Audio recorded at Tibetan Buddhist Institute, Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. In this 46.8-minute session, Kyabje Rinpoche teaches Lama Chopa verses 109–114, addressing what to practice if enlightenment is not achieved in this lifetime. He details the two-stage tantric path: the generating stage, meditating oneself as a deity to transform ordinary birth, death, and bardo; and the completion stage, five precise practices on the central channel leading to unity of clear light and illusory body. If full realization is not complete by death, he teaches the five forces of transference of consciousness—white bodhicitta, confession, abandoning self-centeredness, beneficial intention, and familiarity—plus an uncommon method using central-channel visualization and the HRI syllable. He concludes with prayers for protection and rebirth as a chief disciple in all lives. For practitioners initiated in tantra.
File metadata (for organising)
File: 1992-11-20 – 20B – KR.mp3
UUID: aaf74293-fd22-4394-8d73-2691121f198c
Teacher: Kyabje Rinpoche
Collection: Guru Puja – Lama Chopa
Date: 1992-11-20
Recorded at: Tibetan Buddhist Institute, Adelaide
Words: ~2,175
Having the realization in the course of this life, the way of practicing transference of consciousness at the time of death, and thirdly, prayers to be able to be cared for by spiritual master in all of one’s future lives. So the first two lines of verse 109, And therefore we seek your blessings that we may cross the line with the ocean of tantra through the kindness of our navigator, Vajradhāra, sets out the first section. Qualifications of the student. It says, oh yeah, that’s the first section. Then the next two lines where it says, And to hold more dearly than our words of honor, vows and words of honor which are the roots of attainments.
Sets out the second section, the observance of the vows and words of honor. Then in the line, verse number 110, We seek your blessings to cleanse all stained and ordinary appearances and grasping through the first stage yoga of transforming birth, death, and bardo into the bodies of the Buddha so that whatever may appear arises in the body of Yidam. This sets out the practice of so this sets out the third section that is the stages of practice of the the two stages, the completion stages of the generating stage and completion stage, and amongst those two, the first section, the way in which we are to practice the generating stage. So this is to discuss the way of practicing the generating stage. So at the level of the generation stage, we meditate on oneself as the deity.
For example, as we have been proceeding in Guru Puja where oneself is the meditation of deity Heruka, out of emptiness one arises as Heruka with consort. So this represents the means at which we are going to purify ordinary birth, ordinary death, intermediate state, and rebirth. Now we are talking about seeking to purify our own future deaths, bardo, intermediate state, and rebirth. Through process, through one’s one’s death death one attains the truth body. Through one’s intermediate state one attains the enjoyment body and through rebirth one attains, is reborn as Heruka, reborn in the aspect of Heruka, in the aspect of the deity.
And then everything which appears, both the environment and the beings therein, appears in the aspect of the deity. This is the practice of the generation stage. So it is necessary to cultivate the generation stage in order to be able to practice and gain the realization as a completion stage without having cultivated and meditated the generation stage. There’s no way we cannot gain the realizations at the completion stage. With respect to the generation stages, the coarse and subtle, having brought to subtle generation stage one can pass on to the completion stage.
Doctor. Have discussed the way in which we’re taking the three bodies of the path in the teachings on Vajrayoginī. We also discussed it at the beginning of Guru Puja and there’s no time to go into it now can at least remember everything that was taught then. So at the generation stage one meditates on oneself as the deity. In the generation stage what we are seeking to abandon is the appearance of oneself as ordinary and grasping at that ordinary appearance.
And verse one eleven sets out the completion stage. We seek your blessings to actualize in this life the path of unity of the clear light and illusory body which arises from placing your feet or protector at the very center of the central channel at the eight petals of our heart. The completion stage covers the five levels of the completion stage. So within the completion stage, as there are five levels or stages as set out by Nāgārjuna in his teachings on Guhyasamāja, these five stages of the completion stage are firstly the Vajra recitation, then secondly, the mental isolation which is the practice of obtaining the exemplary clear light. Thirdly, the practice of the impure illusory body.
Fourth stage, meaning, the practice of the meaning clear light. Fifthly, the stage of unity or Yuganaddha. So Reading from the line discussing the first of the lines of verse 111 where it says, it’s not in English, it’s the fourth English line, of the central channel at the eight petals of our heart. So it’s saying that at one’s heart, at the heart area, within the central channel is a 100 petaled lotus upon which sits our root and we have to meditate in that way. One meditates on the lama upon the petal lotus at the central channel at one’s heart and practices the Vajra recitation, reciting the syllables OM AH HUM and collecting all of the various wind energies in the body at the heart area by means of which one attains through this practice.
Just very briefly. One attains the exemplary clear light and one’s mind attains the exemplary clear light, the wind energies are transformed into the impure illusory body. One then proceeds to again to abide in meditative equipoise on emptiness and one gains a direct realization of emptiness by means of which one then goes on to attain the meaning clear light. And again practicing the Vajra recitation, one achieves the pure illusory body. Proceeding in one’s training, one achieves the learning unity and then finally the no more unity, which is Buddhahood.
Verse number 112 it says, Should we not have completed the points of the path at the time of death, we seek your blessings that we may be led to a pure land through either the instruction of applying the five forces or the forceful means of enlightenment through Guru’s transference of mind. So if through our practice we are not able to generate the realizations of the completion stage, then at the time of death we are to seek to practice transference of consciousness. So if one has actually generated the clear light and you lose your body, then one will not need to practice transference consciousness at the time of death. One will attain Buddhahood in that very life, but if one has not completed the stages up to this point, then at the time of death one should engage in the practice as a method for achieving these transference of consciousness. So with respect to the practice of transference of consciousness, there are the common and uncommon practices.
So the common method of the practice of transference of consciousness is as it was taught in the mind training, or the thought transformation whereby where we apply the five forces. So once various signs of death appear, begin to appear such as patterns of breathing from one’s nostrils begin to change. There are various signs which indicate the approach of death and one should make use of various means of prolong one’s life. If these means do not work, we should begin the application of the five forces, the first of which is the force of white bodhicitta. So the purpose of white seed is that in order to attain Buddhahood for the sake of sentient beings, once the signs of death have definitely arisen, then one goes on to give away all of one’s various possessions to make offerings to the Three Jewels, in general just sharing out of whatever we have, making offerings to the Three Jewels and practicing generosity with respect to sentient beings.
Then the force of prayer whereby at this time, applying this force, we should confess any types of negativities that we have created, acts in contradiction with our words of honor, confessing our various transgressions. Then we should make heartfelt prayers that may I at my death, in the intermediate state, in my rebirth, I never be separated from the awakening heart. May I never forget the practice of Guru Yoga and may I be cared for in all my future lives by Kalyanamitras. The third force is the force of white bodhicitta destruction. Since beginning in this time, we have under the influence of self centeredness and self grasping generated various afflictive emotions and engaged in various negative actions.
This has caused us suffering in the past, it’s causing us suffering now, it will continue to do so in the future until we actually abandon these two enemies of self centered and self grasping. Therefore at this time we should apply whatever antidote we can to overcome these two of self centeredness and self grasping. And the fourth the force of beneficial intention and it is expressed in the thought that may I never be separated from the practices of Guru Yoga and the awakening So then the fifth force is the force of familiarity, and here in the context of our understandings of the two awakenings, the awakening heart and the awakening mind,, And with love and compassion we should carry on the practice of taking and giving, remembering that all that appears does not exist from its own side but is merely imputed in in dependence upon terms and concepts and taking and giving, motivated out of compassion. So if we are to assume in the course of applying this force, the force of familiarity, the posture that the Buddha himself assumed when he passed into Mahāparinirvāṇa. He laid on his right side blocking his right nostril with his right index finger, right hand index finger, and his ring finger with his left hand laying along his side, his right foot upon his left.
If we were to practice assuming the same posture as the Buddha passed into parinirvāṇa and mindful of this posture, practicing giving and taking, there’s no way that we can be born in a bad migration. So this is the common transference of consciousness as set out in mind training. Then there is the uncommon transference of consciousness. What we have explained is the, in terms of the five forces, the common means of transference of consciousness and how we can practice the uncommon method of transference of consciousness. We should begin by imagining that the nine exit ways or doors of our body are blocked.
Then our central channel beginning at the, just below the navel is blocked and rising up it flares out like a trumpet and comes to the crown of one’s head. Then we should imagine at the level of our navel, upon a sun disc, is our own mind and if we can imagine that our mind is in the nature of the wisdom of non-duality, of the clear light of emptiness, this is really excellent. Our mind is in the aspect of a HRI syllable, Then the one’s lama is at the crown of one’s head in such a way that there’s no space. His body is connected up with the top of our central channel so there’s no gap left. We should imagine that from his heart he lowers a hook down central channel and hooks our mind and is drawing our mind upwards.
As we train, we train reciting in a very explosive manner the syllable HIC and rising first to the heart area to the throat, to the heart, throat, to the position between the brows at the level of the brows. And then having brought the consciousness to that point, we bring it back down reciting KA and bring it back down. So we train bringing the consciousness up and down in this way. If some blood, a drop of blood forms on the crown of one’s head, this means that your practice is successful and that you’re attaining the ability of the practice. If we, you know, we all have to die.
If upon our death we were to have practice as well, then no matter what negativities we may have created, we are not going to be reborn in a bad migration. Through this practice we can attain rebirth in a pure land but even barring taking rebirth in a pure land, can take a favorable embodiment such as a human being. Next follows various prayers in which we aspiring to with verses 113, in short, we seek your blessings that you protect and care for us from birth and redeem us throughout our lives and thus we become your chief disciples, Lord, and in every secret of your body, speech, mind. Verse one fourteen, O protect and please grant that all to be auspicious for us to be amongst your very first circle of disciples, wherever you manifest, Buddha, and hence all our temporal and ultimate wishes without exception be effortlessly and spontaneously fulfilled. So making prayers that in all our lives that we may attain embodiment as a human being, that we may always be able to practice the Dharma within the Dharma that we might be able to practice that of secret mantra whereby we can attain Buddhahood in one life and that we may never be separated from the teachings of Tsongkhapa and always be unremittedly cared for in all of these various lives by by kind lamas and that we may be able to practice well.