Audio recorded at Buddha House Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. Khensur Rinpoche opens this 97-minute Phowa session with a bow-and-arrow analogy: to launch the subtle mind toward Amitābha’s pure realm, the practitioner draws breath downward like pulling a bowstring, then releases it with a sharp “hic” sound. He works through the practice’s mechanics — visualizing the body as transparent and hollow, blocking eight of the nine body openings while leaving the crown open, mapping the central channel as a tube widening from navel to crown, and holding the subtle mind there as a tiny luminous drop. He covers vase-like wind meditation to counter dangerous upward wind accumulation, locates Phowa within the completion stage of highest yoga tantra, and distinguishes two levels of benefit: birth in Amitābha’s pure realm for advanced practitioners and a Dharma-connected rebirth for those at an earlier stage.
File metadata (for organising)
File: 02 PW 1994 11 02.mp3
UUID: 06e441c8-e692-4d14-9ea8-ebf1b542b841
Teacher: Khensur Rinpoche
Collection: Phowa (Khensur Rinpoche)
Date: 1994-11-02
Recorded at: Buddha House Adelaide
Duration: 97.0 minutes
Words: ~6,153
The two become merged into one upon one’s crown, and Amitābha Buddha upon one’s crown is the embodiment of all the Buddhas and realized dedicated practitioners. In that way, the Amitābha on one’s crown is the embodiment of all source of refuge. Following that, then one recites the praise, which is on thirteen page: By excellent benevolent activities, you bestow inexhaustible splendor of happiness, and so forth. When that is finished, then one offer the seventh limb, where you recite the lines as normal seven limb, both on Quebec, on Echaz, hello, and so forth, and to make fervent requests. And when that is finished, then you offer mandala offering, and after that supplication.
On the supplication lines, all lama teacher transcended and down one one gondas For this time, perfect and fully enlightened Amitābha, I prostrate to you. I’ll reveal you. I’ll go for refuge to you. So this one has to recite twenty one times by making fervent, wholehearted request to Amitābha Buddha for the following reasons. So having made the request, then in the next part, one does the visualization where the lines as read from the body of Victor Amitābha on my crown, a stream of five-colored nectar flows.
So what that means is on top of one’s crown is Amitābha Buddha who embodies all objects of refuge. So from the entire body of Amitābha, five-colored nectar as well as unceasing light rays come out and enter into one’s body as well into the body of all other sentient beings. So all other sentient beings’ part is to be recalled, because earlier during the start of the practice one has visualized all sentiments around one’s own. So that’s why here the visualization needs to include them together. And then as lions go, feeling my and others’ bodies, purifying negativities, obscurations, malicious afflictions, and the cleaning of the site here at and others, all the stains hindering one from being born in pure realm and in training on transference are fully purified, and my body becomes like a crystal bottle cleansed of mold.
So already one’s body earlier has been visualized clear, transparent, but here at this point one has to, with the visualization here, think that it has become far more transparent, clear and pure than before. So then at this point one’s mind looks upward towards Amitābha Buddha on one’s crown and sees very vividly and one then thinks that Amitābha Buddha very compassionately looks down upon ones who is the mind in the form of drop aspect, and very compassionately, delightfully says to you, Come upward. And from your side, you think that you very positively, straightaway, very willingly respond of going up there. And in that way, at this point, one needs to generate a strong intention to go up towards Amitābha Buddha’s pure realm. And then as you would have on page seventeen, last line, you make that request, You are the sun eradicating the darkness of ignorance.
You are the supreme physician, curing all sicknesses or sufferings. You are the great navigator leading to the continent of full freedom. All protector Amitābha are supplicate to you. Kindly free me and the aged mother migrators from the torments and fears of bad rebirth. By your hook grace or compassion, kindly lift us to the blissful realm.
So one very fervently has to do this supplication, and please recite it three times. During the first supplication, one sets one’s mind on Amitābha Buddha, intending in one’s mind as if saying, please pay attention to my request and please accomplish my request. So in essence, during the first supplication, one’s mind focuses towards Amitābha Buddha. During the seconds reciting of the supplication, one then thinks from the heart of Amitābha Buddha, a white light of in the form of tube comes down and touches reaches your crown opening and the tube brim from the top tube and the brim of your crown opening are joined together and they become like a two joint tube and never to be separated very strong. And it is so strong and never separated that there isn’t even a slightest of to be shifted when shaken.
As if like in normal case, if you have two part joined together, if you shake a little bit, they might come out. So it’s none or nothing like that. Instead, very firmly merged into one another. And then when one recite for the third time the supplication, then at that point one visualizes from the heart of Amitābha Buddha a hook like white light ray comes out. And the reference to hook like is important here.
Generally speaking, when one receives blessings and pull upward to happiness by assistance of deities and enlightened beings, there has to be two combination parts. From one side, one has to have the ring of faith and reverence. When there is a ring of faith and reverence, then whenever the hook of compassion comes around it will click and therefore will be pulled upward. So one needs to have from one side the ring of faith and reverence. So then during the third repetition, a hook like white light comes out from Amitābha Buddha’s heart and then it instantly hooks onto your mind which earlier you have been visualizing as a drop of light light your subtle mind.
So it then hooks on to it and about to be lifted and that’s what one visualize at this time. So this point, one first need to differentiate that there are two parts of mind or mind has two aspects. So mind being of two types, the subtlest mind and the gross mind. And the gross mind is like as if from below one which pushes upward the subtlest mind and the subtlest mind is visualized in the aspect of a white drop of a light. Now, that is how the gross background understanding is.
Now when it comes to actual meditation, one needs to bring down by pressing the air from top. And then air from below, the word literally would say contract, but it, when put into practice, would have quite a varying way to relate it. It, in one way, could mean to contract in the sense to slightly push downward. So in that way it can have two varying connotations that one has its contract or in another sense to slightly have it first pulled downward, meaning the wind forms below part of the body slightly pulled downward and then pushed it up. To give an analogy it would be like you have bow and bowstring and arrow.
Now to shoot the arrow, would need to pull the string firstly backward and then release it and then the arrow goes that way. So that way of relating to practice here can be done able where the wind or air from the bottom part of the body is slightly pushed down. And in that way you have a wind formation. And now the arrow is one’s utmost mind in the form of a wide drop. And then the wind from below is being now released upward or pushed upward, along with which one then sounds ‘hic’ like that, and then it elevates upward, and then you sound another ‘hic’ along with that.
The second most drop goes upward and then goes upward. In that way you keep shooting the arrow up and out. So that’s where the latter part was. And then the post-practice is then you would have to bring the drop backward by sounding ka with each combination and then bring it down. Also here it is at the moment we are like doing the training as if the soldier before going into battle to combat has to do all the training.
So it is presently the training part of the practice. Now at this point according to the guideline of the teachings here, one then would in the course of training firstly have the drop going up and up and as there is already a tube joint from the heart of Amitābha Buddha’s heart towards with one’s crown opening, therefore there is a passage unobstructed all the way up to Amitābha Buddha’s heart. So one’s mind in the form of subtlest drop, subtlest mind in the form of drop goes upward and upward and arrives at Amitābha Buddha’s heart where it blends with Amithabha Buddha’s heart. So the word for heart is similar to the mind when put in honorific way. Then one remains in meditation.
So one then remains in meditation for a while up there thinking one has become once with Amitābha Buddha. And then one brings the mind back by sounding ka successively to the crown, then to the brow and throat and heart. So one has to sound Ka to bring it back. So in the beginning, a straining needs to do that for a bit and it may need to be repeated in a session about twenty one times into a break or into a set of three sevenths, so twenty one. Also in this way having done the main part of the training for about twenty one times then towards the end or conclusion of that part of the session one then brings the mind back into one’s heart level as which was the drop.
And then at that point, one may So one then thinks at that point, meaning having absorbed and having brought the mind back to the heart level, at that point one then thinks the crown opening has become blocked and the tube light extending from Amitābha Buddha’s heart too have extended backwards so there is no tube joining with at all. And then Amitābha Buddha at this point then transforms into Buddha Amitayus, Buddha of limitless light. To interpret as we would have known the picture on the right below there to your right. And then at Amitābha Buddha’s heart there is a moon upon which is a seed syllable and the seed syllable is surrounded by the long and short mantras, the short Omdurum, Svāhā and so forth and the long mantra can be the long one, so the notes would be at the end. One then visualizes that around the heart of Amitayusa Buddha.
And then Amitayusa Buddha is holding a nectar filled long life or eternity vase. And then having visualized all of them, one visualized that countless string of nectar come out from the syllables as well from the vase of eternity or vase of deathless life and enters into one’s body through crown opening, completely purifies one of all illnesses, obstacles, aspiration and fills one’s and the nectar continuously flowing, having filled one’s body, one attain all one thinks it made one to receive the attainment of eternity. So when that part is done then one needs to bring the wind air from upper part of the body slightly pressed downward and the winter air from lower part of the body slightly upward and then hold about navel or at heart level the wind of the body in the form of a vase. So one then needs to retain the vase like wind, which interpretively or popular translated, got wrong in the sense it’s called vase breathing. It is not vase breathing, so it is vase like wind meditation.
So one holds it like that. Now the reason for doing this part of the practice is because already earlier due to visualization involving so much of the pressure upward of the wind, there would have to be a great deal of over accumulation of wind upward on the upper part of the body. And if it is let like that, then there is a possibility of detrimental effect of over accumulation of wind on the upper part of the body. Therefore it is necessary to counter that by doing this present vase-like wind meditation. And then finally, you visualize Amitābha’s Buddha, Buddha of Eternal Life, which you have visualized earlier, the transformation of Amitābha.
So Amitābha is Buddha, becomes smaller and smaller and finally becomes a very tiny light. And then one portion of the light seals one’s crown opening and through that way of sealing one’s crown opening becomes like a check or a seal to stop any obstacles to one’s life. And then the other portion of light absorbs into one’s heart and becomes one with one’s mind. Now here with regards to this practice, firstly we put it into perspective that it belongs to secret tantric practice because let’s say, in the case of the lines from Guru Puja, the words goes: When the dead approaches without me having held the tip of the path, may I, through forcible means of teachers transference, be born in pure realm. So that is exact wording.
Now what that means is the instructions of transference of consciousness to higher rebirth taught by reliable teacher is a very effective method which one finds not only in the great vehicle path but more so in the corpus of teaching, belonging to the secret tantric path of the great vehicle and more so their original sources lie in the highest yoga tantra or the highest integrating tantric parts of the teachings. In the highest yoga tantra, the practices comprises of two phases of progression. The first part of progression is called generation stage. Here, this part of the practice is no doubt a part of practice which already a person who has completed the generation stage of highest yoga tantra. So it belongs to completion stage practice.
Within completion stage practice, there are roughly, in one way of breaking the classification, five stages towards enlightenment within completion stage at that level. Of which the first three are the three isolations: body isolation, speech isolation and mind isolation. And this part of the practice belongs to the mind isolation practice where mind isolation practice itself has got two parts: the example clear light and meaning clear light, or in other words, the example clear light and actual clear light. Now what happens is in the case of a highest yoga tantric practitioner, when someone has trained all throughout generation stage as well the first two isolation, as well the first part of mind isolation, but not yet perfected in actualizing the actual clear light, then that person is explained in the line of the Guru Puja as not held by the pathti or not held by pathti. In other words, not retained by the pathti, who has not yet reached the tip of the path.
Therefore, only someone who even has made that would be appropriate in actual sense to apply POA instruction to have continued training. And those who have actualized the next part, the actual clear light, they don’t need to put or rely on poor practice at all. It looks like I should not say very much on this point. So the implication is it might sound too tough. The reason why at that point one doesn’t need power is because one already is definitely going to be enlightened at that time.
So until one attains that level, meaning the actual clear light, then one would need to rely on power instructions. Through, one needs to rely on power instructions. And for someone who has arrived at quite a high level of tantric training, say stages just immediately below actual clear light, then through power instruction the person can make up to the pure realm, such as blissful pure realm, and then continuously make the remaining of the training on the path attain enlightenment. But then in the case that is how it is. In the case of those who have not yet had a very high spiritual realization, they still can rely on power method and use it.
But in their case they would benefit in the way where out of POA instruction and application at the time of death they can be born in a rebirth where the area where one is going to be born is wonderful, or area where the teachings of the Mahāyāna and so forth are accessible. There are like minded companion practitioners, there are good lamas who chose the path unmistakenly and completely. So in that way, that would be the way to benefit. To put together, we then can say there are two applications of power instruction, the common and uncommon. The common application is to just have mere good rebirth to be have continuously in connection with the Dharma.
And the uncommon is to be born up in higher pure realm such as Amitābha Buddha pure realm or Janraisi pure realm and other pure realm and make the remaining of the higher level of training one still needs to do. As regards Amitābha Buddha’s appearance in this manifestation, we can first look this way: the enlightened body can manifest in three aspects: Dharmakāya, which is reality state and Sambhogakāya, the complete enjoyment body and Nirmānakāya, the emanation body. And the present Amitābha Buddha manifestation is like Buddha Śākyamūni, which is of human manifestation belonging to Nirmānakāya, the emanation body. Amitābha has perfected in three part training, so three part of doing well first: completion, ripening and purification. Completion part means all the prayers are completed.
A ripening part means make sentient beings ripen, ripen in the sense make them become awakened. Purification part means purifying the environment all the time towards becoming pure So completion is to again to remind means the completion of all prayers. Ripening is making sentient beings become ripened. Purification means purifying all environment into Buddha realms. In the completion of Prayer Span, what it means is, Aniththa Buddha had earlier made the prayer that I would not remain in the program as the blissful program until all my retinues, the entourage actualize the clairvoyances, five types of foreknowledge.
And Amitābha Buddha has prayed, the retinues as well actualize the five types of four knowledges and that’s prayers completed. A rattling part includes the meaning that Amitābha Buddha had made prayers in the past that I will not manifest in pure realm and become enlightened unless all my retinue sentient beings have good heart, kind thought and are off a virtuous state of mind. Until and that’s how it happened. To consider others more important than oneself is called cherishing others or considering others dear. And that thought is the foundation or the source of all excellent qualities of mind.
Whereas to consider oneself alone as more important than others is called self-cherishing. And this thought is the source of all shortcomings of the mind, as well it is the source of all that is unwanted. Therefore we can think that thought considering others more important than oneself is something to be interested in. How that is so is the enlightened beings and greatly accomplished practitioners called the bodhisattvas the saints. In their case, they have made to those realizations because of the very training considering others more important than oneself.
Opposed to that opposed to that are the mundane beings, ordinary beings who, because of clinging on to the misconception oneself is more important than others. And by that way, by clinging on to self-cherishing, they ended up being with sufferings and continuously experiencing suffering. So much so that they have been experiencing sufferings and all shortcomings of mind since beginningless lifetime. And this continues to be so presently, and it will continue to be so in their case in future as long as they think of themselves as more important than others as long as there is self-cherishing within their mind. If self-cherishing, self centeredness is really a beneficial thing, bringing good outcome, then there shouldn’t be already so much good outcome with ordinary beings, the mundane beings, because that is what they, from beginningless time, for so long, been associated with.
But in the actual fact, contrary to that, we find that self-cherishing brings about all that is unwanted, not only that as its function it stops everything that is wanted, all happiness and excellent qualities, it stops one from attaining those qualities. So self-cherishing has two fold functions: it brings all that is unwanted and it stops having all that is wanted, the excellent qualities and happiness. Personally, we have so much aspirations, wishes, projects which we want to be accomplished, and the intensity of our longing to have them accomplished are so high, yet we continuously fail to have them accomplished. And the only reason, if we track down, we would find is because the only reason for not being able to accomplish would be because of self centeredness, the self-cherishing thought from one side. Those who have good thought, those who have good brain, they consider others more important than oneself, therefore they train and develop the thought cherishing others, thought considering others more dear and important.
Out of such thought and training they make progress continuously with their training of mind, not only that they receive everything that is excellent, the qualities, happiness and all that is wanted. Therefore by looking at all those enlightened beings and realize practitioners as our model of inspiration and through that by having an aspiration to develop thought, cherishing others more important and to forsake self-cherishing, we then here try to bring our mind to the state of the precious mind of enlightenment, enlightenment thinking. To benefit all sentient beings, to remove their sufferings and to bring excellent happiness, I must at any rate attain Buddhahood and enlightenment. To think in that way and to develop such a motive is very highly admired as the precious mind of enlightenment. Also here, one then think, in order to attain enlightenment where all shortcomings of mind are overcome and all perfections of mind are actualized, I will very well, to the best of my ability, engage in learning, reflection and meditative familiarization on the core aspects of the training on the great vehicle, the Mahāyāna path.
And through that way I will make my life meaningful in order to bring happiness for myself as well for all other beings. Somehow, due to impermanence and short span of my life determined by previous karma, if I happen to die not long hereafter, then may I be at the time of death be able to apply power method not fall, in order not to fall into lower rebirth, but to get wholesome rebirth where I will have a physical basis in the form of proper rebirth to continuously be in connection with the Mahāyāna training, meet excellent teachers, and through that we continuously make progress on the path. So please here at this point try your best to think on those lines to develop the right motive for engaging into the part of the discourses for the day. We then this morning continued the POA instructions. The POA instruction here can be looked as having three parts, the preliminary or the preparatory part and the actual part and the conclusion.
The three part format is quite relatable even in our normal working of conventional things, where if it is an important project and quite a major project, then we can see it has three parts or three phases, the preparation, the actual and the right conclusion. And here, if that is so in conventional working of projects, then here it is extremely vast and important project in the sense a purpose that one is planning to go towards the blissful pure realm of Amitābha Buddha. Therefore, it is appropriate to have the practice having those three requisites being the preparatory actual and the conclusion. Yesterday, we covered the preparatory part where we are not going into all the details, but to just briefly from the main part is to sit properly on a comfortable cushion and then set up the right motive thinking, not only for myself but to help all sentient beings, to benefit all sentient beings, I must go towards blissful pure realm and for that purpose I am going to engage in the power, the transference of consciousness to higher rebirth practice. Having done that, then one visualizes the Lama Amitābha Buddha, an expression meaning the deity is not seen separate from one’s Lama or teacher.
So in front of one’s self, one visualizes Lama Amitābha Buddha surrounded by all enlightened beings and bodhisattvas. And then one goes for refuge, generate the mind of enlightenment, or for the practices of the seminaling offering through which one does the purification and accumulation of merit practice. And then one do this application to the lineage teachers. In brief, those parts are covered or becomes the preparatory part to the main practice. So here the actual practice does not mean it is the part of the training where one is actually elevating, where one is transferring one’s consciousness because the actual transference or elevation of the consciousness comes afterward to interpret meaning at the time of death.
Therefore here although the heading or the section heading says actual practice, it does not have that connotation. Instead the actual practice here means the actual part of the training where one prepares the whole procedure of elevating the mind and then use it afterward. So the actual part is where one sits comfortably on a cushion and remain straight spine and the cushion in most people’s case has to be higher at the back and lower at the front and then sit comfortably straight and then one’s body must not be seen as the ordinary mundane body made of flesh and bones and blood. Instead it is very transparent and hollow as if like a balloon filled with air and more descriptively it would be like human dolls made of balloons blown out, So that’s where the laughter is. Laughter is something very much like that.
So one can think one’s body at this stage hollow and transparent like that. And inside as the text says clear, pure and light like a cotton wool. And alternative one can as well see it as a crystal bottle, very transparent and clear and hollow. Now for the transference itself, there are nine doorways by which transference takes place normally, of which the top door is regarded as the golden door and it is as here Rinpoche demonstrated earlier, the crown top. And then you have the door of the eyes and then door of the drop, which is the bur in between the eyes.
Now this is considered very significant in normal case, where in the case of absorption of deities, the great deities can be absorbed into this opening and the brow. So then you have the ear doors, then you have the navel, you have then the door of the nose, and then door of the B Tech which here actually means genital, so instead of mouth it’s genital, that’s why it’s in bracket, and door of liquid is mouth, and the door of non drink is anus. In brief, there are nine doors. Now here in one’s practice one needs to block eight doors and then open the crown opening door which is considered as a gold like, amazing and it’s open upward as if like a trumpet turned upward in the sense symbol. So the door of the crown probe is considered the best door for transference and following that are the five doors: a drop door, eyes, navel, ear and nose switch five are considered the mediocre And then door of betac or the door of existence which is genitals and the door of liquidus mouth, door of the non drink anus.
These three are considered the worst type of doors for the consciousness to exit out. So the top door, the crown opening is the door to exit out, therefore precisely great learned and accomplished teacher Naropa says that door is the doorway to great seal and others are to be blocked. So in brief, without going into all other details, we then need to block other doors and open the door of the crown top for our mind to elevate towards the higher rebirth, in this case to the pure end. How then we are to block the eight other doors? Well, there are two alternative ways, One is by visualizing on each of the eight doors a hum syllable of which the head part of the letters hum shows outward and the rest of its body inside and blocks that way.
And the alternative to that is to think that the eight doors are blocked by white light and to give a pictorial analogy, it would be like in the case of constructing house, you would seal the walls with the cement plastering around or if it’s a mud brick house then you would have it mud just plastered over the wall. So, the holes sealed with the mud. Similarly here, that is what you then visualize or think, the white lights on the eight openings block them as if like ceiling in that way. So only opening in the body you have then is the crown top. So now then you have your body straightened.
Next part is where you visualize or meditate on the central channel. The mention of central channel would need the parallel referenced that generally in our body there are many channels. But what here we are to visualize is only the central channel. The bottom end of the or bottom end or the bottom tip of the central channel extends to four fingers below the navel. And then the top end goes and reaches just the crown opening.
So you have like that. And then the size of the central channel is like an arrow, depending on the size, but it’s just small. And then the central channel in that way becomes thicker or wider upward as if a Tibetan brass trump had turned upside down. So that’s where the latter part was. Perhaps you may not be able to relate to that or what it looks like, but in meaning, that’s the laughter, so in meaning you can just think that it extended upward and become wider and wider and quite wide brim at the top.
Then it has a clear, pure and very thorough passage in it. And now because underneath the navel, the bottom tip of this central channel is very thin, that itself can give a good idea that it could be blocked down there. Nevertheless, one can still on top of that visualize that the bottom tip is blocked as if like in the case of bamboo, there are joints of a bamboo and where there is joint it’s normally blocked. So similar to that, one can just think in essence that the bottom opening of the channel down there is blocked. So from the hairline you have about a distance of eight fingers, you have the crown opening, the golden opening.
So that is the end, top end of the central channel up there becoming the opening parallel to the crown opening. So that’s just the idea of the location where it is. So one must not think that the top end of the central channel is somewhere here or here instead somewhere about eight fingers from the hairline also over there and opened. And then inside the central channel at the level of one’s heart, so here heart is not towards left but here at the level of one’s heart. One then visualizes one’s subtlest mind in the aspect of a very tiny light, about this very tiny light which is described like a drop of light and its size is about P and it’s extremely luminous, radiant, light as cotton wool or like a piece of paper being long as light as that.
And then think that that is one’s mind and the state of the mind is as if it is about to elevate, about to elevate. So here the description about to elevate, about to elevate is not a misprint, it is how it is. So it has that beautiful feeling. It’s not a misprint about to elevate, about to elevate. So that’s how one thinks.
And then now knowing that this is one’s mind, one must not see it as a distant spectacle, as if the text described, looking from hill from there towards the hill here or from a distant spectacle towards here instead one’s mind really is the drop and then remain focused on it. So that being one’s mind then it looks upward through the central channel up towards the crown opening and then at the crown opening one then visualizes a great jewel thrown lifted by peacocks. So it is not a line thrown instead peacock thrown and on top of that are cushions made being sun and moon lotus upon which is sun and moon. And upon that is one’s kind lama in the aspect of Buddha Amitābha, in aspect very much like the picture and painting over there to the left, who is in the aspect one faced two arms and holding a nectar filled bowl and who wears the three robes of a practitioner with full ordination, a monk or nun, very and with the thirty two marks of physical attributes and eighteen minor physical attributes of enlightened beings, the marks and exemplification, and very much a source of inspiration and kindness and all excellent qualities.
So then one this is what is visualized upon once come and one’s mind is now looking upward and very clearly, vividly are having the sight of all that. On the crown of Amitābha Buddha is a white omsalible at the throat is red ‘A’ and at the heart ‘Blohum’. And around Buddha Amitābha are all assembly of all the Buddhas and bodhisattvas. Now when one is looking upward through the central channel by one’s mind which is dropped, that is what one is then seeing, all assembly of enlightened beings out there. As this is being mentioned, it is possible some people might feel uncomfortable about thinking that my mind could see the entire assembly of the enlightened beings in that multitude of number.
Well, it is possible and understandable that such doubt can arise. But here, to start with, the central channel itself visualized is luminous, transparent, can be seen things outside it can be seen when looked from inside, things inside can be seen when looked outside. Body itself is as well as visualized transparent, visuals are clear like light and so forth. So it is not the case, so that is what it is. So as regards what the position and the medium through which one views itself is not like ordinary matter, like the cushion made of ordinary matter and obstructive and oblique, not transparent and so forth.
So that is one thing. And then with regards to Buddha, Amitābha, Buddhas and bodhisattva, their whole entire body is manifestation out of transcendent wisdom and there is no obstruction at all with them. Therefore theirs is not as oblique as ours, our material and mundane substances are made of. So in this way there is every possibility and reasonableness that all can be seen when looked, that the entire assembly of enlightened beings can be seen very clearly and it would be as clear as if we are looking to one another like here that we see each other without obstruction, so it’s similar to that. In our mundane case, glass is considered a good object of transparency, even with it, compared to the enlightened wisdom and its manifestation, the transparency of glass is not that to be amazed at, because even speaking relatively we can see glass, although to a great extent, have the transparency to see the objects beyond on this or that side, but it still has obstruction property about it that it obstructs wind, that it obstructs object passing through such as a person cannot walk through the wall of a glass and so forth.
Now that is with ordinary glass, with the manifestation of enlightened wisdom and their physical attributes is all transparent without all of those obstruction at all. So it is like that and in brief it is like we can say something inconceivable about to describe about their transparencies. So then this Amitābha which one has visualized upon one’s crown is called the Plagued Being or interpretively the visualized being. Now to it one has to absorb after having invited another the actual Amitābha wherever it resides and that is called the transcendent wisdom being, the invited actual deity. And then one has to absorb it into it.
So the absorption part is what then follows then. And once the absorption is finished, then