we're talking about bliss in these practices we're talking about very very alert and aware bliss. So we're not just going into a stupefied state or you know going into unconsciousness. So this very subtle mind that arises merges with emptiness and that That's what releases that, what Lama Yeshe called this experience of indescribable bliss. And so then that becomes this opportunity to directly perceive emptiness, or more, or greater, or to work with your direct perception of emptiness. Report an error in the passage at 1:13:39 Highlight the passage at 1:13:39

1:14:30 Some trained yogis have already had a direct perception of emptiness, but then they use the death process to go deeper into those meditations on emptiness. And then some of course take it even a further step and use it to attain enlightenment. Report an error in the passage at 1:14:30 Highlight the passage at 1:14:30

1:14:46 so um It is also important, of course, after blah blah blahing for this, you know, an hour and a half, that these are, we're putting conceptual terms onto what's basically a non-conceptual experience. And this is true for, of course, all of Tantra, and it's not to say that there aren't very, very precise texts explaining all of this that are written in words, but the experiences themselves will be non-conceptual. Report an error in the passage at 1:14:46 Highlight the passage at 1:14:46

1:15:18 And so again, we're sort of just like with emptiness, we approach them conceptually, but the experiences themselves are non-conceptual. So at some point we end up tossing out the words. And as Lama Eshi said, as with all aspects of the spiritual path, there is a time to use the intellect and there is a time to put it aside. Report an error in the passage at 1:15:18 Highlight the passage at 1:15:18

1:15:38 so there's When we do this meditation, there's one point at least that you really just want to abide in non-conceptual thought just for a moment, just to have that experience of trying to meditate on the clear light mind without all the conceptual garbage that goes on in our minds day in and day out. Report an error in the passage at 1:15:38 Highlight the passage at 1:15:38

1:16:08 So, normally, after that clear light, um, When the experience ends, we would then arise in the body of an intermediate state being. Because in the intermediate state, or the bardo, you actually do assume a body, even though it's a very, very subtle body that can actually move through physical things, it's still a body and you assume it for A certain amount of time until you, you actually assume it for up to seven days and then you go through a little dying process and you keep assuming a new bardo body until you take rebirth. Report an error in the passage at 1:16:08 Highlight the passage at 1:16:08

1:16:49 And then from that bardo body you would arise into your next conception, which we talk in much more detail about in the death and impermanence class. But here, In the tantric teachings, the clear light is akin to the Dharmakaya experience of arising in the Dharmakaya, which is just that vast omniscient mind of a Buddha. Report an error in the passage at 1:16:49 Highlight the passage at 1:16:49

1:17:24 And then we arise instead because now we aren't in this body and mind that's completely... At the mercy of our karma and delusions, right? We've already purified that. Now we're arising in, instead of a bardo body, we're arising in what's called the sambhogakaya or the enjoyment body. Report an error in the passage at 1:17:24 Highlight the passage at 1:17:24

1:17:45 And then because... Only the highest level bodhisattvas can actually see that body. We arise as the nirmanakaya and that takes the place of ordinary rebirth. And so with the tantric meditations, we then use what's normally completely uncontrolled process of ordinary death, bardo and rebirth, and we control it completely into this positive experience of... Report an error in the passage at 1:17:45 Highlight the passage at 1:17:45

1:18:17 Of arising as the deity basically. But even if some very high level bodhisattvas can take ordinary death and they can decide as the emanation body to manifest in a human form again. And so they actually, because they have... When they have control over their minds and over their karma, they can choose where they're going to take birth and make it be a place that's of most benefit. One of the most famous of these examples is the Dalai Lama choosing to come back and choosing the conditions of his rebirth so that he can be found again and giving great hints before where he'll be found. Report an error in the passage at 1:18:17 Highlight the passage at 1:18:17

1:19:02 And this is very common in Tibetan Buddhism for great lamas to do. Usually before they die, they give all these hints. Sometimes they'll write them down and then their attendants, you know, look for them in those certain places. Report an error in the passage at 1:19:02 Highlight the passage at 1:19:02

1:19:18 Most of us don't have that kind of control or that kind of awareness. So we can't really do that. But the more that we practice, you know, the more highly attained we are. We do have that ability. Report an error in the passage at 1:19:18 Highlight the passage at 1:19:18

1:19:33 So this is a really brief presentation on how we can take these teachings and how Tantra uses what we ordinarily go through and transforms it and uses it as a way for us to transform these ordinary experiences of death, intermediate state and rebirth and how essential this particular meditation is. But it's by no means. Report an error in the passage at 1:19:33 Highlight the passage at 1:19:33

1:20:02 You know, any kind of depth. I mean, in order to actually practice this, you have to go back to, you have to find, you know, the qualified master, you have to take the initiations, you know. We go back to all the common and uncommon prerequisites that we've been talking about for the last few weeks. This is just simply sort of a really brief presentation on how this is used. Report an error in the passage at 1:20:02 Highlight the passage at 1:20:02

1:20:31 It's sometimes said that tantra cuts rebirth and what it's talking about actually is cutting this uncontrolled rebirth. So actually many tantrikas or many highly evolved beings can decide to take rebirth but their rebirths are controlled. They have that ability of control just because they've been working with their minds for so long. So do you have any questions? And then we're going to do this death dissolution meditation. Report an error in the passage at 1:20:31 Highlight the passage at 1:20:31

1:21:00 Do you have any other questions? Report an error in the passage at 1:21:00 Highlight the passage at 1:21:00

1:21:05 Yeah, Jane. Where's that? Oh, there it is. Careful. Yeah. Report an error in the passage at 1:21:05 Highlight the passage at 1:21:05

1:21:17 I was just wondering what happens. So you talked about being conscious during the process. So what happens if the person's not conscious or is sedated? Well, the process still happens, but for most of us, even if we're not sedated, we're not aware of it. Just like think about how often we go to sleep. Report an error in the passage at 1:21:17 Highlight the passage at 1:21:17

1:21:40 You know, I don't know about you, but even when I've tried to actually be aware of this, once you learn it, it's just really hard to maintain that awareness. Report an error in the passage at 1:21:40 Highlight the passage at 1:21:40

1:21:50 It still happens and it just happens uncontrollably, just like everything else in our lives. So the point is just to understand it so that you could catch it. But yeah, sometimes people that are sedated or that are, I mean, that's sometimes why practitioners would choose not to sedate, not to use medicines that would affect their minds, even if, where was I just reading that? Report an error in the passage at 1:21:50 Highlight the passage at 1:21:50

1:22:12 There was some article I was just reading. It might have been in Mandala, I can't remember now, where somebody was, a long-time practitioner was choosing to use pain medication, well, not to use pain medication because they felt like they could deal with the pain in their own way and that they wanted to be able to practice. Report an error in the passage at 1:22:12 Highlight the passage at 1:22:12

1:22:37 This was a long, long-time practitioner. And the person, the hospice person, Oh, I know. It was at the conference. Was anybody at that talk? It was Yeshi Kadro was talking and she was saying that it was a long-term practitioner and she was the one on duty at the hospice. And so she really interviewed him to make sure that it wasn't coming from some other place of like, you know, being stoic or whatever, you know, being, you know, crazy or whatever. Report an error in the passage at 1:22:37 Highlight the passage at 1:22:37

1:23:05 And she just realized that he just honestly wanted the ability to work with his mind during that process. And so she... He made sure everybody else on duty knew, and so they protected his space, and he actually was able to use the process. He was able to stay alert, and he was able to manage the pain on his own. Report an error in the passage at 1:23:05 Highlight the passage at 1:23:05

1:23:24 So sometimes people will make that decision because it clouds the mind. But some people, it actually allows them, you know, when you choose to take pain medication, it actually might allow you to be more relaxed. So it's an individual decision. And it's also dependent on the level of practice. Report an error in the passage at 1:23:24 Highlight the passage at 1:23:24

1:23:49 I think Lama Zopa Rinpoche says that it's okay to medicate to a level of comfort on the pain, but we should be really careful about medicating for the mental pain, which I think in the West is often. you know. Report an error in the passage at 1:23:49 Highlight the passage at 1:23:49

1:24:09 More often done, giving morphine to ease mental pain, which for non-practitioners, I suppose, isn't such a big deal. But for practitioners, definitely it clouds your mind and you're not able to. Even the most basic practices. Because even if we aren't able to do all of this, it's like beyond us. The Tonglen that we did, and I don't remember which, I guess I do remember which class because somebody came in. Report an error in the passage at 1:24:09 Highlight the passage at 1:24:09

1:24:38 But we did a Tonglen meditation in here, and they say that that's the, if we could just try to focus any way and any amount of concentration on Tonglen. During that process, that's super powerful for us to do. So even if we don't feel like we can do these higher tantric practices, if we could practice enough with Tonglen in our lives when we're sick and stuff like that and in pain, then we can focus on that. Report an error in the passage at 1:24:38 Highlight the passage at 1:24:38

1:25:09 But there's no way we can do that if we're completely addled with different medications. So the idea is to hopefully... Go into it with as clear a mind as you possibly can. But, I mean, clearly there are accidents and, you know, things like that where your mind, there's not much you can do. We don't know, though, if somebody's in a coma, we don't know what's going on in their mind. So it's possible that they are, you know, alert. Report an error in the passage at 1:25:09 Highlight the passage at 1:25:09

1:25:37 And, again, if it's your responsibility to try to help somebody pass, then you want to keep the room as quiet as possible, even if it looks like they're just sleeping. Because who the heck knows? I mean, until you're clairvoyant, I don't know what's going on in that person's mind, whether they're a practitioner or not. So it's just like keeping the room as calm and quiet as possible because they could still have a very positive, peaceful death, whether they're a practitioner or not. Report an error in the passage at 1:25:37 Highlight the passage at 1:25:37

1:26:05 Anybody else? Okay, so we're going to do a little meditation. And actually, often and probably on the practice day, I'm going to make you guys lay down for this. Make it more real if you promise not to go to sleep. But for this, since it's late at night, I don't think we're going to try it. So just get comfortable and adjust your posture so that you can hold it. This won't take that long, probably about 15 minutes. Report an error in the passage at 1:26:05 Highlight the passage at 1:26:05

1:26:42 It'll be a fairly quick death. Report an error in the passage at 1:26:42 Highlight the passage at 1:26:42

1:26:47 And in this situation... This isn't the kind of meditation where you are dealing with a bunch of emotional reactions to your own death. There are other meditations like that, but this is one where visualize that you are at this point where you've been sick for a long time and you've gradually come to terms with it and you've said all your goodbyes and you've cleaned up your life and you're ready to let go. Report an error in the passage at 1:26:47 Highlight the passage at 1:26:47

1:27:16 Maybe you could even imagine that you're lying in a bed or that you're... In a hospice or a hospital. Report an error in the passage at 1:27:16 Highlight the passage at 1:27:16

1:27:38 So just imagine that you're just lying there wondering what's next. Report an error in the passage at 1:27:38 Highlight the passage at 1:27:38

1:27:50 The first of the phases is when the earth element dissolves into the water element and as the earth element begins to lose its power your body becomes very thin, your limbs loosen up and you start feeling like your body is sinking under the earth. Report an error in the passage at 1:27:50 Highlight the passage at 1:27:50

1:28:17 This can take a long time or it can happen really quickly. Report an error in the passage at 1:28:17 Highlight the passage at 1:28:17

1:28:24 Try to imagine what this feels like. Report an error in the passage at 1:28:24 Highlight the passage at 1:28:24

1:28:32 Some people actually say it feels like the weight of the earth is on you. Report an error in the passage at 1:28:32 Highlight the passage at 1:28:32

1:28:40 And sometimes you see people struggle against this. Report an error in the passage at 1:28:40 Highlight the passage at 1:28:40

1:28:49 So as the aggregate of form absorbs, your limbs become thinner, your body becomes weaker, you lose your power, your strength, Report an error in the passage at 1:28:49 Highlight the passage at 1:28:49

1:29:05 and you definitely feel that your vitality is weakening. When Report an error in the passage at 1:29:05 Highlight the passage at 1:29:05

1:29:20 the basic mirror-like wisdom dissolves, your sight becomes unclear and dark. Report an error in the passage at 1:29:20 Highlight the passage at 1:29:20

1:29:29 And your ability to perceive many things simultaneously decreases. Report an error in the passage at 1:29:29 Highlight the passage at 1:29:29

1:29:40 And this affects your eye sense. And you can no longer open or close your eyes or move them. Report an error in the passage at 1:29:40 Highlight the passage at 1:29:40

1:29:54 You experience an internal sign. An appearance of a shimmering silvery blue mirage. Report an error in the passage at 1:29:54 Highlight the passage at 1:29:54

1:30:17 As the water element loses its power, your body fluids such as saliva, sweat, urine, blood begin to dry up. And you experience this in your mouth and tongue feeling dry. Report an error in the passage at 1:30:17 Highlight the passage at 1:30:17

1:30:40 As the aggregate of feelings absorb, your body or touch consciousness can no longer experience the three types of feelings that accompany sense consciousness. Report an error in the passage at 1:30:40 Highlight the passage at 1:30:40

1:30:56 Dislike, dislike, don't care. Report an error in the passage at 1:30:56 Highlight the passage at 1:30:56

1:31:06 When the basic wisdom of equality dissolves, your ordinary consciousness, mindful of pleasure, pain and neutral feelings, dissolves and you're no longer aware of the feelings accompanying the mental consciousness. Report an error in the passage at 1:31:06 Highlight the passage at 1:31:06

1:31:27 This affects the ear sense and you can no longer hear external or internal sounds. They describe it like a buzzing and then silence. Report an error in the passage at 1:31:27 Highlight the passage at 1:31:27

1:31:41 Even the normal ringing in the ears stops. Report an error in the passage at 1:31:41 Highlight the passage at 1:31:41

1:31:51 You experience an internal sign, an appearance of smoke, like the thin smoke from a stick of incense. Report an error in the passage at 1:31:51 Highlight the passage at 1:31:51

1:32:09 When the fire element loses its power, all the warmth begins to diminish in your body. You can no longer digest. Food or drink. And your limbs start to become cold. When Report an error in the passage at 1:32:09 Highlight the passage at 1:32:09

1:32:33 the aggregate of discrimination absorbs, you're no longer aware of the affairs of people close to you. When Report an error in the passage at 1:32:33 Highlight the passage at 1:32:33

1:32:50 the basic wisdom of analysis dissolves, you can no longer remember their names. Report an error in the passage at 1:32:50 Highlight the passage at 1:32:50

1:33:02 This affects the nose sense. So your inhalation weakens, your exhalation is strong and lengthy, and your sense of smell is gone. Report an error in the passage at 1:33:02 Highlight the passage at 1:33:02

1:33:21 You experience an internal sign, an appearance of fireflies or sparks within dark smoke. Report an error in the passage at 1:33:21 Highlight the passage at 1:33:21

1:33:39 When the wind element loses its power, the ten winds move to the heart, causing your inhalation and exhalation to cease. Report an error in the passage at 1:33:39 Highlight the passage at 1:33:39

1:33:56 When the aggregate of compositional factors absorbs, you can no longer move or experience touch. When Report an error in the passage at 1:33:56 Highlight the passage at 1:33:56

1:34:14 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 1:34:14 Highlight the passage at 1:34:14

1:34:31 This affects the tongue or taste sense and your tongue becomes thick and short and the root of it turns blue. Report an error in the passage at 1:34:31 Highlight the passage at 1:34:31

1:34:49 You experience an internal sign, an appearance of a dull orangey red light about to go out like the flickering of a candle lame or butter lamp about to go out. Report an error in the passage at 1:34:49 Highlight the passage at 1:34:49

1:35:16 From the western point of view one would now be clinically dead. But from a Tibetan point of view, only the gross mind and the four physical elements have dissolved. As long as warmth is still in the body, the consciousness is still in the body. When Report an error in the passage at 1:35:16 Highlight the passage at 1:35:16

1:35:43 the aggregate of consciousness dissolves, the 80 conceptions dissolve. This means your last conceptual thoughts of any kind, both delusions and virtuous thoughts, cease. Report an error in the passage at 1:35:43 Highlight the passage at 1:35:43

1:35:58 Your mind becomes more and more subtle over these next four phases. Report an error in the passage at 1:35:58 Highlight the passage at 1:35:58

1:36:10 The winds in the right and left channels above the heart enter the central channel at the crown of your head and the white substance at the top of your head begins to move downward. Report an error in the passage at 1:36:10 Highlight the passage at 1:36:10

1:36:33 You experience an internal sign, a clear vacuity or vast space filled with white light. This is the arising of your subtle mind and it's called the white vision or the white appearance. Report an error in the passage at 1:36:33 Highlight the passage at 1:36:33

1:36:55 Some say it appears like a clear autumn sky suffused with white moonlight without the moon. Report an error in the passage at 1:36:55 Highlight the passage at 1:36:55

1:37:17 As the white appearance dissolves, the winds in your right and left channel below your heart enter the central channel at the base of the spine, and the red substance at your navel begins moving upward. Report an error in the passage at 1:37:17 Highlight the passage at 1:37:17

1:37:37 You experience an internal sign, Report an error in the passage at 1:37:37 Highlight the passage at 1:37:37

1:37:44 a very clear vacuity or vast space filled with a coppery red light. Report an error in the passage at 1:37:44 Highlight the passage at 1:37:44

1:37:52 As the white appearance dissolves, An even brighter appearance of red increase, manifests. Some say it appears like a clear autumn sky suffused by red sunlight without the sun. Report an error in the passage at 1:37:52 Highlight the passage at 1:37:52

1:38:19 As the red appearance dissolves, the upper and lower winds gather at your heart and enter the indestructible drop at your heart. Report an error in the passage at 1:38:19 Highlight the passage at 1:38:19

1:38:31 You experience an internal sign. The red appearance dissolves into black near attainment. And one experiences a very clear vacuity filled with total darkness, which ends with a moment of unconsciousness like fainting. Report an error in the passage at 1:38:31 Highlight the passage at 1:38:31

1:39:02 As the dark near attainment ceases, all the winds and the white and red drops dissolve into the very subtle wind in mind at the indestructible drop at your heart. Report an error in the passage at 1:39:02 Highlight the passage at 1:39:02

1:39:16 And you experience an internal sign, a very clear vacuity or vast space filled with clear light. Report an error in the passage at 1:39:16 Highlight the passage at 1:39:16

1:39:27 This is the mind of clear light like the sky just before dawn in an autumn in the Himalayas. This is the most subtle and pure level of your mind. Report an error in the passage at 1:39:27 Highlight the passage at 1:39:27

1:39:45 Focus on this light for as long as you can. Allow Report an error in the passage at 1:39:45 Highlight the passage at 1:39:45

1:40:07 ourselves to go back through these stages. From the clear light we move into the black or dark near attainment and from that into the red appearance and from that into the white appearance and Report an error in the passage at 1:40:07 Highlight the passage at 1:40:07

1:40:31 from that Where the 80 instinctive conceptions dissolve. Report an error in the passage at 1:40:31 Highlight the passage at 1:40:31

1:40:38 The flickering butter lamp about to go out and Report an error in the passage at 1:40:38 Highlight the passage at 1:40:38

1:40:50 filled with smoke and Report an error in the passage at 1:40:50 Highlight the passage at 1:40:50

1:40:59 the fireflies in the smoke and Report an error in the passage at 1:40:59 Highlight the passage at 1:40:59

1:41:09 the shimmery blue mirage. Mind Report an error in the passage at 1:41:09 Highlight the passage at 1:41:09

1:41:21 clears and we find that we're back in our body again. Report an error in the passage at 1:41:21 Highlight the passage at 1:41:21

1:41:33 Become aware of the way your cushion feels beneath you and the sounds around you and your breathing. Report an error in the passage at 1:41:33 Highlight the passage at 1:41:33

1:41:44 If this had been your actual death, it would have come into a bardo body from which You would have taken rebirth, determined by your karma. And Report an error in the passage at 1:41:44 Highlight the passage at 1:41:44

1:42:03 as a tantrica, you would have arisen into an enjoyment body, some bogakaya, and then into a nirmanakaya, or the body of a yidam. Report an error in the passage at 1:42:03 Highlight the passage at 1:42:03

1:42:24 So we take a moment to dedicate whatever Report an error in the passage at 1:42:24 Highlight the passage at 1:42:24

1:42:31 insights or experiences you just had, or anything that you might have learned in the class tonight, remembering to dedicate them to being able to work with your mind. Use these methods. At some point enter Tantra and learn to practice it so that you can transform your mind into Buddha mind, fully awakened mind, so that you can benefit all beings without exception. Report an error in the passage at 1:42:31 Highlight the passage at 1:42:31

1:43:12 You can end your meditation and open your eyes. Report an error in the passage at 1:43:12 Highlight the passage at 1:43:12

1:43:29 So that's your homework. Report an error in the passage at 1:43:29 Highlight the passage at 1:43:29

1:43:37 Are there any questions? Olivia, could you hand these out? So you'll see... This meditation is the first page, and then you've got all these exciting little drawings of the channels and the chakras you can study. Actually, don't hand out the last one, because that's the master, so let me take that one instead. I don't know if I did enough, actually. Thank you. Report an error in the passage at 1:43:37 Highlight the passage at 1:43:37

1:44:11 I'm assuming you don't want one. Yeah. So, Mary, could you actually not take that one and make two more? Yeah, that'd be great. Report an error in the passage at 1:44:11 Highlight the passage at 1:44:11

1:44:30 Are there any questions? Two, yeah. Report an error in the passage at 1:44:30 Highlight the passage at 1:44:30

1:44:36 Okay. Well, try to practice it at least a couple times so you can bring your questions next week. And we definitely will do this one on the practice day. Does anyone know? Report an error in the passage at 1:44:36 Highlight the passage at 1:44:36

1:44:51 Oh, gosh, yeah, sorry, yes. Everyone should actually get this one. This is an extensive version of the nine-round breathing. The one that you have before is a sort of simplified version. So this is a little more extensive. With some description of the channels as well. It says it at the top. What is it from? Is it from, I think it's from Vajra, the Tantric Path of Purification. Report an error in the passage at 1:44:51 Highlight the passage at 1:44:51

1:45:14 I think they're called Becoming Vajra Safa now. Report an error in the passage at 1:45:14 Highlight the passage at 1:45:14

1:45:20 So actually wait, hand Mary that one too and she can make a couple. No wait, yeah, you just need one, right? So just one more, ask her to make one more of that. Actually two because she'll need one too. Yeah, two more of that too. Report an error in the passage at 1:45:20 Highlight the passage at 1:45:20

1:45:35 Sorry, you had your hands on it and then it was pulled away. Okay, thanks you guys. Have fun. Happy meditating. And I'll see you next week. Does anyone know right now, I mean, could I have a hand count on people that think that they are going to be able to come to the practice day on the 3rd? And of course that always changes. January, yeah. Yeah, one, two. Report an error in the passage at 1:45:35 Highlight the passage at 1:45:35

1:46:08 Three, four. It can be very small. Yeah, it's a hard time, I know. Report an error in the passage at 1:46:08 Highlight the passage at 1:46:08