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THE SNOW LION BUDDHIST NEWS & CATALOG
375 pp., cloth, MIBEDE
$25.95, Snow Lion special $20.76
Available April 2007
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Mind Beyond Death Book Excerpt
by Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche
"One of the most brilliant Tibetan Buddhist Teachers of his generation."—Sogyal Rinpoche
Mind Beyond Death is an indispensable guidebook through the journey of life and death. Drawing on teachings from throughout the vast tradition of Tibetan Buddhism, Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche weaves together a synthesis of wisdom remarkable in its scope. Using humorous analogies and his profound understanding of the Western mind, Ponlop Rinpoche makes the mysterious Tibetan teachings on the bardos—the intervals of life, death, and beyond—completely available to the modern reader.
Walking skillfully through the bardos of dream, meditation, and daily life, we then travel deep into the mysterious death intervals and become familiar with their dazzling mindscape. This tour de force gives us the knowledge to transform the greatest obstacle of death into the most powerful opportunity for enlightenment. With nuts-and-bolts meditations and brilliant illumination, Mind Beyond Death offers a clear map and a sturdy vehicle that will safely transport the reader through the challenging transitions of this life, and the perilous bardos beyond death.
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The following excerpts from Mind Beyond Death give a taste of the book's extraordinary range of essential and accessible material on death and dying.
The Manner of Dissolution
During our life, the generative essences that we have received from our parents abide within the central channel in the form of two spheres of luminous bright light, or bindus. One of these dwells at the top of the central channel at the crown chakra in the form of an inverted white syllable HAM, and the other abides at the lower end of the central channel in the shape of a red ASHE, or A-stroke, which is like a candle flame.
The white bindu corresponds to the element of masculine energy one inherits from one's father, to the expression of compassion or skillful means, and to the form aspect of the union of form and emptiness. The red bindu corresponds to the element of feminine energy one inherits from one's mother, to wisdom, or prajna, and to the emptiness aspect of the union of form and emptiness. All sentient beings have a mixture of these masculine and feminine energies. At the time of conception, the white and red elements of masculine and feminine energy join and we come into existence. In a similar way, these elements re-unite during this dissolution.
When death is about to occur, the two bindus begin to move toward one another. First, consciousness dissolves into appearance as the white bindu at the crown chakra begins to descend down the central channel toward the heart chakra. At this point, a luminous white appearance arises that is said to be like moonlight shining in a cloudless sky. Simultaneously, the thirty-three kinds of thoughts connected to the first root klesha, aggression, cease.
In the second stage, appearance dissolves into increase as the red bindu below the navel chakra begins to ascend toward the heart chakra. At this time, a luminous red appearance dawns that is said to be like sunlight shining in a cloudless sky. Now, the forty aspects of thought related to the second root klesha, passion, utterly cease.
In the third stage, increase dissolves into attainment as the two bindus meet at the heart center and merge, squeezing consciousness between them. At this time, the seven thoughts pertaining to the third root klesha, ignorance, cease, and a completely dark appearance arises that is said to be like a cloudless sky without sunlight, moonlight or starlight. This is the point where the inner respiration ceases, and, in the context of samsara, this moment is given the name "death." If we have not trained our mind through practice, then we faint and lose all awareness at this point. |
The Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche
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Nirmanakaya Phowa: Application at Death
When we practice nirmanakaya phowa at the time of death, we visualize that Amitabha is seated about one foot above our head, leaving the opening to the central channel unblocked. We also do not place any syllable or other obstruction at this orifice. It remains wide open. This time, when shooting the bindu or syllable up the central channel, our intention is to cause it to leap with its final movement into the heart center of Buddha Amitabha, where it dissolves. Our mind becomes inseparable from the heart of Amitabha, which is nothing other than the essence of our own nature of mind. The visualization practices of Vajrayana phowa are simply the means we use at this time to remind ourselves that the enlightened wisdom and compassionate qualities we see in Buddha Amitabha are a reflection of the nature of our own mind. There is no Amitabha waiting for us outside.
When do you actually perform this ejection? It is necessary to be familiar enough with the stages of the dissolution process so that you will recognize them. When the early signs appear—the coarse dissolutions of earth into water, water into fire, and so forth—that is the time to prepare. You should be ready. In general, phowa should be performed at some point during the stages of appearance, increase and attainment; that is, after the external respiration has ceased and before the internal respiration ceases. Some instructions state that phowa can be done as late as the second stage of the mind dissolution, at the time of increase and the manifestation of the red appearance. Remember that when the red and white bindus merge at the heart center, they encase and squeeze the subtle consciousness between them, and consciousness dissolves completely into space, at which time the black appearance arises and we go unconscious. The inner respiration ceases at this point, and then it is too late.
What happens if we perform phowa at the correct time but our practice is unsuccessful? We are still "there," so to speak, and did not realize the nature of mind. In that case, the dissolution proceeds in the same way. We have to reinforce our attention and try to maintain awareness so that we will recognize the luminosity that arises in the next bardo, the bardo of dharmata.
That is the third type of phowa and the main practice for ordinary beings at the time of death.
Guru Phowa
Guru phowa is similar to nirmanakaya phowa, but it is a much less common practice. Whereas there are Amitabha phowa retreats where we can train together with other students, and there are the Amitabha practices that are done by the sangha when someone dies, guru phowa is something that we do privately. While it is not generally emphasized or practiced widely, many Mahamudra and Dzogchen practitioners perform this method of phowa.
In guru phowa, instead of visualizing Amitabha above our heads, we visualize our guru. Otherwise, the visualizations are the same. We may also forgo the detailed images of the central channel, chakras and so forth, and simply visualize our guru above our heads. That is the main instruction and the most essential aspect of the visualization. If that is difficult, then we can visualize our guru at our heart center. Whichever method we use, it is important to practice it.
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More about the author . . .
Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche is one of the foremost scholars and educators of his generation in the Nyingma and Kagyu schools of Tibetan Buddhism. An accomplished meditation master, calligrapher, visual artist and poet, he is also well versed in Western culture and technology. He is the publisher of Bodhi magazine.
The Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche has given a number of teachings, including:
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