THE SNOW LION BUDDHIST NEWS & CATALOG

There have been a lot of writings on death and dying, and living and dying. I feel that, even though those teachings are great, there are still a lot of misunderstandings and wrong perceptions. Therefore, in this book, I try to clarify some points.

CC: What kind of misperceptions?

DP: Basically, when people think about the intermediate states—or bardos—of death, they identify them with something fearful. They associate these states with wrathful images. In my training, my teacher always told me that it is important to see these teachings as a way to understand our mind and also to understand how we can relate to the idea of dying in a deeper and more peaceful way. If the teachings bring up more fear, then they actually are not serving the purpose.

The key issue here is that how we experience dying or death really depends on how we define death and define the experiences. So if the mind is dominated by the idea of painful and terrifying experiences, then we will struggle all the way to the end.

CC: If expectations correlate with the dying experience, how would Christians, with their view of heaven and hell, experience the dying process?

DP: Regardless of one's religious, social, or philosophical background, the basic experience of death is the same. The dissolutions of body and mind are a common experience that we share. Whether we are Christians, Buddhists, or atheists, we all have concepts of some kind and those concepts do affect our experience in life and death. Christians may believe in the existence of heaven and hell, while Buddhists may believe in the existence of six realms, which include the heaven and hell realms—plus four other options. So Buddhists may have more concepts! Regardless of what our concepts may be, the point is to see the habitual tendency of mind to create a solid self and solid world—because that tendency is what dissolves at the time of death and then re-emerges to formulate our next life and world.

The question I'm trying to raise here is how we can work with our death and the fear it arouses in the most effective, beneficial, and peaceful way.

CC: Because the dying process can be a magnified version of our current emotional and mental conditions—as you say in your book—wouldn't all spiritual practices be preparations for dying well?

DP: Of all the many teachings in Tibetan Buddhism, it is often taught that the most essential and beneficial for working with the dying process are the teachings on the nature of mind. If one can connect with the true nature of mind, which is beyond death, beyond any form of existence, then one can truly free oneself from samsaric existence. For that reason, the teachings of Mahamudra, Dzogchen, and Madhyamaka, or the Middle Way School, and their associated meditations, are regarded as the highest teachings. Let's say relying on those teachings at the time of death is plan A. But if Plan A fails to work, or you're not familiar with those practices, then there's a Plan B—we use phowa or other methods to help ourselves or support one who's dying.

CC: In general, phowa practice involves directing the consciousness to exit the body through the crown of the head at the right moment during the dying process. Doing this is said to lead one to enlightenment—or at least to a good rebirth. In your book you describe five different phowa methods, which I found very interesting. Have you ever been present at a successful phowa practice at death, in which signs such as physical openings in the head actually appear?

DP: No, I have not, but I've heard many stories of great practitioners who accomplished this. But I've been in the presence of dying people and tried my best to help them.

CC: If the dying person is unconscious, are there specific visualizations or mantras that would be particularly useful?

DP: In such an environment, one thing we can do is some form of profound practice, such as Mahamudra or Dzogchen or any Vajrayana practice. Through our practices and by calming our own mind and connecting with the person in front of us, we can create a peaceful environment. Another thing we can do is to recite various mantras. One that is most effective and beneficial is the six-syllable mantra of Chenrezig, the Bodhisattva of Compassion—Om Mani Padme Hum. I think that's the best.

CC: In your descriptions of different versions of phowa, you indicate that it can be done with images of a variety of deities at the crown. Usually phowa is associated with Amitabha, so you're presenting a wider view of the practice.

DP: There are a lot of different phowas. Many of the yidam deity practices have a phowa practice connected to them. It's just not been emphasized. For example, Vajrasattva practice has its own phowa.

CC: What is the role of dream yoga and lucid dreaming as a preparation for death?

DP: Dream yoga is a very powerful Vajrayana method for recognizing our confusion in this lifetime and transforming it. Through practices such as these, we deal directly with habitual tendencies that obscure our perception of genuine reality. Using ordinary dharma teachings, such as Middle Way analysis and so on, we can develop some kind of conceptual understanding of the nature of mind, but that understanding is not the actual experience we are seeking. Dream yoga practice brings that which is taught in Madyamaka and other profound Vajrayana teachings into one's own experience, so one can see, Oh, this is a dream. It's not real. The objects I see here are just a projection of my mind. Therefore dream yoga brings firsthand experience of the reality of the illusion-like world—the world that is appearing yet empty. It's a very profound practice to connect with the true nature of mind.

CC: Once one has mastered lucid dreaming, why have practices for manipulating or changing the content of dreams?

DP: To break through the concept of solidity or true existence. To recognize a dream is not easy. If you try to walk through a solid rock, it's not easy—even in dream! Once you see that there's no real rock there, and no real person here, then there's no problem. It's all just a dream.

CC: Have you had some lucid dreaming experiences? Is this a practice you do yourself?

DP: I was taught these practices, and I try to do them. I've had some lucid dreams—very interesting and profound.

CC: You wrote a section on using pain as a spiritual path, and said that being fully present with pain can bring such clarity that the pain becomes intoxicating. Have you actually experienced that?

DP: Yes I did. Once when I was on a teaching tour, I had a very bad headache when I arrived at a place where there were a lot of people waiting for me. It was a very formal situation so I couldn't get my Tylenol, but it was all I could think about. At some point I let go of that, and just looked at my pain, because I had no other option. So I kept looking at it, and feeling it, and at the same time I was talking to my guests. At some point I realized that there was no real sense of pain—it was really intoxicating. I've done this before, as a kind of meditation involving analysis, in which you simply keep looking at your experience. If we really work with our mind, then nothing can really bother us.

CC: Since that time, have you approached your pain that way?

DP: Yes, I do—when I experience muscle pain or a headache.

CC: What's the mechanism of that feeling of intoxication? How does one explain it?

DP: When you really look at the raw and naked nature of pain, it's not pain. It's just an experience, a feeling. But our mind usually labels that feeling as "pain" right away. Once we can break through that conceptual process, then we can experience that feeling directly—without any labels. That nonconceptual, naked awareness is the true experience of the nature of mind, which is called bliss-emptiness in the Vajrayana.

CC: You make the point in the book that the bardo teachings are not only about suffering and death but also about each moment.

DP: When we talk about bardo or dying, people usually connect these terms with something that happens at the end of our lives. It's actually not like that. From the Buddhist point of view, when we say "death" or "dying" it's almost equivalent to saying "birth" and "living" because every moment has two sides—one called birth, the other death. Every moment goes through a birth process and cessation process. For that reason, if we can really connect with this true understanding, the experience of bardo is not terrifying. It's part of a whole process. People have this misunderstanding that life opposes death—that they're opposites. But actually death is a part of life; it's not different.

CC: You say that being open to change leads to relaxation.

DP: That's right. We are afraid of change. Even when we have to move from one apartment to another there's so much stress. From that we can see how much we resist change. Changing from this life to another life or a future, whether you believe in rebirth or not, it's good to have some sense of open-mindedness about exploring the future, rather than getting stuck with a narrow and limited view of the present.

CC: Your detailed description of the dissolving chakras during the process of dying is one of the best maps I've seen. You mention that there is some variability of experience from one person to another. How much variability?

DP: Actually, it's very interesting. Depending on one's physical condition, the causes of death, and how one is connected to a practice or not, the experience of the dissolution process can differ from person to person. For example, in the case of sudden death, the dissolutions may not take place at all—one may go straight into unconsciousness. For someone who is ill and dying more gradually, the dissolutions will all definitely take place, but the duration of each stage and the way the outer and inner signs manifest will depend on the individual's physical and psychological make-up.

CC: Let's say two people were dying of cancer, would the experience of the chakras dissolving be different?

DP: In one sense, it would be different because the bodies and minds of those two individuals would be different. Each being is unique. There is not one way that experience occurs for everyone. Nevertheless, the basic process of dissolution is the same. There are differences in how we respond to and work with those experiences, however. That is true for both the process of dying and the experiences that arise after death.

CC: What do you think of the reports of near-death experiences?

DP: I find the material really interesting, from the Buddhist point of view. What they're recounting is very similar to what the teachings say: seeing lights and so forth. In a way, the lucid dreaming phenomenon helps people to see that these teachings go beyond cultural and religious borders.

CC: So you find that the near-death accounts correlate well with sequences described in the bardo teachings?

The Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche

DP: Yes, many of them do. They're very useful.

From the Tibetan Buddhist point of view, the instructions on the bardos are a form of training; they teach us how to work with our mind and recognize our true nature. The symbolic teachings about deities and other forms that manifest after death are metaphoric teachings, and there is meaning behind these metaphors. But it's important for us not to take them too literally, because then they become reduced to cultural and religious forms. More in keeping with the intention of these teachings is to view them as a vehicle for making an inner journey—an investigation of who we truly are. As H.H. the Dalai Lama always points out, Buddhism is a genuine science of mind. When we approach these teachings from this perspective, with an awareness of their deeper significance, they become a powerful means for benefiting beings.

Christine Cox is editor of "Snow Lion Buddhist News & Catalog."