Transform Your Mind & Change Your Life Retreat - 7-Point Mind Training from Atisha (part 53)

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0:41 It happens sometimes that people may be either taught improperly by somebody who's not really competent, or they may be taught properly, but they're not practicing properly, because what is given is not always received. And so if one practices incorrectly, then the meditation may actually be of harm. It can actually exacerbate or create imbalances. Report an error in the passage at 0:41 Highlight the passage at 0:41

1:05 In my experience, it's almost invariably, if that happens, and I've seen it happen on occasion. It happens almost always because of trying too hard. Too much ego, too much pushing, too much grasping, too much gold ribbon and frustration comes in. So I've seen over 45 years, I've seen that occur sometimes. And it's because the practice wasn't correct. But there are many cases too where the practice is perfectly good and it's being done correctly. Report an error in the passage at 1:05 Highlight the passage at 1:05

1:35 But as you slip into the states of relaxation, the mind calms and so forth, then in that looseness, Then if there are prior disturbances, imbalances, there could be trauma, there could be all kinds of things in the past, there are all kinds of things in the past, by doing the practice correctly and relaxing, settling, settling, then this can create a porousness, a looseness, such that old memories or imbalances can come to the fore. Report an error in the passage at 1:35 Highlight the passage at 1:35

2:01 So the meditation is not making you ill, it's not making you imbalanced, but there's things that are coming to the light of day. And in principle, that's a good thing, rather than having simply repressed. Or beneath the threshold of consciousness, which means they're festering there, but they're not being healed. So this can happen to anyone, to anyone. Report an error in the passage at 2:01 Highlight the passage at 2:01

2:22 And it's very common in the practice of settling the mind in its natural state, focusing on the mind, especially when it's done a lot, you know, like 10 hours a day, month after month. I mean, it's just, it's part of the, it's part of the practice, that it does trigger things coming up. And it can be all kinds of things, including some that look like, if you read, stilling the mind. Report an error in the passage at 2:22 Highlight the passage at 2:22

2:42 There are about two pages there, which are, I think not ironically, but oddly, called signs of progress. And one of them is paranoia. And some really weird stuff that looks definitely in the realm of neurosis, but maybe slipping over to psychotic. And they're considered to be signs of progress. And this is data by Padmasambhava by way of Dujjum Lingva. Report an error in the passage at 2:42 Highlight the passage at 2:42

3:02 You say, well, but how can that be? That's awful. And having severe pains in the body and maybe anguish and depression and so forth and so on. Some really weird stuff. If you want to see those two pages, you can say, whoa, that doesn't exactly, that's not why I'm meditating. But it's not being created by the meditation. It's, you're just resting there so softly, gently, attentively. There's nothing afflictive about that. Report an error in the passage at 3:02 Highlight the passage at 3:02

3:26 But then that which is there comes to the fore. So in the optimal scenario, When these are called upheavals, there's a technical term for them, upheavals coming up of all kinds of things. It could be craving, it could be sadness, it could be fear, it could be various type of apparitions, all could be some severe dullness and sleepiness, all kinds of stuff can come up. Report an error in the passage at 3:26 Highlight the passage at 3:26

3:46 That when that comes up, in the best case scenario, when these upheavals emerge, you just stay the course. You simply rest there, loose and easy, attentive, and you watch whatever is erupting, whatever is heaving upwards. To rise and then not identifying with it. As I said, this is the best case scenario. Arising and then it just has no owner and it dissolves right back in the space of the mind. Report an error in the passage at 3:46 Highlight the passage at 3:46

4:11 And it actually gets resolved. And you're watching your mind heal itself as when you're practicing mindfulness of breathing and you're really letting the breathing work itself out. You're actually watching your body restoring its balance, healing itself on an energetic level. So it's not always pleasant, but that's how it can turn out very well. Report an error in the passage at 4:11 Highlight the passage at 4:11

4:30 In the best case scenario. Well, we're not always in the best case scenario. And so it can easily happen. It happens frequently. This stuff comes up. It could be anger. It could be all kinds of things. And you know what you're supposed to do. Just be present with it. And yet, you're not able to. It has such a vortex, such a pull. Report an error in the passage at 4:30 Highlight the passage at 4:30

4:49 It draws you in and you find yourself reliving memories or the desires, craving and so forth coming up. And you know what you're supposed to do, but you can't do it. So there's no reason to beat yourself over the head for that, but you can't do it. And then not being able to do it, then you may just be slipping into these imbalances of the mind. Report an error in the passage at 4:49 Highlight the passage at 4:49

5:08 And then you're no longer doing the practice, you're just having a mental imbalance. So that's been happening, it's been happening for more than a thousand years. This has been practiced a lot by Tibetans, Indians, Westerners and so forth. But when that happens, when some imbalance comes to the conscious mind, then in Tibet they didn't have any psychotherapists. They're no psychiatrists. Report an error in the passage at 5:08 Highlight the passage at 5:08

5:31 They had no antipsychotics. They had no things, you know, just tranquilizers and so forth. And so they would have the lamas, and the lamas would do their best. But they had the lamas. And then back up possibly Tibetan medicine, which can be helpful on occasion. Traditional Tibetan medicine. That's what they had. Report an error in the passage at 5:31 Highlight the passage at 5:31

5:49 And I wasn't there, so I don't know how it all was turned out. But overall, I mean, they did well. But nowadays, in our modern world, we are blessed. We're really blessed that there are very capable Dharma teachers, meditation teachers, East and Western. There are many authentic practices. I believe I've been teaching authentic practices all the way through here. I didn't make up anything or just conjure up stuff that I thought was cool. It's very time-tested. Report an error in the passage at 5:49 Highlight the passage at 5:49

6:15 But we are blessed in the sense that if these upheavals come up and we're really not able to simply observe them that are caught up and carried away by them, cognitive fusion, we are now simply experiencing the upheaval. We are blessed, I'm using that word very consciously, by having people such as Anita, just giving an example, people professionally trained as clinical psychologists or psychiatrists who know a lot about real mental disease and are professionally trained. Report an error in the passage at 6:15 Highlight the passage at 6:15

6:44 To diagnose them, to treat them, and then, in very good case scenarios, they have a lot of experience as well, and they recognize what type of imbalance it is, and then they're able to offer from their expertise, kind of guidance, instruction, help, support, that maybe even a very gifted and very experienced meditation teacher might not have. Report an error in the passage at 6:44 Highlight the passage at 6:44

7:05 And I'm one of those people, because I don't have that kind of professional training. So this is a boon. This is a boon. That we're not just stuck in one, that is, we're not just stuck only in psychotherapy, psychiatry, antipsychotics, psychopharmaceutical drugs, which have their place, but there is other things here that we can draw in from the Dharma, so we don't have to choose one or the other. Report an error in the passage at 7:05 Highlight the passage at 7:05

7:29 And then there are people who may or may not have the professional training, but there are some people who are just very gifted in healing, and specifically for this kind of thing. And these are not necessarily meditation teachers, but that's also another avenue. So, we've had an experience here where, I don't know all the dueton, but certainly something came up, and what I saw was quite gentle, not harmful to anybody, clearly, but it was a mental imbalance. Report an error in the passage at 7:29 Highlight the passage at 7:29

7:57 And just for future reference, because I do not pass judgment here, I'd ask for something to happen, and that didn't actually quite happen. Report an error in the passage at 7:57 Highlight the passage at 7:57

8:07 But when something like that happens, it's really best to leave it in the hands of people who are very experienced. And not just well-wishers. Because well-wishing is very good. It's a very good motivation. But being well-wishing is not enough. And so, for the future, when this happens, it's good to turn such situations over. Report an error in the passage at 8:07 Highlight the passage at 8:07

8:33 They may be very fleeting, very transient. But turn it over to people who really know what they're doing, would be my suggestion. Report an error in the passage at 8:33 Highlight the passage at 8:33

8:43 So, and in many cases, it's an upheaval. And with the right guidance at the right time, they just get them through it. Because it's a phase. There are some people who, you know, who from early on have severe mental problems. And that's a different case. Those people should not come to meditation retreats. They should have maybe one-on-one, have professional counseling guidance all the way through. Report an error in the passage at 8:43 Highlight the passage at 8:43

9:04 They may need to have some drugs if it's very severe. And that's for the professionals in that area. So that's a different situation. Report an error in the passage at 9:04 Highlight the passage at 9:04

9:13 But such people really should not be coming to intense meditation retreats because it's not the best place for them. This is not designed, this retreat right now is not designed, because I have no medical profession whatsoever, I'm completely incompetent to help people who have clinically diagnosed mental disorder. Report an error in the passage at 9:13 Highlight the passage at 9:13

9:38 But if it's just something comes up, an upheaval, then having the good counseling for a very brief time, maybe with the help of meditation structure or the collaboration between, I'm speaking generally here, but this can be really helpful in the future, that it can be something very transient. And it comes up, and then with just the right amount and not too much, counsel, support, then it may move right on through, release it, and then the person will go right back to practicing. Report an error in the passage at 9:38 Highlight the passage at 9:38

10:06 So that's the optimal scenario. So I'm just passing through town, but many of you live here. That's probably good. Report an error in the passage at 10:06 Highlight the passage at 10:06

10:19 So we come back. Report an error in the passage at 10:19 Highlight the passage at 10:19

10:27 So we have these, we're now in this, coming to the conclusion of this synthesis of practice for one life, practicing the five powers, the fifth one. Power of prayer. So again, it's very similar to, but not quite the same resolution, simply I resolve, I shall do it, I resolve. And prayer is then just that, it is aspiration, it's supplication, it's praying to that which is beyond the confines of your own mind, praying to the Buddhas, praying to your Guru and so forth, that never in all your lives may you be separated from the two types of bodhicitta, genuine spiritual mentorism from the Dharma. Report an error in the passage at 10:27 Highlight the passage at 10:27

11:00 But here I thought it could be helpful to share these aphorisms. These are old Kadampa aphorisms. They date back also about a thousand years. And if these were helpful in Tibet in the 11th century, I think even more so nowadays, and I'll explain why. But these are, of course, the four reliances, they're called. And they're known throughout all the schools of Tibetan Buddhism because they're so useful. If people keep on reciting them, focusing on them for a thousand years, it may not be mere tradition. Report an error in the passage at 11:00 Highlight the passage at 11:00

11:28 It may be because they're really, really useful from generation to generation. And I think, in fact, in our generation, especially so, and starting with the first one. But it does need a bit of unpacking. Do not rely on the individual, rely on the Dharma. Well, of course we have to rely on individuals. If it's an individual doctor or psychotherapist or dentist and so forth, we do. Report an error in the passage at 11:28 Highlight the passage at 11:28

11:48 So it's not the point, like, just dogmatically don't rely on individuals or people. That would be just, you know, obviously. Over the top extreme. But he's pointing out this, a very valuable point. And that is, as we encounter Dharma, we encounter it generally, unless you're just reading books, but generally in Tibet for sure, nobody would think, oh, I want to practice Dharma, and they just go off to the library. Report an error in the passage at 11:48 Highlight the passage at 11:48

12:12 Number one, they didn't have libraries, so that would be easy. But they wouldn't just read books, they would naturally go off and find somebody who really understands Dharma, has experience, has some experience, and is capable. Report an error in the passage at 12:12 Highlight the passage at 12:12

12:23 Skilled in teaching. And then the books are back up. The books are back up. But primarily you're listening to the Dharma by somebody who has the understanding, give you some personal guidance. So relying on the individual, of course, is very important. Who's your teacher? They'd always ask, who's your teacher? Who's your teacher? Or who are your teachers? So you have one element here is the individual. Report an error in the passage at 12:23 Highlight the passage at 12:23

12:43 A man, a woman, a monk, a layperson, old or young, what have you. And maybe between this tradition, sakya, gelu and so forth. So it's a person located in time and space. And there's your conduit, there's the person from whom you receive the teachings, the transmission, the blessings of Dharma. And then there's the Dharma you receive from that person. Report an error in the passage at 12:43 Highlight the passage at 12:43

13:03 So between those two, which is your primary reliance? Which is the primary reliance? You have to rely on the teacher. If the teacher is incompetent or you don't trust him or her and so forth, then you can't get very far. So the teacher should be qualified, have good motivation and all of that. But then there's the Dharma you're receiving itself. So which of those two is primary? Report an error in the passage at 13:03 Highlight the passage at 13:03

13:22 And he's saying, of course, the Dharma is primary. And I think in our world especially, I mean, I'm coming from America, the home of the rugged individual, the self-made man, big, big emphasis on, frankly, it's ego, but it's individual, individual, individual. And then we have idolization, idolatry all over the place. To athletes, rock stars, musicians, what are they called? Report an error in the passage at 13:22 Highlight the passage at 13:22

13:48 Models. I mean, really gorgeous people. And sometimes, I guess, yeah, I think politicians. Some people really idolize politicians. I don't actually know what that feels like, but I'm sure other people do. Report an error in the passage at 13:48 Highlight the passage at 13:48

14:00 But people, you know, it's something we do. That is, that we look upon a person, reify that person, and then really focus on, basically this is an exercise on attachment. And whether it's a sexual infatuation or some hero worship or a rock star or a guru. Report an error in the passage at 14:00 Highlight the passage at 14:00

14:21 Infatuation or just attachment can come in in any of those contexts. Music, Dharma, philosophy, literature, and so forth and so on. Athletics, big time. Report an error in the passage at 14:21 Highlight the passage at 14:21

14:30 But if that's all it is, it's just more of the problem. Because it's rooted in revocation, which is the self-grasping, happens to be towards another person. So that's where the delusion comes in, grasping onto the other person, existing from her own side, by their own inherent nature. And then, in this case, then... Report an error in the passage at 14:30 Highlight the passage at 14:30

14:49 Focusing on accentuating the very admirable qualities or attractive qualities and so forth. And then just saying, this is my refuge, this person, this person. And oh, by the way, the person gives really good Dharma. Or the person gives really cool empowerment. Or does a very nice ceremony. Or this or that or the other thing. Report an error in the passage at 14:49 Highlight the passage at 14:49

15:08 But your refuge, really, your primary reliance is on this person. Versus the Dharma. So some people have tremendous devotion for Lamas and then don't practice what they teach. Report an error in the passage at 15:08 Highlight the passage at 15:08

15:19 Or in East Asia. This happens a lot. I've heard. I've not been to Taiwan, but I've heard in places like that, that a great Lama will come. A really awesome Lama. And this has happened many times to the Dalai Lama. That he will come and give an empowerment, followed by teaching. Or first teachings, and then the empowerment. Report an error in the passage at 15:19 Highlight the passage at 15:19

15:37 And, you know, a little tiny fraction of people come for the teaching. And then when it's the empowerment time, they're just flocking in to sit there and, I'm getting empowered. Report an error in the passage at 15:37 Highlight the passage at 15:37

15:48 It's completely back-ass words. We say in America, it just got it completely wrong that we go to a teacher in order to receive the Dharma as in the same way you go to a doctor, not to idolize the doctor. Report an error in the passage at 15:48 Highlight the passage at 15:48

16:03 I guess that happens, I don't know, I imagine, but we don't do it much. You go to the doctor because the doctor is going to help you and then the doctor says, all right, now here, here's what you need, a Tibetan doctor, here's the diet you need to follow and this is the type of behavior you should follow and this is how you should take these medications. Report an error in the passage at 16:03 Highlight the passage at 16:03

16:20 And I want you to come back in one week and report how's it going and tell me, you know, did you follow the instructions and is it helping? I translated for probably hundreds of times for Dr. Yeshedunan, Tibetan doctor, physician of his Holiness the Dalai Lama. And that was just, that was how it worked. You come in, you bring in your urine, you do a urine analysis, you do the pulse diagnosis, he would look at you, he would question you. Report an error in the passage at 16:20 Highlight the passage at 16:20

16:43 And then having done his diagnosis, then you would get your probably three types of herbal medication. And he'd tell you how to take it, he'd tell you the diet and the kind of behavior to follow, and he'd say, I'll see you in a week. And then you report back. But then when you report back, if the doctor says, well, how did it work? Report an error in the passage at 16:43 Highlight the passage at 16:43

17:01 If you say, I don't know, you tell me or the doctor, then you say, what are you, stupid? That was unacceptable. That you come, you're taking responsibility for your health, and the doctor is an outstanding doctor, but... That's not the big deal. The big deal is, is his medication working or not? Is his counsel helpful or not? Report an error in the passage at 17:01 Highlight the passage at 17:01

17:21 And you're the one that has to know that. So you come back as a responsible adult and you report in and then the doctor says, aha, so you feel a little bit of nausea after the afternoon meal. We're going to adjust the afternoon medicine like this and you're not sleeping very well. I think I have an alternative for the evening medicine. And then you come back a week later and they would tweak and tweak and then... Report an error in the passage at 17:21 Highlight the passage at 17:21

17:42 But you come in there to the doctor for the sake of the treatment, and the treatment is what you're taking refuge in, and you have to determine whether it works or not. So I thought that really made sense. So I translated it probably, I don't know how many times, hundreds of times. I was there for four years and then translated for him in California too. So it's similar, it's very similar. Report an error in the passage at 17:42 Highlight the passage at 17:42

18:01 So between the two, the Lama, the Rinpoche, the Tukku, whoever it may be, they are there, and it's wonderful that they are there, and they are there, and they're dispensing the medicine of Dharma. And your refuge is the Dharma. Your actual refuge, that which will heal your mind, balance your mind, liberate your mind. It's not the Guru doing some strange mind-to-mind transmission, or I'll do a special ritual for you, or I will do something for you. Report an error in the passage at 18:01 Highlight the passage at 18:01

18:27 It's nice if they do that, but when all is said and done, it's your job. The Dharma is there for you to practice. And the Guru is there to help you practice. And the Dharma, when integrated in your mindstream, is that which heals. Report an error in the passage at 18:27 Highlight the passage at 18:27

18:42 I've seen many times when that doesn't happen, when people become just kind of like idolized or adulate a particular Rinpoche or teacher, especially if they have really high status, they're famous, they have a bunch of initials before their name and so forth. And it's always precarious. It's precarious. It's fragile. Because on occasion, I'm not thinking of any particular guru right now, but on occasion, if the guru doesn't have very, very profound realization, The gurus, whoever they are, they probably still have mental afflictions. You can't just assume that if you go to a guru, he or she is already a Buddha. Report an error in the passage at 18:42 Highlight the passage at 18:42

19:19 They tend to be, I think, a bit rare. And so you have to deal with a person who is not yet a Buddha, which means they probably have still mental afflictions, which means sometimes mental afflictions manifest in behavior that is inappropriate or harmful or exploitative or dishonest. And I've heard some real doozies over the years of teachers, you know, Buddhist and Hindu and Christian. Report an error in the passage at 19:19 Highlight the passage at 19:19

19:41 Just for starters, where you're saying, oh, geez, what are you doing teaching Dharma? So that happens. And when that happens, and if the student is idolizing the Guru as the ultimate refuge, and then the Guru has misconduct, it's chaos. It's really a mess. It's really a mess. And so if we're always just starting out for the first moment, I'm here to receive the Dharma from this teacher. Report an error in the passage at 19:41 Highlight the passage at 19:41

20:07 And insofar as the teacher is embodying, The teachings to the best of his or her ability, expressing them clearly with the pure motivation of compassion. And that's what I ask of the teacher. And now it's my job, the Dharma. It's very easy to reverse that. And not even really take one's own Dharma practice all that seriously. Because after all, the Lama is so realized, so incredible, so psychic and so forth, that one gets everything backwards. Report an error in the passage at 20:07 Highlight the passage at 20:07

20:33 And so, this first point I think is especially relevant in our very individualist era today. And then we have rely on the words, do not rely on the words, rely on the meaning. So there's the words, there's the doctrine. Well, is it Sakya? Is it Galupa? Is it Buddhist? Is it Christian? Is it Mayana Buddhism? Or Jaravata Buddhism? So we're looking at the words, the doctrines and so forth. And then we may wonder, some people wonder, is it the pure Dharma? Report an error in the passage at 20:33 Highlight the passage at 20:33

20:57 Is it impure Dharma? And so forth. And so we can get hung up on the words themselves and sometimes lose sight of... It says the meaning here is the referent of the words, what it's actually all about. So the words about developing compassion, what are the near enemies and so forth and so on, those are all words, but they're pointing to the actual experience of cultivating compassion and so forth. Report an error in the passage at 20:57 Highlight the passage at 20:57

21:21 And that's what it's all about. And so whether the words are this type of tradition or this lineage or this articulation, it's all about what the words are referring to. And then if people did that, I think we wouldn't have any religious wars. Because people don't fight about compassion or wisdom or generosity and so forth. They fight about doctrines and about the outer veneers, the institutions, the rituals, the doctrines, the words, the beliefs. Report an error in the passage at 21:21 Highlight the passage at 21:21

21:47 That's what people have been fighting about for centuries. But not fighting about our side has more compassion than yours does or we have more wisdom than you do. And that's the reference. Our side has less suffering than you do. Let's fight about it. Our side has less mental afflictions than yours do. Let's fight about that. Report an error in the passage at 21:47 Highlight the passage at 21:47

22:04 You know, it makes you smile because it's so absurd. But that's what all the words are for. That our mental opinions subside, that virtues increase, wisdom, compassion, well-being arises. So all religious wars would be averted if we did this. If we really did this. So it tends to not rely primarily on the words. The words are your conveyance. As the guru is the means to get to the Dharma, the words are the means to get to the meaning. Report an error in the passage at 22:04 Highlight the passage at 22:04

22:28 And then when the meaning, when it comes to meaning, there's provisional meaning. Do not rely on the provisional meaning. Rely on the definitive meaning. And so this is, there's some statements in Dharma, we find it actually in multiple traditions, that not everything in the Bible should be taken literally. Report an error in the passage at 22:28 Highlight the passage at 22:28

22:43 At least many Christians believe that. And some believe it's all carved in granite. And they're, of course, the fundamentalists. But whether it's Buddhas and Christianity, what have you, there are some teachings that are contextual, that are relative, and other ones that are really definitive. And it's important to recognize which ones are locked into, located in a particular society, a phase of history. So I give one example. Report an error in the passage at 22:43 Highlight the passage at 22:43

23:09 Monastic vows. Even during the times of Buddha, there are squabbles. Among the Buddha's own disciples, there was dissent within the Saṅgha about interpretation of the monastic rules. They're already squabbling, even during that Buddha. I could go on and on about that one. But here's one of them. I used to have 253 of them. I found that was about 253 too many living in the West. Report an error in the passage at 23:09 Highlight the passage at 23:09

23:34 So I offered back my monastic ordination and tried to be just a good lay person. It's a bit easier. Actually, a bit easier. In the West, in Asia, it's actually very easy being a monk. But here's the point. Here's one of the precepts. I'm giving away secrets. And that is, a monk is not to ride alone in a carriage with a woman. Report an error in the passage at 23:34 Highlight the passage at 23:34

23:55 Sounds sinister, right? Okay, no. But that's one of the precepts. The monk don't ride alone in a carriage with a woman. Well, why on earth? And the Buddha, that came from the Buddha. Why on earth would you say something like that? Well... We can tell you why, because we know for every precept there was a story that gave rise to it. There was something that happened, and then the Buddha said, monks, I've got another one for you. This is no, really. Report an error in the passage at 23:55 Highlight the passage at 23:55

24:22 If you had lived longer than 80 years, there would be more than 253 precepts. There could have been 400, 500, because people would keep on screwing up in novel ways. Report an error in the passage at 24:22 Highlight the passage at 24:22

24:32 Well, this wasn't really a major screw-up. It was a monk riding in a carriage alone with a woman, right? And by the way, it goes for the nuns too, no riding alone in a carriage with a man, in case you were thinking about it. So what's up with that? It seems so innocent, you know? And, well, it was a very simple thing. It was utterly innocent. A monk was given a ride in a carriage by some woman, and they're riding out to do something quite innocent. Report an error in the passage at 24:32 Highlight the passage at 24:32

24:54 No hinky-pinky, nothing wrong. Villagers saw it, and then villagers do what villagers do. They started gossiping. Did you see that monk? He was going off the wall. And they created all this disturbance and, you know, nonsense. And so it's creating a disruption. Report an error in the passage at 24:54 Highlight the passage at 24:54

25:13 And the Buddha heard about it. And then they say, oh, those Buddhist monks, they hang out with women, who knows where they're going, probably at trees, they're probably blah, blah, blah. So then the Buddha said, monks, give the lay people a break. Don't ride alone on the woman, their tongues wag. It's unlikely, if you do that, it's unlikely that you want to do something inappropriate with a woman. Report an error in the passage at 25:13 Highlight the passage at 25:13

25:35 But there's other people's perspective, and you have to take that into account. That's a precept, in a time and a place. Well, I was a monk. I went to Europe, back to Europe as a monk in 1975. And I wanted to be a good monk. I have now all 253 precepts. But I'm thinking, I'm going back to Switzerland, because this whole land has encouraged me to do so, to be in the monastery there. And I'm thinking in advance, what shall I do if I arrive at the University of Zurich and a woman comes to pick me up and take me to the monastery? Report an error in the passage at 25:35 Highlight the passage at 25:35

26:07 What shall I do, say? Report an error in the passage at 26:07 Highlight the passage at 26:07

26:13 Give me a man. It'll sound so sexy, so kind of like disgusting and disparaging, insulting. But what am I supposed to do? Get in the carriage with her and drive away and then break my precept? Or ask, say, no, not you, bring a man, I'll wait. I do. Because I didn't want to be a sloppy monk. I want to be a good monk. Report an error in the passage at 26:13 Highlight the passage at 26:13

26:33 So I went and spoke to the junior teacher of his Holiness the Dalai Lama. He was one of my Lamas. And I told him, I want to be a good monk. But I'm going to the West now. And it's a very different setting. And if I won't get into the car with a woman, that's not going to be nice. And of course, I'm not getting in the car to do anything bad, I'm going to the monastery, whatever it is. Report an error in the passage at 26:33 Highlight the passage at 26:33

26:52 And so I asked him, what shall I do? What shall I do? When faced in a situation where if I literally follow all of those 253 precepts, that I'm going to create that. Report an error in the passage at 26:52 Highlight the passage at 26:52

27:11 Crap. And then he gave me a very simple answer. He said, in all circumstances, ask yourself, what is of greatest benefit to sentient beings, and do that. So he gave me a long leash, because, you know, we can justify anything. For the sake of all sentient beings, I'm going to... For the sake of all sentient beings, you know, you're going to enjoy it, I'm going to enjoy it. Report an error in the passage at 27:11 Highlight the passage at 27:11

27:41 So he gave me a long rope to hang myself, if I didn't exercise wisdom, but a lot of leeway to exercise wisdom, and not just be... By the book. So that, he told me then, followed the definitive meaning. What's the point of all the precepts? To guard your Dharma practice. Help other people guard their Dharma practice. And can you continue in a straight line on the path not just to liberation, because I was ordained in the Mahāyāna tradition by His Holiness. Report an error in the passage at 27:41 Highlight the passage at 27:41

28:12 It's not just your own liberation. The very path itself is an expression of compassion to achieve awakening for the sake of all sentient beings. So make sure that all your actions all the way along the path are indeed in accordance with that spirit, that yes, you're proceeding to an awakening for the benefit of all the men and women around you, and now act and make the best decisions you can. Report an error in the passage at 28:12 Highlight the passage at 28:12

28:36 And of course you make mistakes. It would be really nice if you had those directions and be infallible. I'm not. So then you make mistakes, but then you identify the mistake and you don't repeat it. And that's what he told me. So that's the gist of this. You see the spirit of it then. It's not just rule-bound, but it's also not, well, do whatever feels right, or just do whatever feels natural. Sometimes what feels natural is pretty yucky. Report an error in the passage at 28:36 Highlight the passage at 28:36

29:01 And then finally, the most interesting one, do not rely on conditioned consciousness, rely on primordial consciousness. So I could linger there a long time because I think this is Dzogchen. Because it's a term, yeshe is primordial consciousness or primordial wisdom. And the first one is namshi, which means consciousness. But this is just consciousness within the five skandhas that is dualistic. It's frocked with mental afflictions and so forth. Report an error in the passage at 29:01 Highlight the passage at 29:01

29:25 Just mental consciousness. And so we have our ordinary mind, our dualistic mind, which includes our intelligence, memory, mental afflictions versus the whole bag, that whole mess that we call our minds and that we do need to rely upon. I mean, sound judgment and all of that, discerning intelligence. So there is that. And just as you do rely on the guru, You don't just toss out the guru and say, never mind, let's just take the Dharma. And you do rely upon the words and not chuck them out and just rely on the meaning. And you do attend to the provisional meaning, because that also is taught. Report an error in the passage at 29:25 Highlight the passage at 29:25

29:58 But between the two, you place a greater reliance on the definitive meaning. Similarly, you do resort to your sound judgment, your intelligence, all located within this dualistic mind that's strongly conditioned by mental convictions. I mean, that's the mind you've got. What are you going to do? So you do need to rely on it. Report an error in the passage at 29:58 Highlight the passage at 29:58

30:16 But is that the only way of viewing reality and of making decisions? And he said, well, no, there's a whole other dimension here. And it's called Rigpa. Pristine awareness is synonymous with primordial consciousness, which is Buddha nature, which is Buddha mind. And so up here on the surface where I live, up there on the mind, then how this floats up. Because impulses from the substrate consciousness are floating up and manifesting. Report an error in the passage at 30:16 Highlight the passage at 30:16

30:47 Freud would call it subconscious. Fine. Buddhism, I think, has a bigger view. But impulses, imprints, memories, desires can float up, especially when the mind becomes very porous or in the dream state. But just by the way, the time when this comes up, I saw this documentary not too long ago on Sleeping, the longest dreams, the deepest dreams, and the ones that are the least connected with just the events of the preceding day are the last two hours of sleep. Report an error in the passage at 30:47 Highlight the passage at 30:47

31:12 And Tibetans have been saying that for centuries. And I just read a documentary that just those last two, like from five to seven in the morning, whatever the last two hours of your sleep are, that's when you may have the longest dreams, the deepest dreams, the most continuous and the most meaningful. Report an error in the passage at 31:12 Highlight the passage at 31:12

31:26 The first cycle of dreaming is maybe only ten minutes long and very likely some kind of response to something that went on in the day or anticipation of tomorrow. But it has a very shallow root system. By the time you have all that buffer zone of being asleep for five, six, seven hours, then what's coming up there may be coming from a greater depth from the substrate consciousness. Report an error in the passage at 31:26 Highlight the passage at 31:26

31:47 And in terms of dream interpretation, understanding, symbolic import and so forth, that's kind of the prime real estate there. And so this point, simply point being that even in the waking state, Very much so as you go deeper in meditation and then in deep sleep, when you've gone asleep for a long time and you're having a dream coming up, there will be clearly impulses, memories, desires and so forth that may be informing or influencing your dreams. Report an error in the passage at 31:47 Highlight the passage at 31:47

32:16 So there's that, but as that happens, also this deepest dimension, pristine awareness, primordial consciousness, that's not inert, it's not frozen, it's not out of commission until you become a Vidyadada. Until you have full realization. It's always there. It's always there. It's always present. And it's always active. It's always active. Report an error in the passage at 32:16 Highlight the passage at 32:16

32:38 And so we are getting flow from that deepest dimension. It's flowing through. It's flowing through. But then do we recognize it? When there is some deeper wisdom coming up from a source that is not simply empirical or logical, but from a deeper space. And what we call this, generally, for people who just speak. Report an error in the passage at 32:38 Highlight the passage at 32:38

32:59 Ordinary English with no particular Dharma terminology. We call that intuition. But now intuition can be easily mistaken for wishful thinking and expectation and assumption and hunch and blind guesses. Well, my intuition was that, you know, this horse would win the race. Didn't. Okay. You know, I had this hunch he had a really good name, like Lucky One. Report an error in the passage at 32:59 Highlight the passage at 32:59

33:25 I just thought he'd be lucky. And so intuition can be mistaken for something that has nothing to do with primordial consciousness. But this is our challenge up there on the surface level where we live, to be able to distinguish what's coming from a deeper source. And he's saying, in the final analysis, rely on primordial consciousness. And the way to access that is your conditioned mind. Report an error in the passage at 33:25 Highlight the passage at 33:25

33:50 As the way to access Dharma is by way of the teacher, and right on through. But the ultimate reliance is Ripa. And that's your ultimate refuge. That's your ultimate refuge. Beyond taking refuge in the Buddhadharma Saṅgha, there's something outside. This is the ultimate refuge. And so one can say the whole of Dharma. It's nice to sometimes just simplify and make a true statement in the vast complexity of Dharma. And that is, the whole of Dharma is to identify your own Rigpa, take full refuge in it until you are it, until you fully realize, manifest it. Report an error in the passage at 33:50 Highlight the passage at 33:50

34:26 Then you're a Buddha. So that's Dharma in a nutshell. So I find this very useful. I learned these more than 40 years ago, and I've never forgotten them. Very, very useful. Moving on, as our time passes here, the Mahāyāna teaching on transferring consciousness is precisely these five powers, so your conduct is crucial. Report an error in the passage at 34:26 Highlight the passage at 34:26

34:47 Okay, transferring consciousness. Those of you, and I think quite a few of you who have a background in Tibetan Buddhism, you know the term poa, poa, transference of consciousness. And so this is a practice taught a lot. I've received the teachings. I've taught it on occasion. There are very elaborate versions of transferring consciousness, for example, to specific Buddha realms like Sukhavati or the Pure Land of Amitabha. Report an error in the passage at 34:47 Highlight the passage at 34:47

35:10 It's a very common one. But it's a way of specifically, at the point of death, transferring your consciousness to a desired destination that would be of greatest possible benefit for yourself and others. And so it's kind of... It's an important practice and it's done a lot and sometimes with empowerment and tantric teachings and esotericism and very elaborate visualizations, sometimes mantra and so forth and so on. Report an error in the passage at 35:10 Highlight the passage at 35:10

35:37 And that all can be very meaningful and it's taught in all the schools of Tibetan Buddhism. Poa, it's like you're on a train and you have to make a transfer because the train is going to come to a stop or you have to get off of it because your ticket's finished. And then when you get off the train it would be very good to know If you like to go someplace, or if you have to go someplace, when it's time to get off the train and you need to transfer, where are you transferring to? Report an error in the passage at 35:37 Highlight the passage at 35:37

36:02 And if you have no idea, just, well, just see what happens, then good luck with that, because it could just be anywhere. Whereas you could actually anticipate, I want to go to this destination. And so before you get off, you've already bought your tickets. You get off this train, you open another train, and you go to the next leg of your journey. Maybe it's a long journey. Maybe it'll take you three countless seons to enlightenment. Report an error in the passage at 36:02 Highlight the passage at 36:02

36:26 But it's having a vision of what's the direction, and when this particular phase called this life is over, where is that smooth continuity to go to greater and deeper meaning and deeper meaning until I come to the culmination of the path. And that's what POA is all about. To see that your transition from this life to the next is to, in a very meaningful way, direct you to a place where you can most fruitfully continue your practice. Report an error in the passage at 36:26 Highlight the passage at 36:26

36:51 So it's not like some visions of heaven, that you just get there and then you're just immutably blissful for the rest of your life and you stay there for eternity, just blissing out. Report an error in the passage at 36:51 Highlight the passage at 36:51

37:03 So I'm not going to criticize that view, but that's simply not the view of Buddhism at all. Not at all. That there are pure lands, and not only one. But there are pure lands, and people will, for centuries, Indians, Tibetans and others, have been practicing Poha to direct the consciousness in very specific ways to a very fortunate circumstance, whether at a human rebirth, with all the causing conditions for practicing, or to some pure realm. Report an error in the passage at 37:03 Highlight the passage at 37:03

37:28 But the whole point of that is you practice there. And if you've not already realized bodhicitta, you do so. If you've not realized emptiness, you do so. Report an error in the passage at 37:28 Highlight the passage at 37:28

37:38 You may continue practicing there for a good long time, or in many cases, you may practice for some time, and then out of your compassion, leave the pure realm and come back to be of service. I read about one Lama not too long ago, where he was a very accomplished being, but he had his teacher, and I think he was dying, I don't remember all the details, but he was making prayers to be born in Padmasambhava's period, the glorious copper-colored mountain. Report an error in the passage at 37:38 Highlight the passage at 37:38

38:05 But his teacher saw that he was kind of directing his attention there. And the teacher told him, don't pray, don't pray to be in Padmasambhava's pure land. If you arrive there, he's going to send you back anyway. Report an error in the passage at 38:05 Highlight the passage at 38:05

38:24 I was hoping I could stay a while, you know, sometimes just send you back. Don't count on it. It's not just a place to hang out in immutable bliss, but a place to mature rapidly. And so that sooner or later when the time is right, then you do leave. Or you could be really cool and go from one pure land to another. That could be interesting. But sooner or later you come back and be a benefit, because that's the whole point. Report an error in the passage at 38:24 Highlight the passage at 38:24

38:45 You don't leave the surface of sentient beings to the Buddhas while you just hang out and be blissful. So that's that. So there are five. We can go through them pretty quickly because they're now straightforward. But while there are these elaborate, esoteric, sometimes many Vajrayana practices for this, there's also practice of Poa. I heard of one case of this. Report an error in the passage at 38:45 Highlight the passage at 38:45

39:03 In fact, I'll tell the story. It was many years ago, about 40 years ago, in Dashijong. And still, to this day, a very powerful encampment where there are Yogis that are like the Navy Seals or the Green Beret or whatever, really special forces. But they're special forces as gurus, right? They're really hardcore. Report an error in the passage at 39:03 Highlight the passage at 39:03

39:23 I've met some of them. And so there was a Lama who was the head of that whole community. He was Jitsumma, Jitsumama's guru, Kamjuruboche. And he, awesome Lama, awesome. I never met him, but by all accounts. And if she's any indication, he must be a very good teacher. In any case, in this community, which there were lay people there, But then there's kind of the hardcore, those people who are spending 20, 30, 40 years in retreat, really intense, incredibly intense training. And so there was that community there, quite balanced. Report an error in the passage at 39:23 Highlight the passage at 39:23

39:54 The great Lama was leading everybody, lay communities, family, children, and so forth, and then these monks who were all very committed, very deep practitioners. And in this community, there was some dog, dog all over the place in India. And there was a dog, and it seemed to be dying, and dying in a lot of pain, because it was just crying and crying and crying. Report an error in the passage at 39:54 Highlight the passage at 39:54

40:14 And it was clearly dying, but it was really taking its time at it, and it was really in a lot of pain. And so the villagers came to Kamta Rinpoche, a very, very accomplished Lama, and said, Rinpoche, please practice poa, please put this dog out of its misery, and send its consciousness someplace else, because it's just so much pain. Report an error in the passage at 40:14 Highlight the passage at 40:14

40:32 And I don't think they were complaining about the noise, it really was compassion. And Kamta Rinpoche said, not yet, not yet. Some days went on, and then he said, okay, now. And then he went over, this is what I heard from people who witnessed it, and then he went over to the dog and he had a purbu, which is a ritual dagger, not used ever as a weapon, it's a ritual dagger. Report an error in the passage at 40:32 Highlight the passage at 40:32

40:54 And he comes over to the dog and I think he draws some diagram in the ground and then he goes into meditation and he takes the purbu between his palms and then he, as soon as this ritual, the purbu came down, the dog died. Report an error in the passage at 40:54 Highlight the passage at 40:54

41:09 And he had sent the dog consciousness off to a better place. But he knew when the time was ripe. And there's too early and there's too late. So he practiced Po on another sentubin. You don't have to believe that, but that's what happened. And so Lamas will sometimes do that for another person, but the time has to be ripe. And if one practices Po oneself, on oneself, it's very important, they really emphasize this, and that is don't go prematurely, don't send your consciousness off prematurely. Report an error in the passage at 41:09 Highlight the passage at 41:09

41:41 You must know that you're dying, clearly, have very clear evidence. And then when the time is right, then you can lift off and send your consciousness elsewhere. But that's all very esoteric, very mystical. And here's Atisha's approach. Here's your method. Here's the teaching on transferring consciousness, your own. First, so five powers again. Report an error in the passage at 41:41 Highlight the passage at 41:41

42:05 But now five powers specifically apply to the dying process. So first the power of positive seeds. And that is, as you're dying, That is, when you're now dying, give up all your material goods to your objects of refuge with a sense of fearlessness regarding the hereafter. So, the objects of refuge, that's fine. Report an error in the passage at 42:05 Highlight the passage at 42:05

42:27 Give it to your loved ones. I mean, Tibetans would do that like pretty much everybody else. But the point is, so when are you dying? Well, in Tibetan medicine, they'll tell you exactly when you're dying. But it has to be diagnosed by somebody who really knows what's going on. You may have a mortal injury, so you're not dead yet, but there's no way you'll recover. That's one way. Report an error in the passage at 42:27 Highlight the passage at 42:27

42:45 Or a terminal illness, where the doctor diagnoses you and says, you're going to die. And you're going to die of this. Everybody's going to die. But you're going to die of this, and you're dying now. And there's nothing I or anybody else they knew that can turn it back. You're not going to be healed from this. This is what's going to kill you. So by and large, two things. Report an error in the passage at 42:45 Highlight the passage at 42:45

43:03 Mortal energy or terminal disease. And it's for the doctor and not lay people, not amateurs, to understand this. Or if you're a very accomplished Lama, then you may know it yourself. And so when you're in that phase, you're now dying. From the moment you're born, you're subject to death. But now you're now right down in the homestretch. Report an error in the passage at 43:03 Highlight the passage at 43:03

43:22 And you are going downhill, and at the end of that hill will be death. And when you're there, then it's very important that you release all attachment to everything in this life. And give it away all to your family, if you like. This is not a pitch to empower a church. That does happen, of course. But give it away, but just give it away to family, to friends, give it to support monks and nuns, to your guru, whatever you like, but give it away so that as you're dying you're not still clinging to anything in this life, including relatives, friends, loved ones, possessions of all kinds. Report an error in the passage at 43:22 Highlight the passage at 43:22

43:55 Release it all. It'll make the transition much smoother. So there's one nice story from Hlaza, not too long ago, 20th century, of some very accomplished monk, and he was dying in Hlaza. And he knew he was dying, and he had an attendant. And as he was just gradually heading off there, dying process, then he turned to his attendant, because there was one thing he kept, and that was a bowl they used for Tibetan tea. Report an error in the passage at 43:55 Highlight the passage at 43:55

44:21 And the lamas will have the same bowl for 30 years, and you never clean it. You have Tibetan tea with butter in it, and you take a rag, and so after a while that bowl has your DNA in it, lots of your DNA. Because you just rub the butter into the bowl so it takes on a real nice sheen. But you really know you can recognize your bowl. I had one for years. It was my bowl. And so you can develop a little personal attachment to your bowl. Report an error in the passage at 44:21 Highlight the passage at 44:21

44:45 It's got a lot of you in it, at least your DNA. And so this monk, as he's dying, he turns to his attendant and says, you see my drinking bowl over there? Throw it out the window. Report an error in the passage at 44:45 Highlight the passage at 44:45

44:55 And the attendant said, why? And the old monk said, that's the last thing I have attachment to. Report an error in the passage at 44:55 Highlight the passage at 44:55

45:03 So just, you know, go free. Go free as a free agent, with no tentacles holding on to that which you cannot hold to anyway. So give yourself a break. Release all the attachment, because insofar as you still have attachment, that's going to make the ordeal like pulling teeth. Hard, because you're attached to that which you are necessarily being separated from. So that's this point here. So that you can be fearless. Report an error in the passage at 45:03 Highlight the passage at 45:03

45:29 It's setting you up to make that transition fearless regarding whatever's about to happen. Power of positive seeds, power of prayer. Before you die, this happens a lot in the Roman Catholic tradition, disclose all your misdeeds. That is, if you have anything lingering in the mind, this should be confessed. Report an error in the passage at 45:29 Highlight the passage at 45:29

45:46 Four remedial powers, remorse, etc., etc. Now is the time. Go out the clean slate, purify as much as you can before you go. Take refuge, that can't harm. That's only going to be good. Make offerings, sure, and ask for blessings to sustain the two bodhicittas during the bardo and future lives. Ask for blessings to meet with spiritual mentors, ask for blessings to be led by them on the path of joy. So make prayers. Now's the time. Now's the time to really be anticipating where would you like to go, direct your merit, direct your prayers, and so that you have a clear direction when you are no longer in this life. Report an error in the passage at 45:46 Highlight the passage at 45:46

46:23 The power of revulsion. So you see they're the same five powers, but now this is specifically geared for, adapted to the dying process. So it's good to remember. And this one, you don't need any empowerment. All that's very well, but this is what it teaches. And this is quite sufficient. Next one, power of revulsion. Recalling self-grasping is the source of all misery. So determine not to latch onto a body in the bardo, but let your mind dissolve into space. Report an error in the passage at 46:23 Highlight the passage at 46:23

46:53 So if over the course of your life, you're fiercely identifying with your body, and a lot of people are, even when it gets old. There's no, there's no, it's... Report an error in the passage at 46:53 Highlight the passage at 46:53

47:00 Still identifying, still identifying, still identifying. And if they die with that grasping onto the body as I or mine, when of course it's not, then that's going to be difficult. That letting go of that which you have to let go of, that's going to be difficult. But you do have to let go, and then you're going to be in this intermediate phase where you have a mental body. Report an error in the passage at 47:00 Highlight the passage at 47:00

47:23 You actually do have a sense of form, but it's purely mental like in a dream. But then what happens normally, and Plato talked about this, who's not exactly a Buddhist, Plato talked about this, because he, of course, taught reincarnation as well, but he also taught about the bardo. And he said, when you're in, he didn't call it bardo, he called it something else, but after death, prior to your next embodiment, he said, if you're not a philosopher, that's what he said, old style. Report an error in the passage at 47:23 Highlight the passage at 47:23

47:48 Nowadays, philosophers are just having a PhD in tenure. That's not a big deal. But back then, a philosopher was like Socrates. That was a philosopher. And not just a guy who can write philosophical papers. So if you're a philosopher and you die and you're in that, then you will release all grasping and you'll go to a higher realm of existence. Report an error in the passage at 47:48 Highlight the passage at 47:48

48:05 I suspect he's probably referring to the form realm. The realm of ideal forms and so forth is kind of unobvious. The realm of pure ideas, platonic ideal. But you go to a higher realm, which is not embodied with flesh, bone and guts and all that kind of stuff. But if you're not a philosopher... Then when you're in this transitional phase, you're going to do what he said. I don't know how he knew this, maybe back to Pythagoras, who could remember so many of his previous lives. But when you're in this phase, then you're going to find this craving arising, this irrepressible force or urge to be embodied again. Report an error in the passage at 48:05 Highlight the passage at 48:05

48:40 And that will thrust you through, that will propel you through this phase until you're able to satisfy your wish and you get embodied all over again. And then welcome back to saṃsāra. The next chapter. And so what Plato was saying, lo and behold, here it is. And just as a matter of interest, there's a great big humongous book of about 2,000 pages called Irreducible Mind. Report an error in the passage at 48:40 Highlight the passage at 48:40

49:06 It's an encyclopedia of a lot of very interesting research that's taking place outside of the materialistic paradigm. Sure, heresy, but it's good science. And one of the things they document there, people like Jim Tucker before him, Ian Stevenson, is when this group, it's at University of Virginia, Division of Perceptual Studies. Report an error in the passage at 49:06 Highlight the passage at 49:06

49:26 I know some of them. They're very sharp, balanced. They're doing really good science, but it's heretical science, so they tend to be marginalized. But these people have been studying evidence for reincarnation for 40 years and finding children had veridical recollections of past lives for which they had no other way of knowing the information they were. Report an error in the passage at 49:26 Highlight the passage at 49:26

49:46 They were researching that because they thought there might be truth, and lo and behold, in many cases, there was truth. By the way, the easier read, the shorter read is by Ian Stevenson, who started this whole thing, and the one book to read is Where Reincarnation and Biology Intersect. That's an amazing book. It's just straight science, but with an enormous amount of empirical evidence that I think is enormously hard to just simply... Report an error in the passage at 49:46 Highlight the passage at 49:46

50:09 You know, flip off and say, well, of course, that's new agey. Well, it's not. But check for yourself. But the surprise, there are a number of surprises that came to these. This is the nature of science. And that is, be prepared to be surprised, because evidence come up, you didn't see coming. So these people thought that maybe some of these memories are accurate, and maybe they're not. Report an error in the passage at 50:09 Highlight the passage at 50:09

50:28 So they did research, what good scientists do. What came to a surprise to them is that in many cases, they have these people, these children, are usually four or five, six years old. It'd be a bit earlier, three. Recalling in detail, accurately, past life memories, but then recalling how they died, and then recalling what happened afterwards, prior to this Uncanation. Report an error in the passage at 50:28 Highlight the passage at 50:28

50:51 And they had quite a few accounts of children, well then I was dead, and this is what happened. And then it was not one child, it was ten children, and twenty children, and thirty children. They found the people who had that type of interim recall, we call the bardo, they tended to have a lot and accurate memory. Report an error in the passage at 50:51 Highlight the passage at 50:51

51:09 That is, their degree of accuracy tended to be heightened if they could also remember this. Well, it turned out, of course, that there were, of course, maybe not of course, that among this growing number of people who were repeating, how do you say, expressing or narrating their experiences in this bardo, that there were very clear patterns. Report an error in the passage at 51:09 Highlight the passage at 51:09

51:30 They would go through phases, phases, phases, and then they'd take their next birth. And one of the phases that was just utterly common was this urge to be re-embodied. So there was scientific evidence, which is quite interesting. And so in my book, Mind and the Balance, I show the sources for that, because I show sources for everything. Report an error in the passage at 51:30 Highlight the passage at 51:30

51:49 I show the scientific sources and Plato. And then, lo and behold, the Buddha in the Pāli Canon spoke about this. And you can see for yourself his narration. What are the phases you pass through when you've died and not yet been re-embodied? It turns out to be very similar. So I see three different sources unrelated. Plato didn't know Buddha and the scientists did not study Buddhism. I think they made a point not to. Report an error in the passage at 51:49 Highlight the passage at 51:49

52:14 So their research wouldn't be contaminated because they're not Buddhist or Hindu or anything else. So three different sources, Plato, the Buddha and then modern science and all converting finding evidence for that. It's something maybe to take seriously. And so that's the bardo. And so how not just to be propelled as in a non-lucid dream, just thrown into your next existence. Well, here's one way. Report an error in the passage at 52:14 Highlight the passage at 52:14

52:38 The power of revulsion, that is identifying as you're dying, this grasping, this identification with your body, latching onto the body. Because if that's how you leave, that's going to crop right up again in the bardo, and you'll just be one more kind of pathetic individual traveling to the bardo, like, you know, just grasping, grasping, where can I get a body again? Report an error in the passage at 52:38 Highlight the passage at 52:38

52:58 And of course you'll find one. There are enough to go around. And so try to release that. And when you're in the bardo, just do what we've been doing all along here. Release your mind into space. And you might go right into the clear light of death. So that's the third one. The fourth one, power of resolve. Report an error in the passage at 52:58 Highlight the passage at 52:58

53:17 Well, this is similar. But now it's not so much power of resolve, you know, never to be separated from the two bodhicittas. During this lifetime, that's very good, that creates continuity, that creates great momentum that you bring to the dying process. So live well, die well, but now you're dying, okay, die well and be prepared to be in the bardo and what follows, well. Report an error in the passage at 53:17 Highlight the passage at 53:17

53:38 And something that can create that continuity, it's the same theme, but now specifically for that phase, is recall the two bodhicittas, bring them vividly to mind, not slogans or just words, but really try to bring them to mind. Report an error in the passage at 53:38 Highlight the passage at 53:38

53:51 And then do so with a resolve. To practice these in the bardo and beyond that, and that will create this continuity. What better continuity than the two bodhicittas. And then the power of familiarization is a constant practice of the two bodhicittas. So that's for the dying process, five powers that are practices of poa, without any particular mantra or visualization or anything like that. Report an error in the passage at 53:51 Highlight the passage at 53:51

54:19 This, according to Atisha, is quite sufficient. I received teachings on this from the junior tutor of the Dalai Lama, one of the great, great sages. And I think it was he who commented that, well, we have all these many, many kind of esoteric, poor, poor practices. There are people who do poor retreats and poor empowerments and poor transmission. It's all good. It's all good. But what I believe it was Thijang Rinpoche who told me is that while we have all of these esoteric advanced vajrayana practices, in the meantime we have... Report an error in the passage at 54:19 Highlight the passage at 54:19

54:53 You know, I'm paraphrasing a bit here. But in Tibet, most people are not yogis. Most monks are not. Monks and nuns are not yogis. And they're not doing advanced esoteric practices. They have a lot of faith, devotion. In many cases, they have good ethics. They are maintaining some practice. Report an error in the passage at 54:53 Highlight the passage at 54:53

55:12 But they're not yogis. They're not experienced meditators. They are farmers. They're nomads, you know, like that. And so he said, in the history of Tibet, We have many people who have practiced transference consciousness and it worked very well, and most of them got it by this. This you can do even if you're not a yogi. Report an error in the passage at 55:12 Highlight the passage at 55:12

55:30 So that really resonated with me. So then we have the final advice on dying. So this is still within, that was the outline, final advice on dying. So there's no aphorism for this one, but it's very, very helpful. And this was in the commentary. So if you can... Adopt the sleeping, lying posture. It's not imperative, but it's preferable. Now, if you can sit upright in meditation, you'll be very impressive. Report an error in the passage at 55:30 Highlight the passage at 55:30

55:59 People really write home, whoa, she died in the sleeping, she died in the full lotus. You'll be able to, you know, you'll get a really good reputation that way. Not that you'll care afterwards, but people will be impressed. Report an error in the passage at 55:59 Highlight the passage at 55:59

56:12 But in 1992, I went to Dharma Sala with a group of neuroscientists. And as soon as we arrived, we were told by the private office, because we were there for a Mind and Life meeting, and to do research. And as soon as we arrived, we just put our suitcases down. And we're staying at the little bed and breakfast of the Dalai Lama's younger brother, Kashmiri Cottage. Report an error in the passage at 56:12 Highlight the passage at 56:12

56:33 And we received a word immediately, Go now, do not stop, go to the home of Raja Rinpoche. He's one of the great Lamas there. He's just passed away, and so go now. You may be able to see him before. In his final meditation. So we did. We scurried off. I mean, the others are all neuroscientists. Richard David. No, he wasn't there yet. Report an error in the passage at 56:33 Highlight the passage at 56:33

56:55 He came a little bit later. Clifford Saron, Richard Davidson, Francisco Varela. Those three were there. I don't think Richard had arrived yet. He came later. So we went off there. I was the interpreter for them. And we missed him only by hours. We missed, not that he flew away someplace, but his body was there, but his final meditation went on for six days. Report an error in the passage at 56:55 Highlight the passage at 56:55

57:16 Six days, abiding in the clear light of death, and it was observed, his breathing had stopped, heartbeat stopped, everything stopped, but he was in meditation, and for those six days, this was in October 1992, so it's really like 20 degrees centigrade, it's really very mild climate. Anybody who knows anything about corpses, you'll know that a corpse after six days, at room temperature, I think you don't want to be in the same room. Report an error in the passage at 57:16 Highlight the passage at 57:16

57:41 It will be very unappealing in many ways. That's what corpses do, they decompose. Well, for those six days, there was no decomposition at all. So he was still in meditation. But, so we all were brought into, but we just missed him by a matter of hours. They said, ah, his, he's, the meditation stopped just hours ago. But we were there, like on day seven, and so we saw the body, because they hadn't moved it yet, nothing had been done, they still left it in state. Report an error in the passage at 57:41 Highlight the passage at 57:41

58:07 But the neuroscientist came in, and there was a fragrance in the air, but not unpleasant. It's just something I'd never experienced before, but it was not unpleasant at all. But he was lying on his back. This is where the whole story comes from. He was not lying in the sleeping line. He was not sitting like this, upright. He was just lying on his back. That's how he decided to die. I think Shavasana. Very appropriate. Report an error in the passage at 58:07 Highlight the passage at 58:07

58:32 Corpse position. He's already assumed the posture. So he did. And he died in that mode. But we walked in and it was just kind of an interesting, I think interesting is the word. But no way unpleasant smell in the air. And there he was, and there was no putrefaction at all. There's no decomposition at all. Report an error in the passage at 58:32 Highlight the passage at 58:32

58:52 He looked like he was still taking a nap. And then one of the scientists, Cliff Seren, we're told you can touch his body because he's finished. He's not there anymore. So you're not messing with him. You're not disturbing his meditation. And he was one who had the guts to actually touch him. The other scientists were kind of like... Report an error in the passage at 58:52 Highlight the passage at 58:52

59:09 But Cliff is bold. Good guy. And he touched the flesh and he said, it's a bit pudgy. It's a bit soft. That's it. Doesn't quite have what he thought would be the firmness of a living person. Report an error in the passage at 59:09 Highlight the passage at 59:09

59:25 So, that happens about every year or so. That was just one case, but that was one where we had the neuroscientist saw very shortly after his meditation stopped. There were certain signs that people who really know what's going on, they can see when the final meditation's over. And they recognize that and say, now it's finished. Report an error in the passage at 59:25 Highlight the passage at 59:25

59:42 And what that means is that subtle Canadian consciousness now has disengaged, separated from the body. But now it's meat. I mean, it's the meat of a very fine Lama, but it's still meat. And so then they cremate it, and generally they'll find sacred relics from the ashes. That's quite common. So I just wanted to figure out a little bit about that. Report an error in the passage at 59:42 Highlight the passage at 59:42

1:00:02 So if you can, if you feel like it, then adopting the sleeping lying posture, which is lying on your right side, your right palm under your right cheek. All you have to do is look at images of the Buddha when he passed into Paranavada. And so we're emulating his posture because he's lying on his right side. And that's what he chose. So the Buddha could have chosen to sit upright, but he didn't. Report an error in the passage at 1:00:02 Highlight the passage at 1:00:02

1:00:22 He chose that. And this is good for the alignment of the nadis, of the channels within the body. So not a big deal, but not insignificant. So then as you're dying, so now you're really, you're checking out, you know, like checking out of a hotel, you're checking out, then this is a preferred posture, but not indispensable. Report an error in the passage at 1:00:22 Highlight the passage at 1:00:22

1:00:41 And then as you're dying, then cultivate love and compassion and conjoin dongling with your breathing. So now this is your farewell. Say goodbye to all your friends, family, loved ones, say goodbye to all of them. And do not have them in the room. Because there'll be distraction, there'll be weeping and so forth and so on. And you don't want to be distracted. Report an error in the passage at 1:00:41 Highlight the passage at 1:00:41

1:01:00 Say goodbye, close the door, and if anybody's there, it should be a very trusted spiritual friend, to whom you don't have a lot of attachment, hopefully none, or your mentor, who's really there to guide you and help you through the final transition. That's the best. Or if you're very capable, then good, die on your own. Report an error in the passage at 1:01:00 Highlight the passage at 1:01:00

1:01:19 But as you're dying then, he's suggesting, Atisha's suggesting here, then die as you're dying, then as long as you can, as long as you have enough mind that's still arising, independence upon a functioning brain, then practice love and compassion, breathing in, breathing out. There's a very sweet farewell to the world. This is my gesture, my waving goodbye. So you practice relative bodhicitta, and you do that for a while, and if you're not dead yet... Report an error in the passage at 1:01:19 Highlight the passage at 1:01:19

1:01:44 If you've not lost your mind yet, then you can shift over and practice ultimate bodhicitta. And here's from the commentary, a very ancient one. Consider all of samsata and nirvāṇa consist of delusive appearances. The mind itself or the ultimate reality of the mind, which is rikpa. This is cittata, it's called in Sanskrit. The ultimate reality of the mind, that's how you translate it nowadays, has never been other than the dharmakaya. Report an error in the passage at 1:01:44 Highlight the passage at 1:01:44

1:02:08 So there is nothing in me that can die. Now that's just straight Dzogchen. And so you're releasing all identification, all attachment to your body, your mind and even your substrate consciousness. Report an error in the passage at 1:02:08 Highlight the passage at 1:02:08

1:02:21 And you're doing all appearances as delusive appearances misleading and then to the best of your ability you're simply releasing all grasping, all grasping, letting your mind rest, your awareness rest in its own nature and coming as close as you possibly can to just resting in Rigpa. And from that perspective you don't die because Rigpa doesn't die. Report an error in the passage at 1:02:21 Highlight the passage at 1:02:21

1:02:44 It's unborn and unceasing. It doesn't die. It wasn't born, therefore it doesn't die. That which is unborn is unceasing and Rigpa is that. So you try to release all grasping. This is a subtle level, let alone throwing away a bowl. You're not even identifying with your mind or any aspect of your mind or even your substrate consciousness. Report an error in the passage at 1:02:44 Highlight the passage at 1:02:44

1:03:05 And so this is the way. And so then as you're dying then, If you're in the optimal circumstance, you're dying gradually with not a lot of pain, your mind is clear. And as you're dying, you alternate between the practices of relative and ultimate bodhicitta. Report an error in the passage at 1:03:05 Highlight the passage at 1:03:05

1:03:20 So that's the best way. Until the mind fades out, and then you just slip right in. And you'll be slipping and the mind will dissolve into the substrate consciousness. If you're an accomplished yogi, especially if you achieve shamatha, you get to the substrate consciousness, you'll be lucid. That's when you're dead, by the way. Report an error in the passage at 1:03:20 Highlight the passage at 1:03:20

1:03:37 It's called the dark and irritainment. Your mind has collapsed. It will not come back again. It's dissolved into the substrate consciousness. You can be there for as long as three days. That would be unusual. There's not clear light of death, says Jujjum Lingpa, Padmasambhava. That could last as long as three days. That you're dead, but you haven't slipped over in the clear light of death yet. Report an error in the passage at 1:03:37 Highlight the passage at 1:03:37

1:03:59 But your mind is finished. But for most people, he said, as long as it takes to drink a cup of tea. So some minutes. And then that implodes. And then if you're an accomplished yogi, then there will arise the clear light of death, rikpa, and you can identify it. If you're not, then you just move on to the bardha. But the commentary says, and I think this is just straight oral lineage going way back, if you cannot do this, alternate between relative and ultimate bodhicitta, then identify the ultimate reality of your mind as dharmakaya. Report an error in the passage at 1:03:59 Highlight the passage at 1:03:59

1:04:34 Perceive the character of saṃsāra nirvāṇa as neither to be accepted nor rejected, and rest in, it's called reality itself, that's dhammata, ultimate reality, which is emptiness, in the state in which the mind itself is not transferred. So if you're resting there, then the mind doesn't go from here to there. Because the mind that goes from here to there is the substrate consciousness. That's in saṃsāra. So it goes from here to there. Report an error in the passage at 1:04:34 Highlight the passage at 1:04:34

1:04:57 But if you're resting in, rikpa. Rikpa is beyond coming and going. So Rikma isn't transferred, because there's no going or coming. So you just rest there, and in which case then you may really realize Dharmakaya. You can actually achieve enlightenment at that time. That's a possibility. Then your mind is not transferred anywhere. You simply fully realize Dharmakaya and you're a Buddha. Report an error in the passage at 1:04:57 Highlight the passage at 1:04:57

1:05:24 So Atisha comments here, there is no more wondrous counsel on dying than this. So that's Atisha's teachings on Poa. Very practical. And good to know about now and good to rehearse. So if you're a professional actor and you have a play coming up, you might want to rehearse before you're on stage. And so we're all going to be on stage, our full performance. And here is Dana. Here is Chukila. And then you're on. Report an error in the passage at 1:05:24 Highlight the passage at 1:05:24

1:05:55 And if you've rehearsed a lot, then you put on a good performance. If you're not, next, we're off into the bardo. So, it's now, let's say, 3.35. Let's come back once again at 3.55. We'll go right back to practice and move towards the end of this text. Report an error in the passage at 1:05:55 Highlight the passage at 1:05:55