Discovering Buddhism - Intro to Tantra (18 August 2011)

0:00 Take a moment to set our motivation for tonight's class, remembering to try to extend it out from just our own need to be happy and our own need to not suffer. Report an error in the passage at 0:00 Highlight the passage at 0:00

0:18 And maybe start encircling those people or those places where you know people are suffering and do it for them. And Report an error in the passage at 0:18 Highlight the passage at 0:18

0:30 then gradually try to extend your sphere of focus to everyone. Every person, every animal, every insect, every living being as far as your mind's eye can imagine. In all directions, above and below, the whole planet, all planets, all universes, all realms. Report an error in the passage at 0:30 Highlight the passage at 0:30

1:06 And may whatever we learn in tonight's class, whatever takes root in our mind, may it become the direct seed of our enlightenment. Becoming a Buddha for the benefit of all of those living beings and more. The Report an error in the passage at 1:06 Highlight the passage at 1:06

1:33 direct cause of their happiness and the direct cause of their end of suffering. Report an error in the passage at 1:33 Highlight the passage at 1:33

1:48 Ready? We can start with the opening prayer on page 8 of the white book. There's a lot of empty seats right here. I guess if anyone would like to move forward, it's kind of nice. Report an error in the passage at 1:48 Highlight the passage at 1:48

2:07 That's right, yeah. It's all Jessica's fault. Thank you. I'll give you a cupcake later. Report an error in the passage at 2:07 Highlight the passage at 2:07

2:17 All right. With a 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 2:17 Highlight the passage at 2:17

2:56 made space for Kathy to kind of sneak in and sit in the back. Report an error in the passage at 2:56 Highlight the passage at 2:56

3:02 We held the class just for you. I wish I could say that, honestly. So tonight we're actually going to... We're going to launch right in because we're going to talk about the subtler levels of body and mind. So we're going to get into the chakras and the winds and channels and drops and things like that. Report an error in the passage at 3:02 Highlight the passage at 3:02

3:24 And you guys get some really fun little handouts. I'm not going to give you yet because you'll be looking at them all during class. Moms. Report an error in the passage at 3:24 Highlight the passage at 3:24

3:36 And we end with a really nice meditation, so I'm going to try to save time for that. And that will be your meditation assignment. For those of you who have done the death and impermanence class, this is the death dissolution meditation. It's actually one of my favorite meditations, which is, I suppose, a good thing. So we're going to talk about that. Now this is getting into, according to the tantric teachings, Report an error in the passage at 3:36 Highlight the passage at 3:36

4:05 We have actually three levels of body and of mind. A gross level that we see, this is the one that's created by karma and affliction. So there's a lot of problems related to this one. Then there's a subtle body and mind that we begin to access when we get deeper and deeper states of meditation, like in the calm abiding states. Report an error in the passage at 4:05 Highlight the passage at 4:05

4:29 States. We actually focus... We also get some feel of them in dream mind as well. And then there's the most subtle body and mind, and the most subtle mind is what moves from life to life. The most subtle body is this one that's created out of, it's almost like an energy, they call it winds, but it's also in Sanskrit it's called prāṇa, so it's that same kind of life force or chi. Report an error in the passage at 4:29 Highlight the passage at 4:29

5:00 The Chinese medical system. And then the drops, what are called drops, are bindi in Sanskrit, which is where that little one up there comes from. They're all called bindi. I was just noticing today during the puja that he's got a really nice bindi on his forehead, this drop of light. Report an error in the passage at 5:00 Highlight the passage at 5:00

5:23 A diamond, I don't know if it's a real one. Don't be trying to pick it out, alright? It goes missing, alright? We've got to put a little alarm by the door there. Report an error in the passage at 5:23 Highlight the passage at 5:23

5:37 In the ordinary process of death, What happens, which we'll experience or we'll sort of begin to play with experiencing in the meditation tonight, is we sort of dissolve, we become more and more subtle. So the grosser aspects of ourselves, body and mind, begin to sort of dissolve into themselves and we move down to a subtler level of ourselves. Report an error in the passage at 5:37 Highlight the passage at 5:37

6:09 You know, so to speak. I don't like to use these words like self, but you know what I mean. So we move down to a subtler level of mind. And that process, as we practice it and prepare for it, can actually be a time of great spiritual practice. But usually what has happened... For many lifetimes is that it all goes so quickly and we haven't trained ourselves and we're more focused. We sort of get caught on the first dissolution where our gross experience of this life is all we think there is and that's disappearing and that's really frightening. Report an error in the passage at 6:09 Highlight the passage at 6:09

6:48 So we get caught there rather than experiencing going down to our true nature, the purity of our mind and the purity of our... The clear light experience at the time of death. Report an error in the passage at 6:48 Highlight the passage at 6:48

7:05 So from the point of view of Buddhism, it's actually, since it's going to happen, to prepare for it and to be able to use it in any kind of spiritual capacity, especially if we remember our motivation as this wider one of trying to actually get enlightened, to become an enlightened being so that we can benefit others. Report an error in the passage at 7:05 Highlight the passage at 7:05

7:27 And even if we don't, just to be less frightened at the time of death. So I mean it could have this lesser motivation and still be quite useful. Just to be able to practice what will happen without fear could be a really good thing at the time of death because then we won't be afraid and we'll be able to die more easily. Report an error in the passage at 7:27 Highlight the passage at 7:27

7:49 So even just that, with that sort of lesser idea. And I have noticed... This isn't really a part of the class, but I've noticed that it's also quite useful if you're with somebody who's passing away. So you kind of have an idea of what they're going through, and it is somewhat obvious by their actions and by their words and so forth. Report an error in the passage at 7:49 Highlight the passage at 7:49

8:13 It's quite useful because it gives you a frame of reference in an otherwise somewhat, you know, scary time. So then it kind of is like, oh, okay, this is what's happening. All right. It's kind of like following a map. And so the more that you practice it. This particular dissolution meditation is also, it figures really, really highly in Tantra. Report an error in the passage at 8:13 Highlight the passage at 8:13

8:39 And I'll get to that later, how it differs, because of course in Tantra it has a different ending. So we'll talk about that at the end. Report an error in the passage at 8:39 Highlight the passage at 8:39

8:51 but, uh... It's somewhat dangerous, actually. I can just see. Chokyi puts her eye out during the death dissolution meditation. Oh, I'm sorry. I Report an error in the passage at 8:51 Highlight the passage at 8:51

9:15 was actually just going to take it out. I could just see it falling. Report an error in the passage at 9:15 Highlight the passage at 9:15

9:24 Yeah, maybe just put it on his cushion so we at least can always... Report an error in the passage at 9:24 Highlight the passage at 9:24

9:34 It's not on anymore, so you can turn it any direction. I could wear it behind my ear, actually. It wouldn't bother. Except it wouldn't hold. Report an error in the passage at 9:34 Highlight the passage at 9:34

9:46 Okay, so let's see. So where do I want to start? Report an error in the passage at 9:46 Highlight the passage at 9:46

9:54 The body that we have right now that is created by karma and delusions is very... It's problematic because it's created by karma and delusion. So that's why we suffer. That's why it decays. That's why it gets old. That's why it can get injured. That's why it gets sick. That's why the hip and the knee and the back and the shoulders ache. Report an error in the passage at 9:54 Highlight the passage at 9:54

10:23 That's why all of that happens, according from the Buddhist point of view. The other things that we know about the car accident. The long day at work, those are conditions, but the ultimate cause is that it's created by karma and delusions. It is a samsaric creation, this body of ours, this gross body of ours. Report an error in the passage at 10:23 Highlight the passage at 10:23

10:46 Ultimately, it is possible, according to the Buddhist teachings, to transcend this ordinary body and to have a body of light, to actually just abide in a body that's... Very much like our subtle body. So it's not like we have to create that. We actually have it already. We have to access it and we have to recognize it and we have to practice going to that subtle body so that we become familiar with it. Report an error in the passage at 10:46 Highlight the passage at 10:46

11:18 But we don't have to make it up. So we're just going. And we're going inward to discover what we already have. So in the same way that we're sort of discovering the nature of our own mind and things like that, when we do meditations on Dzogchen and on Mahamudra and meditations on emptiness, it's not like the Buddha made up emptiness either. Report an error in the passage at 11:18 Highlight the passage at 11:18

11:41 That's the way he experienced reality. And in his different practices in the Tantra path... We are simply going inward to discover the nature of our subtle body and our subtle mind. So according to the Buddha, there are 72,000 channels running through our body right now. Report an error in the passage at 11:41 Highlight the passage at 11:41

12:05 And they start developing in each life just shortly after conception. The most important of these channels is what's called the central channel that we started sort of experiencing a little bit or playing with the experience of in that meditation last week. Last week, right? So that's also called Shoshuma in Sanskrit. Report an error in the passage at 12:05 Highlight the passage at 12:05

12:37 I'm sorry, maybe in Tibetan. Avaduti in Sanskrit. That runs in a straight line from the crown of our head. when we did the, yeah. Report an error in the passage at 12:37 Highlight the passage at 12:37

12:38 and I do, I, I, I've Report an error in the passage at 12:38 Highlight the passage at 12:38

12:49 Down in front of our spine to an area at the base of our spine. And it's flanked on either side by what are called the left and right channels. In English we usually just say the left and right channels. They have other names, but that's fine. Left and right channels does it. Report an error in the passage at 12:49 Highlight the passage at 12:49

13:13 The outside of the central channel is blue and the inside is red. These are just fun facts to know and tell. And they help you to visualize it more correctly. But it's okay. Don't get caught up with these facts at this point. And each of them is about the size of a stalk of wheat, although we often visualize them as a little bit bigger. Report an error in the passage at 13:13 Highlight the passage at 13:13

13:37 Like in Lama Yeshi's visualization, he often says about the size of a little finger. And I think it's just so that we can visualize it a little bit better. The more we visualize anything in Tantra, we end up making it smaller. Like at first it's big so that we can visualize it, and then we get smaller and smaller and smaller. And I think it's just because of the detail involved. The right channel is red, and it runs to the right of the central channel. Report an error in the passage at 13:37 Highlight the passage at 13:37

14:13 Right, red, remember the RR. That one, the upper end goes up to the crown and bends down, kind of like an umbrella, the end of an umbrella, and runs at the end. It ends up going to the end of the right nostril, and the lower end ends at the same level as the secret place at the base of the spine. And the left channel is white. It runs to the left of the central channel. The upper end goes... Report an error in the passage at 14:13 Highlight the passage at 14:13

14:50 Up to the crown and bends down and comes to the root of the left nostril. It's actually the base of that nostril. It's not like at the nostril itself. And the lower end is also at the level of the secret place. It's actually called the secret place. I'm not just being shy. Report an error in the passage at 14:50 Highlight the passage at 14:50

15:17 And it's important when we visualize these three channels that we visualize the left and right are filled with wind. And the middle one is flat. Usually wind doesn't enter the central channel until we're in the process of actively dying. Report an error in the passage at 15:17 Highlight the passage at 15:17

15:40 And then along the central channel are these different focal points that are called chakras. And we hear about those a lot, especially in yoga and other eastern religions. Report an error in the passage at 15:40 Highlight the passage at 15:40

15:55 Eastern medicines as well. We talk about chakras. A lot of times we get really caught up with this idea of chakras as being like a really beautiful thing. There's one teacher who was like, actually they're just a bunch of knots that we're trying to untie. They've been caused by our, you know, different deluded thoughts. And so we're actually trying to undo them. Report an error in the passage at 15:55 Highlight the passage at 15:55

16:15 In order to get enlightened, you know, so they aren't so, sometimes they're made quite beautifully, like in the drawing that you'll have, they're quite beautiful and they're called petals and all this stuff and that's for visualizations purposes. They kind of more look something like this in the traditional view, which is just not so attractive. Report an error in the passage at 16:15 Highlight the passage at 16:15

16:38 It actually just looks like different parts of like... What are the words? Veins, the way veins stick together and nerves and things like that. And that's really the more traditional drawing of it. But a lot of times they refer to the number of petals at each chakra and things like that. And that's the number of spokes in each chakra and things like that. Report an error in the passage at 16:38 Highlight the passage at 16:38

17:05 You don't need to obviously remember any of these things. This is just informational. And this stuff isn't secret in that. like Report an error in the passage at 17:05 Highlight the passage at 17:05

17:14 It's used in the different medical traditions out of Tibetan medicine, so I felt like it was okay to share. So wherever there's a knot on the right or left channels, there's a chakra. So where they meet, the right channel makes a clockwise knot and the left channel makes a counterclockwise knot. And so those are also called sometimes channel wheels. Report an error in the passage at 17:14 Highlight the passage at 17:14

17:41 wheels. And they have a certain number of spokes at each one. Sometimes they're called petals. There are five great chakras and three small chakras. The five great chakras are, for those of you who need to know these sorts of things, I certainly did. I thought it was really interesting. Crown chakra, which is also called the chakra of great bliss because at its center is the drop of white essential fluid that is the foundation of bliss. Report an error in the passage at 17:41 Highlight the passage at 17:41

18:10 And we'll get to that in a minute. So crown chakra and chakra of great bliss. I'm sort of hearing it like beginning. I'm going to go like this. So maybe I'll kind of, I'll just kind of move over this way. Report an error in the passage at 18:10 Highlight the passage at 18:10

18:31 How's that? The chakra of great bliss. The throat chakra is called the chakra of enjoyment. This is where taste is experienced at the subtle level. Report an error in the passage at 18:31 Highlight the passage at 18:31

18:50 The heart chakra is called the Dharma chakra, or the chakra of phenomena, because it's where the very subtle wind and mind that are the root of all phenomena abide. And we're going to talk about that too. They're held in what's called an indestructible drop, Report an error in the passage at 18:50 Highlight the passage at 18:50

19:15 even though actually it is an indestructible. That's a title, but we'll get to that in a minute. The navel chakra. It's located at the solar plexus and it's called the chakra of emanation and that's where tummo or inner fire abides and it's also the means of generating great bliss. Report an error in the passage at 19:15 Highlight the passage at 19:15

19:47 And the chakra of the secret place is located at the base of the spine at the sexual organ and is called chakra of sustained bliss because of the deeper level of bliss that's sustained there. Report an error in the passage at 19:47 Highlight the passage at 19:47

20:02 So we have crown chakra. Which is also called Chakra of Great Bliss. Throat Chakra, which is called the Chakra of Enjoyment. Heart Chakra, which is called the Chakra of Phenomena or Dharma Chakra. Report an error in the passage at 20:02 Highlight the passage at 20:02

20:22 Naval Chakra, which is called the Chakra of Emanation. Report an error in the passage at 20:22 Highlight the passage at 20:22

20:29 Chakra of the Secret Place is called the Chakra of Sustained Bliss. Report an error in the passage at 20:29 Highlight the passage at 20:29

20:39 Does anybody need a repetition on any of those? Report an error in the passage at 20:39 Highlight the passage at 20:39

20:45 The three lesser chakras are the wind chakra, which is right where the Buddha's diamond is, right between the eyebrows. The third eye, sometimes called the third eye. That's the wind chakra. Report an error in the passage at 20:45 Highlight the passage at 20:45

21:04 In between the heart and the throat is the fire chakra. Report an error in the passage at 21:04 Highlight the passage at 21:04

21:16 And at the tip of the secret place is called the jewel chakra. Report an error in the passage at 21:16 Highlight the passage at 21:16

21:25 Wind chakra in between the throat and the heart. Fire Chakra and Jewel Chakra. Report an error in the passage at 21:25 Highlight the passage at 21:25

21:40 At the heart center, or the heart chakra, there's this six-fold constriction of the heart, which is what keeps winds from moving into the central channel until the time of death. And that's another reason why it's not so great to focus on the heart so much during visualization. It can cause some wind imbalance. Report an error in the passage at 21:40 Highlight the passage at 21:40

22:02 We sort of mentioned that in other classes, this thing called lung. It's simply because of all that's happening there. And I noticed I was aware of that when I did my Vashasapha retreat and it was easier for me to move it down to the belly, my visualization, instead of imagining so much light going into the heart to move it down to the belly. Report an error in the passage at 22:02 Highlight the passage at 22:02

22:27 And so sometimes that happens. Tuck that one away in your mind until you're off doing Vashasapha somewhere. Oh yeah, bring that down a notch. The most important of all these chakras is the heart chakra and that's where this indestructible drop is said to abide and that's where the most subtle mind and body resides during our life. Report an error in the passage at 22:27 Highlight the passage at 22:27

22:53 It's been with us, you know, the subtle most body and mind have been with us since the beginning of this time and it's blocked during our lifetime. Report an error in the passage at 22:53 Highlight the passage at 22:53

23:07 From doing its most important function, which is basically penetrating the nature of reality because all these other obscurations are in the way, all these grosser mental states. We get caught up with getting a job, making a living and watching TV and listening to the radio and spending limitless lifetimes online. Report an error in the passage at 23:07 Highlight the passage at 23:07

23:31 And so that blocks us from being able to really get... to a deeper place you know we we sort of just do that on purpose and sometimes we have obscurations from karma Report an error in the passage at 23:31 Highlight the passage at 23:31

23:46 As long as the winds are Report an error in the passage at 23:46 Highlight the passage at 23:46

24:01 flowing through any of the thousands of other channels in our body, any of the 71... 1,999 other channels besides the central channel, then those winds activate gross minds. Report an error in the passage at 24:01 Highlight the passage at 24:01

24:21 Oh, I've got to go to the bathroom. Oh, I've got to get up and work tomorrow. You know, like whatever is going through our minds any given day and night. And that always gives rise to more hallucination, as Lama she calls it, more confusion, more ignorance. But when they move into the central channel, which normally in an ordinary person only happens at the time of death or in a near-death experience also, then they actually, all those gross minds subside for just those few moments. Report an error in the passage at 24:21 Highlight the passage at 24:21

24:54 And it's actually a very blissful experience. And that's why people who have had near-death experiences describe it as not such a bad thing. Report an error in the passage at 24:54 Highlight the passage at 24:54

25:05 They don't talk about the moment after because they usually come back into this life or it wouldn't have been called a near-death experience. Report an error in the passage at 25:05 Highlight the passage at 25:05

25:17 And we aren't going to spend so much time on the death process. There is another Discovering Buddhism class that gets more into death, dying and rebirth in the bardo state, the intermediate state. And all of that is determined by karma, so there's no magical mystery to it at all, according to Buddhism, the Buddha and teachers of Buddhism. Report an error in the passage at 25:17 Highlight the passage at 25:17

25:44 If we want to know where we're going, then we look at how we're working with our mind in this life. That's kind of what they always say. Especially when we ask them where somebody went. It's sort of like, well, what kind of person were they? If they were basically a nice person, then they probably got a fairly good rebirth. Report an error in the passage at 25:44 Highlight the passage at 25:44

26:02 It kind of does work that way, according to the Buddhist teachings. Report an error in the passage at 26:02 Highlight the passage at 26:02

26:08 But anyway, I digress. So as everything is more and more dissolved, and we're moving towards this more subtle level of our body and mind, which is in this indestructible... A seed of our heart as that actually opens and we experience that blissful state. That's what's called the clear light experience of the mind. Report an error in the passage at 26:08 Highlight the passage at 26:08

26:34 So you might hear that. And last time we actually talked about certain levels of empowerment, empowering you to work with that clear light nature of the mind. Again, you don't have to create anything. We're just trying to access what... What already exists within us. And so we do that through these tantric techniques. So in an ordinary death, it happens automatically. Report an error in the passage at 26:34 Highlight the passage at 26:34

27:04 Like you don't have to know anything. I used to always feel like in a way... It's such a funny idea. It's like we have so many tests and exams in the Western system. It always sort of feels like death is the ultimate exam. Am I going to remember all the points? But you do meditate on this process all the time. Report an error in the passage at 27:04 Highlight the passage at 27:04

27:28 Even if you do your practices not so well, it's part of it all the time. So you're constantly doing this dissolution and so forth. And His Holiness often says there's some level of him that's actually quite excited to see what it's really like when he does pass away because he's been preparing since he was a tiny child for this moment to see. Report an error in the passage at 27:28 Highlight the passage at 27:28

27:51 If it is like that, and he actually does look excited when he says that. I'm like, wow, you're just amazing. So usually it happens just automatically, but it happens quickly. And if we haven't trained ourselves, then we miss it. And few people actually recognize it when you are going through it. Ordinary people, I should say. Sometimes if you do experience it almost by chance, you know. Report an error in the passage at 27:51 Highlight the passage at 27:51

28:21 If anything's by chance. But you haven't prepared. You might, you sort of just enter a blissed out, kind of that lulled, blissed out state. And so then you lose awareness. And sometimes people fall into sort of a swoon or a faint. Or they're startled by it. The clarity of their own mind is so startling, it's more startling than anything that they've experienced. Report an error in the passage at 28:21 Highlight the passage at 28:21

28:49 That's if they're fortunate enough to even recognize it and it doesn't move too quickly. They say that this dissolution experience actually happens every night when we go to sleep and then we awake and we sort of gross back up again. And they say, of course, also that if we've lived... Since beginningless time, if our minds are beginningless and endless, then we ourselves have gone through this many, many, many, many times, which is somewhat of a comfort, I think, too. Report an error in the passage at 28:49 Highlight the passage at 28:49

29:26 We've done this before, so it doesn't have to be the ultimate final exam. Report an error in the passage at 29:26 Highlight the passage at 29:26

29:35 So in Tantra, we're trained to... Make use of this ordinary experience that everybody has and that we automatically go through to access this really blissful state of consciousness that then we can use to directly perceive emptiness. This is again this goal to use this very subtle, subtle mind that's blissful. The idea of the bliss is that there's some level it makes the mind more subtle. Report an error in the passage at 29:35 Highlight the passage at 29:35

30:08 So that bliss is used to directly perceive emptiness. Again, that same teacher who told me to remember that the deities are made of light. Report an error in the passage at 30:08 Highlight the passage at 30:08

30:21 was talking about this. It's not like we're just experiencing bliss over and over again, because in all these sadhanas it's like bliss, bliss, and all during the empowerment it's like remember this with great bliss. It's not just to have a good time. We are trying to make our mind subtle so that we can have this penetrating mind that is able to directly perceive emptiness, the nature of reality as the Buddha experience. Report an error in the passage at 30:21 Highlight the passage at 30:21

30:46 And so that's why we want this mind to get more and more blissful. Report an error in the passage at 30:46 Highlight the passage at 30:46

30:53 So that's the purpose of that blissful mind. Now, are we going to remember this at the time of death? No. You know, we won't unless we have been meditating under really great circumstances for years and years. Geshele said the chances of one of us having a direct perception of emptiness at the moment of death when conditions are anything but. Report an error in the passage at 30:53 Highlight the passage at 30:53

31:17 You know, fantastic. I mean, anything but, you know, conducive. Even in the best of circumstances, you're not probably going to be in meditation posture. You might be, depending on where it happens. But if you haven't been practicing during life, the chances of you being able to make use of it during the death process are slim. Report an error in the passage at 31:17 Highlight the passage at 31:17

31:40 So obviously, we learn these practices. Under really good circumstances, we try to practice them so much that it becomes second nature so that at least you can slow it down a little bit and you can get some taste of the clear light nature of the mind. Sometimes you might hear stories about when great yogis or lamas pass away and they stay in this meditation for a number of days and sometimes weeks. Report an error in the passage at 31:40 Highlight the passage at 31:40

32:13 And sometimes they're seen to be sort of blissful, like their faces are different, and there's no smell of decomposing flesh or anything, even for all that time, even in summer in India and things like that. So they are able to make use of, and they definitely practiced in life. So the chances of us doing it... Report an error in the passage at 32:13 Highlight the passage at 32:13

32:38 Without that practice are very, very slim. Geshe-la was quite, quite clear about that because I think people sort of hang their hat on it thinking, well, if I learn these and then I just like, you know, then I can just sort of lay back and wait for it to happen. It doesn't work that way. We have to prepare our minds. You know, the chances are unlikely unless we've practiced very, very. Report an error in the passage at 32:38 Highlight the passage at 32:38

33:00 But it's still quite useful for us to know these steps and to know what's happening and to know how it's used, even if in this life we don't have the time to take these tantric practices all the way to Buddhahood. Still, every bit of practice, if you think of a longer view, as His Holiness is always saying, taking the longer view, knowing that it could take many lifetimes for us to get enlightened, but also taking the shorter view and trying to urgently use this life that we know we have right now. Report an error in the passage at 33:00 Highlight the passage at 33:00

33:28 So taking both is the middle way. Report an error in the passage at 33:28 Highlight the passage at 33:28

33:36 And then once this total absorption happens, there's this explosion of this blissful energy and the union of bliss and emptiness is in High Suga Tantra the quickest path to enlightenment. And that's also what's known as Mahamudra during the Great Seal. They talk about Mahamudra as this union of bliss and emptiness. Report an error in the passage at 33:36 Highlight the passage at 33:36

34:03 I didn't move. Oh, where's the other one? Yeah, but it's facing that way. Report an error in the passage at 34:03 Highlight the passage at 34:03

34:17 Yeah, maybe turn it off, yeah. Report an error in the passage at 34:17 Highlight the passage at 34:17

34:28 Okay, so the structure of the winds is just as complicated and precise as the structure of the channels. So I'm going to give you some more information. This is how the winds are laid out. According to Hayash Yoga Tantra, they say that there are ten winds, five primary and five secondary, and that the functioning of these winds, which again, they use this word wind, but I really think it's more like energy. Report an error in the passage at 34:28 Highlight the passage at 34:28

35:07 And I was just reading something recently and I forgot now who it was. It might have been, I can't remember now if it was His Holiness or Jeffrey Hopkins, but... Report an error in the passage at 35:07 Highlight the passage at 35:07

35:19 He was using the term energy too and I thought, okay, good, I'm not so far off base. This idea of winds I think really sounds like, it's not like, it just sounds really weird. But if you think of it energetically, it kind of makes more sense to me. And that's the way I think of prāṇa when I think of if I'm doing yoga and things like that, then it seems to make more sense to my mind. Report an error in the passage at 35:19 Highlight the passage at 35:19

35:44 Okay, so the first one is what's called the life-bearing wind. I'm only going to give you the main. wins, the primary wins. Report an error in the passage at 35:44 Highlight the passage at 35:44

35:54 The life-bearing wind, its main seat is these channels near the heart and its main function is to maintain our life. And it gives rise to the secondary, the five secondary winds. So life-bearing wind at the heart and its function is maintaining our life. Report an error in the passage at 35:54 Highlight the passage at 35:54

36:23 The second one is what's called the downward voiding wind, one can imagine. It's mostly located in the lower abdomen, but moves in the uterus, seminal, vesicle, bladder, thighs and so on. And it aids in urination, defecation, menstruation. I'm sorry, I just was remembering Peter. Report an error in the passage at 36:23 Highlight the passage at 36:23

36:54 Peter, when I was telling this part of it, I said, urination, defecation, menstruation, he just started a rap. As only Peter would do. Report an error in the passage at 36:54 Highlight the passage at 36:54

37:07 So again, downward voiding wind, main seat in the channels of the lower abdomen, moving in the uterus, seminal, vesicle, bladder, thighs, and aids in urination, defecation, menstruation. I would assume also seminal emission, although they don't mention that. But everything's sort of moving downward. Fire-dwelling wind is the third, and its main seat is the channels of the solar plexus, which is where tummo, the inner heat. Report an error in the passage at 37:07 Highlight the passage at 37:07

37:51 And its main function is digestion. Report an error in the passage at 37:51 Highlight the passage at 37:51

37:58 It also separates refined and unrefined parts as the liver and the spleen, those functions. According to Western medicine, according to Tibetan medicine, it's that fire-dwelling wind acting up. Report an error in the passage at 37:58 Highlight the passage at 37:58

38:18 So fire-dwelling main area is solar plexus, and its function is digestion and separating refined and unrefined parts. That's the way Gisela said it, so I put it. Unfortunately, we didn't have nearly as a refined translator at that time either, so there are some problems with these translations, but I'm going with exactly as it was presented in class. Report an error in the passage at 38:18 Highlight the passage at 38:18

38:44 Upward moving wind is the fourth one. Its main seat is in the channels of the throat, and it causes speech, tasting of food, swallowing, burping, spitting, and so forth. Report an error in the passage at 38:44 Highlight the passage at 38:44

39:09 Upward moving wind. Channels of the throat causing speech, tasting of food, swallowing, burping, spitting, and so on. And the pervasive wind is the fifth. Report an error in the passage at 39:09 Highlight the passage at 39:09

39:27 Its main seat are the joints, which is what causes us to be limber, to be able to stretch and contract our limbs, open and close our mouth, open and close our eyelids. Interesting. And again, it's called the pervasive wind. And located in the joints. Report an error in the passage at 39:27 Highlight the passage at 39:27

39:56 Again, normally in an ordinary person, the winds don't ever move into the central channel except at that during the active process of death. Report an error in the passage at 39:56 Highlight the passage at 39:56

40:13 Although in certain yogic practices, we do try to move it into that central channel when it's not that time. Which is another reason why you don't want to try this at home, folks, until you have a qualified teacher that can show you the way. Report an error in the passage at 40:13 Highlight the passage at 40:13

40:34 And even then, wait until he or she says it. It's a good time for you to be practicing. again. Report an error in the passage at 40:34 Highlight the passage at 40:34

40:44 then the, during the. The final four levels of the phases of death. The meditation that you're going to work on this week is called the eight stages of the death dissolution. And so there's an initial four stages and there's a final four stages. The final four stages... Report an error in the passage at 40:44 Highlight the passage at 40:44

41:05 Are when the winds of the body start moving into first the left and right channels and then dissolve there and then eventually move into the central channel. And so then that, you know, if you're visualizing those channels as filled with winds and the central channel as flat, then as they dissolve into the central channel, then the left and right ones go flat and the middle one gets filled with air. Report an error in the passage at 41:05 Highlight the passage at 41:05

41:31 So in your visualization, you're starting to visualize. And as those channels deflate, that loosens all those constrictions that are around in the channels, the knots. And so that's what allows the winds to then flow into the central channel. The movement of the wind is what's causing the bliss. So they say this actual, as the movement of the wind, especially as it enters the central channel, causes this amazing bliss like... Report an error in the passage at 41:31 Highlight the passage at 41:31

42:03 Nothing that we've experienced before. This is according to Lama Yeshe and other great masters. And that blissful state, again, is for the realization of emptiness. So in these tantric practices, we're still trying to realize emptiness. We don't leave that behind when we enter tantra. That's still a goal, and not the final goal, but simply that's the beginning of our... Report an error in the passage at 42:03 Highlight the passage at 42:03

42:30 End in saṃsāra. So we definitely want to try to realize the nature of reality. Report an error in the passage at 42:30 Highlight the passage at 42:30

42:39 In His Holiness the Dalai Lama, there's a book that he wrote. Well, it was one of his teachings and I'm sure it was made into a book afterwards. Most of his books are like that. And we talked about it in the death and permanence class. I'll help me if I can remember. It was something like... Shoot, now I've forgotten the name of it. But it's quite a good explanation of these stages. I'm trying to remember the title of the book. Report an error in the passage at 42:39 Highlight the passage at 42:39

43:07 It's something like death. Anyway, I'll find out. I'll mention it next week because I didn't write it down. But it's one that he goes into great detail about the experience of this meditation. And I use some aspects from... Report an error in the passage at 43:07 Highlight the passage at 43:07

43:27 His explanation in the meditation that you guys will do, sort of beefing it up from some of the ones that I was more familiar with. But I think all of his details are quite useful for how this experience would feel to you. So I think it's quite useful. And then also there is intellectual information that you wouldn't experience in the meditation, but it's useful for you when you're reading it. Report an error in the passage at 43:27 Highlight the passage at 43:27

43:50 So you're reading it and you're like, oh yeah, that's interesting. But if I'm experiencing it, I'm not going to know. This is the end of this wisdom, but it's useful for me to kind of know where that dissolves and so forth. He's full of that kind of information. And this is all, from the Buddhist perspective, this is all very connected with the study of our own mind. Because this understanding how the winds and channels function is all connected with our mind. Report an error in the passage at 43:50 Highlight the passage at 43:50

44:23 And understanding how... how we How the grosser levels of our body and mind dissolve into the more subtle levels during the process of death is all part of understanding and getting familiar with our own mind. So it's not something separate from that even though it sort of sounds more exotic to us right now. But from the Buddhist point of view it's exactly the same type of teaching. Report an error in the passage at 44:23 Highlight the passage at 44:23

44:56 And so from the Buddhist point of view, death is talked about a lot. There are many, many practices that we can do for somebody else, like we've been doing for Max, Karen's husband, who passed away six weeks ago. Report an error in the passage at 44:56 Highlight the passage at 44:56

45:17 So there are many practices that we can do for somebody else. But then, of course, obviously, if we ourselves are... A practitioner, especially a tantric practitioner, there are many practices that we want to do as we are preparing for death. So I actually had a friend in town from college many, many, many years ago, and she was talking about, you know, she said, you know, what would you do if you knew? Report an error in the passage at 45:17 Highlight the passage at 45:17

45:44 That kind of question came up. What would you do if you knew that you only had X amount of time? I said, definitely get in touch with Lama Zopa. And then I'd probably go into retreat. That's kind of what I think I would do. And I know that wasn't at all what you expected to hear. And I said, well, I probably would go see my family first. That made her feel better. Report an error in the passage at 45:44 Highlight the passage at 45:44

46:04 But it's not so much a time of... you know Report an error in the passage at 46:04 Highlight the passage at 46:04

46:09 Yes, we have attachments to people and animals and our own, whether we're the dying person or whether somebody else is dying. But it can be with a lot of training and concentration. It can be this really powerful and vital practice period. And it can actually result in amazing and profound spiritual attainment. Report an error in the passage at 46:09 Highlight the passage at 46:09

46:38 For ourselves, helping somebody else pass away and also obviously for ourselves. If we are a yogi, if we are somebody who has practiced this stuff in life, then we can use those moments at the time of death to actually progress on the path, to get closer to that enlightenment that we keep saying that we want and we forget. Report an error in the passage at 46:38 Highlight the passage at 46:38

47:02 Otherwise... If we don't prepare for it, then it can just be really frightening because our ego is still in charge, right? So if our ego is in charge and the ego feels like it's losing things or people that it's close to and that this is all there is, you know, if it doesn't, if there's no understanding that this is just simply part of the cycle and that we've done this before and that we'll do it again. Report an error in the passage at 47:02 Highlight the passage at 47:02

47:30 I think it's Dogey. Went to sleep on the sofa and then he just went to the bathroom. Report an error in the passage at 47:30 Highlight the passage at 47:30

47:37 I think he's just wandering around. But anyway, otherwise it can just be this really frightening experience and that's partly why it's frightening, because we haven't thought about it and because we really think this is all there is. Report an error in the passage at 47:37 Highlight the passage at 47:37

47:52 Right now I've been, actually about a year ago, Lama Zopa Rinpoche told me to... bathroom. Report an error in the passage at 47:52 Highlight the passage at 47:52

47:58 Read and work with the five powers at the time of death, that practice. There's five powers that you work with in life and then five powers that are slightly similar but slightly different at the time of death. And I'm spending a lot of time on this one power that's talking about cutting attachment. And he's always saying, you know, go ahead right now, just do it. Report an error in the passage at 47:58 Highlight the passage at 47:58

48:20 In your head, give away everything that you're attached to. You know, so I'm always sitting there, it's always doing it in the morning, because I just read like one little bit of it each day, and I'm just sitting there, okay, and I give all my altar items to Mary, she can just give them away to people who don't have any money or don't have any things, you know. Report an error in the passage at 48:20 Highlight the passage at 48:20

48:35 Okay, and I give Bodhi to Mary and Janet, and they can just decide what to do with her together for the rest of their lives, you know. So I'm just like sitting there giving away, and he's just like, it's like an apple a day. It keeps the doctor away. It makes your mind already happier and lighter while you're in this life, much less at the time of your death. Report an error in the passage at 48:35 Highlight the passage at 48:35

48:54 Definitely at the time of your death. You want to be able to give up all those things that you're attached to if you're still attached to things. And some people during the course of a dying, as they're dying, especially if they're dying over many years or months, they begin doing that themselves. My mom began writing on the underside of everything that she owned, who it went to. Report an error in the passage at 48:54 Highlight the passage at 48:54

49:19 Which was quite helpful at the end. We were like, oh, this one's for you. It's kind of like on Christmas morning. What did this one say? Oh, yeah, this one's for you. It was kind of like that. And then we didn't fight over them either. And it was kind of like, you know, it just made it a lot easier. She did that probably. Report an error in the passage at 49:19 Highlight the passage at 49:19

49:34 Eight years or something before she did. You know, she just was thinking about it, probably heard about somebody else who did that. And I've heard about other people that have done that, too. And then it's gone from your mind, too. You know it's taken care of. Obviously, writing a will does the same thing, you know, just like you know it's taken care of. Because there are all these stories of that clinging mind, you know, just not wanting to let go. Report an error in the passage at 49:34 Highlight the passage at 49:34

50:00 So according to Tantra, the... The base of saṃsāra or the root of saṃsāra is this mind of ego grasping. Ego grasping, as she says. It sounds like he says, grasping. And tantra doesn't say that that's not right. It just takes it one more step. And that's where it's saying that it's this, the root of all of our suffering, according to tantra, is this ping. Report an error in the passage at 50:00 Highlight the passage at 50:00

50:33 Uncontrolled experience of death and the death dissolution and that we have the intermediate state which is also uncontrolled and then our rebirth which is also uncontrolled and totally dependent upon whatever karmic seeds we've created. And so the whole thing becomes this really nightmarish experience rather than this very profound still blissful experience that they describe. Report an error in the passage at 50:33 Highlight the passage at 50:33

51:02 so, um... And in Tantra then we take all these ordinary aspects of this dissolution into death and bardo experience and rebirth and then we meditate on them repeatedly. Report an error in the passage at 51:02 Highlight the passage at 51:02

51:20 So we have to understand, last week we sort of touched on some of the bodies of a Buddha. And so normally they talk about four bodies of a Buddha. Actually there are several ways to divide it. There are two bodies, three bodies or four bodies depending on how you divide it. They're just simply saying sometimes they combine two into one. Report an error in the passage at 51:20 Highlight the passage at 51:20

51:46 Usually they divide the one I can never pronounce. They combine that one into Dharmakaya thankfully. So then it's three bodies and that's what we're going to talk about. Sometimes they just talk about form, body and... Report an error in the passage at 51:46 Highlight the passage at 51:46

52:02 Wisdom body, right? So form and wisdom, and so then there's just two. But usually they break them into three. So the truth body, which is the Dharmakaya, the enjoyment body, which is the Sambhogakaya, and the emanation body, which is the Nirmanakaya. Report an error in the passage at 52:02 Highlight the passage at 52:02

52:23 Or you could also say the emanation bodies, plural, many, multitude. Report an error in the passage at 52:23 Highlight the passage at 52:23

52:31 So that's when we become enlightened, they say that we can achieve all of these bodies simultaneously. So it's not like a Buddha is hanging out always looking like that, you know, like Manjushri or like any of the other enlightened forms that we see around us. And here in the Gampa, they say that they're manifesting in all these different ways simultaneously. So this is a Sambhogakaya emanation. Report an error in the passage at 52:31 Highlight the passage at 52:31

52:57 And then, you know... His Holiness the Dalai Lama, if he is who we think he is, then he would be a nirmanakaya, an emanation body of Chenrezig or Avalok Giteshvara. Report an error in the passage at 52:57 Highlight the passage at 52:57

53:12 We don't see the Dharmakaya. The Dharmakaya is this enlightened mind. Report an error in the passage at 53:12 Highlight the passage at 53:12

53:21 So the Dharmakaya is sort of this vast, enlightened mind. An unobstructed mind. And then the other two are these levels that we can manifest. I'll say we will do it in a positive sense, that we will manifest in order to help all living beings. Report an error in the passage at 53:21 Highlight the passage at 53:21

53:39 So we experience all of those simultaneously. In the sūtra teachings, this body is really seen to be a source of pain and misery. I mean, really, when they meditate to end, in the sūtra teachings, when you meditate to try to end attachment, it's usually attachment to another's body, but it could be attachment to your own body, too. Report an error in the passage at 53:39 Highlight the passage at 53:39

54:08 You usually think about how disgusting your body is, right? So this is these meditations that were especially taught to monks. If they were attracted to women, then they were supposed to think about all the disgusting aspects of the woman's body. But if you were attached to your own body, you would do that to your own body too, right? So there's all this thought about the body being really disgusting. And the tantric teachings, that sort of flipped around a little bit. Report an error in the passage at 54:08 Highlight the passage at 54:08

54:34 And it's actually taught to be incredibly precious. And so some of our commitments, some of our vows are actually to take care of this body because... Report an error in the passage at 54:34 Highlight the passage at 54:34

54:45 It has all these winds and channels that we can activate and work with in meditation. We have this hugely precious opportunity by having a human body. They say you can only practice Tantra in a human body. It's like the one realm that we can practice Tantra. Report an error in the passage at 54:45 Highlight the passage at 54:45

55:13 so all So it's made up of all these different elements, the earth, water, fire and air, all the energies and winds. It has the white drop and the red drop from the father and mother that allow for that blissful energy to arise. Report an error in the passage at 55:13 Highlight the passage at 55:13

55:33 And so it's this incredibly precious, precious, precious... thing that we have here, this human So there's not that thought that it's really disgusting and the source of all of our problems. It's actually the source of all of our potentiality, all of our latency, all of our potential enlightenment. So it's like this really positive view of the body versus the sūtra view. So why don't we take a break, but does anybody have any questions about anything that I've said before we move into ending with the... Report an error in the passage at 55:33 Highlight the passage at 55:33

56:07 the death process, more on the death process. Jess, do you want to pass? Wait, Report an error in the passage at 56:07 Highlight the passage at 56:07

56:17 push it on kind of slow. Report an error in the passage at 56:17 Highlight the passage at 56:17

56:23 Yeah, no, it's on. I thought I heard it click. Yeah, try it. No. I had a question about the bindi. I kind of get the others, but And so. Report an error in the passage at 56:23 Highlight the passage at 56:23

56:48 It's the chakra for wind. Can you explain a little bit more about what it's for? You know what? I have learned a little bit more about it, but those lesser chakras I didn't kind of bone up on, so I can't really answer that question. Report an error in the passage at 56:48 Highlight the passage at 56:48

57:04 But I could make a note. If you remind me on the break, I'll make a note and I'll see what I can find out. Henry? Can you list the four Buddha bodies again? Oh, yeah. Report an error in the passage at 57:04 Highlight the passage at 57:04

57:19 Dharmakaya, which is called the truth body. Report an error in the passage at 57:19 Highlight the passage at 57:19

57:29 Sambhogakaya, which is the enjoyment body. Report an error in the passage at 57:29 Highlight the passage at 57:29

57:37 Nirmanakaya, which is the emanation body or bodies. Report an error in the passage at 57:37 Highlight the passage at 57:37

57:45 And then this is that one I can never... Anna. Say it again. It's Svavikaya or something like that. I can't it. Luckily it doesn't come up very often. Oh, Report an error in the passage at 57:45 Highlight the passage at 57:45

58:11 and then that one is what's called the nature body. And usually that one and Dharmakaya are combined into one. Report an error in the passage at 58:11 Highlight the passage at 58:11

58:31 Thank you. Report an error in the passage at 58:31 Highlight the passage at 58:31

58:34 Oh, Anna in the back room. We went to Vajrapani and we had the basic meditation retreat with General Tenson Chokyi. It was very good. Report an error in the passage at 58:34 Highlight the passage at 58:34

58:50 I was there with Marcella and we were doing a meditation practice where we're looking at the nature of the mind and we talked about the clear light nature and she clarified that what we were looking at was really conventional mind. So when you're speaking of clear light nature, are you speaking of conventional mind or subtle mind? I think you're still talking about the conventional mind. Report an error in the passage at 58:50 Highlight the passage at 58:50

59:18 You're just talking about a very subtle level of it. Yeah, I think any time that we're talking about, I mean, when we're talking about gross, subtle and very subtle of body or mind, I think we're still talking conventional because its ultimate nature is its lack or absence of inherent existence. So, do you know what I mean? So it's, we aren't looking at that. We might have an experience of that being absent. Report an error in the passage at 59:18 Highlight the passage at 59:18

59:52 And that would be its ultimate nature. But yeah, that's the interesting thing. When you're meditating on emptiness, you're not meditating on a positive phenomena. You're meditating on that positive phenomena's lack of existing the way you always thought it did. So you're meditating on the pizza that isn't there when you thought it was going to be. Report an error in the passage at 59:52 Highlight the passage at 59:52

1:00:20 Anne. I'm sorry to call you Ann. We have Anna and Ann. You spoke about the states of bliss being our subtle mind or subtle body. Subtle mind? Well, it's subtle. It's the wind moving. Well, I mean, it's caused by the winds moving in the channels, but especially the winds when they move in the central channel and cause this blissful state. Report an error in the passage at 1:00:20 Highlight the passage at 1:00:20

1:00:51 And then more... Practice with that is what enables us to possibly, hopefully, someday, lifetime far, far away. It's one way. It's one way. Obviously, there are sūtra ways to have a direct perception of emptiness that have nothing to do with the winds and channels. But in tantra, you are sort of accessing this desire. Report an error in the passage at 1:00:51 Highlight the passage at 1:00:51

1:01:19 Which becomes bliss, which allows our mind to become more subtle, which allows us to then penetrate the nature of reality quicker. But if we go the sūtra approach, we get there by developing really, really strong concentration. And then the mind gets more and more subtle. And then we have a direct perception of emptiness. So there are ways within the sūtra method too. Report an error in the passage at 1:01:19 Highlight the passage at 1:01:19

1:01:46 And I might be confusing all these different kinds of lights, but when a person passes and they see this white light and this experience... We'll get to that. I mean, I don't know. I've never heard somebody go, now let's take this and compare it to this experience. But I have my own thoughts along this. Report an error in the passage at 1:01:46 Highlight the passage at 1:01:46

1:02:03 And when we get to this meditation that I'll do for you at the end of class, I'll guide you through at the end of class, there's a place in it that I sort of think is that place. So I think that, yeah, there is a place where I think people get that far and then they come back and that's the sort of white light. Report an error in the passage at 1:02:03 Highlight the passage at 1:02:03

1:02:24 Yeah, so we'll talk about that. Other people might have other ideas, but that's my idea. So why don't we take a break? How about just like five minutes? So if that's okay, so we have time. So we have time to die. It's never time. Okay, so you gave this to me, but now I can't remember what I'm doing. Report an error in the passage at 1:02:24 Highlight the passage at 1:02:24

1:02:51 Oh yeah? Thank Report an error in the passage at 1:02:51 Highlight the passage at 1:02:51

1:03:02 you. This is your pop quiz. Which was also called Wind Report an error in the passage at 1:03:02 Highlight the passage at 1:03:02

1:03:15 Chakra. Report an error in the passage at 1:03:15 Highlight the passage at 1:03:15

1:03:24 Yeah. Report an error in the passage at 1:03:24 Highlight the passage at 1:03:24

1:03:35 Yeah. Report an error in the passage at 1:03:35 Highlight the passage at 1:03:35

1:03:41 Right. Yeah. Report an error in the passage at 1:03:41 Highlight the passage at 1:03:41

1:03:47 Maybe, right, maybe imagine it sort of dissolving the knots. Why not? I mean. Exactly. Right. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I know I'm always thinking about that whenever I go to a yoga class and they're like, you know. And sometimes it's kind of cool. Like I went to Laughing Lotus and sometimes the quotes that they will give are just perfect. Report an error in the passage at 1:03:47 Highlight the passage at 1:03:47

1:04:16 You know, like you're just kind of like, how did you know? When I went on Sunday, the woman that was leading it was saying, Ram Dass said, life is not an obstacle course, life is a playground. And I thought, ah. That's perfect because I always think it's an obstacle course. I'm so sure. It's not even like a passing thought, a question. Report an error in the passage at 1:04:16 Highlight the passage at 1:04:16

1:04:40 It's like a definite certainty. And it's a playground. And I actually try to remember that a few times this week when things are difficult. I'm like, okay, this is the playground. This is the playground. But then sometimes I feel like they just totally just... give wrong view you know like they're trying to be kind of cool and open to buddhism but they don't know enough about buddhism and so then they give some quote completely out of context and you're just like no no no but you know they try their heart's in the right place Report an error in the passage at 1:04:40 Highlight the passage at 1:04:40

1:05:12 then sometimes it's like from some other, you know, if they're giving, yeah, because I don't know anything about Hinduism, so whatever, you know. Report an error in the passage at 1:05:12 Highlight the passage at 1:05:12

1:05:28 Finding your real self and letting your real self out. I'm like, no, no. How about just dissolving the whole thing? Report an error in the passage at 1:05:28 Highlight the passage at 1:05:28

1:05:47 That's how you're going to miss next time. Report an error in the passage at 1:05:47 Highlight the passage at 1:05:47

1:05:57 Yeah, you can. I always wait to send it, though, just in case I make changes and things like that. Report an error in the passage at 1:05:57 Highlight the passage at 1:05:57

1:06:08 I actually can't remember how we bring it all together because I created this class, you know, the last time, so it's kind of like I haven't re-looked at it, and each time I'm like, oh, great. Like tonight, today when I dug out these notes, and I'm like, oh, great, good, I love this part. Report an error in the passage at 1:06:08 Highlight the passage at 1:06:08

1:06:43 Chocolate, I'm sorry. Oh, what? You Report an error in the passage at 1:06:43 Highlight the passage at 1:06:43

1:06:55 know what, I could ask John if he could set up the sound at least. Report an error in the passage at 1:06:55 Highlight the passage at 1:06:55

1:07:15 Well, let's not have you take over everything yet. Report an error in the passage at 1:07:15 Highlight the passage at 1:07:15

1:07:22 Yeah, I think it is too. Yeah, I think it is, too. But – MS. Yeah. Report an error in the passage at 1:07:22 Highlight the passage at 1:07:22

1:07:38 Yeah, yeah. Report an error in the passage at 1:07:38 Highlight the passage at 1:07:38

1:07:54 I just can check, I don't know, because he started school again, so I don't know, he may have a class or something. Report an error in the passage at 1:07:54 Highlight the passage at 1:07:54

1:08:05 And then what I'll try to do is ask Seldren if she'll just set up the seats and everything. I can show you. Report an error in the passage at 1:08:05 Highlight the passage at 1:08:05

1:08:23 Oh, yeah, Geshe-lez, he used it to get on the phone. It's okay to use it for that, yeah. I think Report an error in the passage at 1:08:23 Highlight the passage at 1:08:23

1:08:33 I'm not going to even say this because I'm running out of time. I'll just say it when I'm... And then you incense it after. No, I'm kidding. MS. I know. I figured it Report an error in the passage at 1:08:33 Highlight the passage at 1:08:33

1:08:54 When I'm leading you, no preparation, we just all have to die together. Report an error in the passage at 1:08:54 Highlight the passage at 1:08:54

1:09:20 Yeah, Report an error in the passage at 1:09:20 Highlight the passage at 1:09:20

1:09:36 yeah, yeah. Yeah, no, it's interesting. Yeah, sometimes it can be treated with practice things and then sometimes with actually herbal medicine. Report an error in the passage at 1:09:36 Highlight the passage at 1:09:36

1:09:48 Yeah, when I was in the, I Report an error in the passage at 1:09:48 Highlight the passage at 1:09:48

1:09:55 actually just saw mine today. you know what the luxury you're Report an error in the passage at 1:09:55 Highlight the passage at 1:09:55

· · · silence, 1 minute

1:10:00 There's also one up in Sausalito that I see. He's based in San Diego, but he comes up once a month up to Sausalito too. And then both turns in Chokyi and I go to see him. So I'll give you his information too. In fact, I have it in my pocket because I got us both appointments. So I just went today. Report an error in the passage at 1:10:00 Highlight the passage at 1:10:00

1:10:21 And then I get to see him like the week after I get back from India and Nepal, which I thought was perfect. So it's sort of like, okay, now make me better again. All right. Report an error in the passage at 1:10:21 Highlight the passage at 1:10:21

1:10:35 I got your attention. All right, I just said all right. Okay, so talking a little bit. We have to prepare to die, so we have to straighten up and fly right. I'm just chit-chatting. Report an error in the passage at 1:10:35 Highlight the passage at 1:10:35

1:10:51 Actually, when I began to study this, especially this process, I began to realize from the point of view of the person dying that you might want the room to be quiet. You might not want all the chit-chat going on and you might want somebody sort of like ushering people out of the room. And I began to sort of understand a little bit more in a positive way too, not necessarily, you know, in some, sometimes when you're doing like death and dying workshops, you're like imagining dying and you're sitting there sobbing as you're imagining it. Report an error in the passage at 1:10:51 Highlight the passage at 1:10:51

1:11:19 It's not like that. It's more like this meditation is more like what would you be experiencing and why you might be turning inward at that time. Report an error in the passage at 1:11:19 Highlight the passage at 1:11:19

1:11:30 Quite useful. It was like, oh, yeah, because I'm letting go of that one. So then I'm focusing inward and then ultimately I'm getting, you know, going down to this more subtle level and that's the subtle level that's going to go on to the next life. So it's not so much, you're not caught up in all the conceptual stuff after like the first stage, you know, because that part of your mind is dissolved away, which I actually found quite useful, you know, that you're not continually going, okay. Report an error in the passage at 1:11:30 Highlight the passage at 1:11:30

1:11:55 You know, it's not like you don't do that. The other people in the room may be doing that, you know, but that's why it's not so useful to have those people remain in the room. Report an error in the passage at 1:11:55 Highlight the passage at 1:11:55

1:12:05 This one friend of mine is just terrified that her daughter is going to be the one in the room with her when she passes away. And we keep saying you really have to discuss that with her because most likely she will be if you don't discuss that with her because she's afraid of that. Report an error in the passage at 1:12:05 Highlight the passage at 1:12:05

1:12:20 Anyway, so. We are going to go through this series of steps in this meditation, and it's based on what is taught to happen in an ordinary death. Report an error in the passage at 1:12:20 Highlight the passage at 1:12:20

1:12:35 His Holiness says it doesn't normally, you know, when we do it, we're going to go through these eight stages and give sort of... and we've sort of it Report an error in the passage at 1:12:35 Highlight the passage at 1:12:35

1:12:42 Equal amounts of time to each and the visualization is really clear and all that stuff. At the time of death, depending on the conditions of the time of death, it might go really, really fast or it might go really, really slow or some sections might go slower and some faster and something like that. Report an error in the passage at 1:12:42 Highlight the passage at 1:12:42

1:13:00 So it's not necessarily going to go exactly, you know. According to plan, this much we know. So, but for our purposes, just like when you're in medical school, you want to meditate, you want to meditate, you want to, you want to learn about exactly what the spleen does. And of course, the spleen's connected to other things, but you just learn about that and you might study that inside and out and then take your exam on that and then you might do the same thing for liver and, you know, they're all interconnected. Report an error in the passage at 1:13:00 Highlight the passage at 1:13:00

1:13:33 And the same is true in Buddhism. And the same when we're looking at these really stylized versions of the chakras, we might visualize them in that way, and in reality they might exist in a completely different way, and in fact they aren't physical like that, but they're very, very subtle. But it helps our visualization to visualize them in these sort of clear ways. Report an error in the passage at 1:13:33 Highlight the passage at 1:13:33

1:14:00 um... So what we call death is when the subtle most level of the mind separates from the subtle most level of the body. And that separation may take very little time or a lot of time over many, many years or weeks or months. Report an error in the passage at 1:14:00 Highlight the passage at 1:14:00

1:14:25 Or a sudden accident, it can happen really, really quickly. The same thing happens no matter what, and there's the separation of the subtle mind that then moves into its next experience, which would be the bardo, the intermediate state, and then rebirth. But they always go through all of the stages of this death dissolution, and like I said, this will be your homework. Report an error in the passage at 1:14:25 Highlight the passage at 1:14:25

1:14:58 So I think I'm not going to talk so much about it. I'm just going to go into it because I think during the process of the meditation, I described what I was going to describe somewhat in advance. So I'll just walk you through it. Report an error in the passage at 1:14:58 Highlight the passage at 1:14:58

1:15:14 And then that will allow us to have a little bit more time for questions afterwards because people might have questions after they die. Which that doesn't always happen. So it's quite useful for you to be able to ask your questions. And the thing is too, with some of these meditations, we're using our intellect to sort of get to a non-conceptual experience. Report an error in the passage at 1:15:14 Highlight the passage at 1:15:14

1:15:38 But it is, as Lama Yeshi says, As with all aspects of the spiritual path, there's a time to use the intellect and there's a time to put it aside. And you're going to have to sort of decide when that time is. Report an error in the passage at 1:15:38 Highlight the passage at 1:15:38

1:15:53 But we practice to sort of get ready for that time that we can put aside that intellect. Geshe also has used examples before. He talks about the intellect and conceptual thinking about this sort of process being like a boat that we use to get. To a certain point, we don't need it anymore, we get rid of the boat. So it's kind of like that too. And then one more quote, and that's Tenzin Palmo said, to die properly, you must live properly, you must prepare, you must be one with these practices. Report an error in the passage at 1:15:53 Highlight the passage at 1:15:53

1:16:26 For an accomplished practitioner, it's like a son meeting his mother. Which I always love that thought, that it can be such a happy. Time rather than the way we always think death is just always horrible. So I'm going to grab one of these homeworks because I didn't even get one for myself. I'll guide you in this meditation. So just stretch if you need to and relax on Report an error in the passage at 1:16:26 Highlight the passage at 1:16:26

1:17:06 the practice day. I can allow you, at least in the death class, I allow people if they'd rather they can lie on the floor. It's too dangerous at this time of night. Report an error in the passage at 1:17:06 Highlight the passage at 1:17:06

1:17:18 People have fallen asleep during their own deaths and that's happened during the practice day for the death and dying class. And people start snoring and people have to wake them up, you know. Report an error in the passage at 1:17:18 Highlight the passage at 1:17:18

1:17:31 We don't want Morgan to fall asleep. Report an error in the passage at 1:17:31 Highlight the passage at 1:17:31

1:17:36 All right, so we're going to start. So this isn't one of those kind of death meditations where you have to go through any kind of emotional reaction to death. This is more, it's almost like finding out sort of more scientific in the sense of tantra, a scientific approach to what it would be like, what experiences to expect. Report an error in the passage at 1:17:36 Highlight the passage at 1:17:36

1:18:01 So you could still imagine sort of the conditions. You can imagine... That something has happened that has shortened your life and that you're aware. We'll give you the best conditions that you're aware that this isn't going to happen. In fact, you've been leading up to it. You've already been doing practices to reduce your attachment. You've been letting go. You've been saying goodbye to people. Report an error in the passage at 1:18:01 Highlight the passage at 1:18:01

1:18:26 So now you feel really ready. So we can sidestep all those other practices right now. Report an error in the passage at 1:18:26 Highlight the passage at 1:18:26

1:18:38 So you're going to just imagine yourself. Preparing for whatever the next step is. You're lying in a hospice maybe and it's quiet and you're wondering what's next but you feel ready to let go of this life. Report an error in the passage at 1:18:38 Highlight the passage at 1:18:38

1:19:04 So the first of the stages is when the earth element dissolves into the water element and Report an error in the passage at 1:19:04 Highlight the passage at 1:19:04

1:19:16 this is when the earth element begins to lose its power. So your body gets thinner and your limbs get looser and Report an error in the passage at 1:19:16 Highlight the passage at 1:19:16

1:19:30 you feel like your body might be sinking. Sometimes people describe it as feeling like you're being buried, sinking under the earth. Report an error in the passage at 1:19:30 Highlight the passage at 1:19:30

1:19:44 And this can happen slowly over a long time, like with the aging process, or quickly when it looks like people are aging before their time. So Report an error in the passage at 1:19:44 Highlight the passage at 1:19:44

1:20:04 imagine what that feels like. Report an error in the passage at 1:20:04 Highlight the passage at 1:20:04

1:20:16 And sometimes if you're with somebody as they're dying, you see them sort of struggling upward. Against that force, that feeling, that heaviness that comes with this. Report an error in the passage at 1:20:16 Highlight the passage at 1:20:16

1:20:38 So as the aggregate of form absorbs, all these outer physical manifestations happen. Your body becomes weaker, the luster of your body diminishes, and all your strength is consumed. Report an error in the passage at 1:20:38 Highlight the passage at 1:20:38

1:21:06 As the basic mirror-like wisdom dissolves, your sight becomes unclear and dark. Report an error in the passage at 1:21:06 Highlight the passage at 1:21:06

1:21:17 And your ability to perceive many things simultaneously decreases. Report an error in the passage at 1:21:17 Highlight the passage at 1:21:17

1:21:26 This affects the eye sense. And you can no longer open or close your eyes or move them. And Report an error in the passage at 1:21:26 Highlight the passage at 1:21:26

1:21:41 you experience an internal sign. The appearance of shimmery, silvery blue mirage. The Report an error in the passage at 1:21:41 Highlight the passage at 1:21:41

1:22:06 next stage is where the water element dissolves into the fire element. And the water element loses its power. Report an error in the passage at 1:22:06 Highlight the passage at 1:22:06

1:22:19 So all your body fluids. Dry up. Your saliva, your sweat, your blood, urine, Report an error in the passage at 1:22:19 Highlight the passage at 1:22:19

1:22:32 your mouth and tongue start feeling dry. Report an error in the passage at 1:22:32 Highlight the passage at 1:22:32

1:22:43 The aggregate of feelings absorbs, so your body or touch consciousness can no longer experience the three types of feelings. Report an error in the passage at 1:22:43 Highlight the passage at 1:22:43

1:23:03 The basic wisdom of equality dissolves, which is your ordinary consciousness, mindful of pleasure, pain and neutral feelings. Report an error in the passage at 1:23:03 Highlight the passage at 1:23:03

1:23:24 And your ear sense is affected. You can no longer hear external or internal sounds. It's like a buzzing and then silence. And Report an error in the passage at 1:23:24 Highlight the passage at 1:23:24

1:23:45 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 1:23:45 Highlight the passage at 1:23:45

1:24:12 And the third stage is when the fire element dissolves into the wind element and the fire element loses its power. Report an error in the passage at 1:24:12 Highlight the passage at 1:24:12

1:24:26 So is the warmth. It begins to diminish in your body. You can no longer digest food or drink. It becomes cold. The Report an error in the passage at 1:24:26 Highlight the passage at 1:24:26

1:24:49 aggregate of discrimination absorbs and you're no longer aware of the affairs of people close to you. Report an error in the passage at 1:24:49 Highlight the passage at 1:24:49

1:25:04 The basic wisdom of analysis dissolves and you can no longer remember their names. Report an error in the passage at 1:25:04 Highlight the passage at 1:25:04

1:25:18 And the nose sense is affected. Your sense of smell is gone. And your inhalation weakens while your exhalation becomes strong and lengthy. And Report an error in the passage at 1:25:18 Highlight the passage at 1:25:18

1:25:42 you experience an internal sign, an appearance of fireflies or sparks within dark smoke. Report an error in the passage at 1:25:42 Highlight the passage at 1:25:42

1:26:04 The fourth level is when the wind element dissolves into the consciousness. And the wind element loses its power. Report an error in the passage at 1:26:04 Highlight the passage at 1:26:04

1:26:18 The winds move towards the heart. Report an error in the passage at 1:26:18 Highlight the passage at 1:26:18

1:26:31 And the aggregate of compositional factors absorb. Report an error in the passage at 1:26:31 Highlight the passage at 1:26:31

1:26:37 You can no longer move or experience touch and Report an error in the passage at 1:26:37 Highlight the passage at 1:26:37

1:26:49 the basic wisdom of achieving activities dissolves. You're no longer aware of any external worldly activities or purposes. Report an error in the passage at 1:26:49 Highlight the passage at 1:26:49

1:27:05 This affects the tongue or taste sense. Your tongue becomes thick and short and the root of it turns blue. Report an error in the passage at 1:27:05 Highlight the passage at 1:27:05

1:27:26 And this is where your inhalation and exhalation cease. Report an error in the passage at 1:27:26 Highlight the passage at 1:27:26

1:27:35 You experience an internal sign, an appearance, Of a dull orangey red light about to go out like a flickering candle flame or a butter lamp about to go out. Report an error in the passage at 1:27:35 Highlight the passage at 1:27:35

1:27:54 And one of my teachers describes this as like a moon reflecting in water in a very, very deep well. Report an error in the passage at 1:27:54 Highlight the passage at 1:27:54

1:28:10 So if that image works better for you, you can use that. I like that image actually. From the Western point of view, we would now be clinically dead. But from the Tibetan point of view, only the gross mind and those four physical elements have dissolved. As long as there's still warmth in the body, the consciousness is still in the body. Report an error in the passage at 1:28:10 Highlight the passage at 1:28:10

1:28:36 The Report an error in the passage at 1:28:36 Highlight the passage at 1:28:36

1:28:44 fifth stage is where the 80 instinctive conceptions dissolve. Report an error in the passage at 1:28:44 Highlight the passage at 1:28:44

1:28:55 This means your last conceptual thoughts of any kind, both delusions and virtuous thoughts, cease. Your mind becomes more and more subtle. Report an error in the passage at 1:28:55 Highlight the passage at 1:28:55

1:29:13 Winds in the right and the 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 moves downward. Report an error in the passage at 1:29:13 Highlight the passage at 1:29:13

1:29:33 Then you experience an internal sign of a clear vacuity or vast space filled with white light. This is called the white vision and some say it appears like a clear autumn sky suffused with white moonlight but without the moon. Report an error in the passage at 1:29:33 Highlight the passage at 1:29:33

1:30:04 This is the arising of your subtle mind. Report an error in the passage at 1:30:04 Highlight the passage at 1:30:04

1:30:14 The sixth stage, 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 is moving upward. You Report an error in the passage at 1:30:14 Highlight the passage at 1:30:14

1:30:40 experience an internal sign of a very clear vacuity or vast space filled with coppery red light. Report an error in the passage at 1:30:40 Highlight the passage at 1:30:40

1:30:54 Some say it's like a clear autumn sky suffused by red sunlight without the sun. Report an error in the passage at 1:30:54 Highlight the passage at 1:30:54

1:31:12 And 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 1:31:12 Highlight the passage at 1:31:12

1:31:24 And you experience an internal sign of Report an error in the passage at 1:31:24 Highlight the passage at 1:31:24

1:31:32 a very clear vacuity filled with total darkness, like night falling really quickly, Report an error in the passage at 1:31:32 Highlight the passage at 1:31:32

1:31:45 which ends with a moment of unconsciousness like fainting or swoon. Report an error in the passage at 1:31:45 Highlight the passage at 1:31:45

1:32:01 In the final phase, dark near attainment ceases and the mind of clear light dawns. All the winds and white and red drops dissolve into the very subtle wind and mind in the indestructible drop at your heart. Report an error in the passage at 1:32:01 Highlight the passage at 1:32:01

1:32:22 And you experience an internal sign, a very clear vacuity or vast space filled with clear light. Report an error in the passage at 1:32:22 Highlight the passage at 1:32:22

1:32:37 Like the sky just before dawn in autumn in the Himalayas, Report an error in the passage at 1:32:37 Highlight the passage at 1:32:37

1:32:48 this is the mind of clear light. The most subtle and pure level of our own mind. Report an error in the passage at 1:32:48 Highlight the passage at 1:32:48

1:32:59 Focus on this as long as you can. Report an error in the passage at 1:32:59 Highlight the passage at 1:32:59

1:33:16 And then we go back through the stages as quickly from the clear light into the dark near attainment into the red appearance into Report an error in the passage at 1:33:16 Highlight the passage at 1:33:16

1:33:36 the white appearance into Report an error in the passage at 1:33:36 Highlight the passage at 1:33:36

1:33:45 that flickering candlelight about to go out or the moon reflection at the base of a well. Report an error in the passage at 1:33:45 Highlight the passage at 1:33:45

1:34:01 Into the firefly or sparks in smoke. Report an error in the passage at 1:34:01 Highlight the passage at 1:34:01

1:34:08 Into the smoke like a stick of Tibetan incense filling a room. Report an error in the passage at 1:34:08 Highlight the passage at 1:34:08

1:34:18 Into the shimmery blue mirage. And Report an error in the passage at 1:34:18 Highlight the passage at 1:34:18

1:34:28 imagine that all your internal images are gone and you're in your body. You're here in your cushion. Report an error in the passage at 1:34:28 Highlight the passage at 1:34:28

1:34:46 And if this had been your actual death, you would have gone from that place of clear light into the bardo based on karma. Report an error in the passage at 1:34:46 Highlight the passage at 1:34:46

1:34:56 You're going to then enter your next rebirth. Report an error in the passage at 1:34:56 Highlight the passage at 1:34:56

1:35:03 As a tantric practitioner, you would then use that next step to arise as the deity. Report an error in the passage at 1:35:03 Highlight the passage at 1:35:03

1:35:19 So we take a moment to dedicate any merit that we've created by doing this meditation together in this class to each one of us in our own time, being able to take these teachings of the Buddha, either sūtra or tantra or both, all the way to enlightenment quickly, quickly for the benefit of every living being. Report an error in the passage at 1:35:19 Highlight the passage at 1:35:19

1:35:52 So any questions on that or Report an error in the passage at 1:35:52 Highlight the passage at 1:35:52

1:35:59 comments? Report an error in the passage at 1:35:59 Highlight the passage at 1:35:59

1:36:04 Yeah, it's pretty cool, huh? Wait, where's the mic? Well, that was the scariest meditation I've ever gone through. I just thought that was really interesting. Yeah, and she just thought it was like the coolest thing since sliced bread. So it's not inherently from its own side. Report an error in the passage at 1:36:04 Highlight the passage at 1:36:04

1:36:29 Yeah, the thought of disappearing, I'm very claustrophobic, especially the beginning part, sinking the body, sinking, that really scared me. Everything else was, you know, but that part really scared me. Can you see how though getting familiar with it might prepare you for that? Yeah, absolutely. I mean, really highly trained lamas, their stories with Geshe Lama Kunchuk. Report an error in the passage at 1:36:29 Highlight the passage at 1:36:29

1:36:56 He was able to tell his attendant, okay, I'm having the mirage state. We should be preparing now. You need to be preparing for my cremation stupa. And then, okay, now I'm experiencing. And he was able to just tell him exactly where he was in the process as he was going through it. Yeah, I think Christine had a question. Report an error in the passage at 1:36:56 Highlight the passage at 1:36:56

1:37:19 So at some point the conceptual mind stops. At some point the conceptual mind stops. If you're doing this meditation and you're practicing and you're trying to prepare, then at some point is it impossible to do a meditation or is it if you practice it enough? I think it becomes second nature, yeah. So you can do it all the way through. Yeah, because when we're doing it, we're still doing it with the conceptual mind all the way through because it's just like with the study of emptiness, that's kind of how we approach it because our mind is conceptual. Report an error in the passage at 1:37:19 Highlight the passage at 1:37:19

1:37:52 But then at some point when we become... More experienced yogis, then our conceptual mind isn't involved and we're just going through it because it becomes so familiar. Report an error in the passage at 1:37:52 Highlight the passage at 1:37:52

1:38:05 I think it's sort of like when you first start driving a car and you just think, how on earth am I going to drive and remember to look this way and look this way and it just seems like there's no way and then now let me look at everything we try to do while we're driving. Report an error in the passage at 1:38:05 Highlight the passage at 1:38:05

1:38:21 Don't do that when you're actually doing the dying process. Wait a second, let me just finish texting. Report an error in the passage at 1:38:21 Highlight the passage at 1:38:21

1:38:28 Did somebody else have a question? I didn't see another hand. Report an error in the passage at 1:38:28 Highlight the passage at 1:38:28

1:38:36 Did you have a question? yeah. Report an error in the passage at 1:38:36 Highlight the passage at 1:38:36

1:38:38 Yeah, yeah, yeah. Wait, wait, wait. Here, it's coming back to you. It's coming back to you. It's coming back. So what's, I actually have to agree with Jessica. I found it to be really, really, I don't know. It was like I was cracked a smile in the middle of it. It was really odd to me. So I thought it was. Report an error in the passage at 1:38:38 Highlight the passage at 1:38:38

1:38:55 Probably studying emptiness first, which is of course why it's really useful for this class to follow the emptiness class. And so probably for those of you who got to study emptiness first, and I apologize for those who didn't, that it probably is easier to do. So my question is more about, after you familiarize yourself with meditation, we're not yogis, but what is the concentration point? Report an error in the passage at 1:38:55 Highlight the passage at 1:38:55

1:39:23 You keep saying... You know, you see these signs arise. Oh, yeah. But what are you trying to hold from like if you almost looked at like from a concentration meditation or what what is the mind? What are you supposed to focus on? I think it fills your awareness. I think I think it's not something small off in the corner. I think it's just fills your awareness. Report an error in the passage at 1:39:23 Highlight the passage at 1:39:23

1:39:43 Like it's like so for the white vision, I think it's just all of your awareness is this. You no longer have, you know, I don't think it's like you, it's not like you're having this experience in some tiny part of your mind. It is your entire experience. That's my understanding. And the same with every part of it. So the Mirage is like, I think with the, the Mirage one, I think is, you're still sort of functioning. You could, in theory, you could be functioning in the world, like, because actually the aging process is the first level. Report an error in the passage at 1:39:43 Highlight the passage at 1:39:43

1:40:13 So that's part of it, you know, so we could be going through that while, you know. We could get that little shimmering mirage. I keep saying that. It's a Freudian slip, too. Shimmering massage. It can happen while you're functioning, you know, while you're still, while you're functioning in the world, you could have this sort of shimmering, you know, quality to it. Report an error in the passage at 1:40:13 Highlight the passage at 1:40:13

1:40:35 But I think as you are going into more active dying, I think the other ones are just filling your entire experience. That's my understanding. But is it, don't they say... And maybe I don't have this correct, but don't they say like these last final images at these stages really control a lot in the bardo? So like I don't, you know, you're going through each of these levels, right? Report an error in the passage at 1:40:35 Highlight the passage at 1:40:35

1:40:56 And they say like as soon as you kick into the bardo, it really determines, it can determine a lot of your next life as well. Like whatever images you're holding on to as well. So that's why I was asking, maybe I have it incorrect. Does that make sense? Report an error in the passage at 1:40:56 Highlight the passage at 1:40:56

1:41:14 My understanding of the bardo is that by the time you reach a certain point of the dying process, your bardo experience is already fixed and your next life experience is actually already fixed. Like the whole time you're in the bardo, your body already looks like what you're going to become next. So if you're going to become a human, then you have a human-ish body. Report an error in the passage at 1:41:14 Highlight the passage at 1:41:14

1:41:36 It's a bardo body, so it's not solid form, but it still has that look. If you're going to be an animal, you already have an animal. That's already determined. But yeah, your state of mind going through that process, all of this process is key in determining that. But so is your whole life. But yeah, they do say that... Report an error in the passage at 1:41:36 Highlight the passage at 1:41:36

1:42:04 You know, for example, when Zengel went by talking on the phone when we were all deeply in our death process and I thought, you know, if we can't handle that when the nurse comes into the room and it's, you know, that happens during the death process, you know. I remember actually when a friend of mine passed away and I was with his lover and we were just sitting with the body for a while. This is before I became a Buddhist actually. Report an error in the passage at 1:42:04 Highlight the passage at 1:42:04

1:42:26 And this nurse came in to... I'm really tired today. This nurse came into the room and just started like going through the drawer underneath the bed and it was just completely inappropriate. And then I thought, you know, after I became a Buddhist, I thought, well, you're going to have to deal with that. I think the stronger your concentration is, the better. Because, yeah, somebody, two nurses talking to each other just like over your body. Report an error in the passage at 1:42:26 Highlight the passage at 1:42:26

1:42:54 Blah, blah, blah. Well, look at that, you know, making some comments. You don't want to get pulled into that. You just want to be focused on what it is, which is why, of course, we create places like hospices where people speak respectfully and things like that. But not all of us are fortunate enough to die under those circumstances. Second part question. So a lot of times you hear, you know, you've said this as well, like they practice this right before they're going to sleep. Report an error in the passage at 1:42:54 Highlight the passage at 1:42:54

1:43:19 Right. Yes. So what is the parallels or is it really the same? Because you say you see a sign. Do they see signs as well? Yeah, yeah. Well, they say we do and that we miss them. So it's not just some other yogis. It's like us. It's Morgan. When Morgan goes to sleep, usually we just conk. Chokyi doesn't either. Report an error in the passage at 1:43:19 Highlight the passage at 1:43:19

1:43:44 Chokyi doesn't either, unfortunately. Chokyi wishes she did, but Chokyi pretends. And so Chokyi goes through the steps and tries to... To just quickly remind yourself of the steps. Even if you're just doing it quickly and the same when you wake up again, to go through that same thing that we did where you're just quickly kind of going backwards through the steps. Report an error in the passage at 1:43:44 Highlight the passage at 1:43:44

1:44:06 I know what I started to say when you were asking about the conceptual. Lama Zopa Rinpoche actually says to kind of keep doing this thing where you're saying the clear light is coming, you know, so I have to recognize the clear light. So you're kind of reminding yourself, which to me is kind of distracting. Report an error in the passage at 1:44:06 Highlight the passage at 1:44:06

1:44:23 For me, what works best is just focusing on that inner experience. Not so much like, okay, here's where the wisdom of blah, blah. That just gets way too conceptual. If I'm trying to get away from that conceptual, I'm trying to just have that experience. But he says that it's really useful to keep reminding yourself the clear light experience is coming. Report an error in the passage at 1:44:23 Highlight the passage at 1:44:23

1:44:43 Don't fall into that sort of dullness. Don't fall asleep. So when you're at night when you're doing it and you're going through it, you're like the clear light is coming. It's kind of hard. It always sounds to me like showboats are coming or something. Like I can't, I'm like clear light's coming, you know, and then it just feels artificial. Report an error in the passage at 1:44:43 Highlight the passage at 1:44:43

1:44:59 And so I'm still working with that one. Many years later, I'm still working with that one. For me, what works better is just going through. The sequence and memorizing what that sequence is and then, you know, moving into the next sequence and having it be completely experiential, not thinking about what else has happened, not thinking about earth elements dissolving. Report an error in the passage at 1:44:59 Highlight the passage at 1:44:59

1:45:23 I actually thought about that when I was reading that one part, you know, because I pulled this meditation from the death and impermanence class, which of course we are supposed to be thinking about what is going to happen at the time of death. This meditation for us in this context is less about that. So you could leave that part out. But in the death and affirmance class, which you can sign up for when that comes around the next time, Report an error in the passage at 1:45:23 Highlight the passage at 1:45:23

1:45:48 then we get more into exploring those feelings and that death is a part of life and that preparing for it, being real about it and just preparing our mind and our body for it. And our loved ones, too, for what we want to have happen. That's all part of our practice, you know. But in this case, I'll give you permission, you can leave that part out. And just focus on these different elements of your, you know, the earth elements and also your mind getting more and more and more subtle. Report an error in the passage at 1:45:48 Highlight the passage at 1:45:48

1:46:25 Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, there is. I mean, in the emptiness class, I sort of cut off when people could add. And I was sort of thinking, yeah, I sort of feel like that's probably really true for tantra too. And also that it's really useful to have already had some, you know, lamrim. And I was thinking that you had had more. Report an error in the passage at 1:46:25 Highlight the passage at 1:46:25

1:46:51 And so I'm sorry that you went through that. And I do apologize for that. Yeah, you're still here. You haven't got up and run screaming into the night. So I guess that's okay. Yeah. Anyway, anybody else, any questions or comments or experiences that you want to share? Report an error in the passage at 1:46:51 Highlight the passage at 1:46:51

1:47:14 So there's a lot of things. Oh, a couple of things, too. Everybody gets one of these. I Report an error in the passage at 1:47:14 Highlight the passage at 1:47:14

1:47:27 think we're cool. I think we actually have 15 if we count, Dorji. I don't know. Report an error in the passage at 1:47:27 Highlight the passage at 1:47:27

1:47:34 So everybody gets one of those. Everybody gets one of these. Oh, yeah. Report an error in the passage at 1:47:34 Highlight the passage at 1:47:34

1:47:44 The homework is like this and then also there's this more extensive nine round breathing that you are welcome to try if you want or stick with the one that you like if you like one of the versions. But also for those of you that are coming or who want to do a presentation topic, then I also have the presentation topics because next week is our last class. Report an error in the passage at 1:47:44 Highlight the passage at 1:47:44

1:48:05 And then a week from Saturday is our practice day. Part of what we do on our practice day, for those who haven't done one yet, is that we spend some time in the afternoon and everybody picks a topic and we just share it with each other. We do it in a circle. It's not overwhelming and frightening. Some people just read their whole thing. Report an error in the passage at 1:48:05 Highlight the passage at 1:48:05

1:48:38 You know, go crazy and very creative and create collage things and, you know, sasas and things like that. And some people way don't. And either way you want to do it is totally fine. Some people decide what they're going to do that morning and just talk off the top of their head and, you know, so it doesn't have to be anything big. Anyway, I'm giving you a list of presentation topic ideas. Report an error in the passage at 1:48:38 Highlight the passage at 1:48:38

1:49:00 If people want to choose something from this, if you want to choose something else, let me know so I make sure that it actually has something to do with the... Report an error in the passage at 1:49:00 Highlight the passage at 1:49:00

1:49:09 Another option that people can do, I'm not going to let you get comfortable, some people lead one of the meditations for the whole group. So you choose a meditation and you lead us in a meditation and one of the meditations that we've done in the class. And I always wonder why more people don't do that because I think it's kind of the easiest and also it's fun because we get a lot more meditation experience. Report an error in the passage at 1:49:09 Highlight the passage at 1:49:09

1:49:30 And I love to be led in meditations and I never get to be led. That's totally fine. Oh, will we short a homework? Because I have one. Okay. Does anybody need one of these stapled ones that starts with homework class 8? Report an error in the passage at 1:49:30 Highlight the passage at 1:49:30

1:49:49 Okay. So we have, I know we should have one extra of everything. That's extra? Yeah. There should be one extra of, okay, might as well pass it up and then I'll just save that whole packet and I'll give it to, oh, actually will you see Alonzo? Will you see Alonzo? No, no, no, I won't. I'm not going to be. You're not going to be here next week, but you won't see him to give him this? Yeah, no. Oh, okay. Okay, okay. Report an error in the passage at 1:49:49 Highlight the passage at 1:49:49

1:50:19 I'm just trying to think of somebody else who's not here who will want this to save me from having to. There should be one of the channels. Report an error in the passage at 1:50:19 Highlight the passage at 1:50:19

1:50:31 Yeah, I'll give it all to Liza because I can't email the channel ones. That's just a hard copy I don't have. Yeah, I just give it to her then. Report an error in the passage at 1:50:31 Highlight the passage at 1:50:31

1:50:42 All right, thanks, you guys. Well, I guess really quickly, who knows now that they will be at the practice day? Report an error in the passage at 1:50:42 Highlight the passage at 1:50:42

1:50:56 Yeah, it'll be like 10.30 to 3.30 or 4, depending on how many people are here. 27. Okay, good. So we still have a good group of people. Great. Thank you, you guys. And I know that it actually was the same this week, but next week for sure we will be starting at 7.30. Report an error in the passage at 1:50:56 Highlight the passage at 1:50:56

1:51:18 Yeah, because we're doing the 49th Day stuff for, sorry? It's potluck, yeah. So if anybody wants to come to the, we're going to start gathering at like 5, between... 5 and 5.30 and then just we're I'm asking some people to bring potluck dishes and stuff just like a church you know we're trying to be Karen's church so yeah so if people want to come and they want to bring things to share then it's nice to do and then we'll all kind of blah blah and then Geshe-la will start his puja at 6 and we'll do medicine Buddha puja and Geshe-la and everybody's invited if you'd like to come next week so that'll be 6 to 7 and then we'll try to end and move it into there and we'll be able to start our class. Report an error in the passage at 1:51:18 Highlight the passage at 1:51:18

1:52:01 Oh, I'm sorry. Yes. I'm thinking the first potluck first. Yes, you're right. Saturday, our practice day will be potluck. Yeah. So for that lunch, if people want to bring something to share vegetarian, that would be great. Yeah. Yeah. Thank you. Sorry about that. Trying to get through one potluck at a time. There you go. Report an error in the passage at 1:52:01 Highlight the passage at 1:52:01