Archive for December, 2007

I’ve been tagged by hokai to make a list of five favourite dharma books.

1: The Graduated Path to Enlightenment - Geshe Thubten Loden

2: Ocean of Indivisible Method and Wisdom - Geshe Thubten Loden

3: Self, Reality and Reason in Tibetan Philosophy - Thubten Jinpa

4: Middle Way Master Program - Geshe Jampa Gyatso

5: Meditations on Emptiness - Prof Jeffrey Hopkins

Actually, I could list a lot more than this

Tag goes out to-
Danny Fisher
Bill
Tricycle
Stephen Parks Bell

Here are 3 books I recommend for more information on death, dying and associated meditations.

But you may also want to have a look at these posts also.

Prayer and meditations for the dying
The death process in Buddhism
The purpose of prayer in Buddhism

1: Theory based book on death etc.If you want to know the details of the death process this is a great book for that.
Intermediate Buddhism

Death, Intermediate State and Rebirth by Lati Rinpoche Read more about this title…

2: A great book for new comes to Buddhism or for someone dealing with death wither directly or indirectly.

The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying: The Spiritual Classic & International Bestseller; Revised and Updated Edition by Sogyal Rinpoche, Patrick D. Gaffney, Andrew Harvey Read more about this title…

3: Practice based book by a an outstanding and popular Tibetan Lama/yogi. This books deals with meditation practices for the sick and dying.

Ultimate Healing: The Power of Compassion by Lama Zopa Rinpoche, Lillian Too Read more about this title…

Recently my blog posts have been focused on death or dying as one of my lama’s passed away.

Buddhism sees death as a natural part of life and something that is neither negative or bad. I even blogged about the death process here. Previous to these two posts, I wrote about the purpose of prayer in Buddhism. So in this post I want to combine these two themes and provide some ideas that may assist you or another through the process of dying.

Having a good death?

Is it possible to have a good death? Absolutely ! Generally speaking, death is seen by Buddhism as a great enemy - one that takes away the precious opportunity to practice Dharma. This is the reason for the images of death being demonic types.

As Milarepa said

Frightened of death I ran to the mountains to meditate. Now that I have seen the nature of my mind I welcome death.

You see, death to a Buddhist has contextual meaning. That is, when one is alive and healthy we use death meditation to shake us from laziness and complacency. Thinking about your own mortally is great motivation to practice and to improve our mind (remember that the goal of the Buddhist path is the freedom from dissatisfactoriness by replacing dysfunctional states of mind with functional ones). Because at the time of death nothing is of greater benefit than your practice. It is said that money can’t help you, how popular you were is no benefit and no matter how many pairs of shoes you have you cant take them with you.

But once death is a upon us, our focus and how we relate to death shifts from using it as a motivational tool to one of acceptance and letting go. In fact for great meditators, the time of death is an exciting time, as it is during the actual process of death that they gain access to the very subtle Clear Light mind and they have the chance to purify the last remnants of dualistic perception - thus achieving enlightenment.

How long can the process take?

It is said that the process of rebirth can take up to 49 days. For this reason prayers for the recently deceased should continue for that period of time. Can someone take rebirth sooner than 49 days? Yes, but you should still continue to say prayers for 49 days.

What to do before someone passes away?

1: Take time out to care for the dying person, make them feel that there is someone here to look after them, support them and listen. People need to feel that they are supported both before they die and after. So listen to them without judgement.

2: Stay focused on the positive and encourage the person to rejoice in their spiritual achievements regardless of how much or little practice they did during their life. Remind them of meditation retreats they did, talk about the good times or let them tell you stories of meeting great Lamas. This will uplift the dying persons mind…regrets at this point are useless! And it goes without saying that feelings of guilt and anger will only lead to problems.

3: It is especially useful to encourage and support letting go when the actual time has come. Therefore it is important to understand the process of dying. It is of no benefit to the dying person to tell them they won’t die or, to dismiss their feelings and words of letting go.

4: It is useful to arrange for the dying person (before they die) to give away their belongings, to make donations where they can, save the lives of animals, say goodbye to friends and to make funeral arrangements.
I have found that when I tell people that I will say prayers and meditate for them both before and after their death, and that I can say a couple of prayers at their funeral they are very very happy.

5: Help support faith, devotion and confidence by arranging the room with images such as Medicine Buddha, or one’s Lama. Try to minimize the display of loved ones as this can promote attachment, clinging and in extreme cases upset to dying person. Leaving a photo of a new grand child for example wont help the dying person. Showing them photos that are requested is fine but, continual reminders of what they will not see again will only result is a depressed mind.

6: Practice meditation together. I have been to see people dying of cancer in hospitals, where we performed Medicine Buddha puja, meditated on compassion and perform dedication prayers - the merit of the dying person is dedicated to their future good rebirth and the benefit of all sentient beings.

What to do after a loved one has passed away.

If you are not Buddhist, thinking good thoughts is the best advise. Not getting depressed and excessively crying over your loss will help both yourself and the recently deceased. If you are Buddhist below are a couple of short prayer you can request for someone dying or recently deceased.

Prayers for the dead and dying

Buddhist prayers for the dying

Chanting the names of Manjushri
Great Treasury of Excellence - The Prayer of the Path to Enlightenment.
The prayer benefiting past, present and future.
Long Life sutra.
Medicine Buddha sadhana.
White Tara long life sadhana.
Amitabha Sadhana - Transference of Consciousness.

If you would like to request prayers for the dying or recently deceased you can do so by contacting me http://lodenjinpa.com/about/

from Philosophy for kids

Teaching children the art of collaborative philosophical inquiry brings them persistent, long-term cognitive benefits, according to psychologists in Scotland.

For me the main issue here is to develop the facility of critical thinking within a community of inquiry. I think a great example of this is in the Tibetan tradition of debate. From a very early age monks spend many hours debating (a form of formalized discussions, not just auguring with each other) after receiving teachings on a particular subject. This all takes place from within a support base that encourages open mindedness, with a strong community of participates willing to hear new ideas as long as they are logically based.

I would like to see Buddhist philosophy included in something like this. Or al least have philosophy classes embrace other traditions than Western ones.

His Holiness is coming to Australia in 2008 to expound on the famous text called Stage of Meditation by the Indian pandit Kamalasila.

I have blogged about this previously but now there is a nice looking website http://dalailamainaustralia.org to go along with the tour. Thank ’someone’ because the last one was rather plain to say the lest!

Anyways here is a little from Stages of Meditation.

Moved by compassion, Bodhisattvas take the vow to liberate all sentient beings.

Then by overcoming their self-centered outlook, they engage eagerly and continuously in the very difficult practices of accumulating merit and insight.

Having entered into this practice, they will certainly complete the collection of merit and insight. Accomplishing the accumulation of merit and insight is like having omniscience itself in the palm of your hand. Therefore, since compassion is the only root of omniscience, you should become familiar with this practice from the very beginning.

The Compendium of Perfect Dharma reads, “O Buddha, a Bodhisattva should not train in many practices. If a Bodhisattva properly holds to one Dharma and learns it perfectly, he has all the Buddha’s qualities in the palm of his hand. And, if you ask what that one Dharma is, it is great compassion.”

The Buddhas have already achieved all their own goals, but remain in the cycle of existence for as long as there are sentient beings. This is because they possess great compassion. They also do not enter the immensely blissful abode of nirvana like the Hearers. Considering the interests of sentient beings first, they abandon the peaceful abode of nirvana as if it were a burning iron house. Therefore, great compassion alone is the unavoidable cause of the non-abiding nirvana of the Buddha.

Hope to see you there.

Death is a progressive process of the dissolution of body and mind that can be divided into eight main stages. As the body deteriorates, the energy required to sustain sense consciousness such as our eye awareness, then course conceptual consciousness - thoughts and emotions - and finally subtle consciousness is lost. At the same time there are specific signs or appearances to mind that mark these eight stages. The last stage being called the Clear Light of death or Mother Clear Light.

The point at which this Clear Light of death becomes manifest is of vital importance in a meditators life, as it is at this stage that one’s meditation can herald deep realisations into the nature of reality and propel a yogi along the path to enlightenment in very short period of time.

Also from an ordinary point of view, when death comes to an ordinary human it comes in a series of dissolutions. Since we will all face this process at some point, it is seen as important to understand the death process, if only to not let oneself fall subject to fear and so forth.

The Mind at Death

It is said that the state of mind of an ordinary being at death plays a large role in determining the type of rebirth that the being will take. Therefore it is very important to die with a positive state of mind. Therefore it is very useful for the dying to practice meditation, practice generosity by giving away their belongs, and saying goodbye to loved ones.

The Twenty Five gross objects

The Five Aggregate:

1. Form
2. Feeling
3. Discrimination
4. Compositional factors
5. Consciousness

The Five Basic Wisdom:

1. Basic Mirror-like wisdom
2. Basic wisdom of equality
3. Basic wisdom of analysis
4. Basic wisdom of achieving activities
5. Basic wisdom of the nature of phenomena

The Four Elements:

1. Earth
2. Water
3. Fire
4. Wind

The Six Sources:

1. Eye sense
2. Ear sense
3. Nose sense
4. Tongue sense
5. Body sense
6. Mind sense

The Five Objects:

1. Visible forms
2. Sounds
3. Odours
4. Tastes
5. Tangibles

These 25 gross/course objects constitute one way of enumerating our mind-body complex.

The dissolution process as stated earlier can be presented in 8 stages.
In the first four stages there is the simultaneous dissolution of a group of the 25 gross object from the list above. Don’t think of this process as one thing dissolving into another, it is more like the power of one group can no longer operate and so another becomes manifest. At each stage there is both an internal sign and an external sign associated with the dissolution of the various elements of the body and mind.

The Dissolution Process

The First Stage:

Simultaneous dissolution of the form aggregate, the basic mirror-like wisdom, the earth element, the eye sense and visible forms.

Internal sign - Mirage like vision.

External sign - the body withers, sights become unclear, and there is a feeling as if the body has become heavy.

The Second Stage:

Simultaneous dissolution of the feeling aggregate, the basic wisdom of equality, the water element, the ear sense and sounds.

Internal sign - Smoke like vision.

External sign - Feelings of pain and pleasure associated with the body are no longer felt. The bodies liquids dry up and sounds can no longer be hearing, including the buzzing in one’s ears.

The Third Stage:

Simultaneous dissolution of the discrimination aggregate, the wisdom of analysis, the fire element, the nose sense and odours.

Internal sign -The vision of sparks against a dark background.

External sign - The name’s of people and objects can no longer be remembered. The body loses it’s heat, and so the power to digest food is also lost. Exhalation of the breath is stronger than inhalation, and breathing becomes more difficult. The ability to smell is also lost.

The Four Stage:

Simultaneous dissolution of the compositional factors aggregate, the wisdom of achieving activities, the wind element, the tongue sense and taste.

Internal sign - flickering light, like a very small candle.

External sign - Breathing has stopped and all ability to move has been lost. Because the wind element has dissolved and therefore the breathing has stopped in the west most people are renounced dead at this point. But according to Buddhism death does not occur until the mind has left the body which is sometime after the 8th stage.

The Fifth Stage:

Gradual dissolution of the eighty indicative conceptions and the mind of White Appearance. As the mind of White Appearance becomes manifest a vision of pure white light is seen. It is said that at this point, the mind is empty of all conceptuality other than the mind of White Appearance.

As the mind of White Appearance loses it’s power, the Mind of Red Increase becomes manifest.

These appearances occur as the subtle energies of the subtle body (nervous system) are lost. or dissolve into one another.

The Sixth Stage:

The mind of Red Increase is a vision of redness, like a bright sunset in summer. At this point the mind is empty of all conceptuality other than the mind of Red Increase.

As the mind of Red Increase loses it’s power, the Mind of Black Near Attainment becomes manifest.

The Seventh Stage:

The mind of Black Near Attainment is a vision of complete darkness or blackness. At this point the mind of empty of all conceptuality other than the mind of Black Near Attainment.

As the mind of Black Near Attainment loses it’s power, the Clear light of death becomes manifest.

The Eight Stage:

Clear light of death is an experience of the pure radiance of the mind. This experience is of complete clarity and awareness, it is the most subtle aspect of the mind and is that which all phenomena manifest. A yogi can meditate on this mind for weeks.

The Actual point of death
One can still recognize if someone is alive at this point by whether or not there is any heat remaining at the point of the heart - the centre of the chest, not the physical heart. Once the mind leaves the body - the actual point of death - the heat at the heart will be lost.

Check you this post on Why do Buddhists meditate on death for more details on death and meditation.

I was going through some old photos of my time with Geshe Jampa Gyatso the other day and found this one.

The photo is part of a series of photos taken of me offering Geshe-la a mandala after a weekend of teachings of the lamrim text Path to Bliss. This would have been December 1998.

more photos here http://lodenjinpa.com/photos

The past week has been quite busy. First was the passing away of one of my teachers - Geshe Jampa Gyatso. I counselled a dying person days before their death. The funeral is tomorrow and I have been asked to say a few things and conduct a short prayer service.
You already know my feelings about funerals so

We also had a visit from 250 school kids from Ballarat Grammar. The kids ranged in age from 13 to 15. I spoke to them about Buddhism and meditation. They seemed to enjoy it, well they were attentive at least. We spent some time meditating on the breath, with no laughing or giggling. I think the teachers were quite surprised how quite they were.

After the session, I was asked if it would be possible for me to visit Ballarat Grammar for a week to give presentations on Buddhism and meditation. We are trying to get this to happen sometime next year.

I think having a monk visit schools for an extended period of time is a fantastic idea. I would like to see more schools participate in this exchange of knowledge. I guess all they have to do is ask.

Geshe Jampa Gyatso has finished his meditation on Clear Light almost 7 days after he stopped breathing. This means his mind has left his body and in Buddhism this is the actual point of death.

It is believed that only holy beings can remain in meditation on the Clear Light for this period of time, and so it is very inspirational to see Geshe-la show us his skill as a final teaching.

In another event related to death…
In the last couple of days I was asked to counsel a Buddhist student dying of cancer and who had only days to live. We did Medicine Buddha puja together, recited his mantra and meditated on Lojong - a meditation where one visualizes taking on the suffering of all living beings and giving ones happiness and good qualities to others. She also passed away today.

In Tibetan Buddhism there is a detailed description of the death process. How the mind dissolves from course to subtle levels of consciousness and how that relates to the body.

As it has been a week for death, I thought it timely to write something about the death process, which I will do in an upcoming post.

Geshe Jampa Gyatso is still meditating on Clear light almost a week after he stopped breathing. Below is a message from one of his students in Italy and a couple of photos.

Update from Venerable Joan in Italy

In an extraordinarily exceptional event for Italian law regarding the handling of the deceased, Geshe Jampa Gyatso arrived at the Institute in an unsealed casket on Tuesday, 27 November, at about 2:00 PM, less than 12 hours after he had passed away at 3:40 AM in hospital in the nearby town of Cecina. Prior to his arrival the Tibetan lamas and monks present at the Institute had begun to recite the sadhana of Yamantaka in preparation for performing the self-initiation upon his arrival. Geshe-la was welcomed by a silent group of about 60 or 70 monks, nuns, and lay people, all holding katas. The casket was brought into Geshe-la’s room, which had been cleaned and prepared for his arrival, and set on the bed. It was opened to reveal Geshe-la entirely covered in his namjar (the monk’s saffron shawl). The Tibetan lamas and monks returned to their recitation, while slowly his disciples entered the house to pay their respects, pausing briefly with folded hands at the door to his room. Upstairs in the main gompa his disciples continued the recitation of the prayer Calling the Lama from Afar, interspersed with the chanting of Tara’s mantra, others performed the Yamantaka self-initiation. Everywhere people embraced each other, sharing their sorrow but also giving each other strength and encouragement in a moment that united us all as a family that had lost their spiritual father. At 18.00 Gomo Tulku and Geshe Tenzin Tenphel joined us in the gompa to recite the Lama Chopa and offer tsog. Extensive offerings had been made of water bowls, lights, and food and the gompa was extremely beautiful. At the end the lamas were asked whether they had extensive advice. Geshe Tenphel asked Gomo Tulku to speak and he proceeded with much “American” charm, but also with much clarity and forcefulness, to give us a scolding regarding our lack of respect for each other and the need to develop this respect as, without it, there is not the slightest chance of our developing compassion or bodhichitta. 
The next days, Wednesday and Thursday, were much the same. Tulku Gyatso verified that Geshe-la continued to remain in meditation on the Clear Light, the Tibetan lamas and monks performed the Vajrayogini and Yamantaka self-initiations in Geshe-la’s house and recited many other texts, while his Western disciples performed the self-initiations in the Institute. Other disciples continued the recitation of prayers and mantras in the gompa, while circumambulating or prostrating to the altar that had been set up in the center of the gompa for the 24-hour recitation of the Long Life Sutra some days previous. Statues of Buddha Shakyamuni and his two disciples in the center are surrounded by the texts of the Kangyur (the teachings of Buddha Shakyamuni), beautiful offerings, and many photos of Geshe-la.