Kind of relating some of the Buddhist teachings to what is happening here in the West as it relates to the death care. So my teachings on death are not absolutely traditional. It is more related to the Western care, particularly in the area of emotional work. That is to say in the area, for example, when someone is faced with death. And because in the West there is a tremendous, unacceptance as regards death go from very small age.
As a result, when you’re suddenly faced with the reality of death, there’s so much emotion, repressed emotion that’s involved with it. So there’s a lot of work that needs to be done in helping the emotion or freeing the emotion. Clear! And that I think particularly it’s how do you say, it’s something that is particular to West. For example, Doctor Elisabeth Kübler-Ross in her book, and in her work she calls the five stages.
The first, the denial, then the anger, then the bargain, then the depression, and finally acceptance. These five stages were actually put into a movie, you know? In this movie called All That Jazz. It’s been jazzed up in the movie called All That Jazz. So, I’ve been working very much on the motion scale a little bit too.
Okay, so that’s basically the introduction. So what do you want? The Tibetan teachings is that the process of the death, as you know, starts with the dissolution of the elements beginning if I were to present more simply there’s more how would you say more elaborate versions working with all the different senses and it can be quite a detailed account but a simplified one is firstly, for example, the earth element is also into water. Then body loses its kind of strength. The movement becomes difficult.
And then, for example, the the water element begins to dry up into the heart chakra. And at that moment, the the circulation begins to stop to a certain extent. Then the fire element dissolves into air at this point, the warmth leaves the body, and that the air dissolves into consciousness. Now according to the the Tibetan teachings, the the father’s essence which rests here, the mother’s essence at the navel level comes down, the father’s essence comes, you know, descending, and the mother’s essence comes up at the heart level. And when these two merge together, at that moment, death as such happens.
And that moment is experience of darkness. The whiteness. And it could be that traveling through that tunnel of darkness could be that moment of that dark experience. So then at the end of that darkness, when this thing opens up, it’s the first experience of the light, the luminosity. When the consciousness is released from the self, so to speak.
Clear? Let me start interacting with you. Is that the experiences are something like this. It seems when they die, they go through a tunnel. This could be compared to the dark experience, the white or the dark vision that’s spoken in the Tibetan teachings.
Do you know that the in Tibetan teachings that the the death is a reverse process of birth? You know that? Okay, tell you a little bit. According to the Tibetan book of the teaching, according to that, and it’s been I never can get that word. Substance.
Yeah. You’re not getting it so well either. Confirmed, yes. By name, Karma Lingpa, who is perhaps the greatest authority in this field because I think it’s interesting for you to know that the Tibetan Book of the Dead is only a small part of a cycle of teaching that reveals knowledge about death. Sometimes considered the Tibetan book of the dead is only a small part of that teaching.
That’s why if you study the Tibetan book of alone, Tibetan book of the dead alone it does not give you a full insight it doesn’t say what to do how to do the practices are not given only the guidance is given to someone who is already familiar with the teachings and these teachings originate from Padmasambhava and later they were brought out of there by a great master Karma Lingpa. That the teachings are fundamental teachings known as. He is peaceful. Is wrathful. Is the wisdom mind.
Is liberating. Meaning, how to liberate the peaceful and the wrathful aspect of our mind and emotion. Maturing the mind. That’s the fundamental teaching. And within that teaching is there is a whole teaching which deals not only with death but with life, and it’s called the six bardos.
Par in Tibetan is in between. To is thrown. It’s a suspension. In a western sense, it’s a transition. It’s reality.
And there are six bardos in life. Three relate to life and three to death. Three to life, three to death. Three to life are from the moment we are born till we die. It’s known as the bardo of this life, which is primarily bardo of life.
Within that span is also two other inter how would you say divisions. The bardo of sleep and dream. And the bardo of meditation. Samādhi meditation. Now the whole point is how to realize the nature of mind.
How to realize the the true nature of one’s mind, the Buddha nature. How to realize in these different situations. Like for example, for some people, because of their own kind of the mental capacity, and that they are more able to realize or practice in the sleep and dream Sleep and dream are in a sense a very good way of getting in touch with the reality of this life Because this world, this life, the wake state is so concretely kind of being established to us that we have no way to realize the the its true nature because it’s being concretized and so strongly conceptualized, understand? So in a sense when we look into sleep and dream and when examine the state of mind that exists in the state of sleep and dream then you begin to realize even in that state of sleep and dream that the world is so solid So therefore when you wake up, when realize it is not so, it is a very good kind of how do you say it? An indication that it could be possible, you know, it just throws a, you know, benefit of doubt.
It could be possible this life could be a dream, a more concrete dream, clear dream in technicolor. So anyway, so then three of death are moment of death and the bardo of dharmata and the bardo of becoming. And so the Tibetan book of the dead is is a very small part related to three bardos of death. But each of them have a book that actually gives you the teaching and the practice what to do. Is it clear?
So, now, according to this teaching, the The process of death is a reverse process of birth and it is said that when we are for example conceived our consciousness is blown by wind of the karma inclination in future parents are making love and because of our coming connection we begin to really have a very strong it becomes a very strong involvement in this lovemaking and we either have a very strong attachment passionate attachment tinged with jealousy, envy to the mother or a very strong aversion to the father or the vice versa. And accordingly, this determines whether you will be born as a boy or a girl. Your sex is decided by the kind of aversion and your attachment. And so when the father’s essence and the mother’s ovum, you see over? They merge together at this moment the consciousness enters into the seed, into the essence and the essence that father and mother has given supplies the basic elemental seed of your body like the the warmth, the fire element, the water element, the earth element and the the prana or the wind element and the wind is also the consciousness has a seem to be as though it has a wind of its own along with the parental wind together.
Clear? Because as you know that our bodies are made of elements so it’s also the universe is made out of elements. And so as this so the consciousness is trapped into this and as we grow into full health or full form then the father’s essence goes up to the head level. The mother essence goes to the navel level. And it is a death when the elements dissolve first earth into water, water into fire, fire into air as air outer air the the the day, moment death as we know happens.
Clear. That’s the dark experience. And you can remain in that state long or short depending on the the awareness state of your mind along with also how your chakras yogic wise are open or not. Someone who’s a very aware in their practice and who also is open energy wise it is said that you can just that dark experience can be only for a very short time and then immediately this kind of the seed opens out and then your consciousness is freed and you have the experience of the the first luminosity or the ground luminosity where as for someone who’s pretty thick in the true sense of the word that you can stay in that dark state for a time and that the light luminosity experience could just flash just instantly before you know it is gone. And so that the next experience, the next bardo of the dharmata sometimes there’s not so much difference between the two three bardos.
They are kind of though they are called two different bardos, kind of almost their borderline is not that clearly defined. They merge into each other. Buddha, part of the Dharmata. Now, I think it’s important for you to know because sometimes when you read Tibetan Book of the Dead it’s pretty, you know, I sometimes call it Tibetan Book of Headache. When you don’t have a really basic understanding you get pretty confused with different stages and so you need to have a more clear idea, simple idea understanding first before you get into the more detailed knowledge of it.
Okay. Do you want me to continue talking a little bit about it? Or maybe we’ll interact. You see, basically for us For many of us death is something very dark, something mysterious, something frightening. And especially as we want to live and want to continue to live, suddenly death comes in the middle of what we’re doing.
So inconvenient. So inconsiderate. Suddenly it just kinda comes down. You know, doesn’t make any sense. It’s also quite unfair, quite unjust.
This if we were to treat death just isolated from life, not looking into it And in fact because we’ve isolated death that’s why we have so much fear Because if you really look into fear, if you really deeply look into fear, fear is something dark, something unknown. Fear is fundamentally a state of unawareness. In fact, it is for this reason that when we look and face and look and how would you say face fear face pain it is with knowledge and anyway so I think one thing is very important is instead of dealing from theory point of view you should deal it from a factual point of view that first of all death does happen to everyone no one has lived eternally I’m sure you’ve received tons and tons volumes of teachings on death so I will not bore you But the basic some kind of interesting, how do you say, highlights of this fact is that is that in the Christian tradition the death of Christ is the most central to its spiritual practice. For me, my understanding is that the death death of Christ represents the death of the the the the flesh and the birth of the spirit.
As Jesus himself, but though the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak. And in a sense the death of Jesus as the man was the death of the inhibition, of conditioning, death of suffering and his resurrection represent the death of the birth of enlightenment. So for Christian practice also death is very important In Buddhist practice, the Buddha’s death as Nāgārjuna said in his prayers to Buddha’s life, he said: order to wake the slothful and the naive And what’s the other word for people who are naive? Complacent. In order to give them a big kick.
Though he didn’t die, but he died. Though his body was like the vajra, but he died. And so that the death of the Buddha was the final kick, final teaching. To wake the the naivety, the slothfulness, and in fact, to look into life and to appreciate. Because I feel until we really look into death fully, the life that we lead is just a mere existence.
Just almost existing, just going on pattern like a machine, you know? Like one wheel clicks the other wheel and the other moves So we move like a machine I mean, like if you look in the western world it’s pretty much like a machine Everything is interconnected, interdependency place such important So you’re so strongly how would you say imprisoned with you know like suppose you want to be free but you can’t be free because you gotta eat you gotta eat you gotta work you gotta work, you don’t earn enough money. There’s the tax and all that. If you buy a house, it’s a mortgage. That particularly imprisons you.
You understand? The whole thing, the chain reaction thing, So, what happens in the busyness of this, that we tend to just simply just only see what’s just in front of the eye, and not really question the whole life as such but just simply merely existing Of course, for you I don’t think there’s a problem You got the other problem Living the life No, you have the problem of existing, not the question of life. For the dharma centers it’s the problem of existing. For other people it’s problem of living. Two different problems I remember there’s one Once, Khyentse Rinpoche, they were driving from Dordogne, south of France, up to Paris And this guy’s wife was standing extremely, and when they looked through the window they saw a whole, you know, line of cemeteries.
All neatly whitewashed with flowers and really it looks kind of so beautiful, all the the cemeteries with their crosses. And then she said, oh, Rinpoche, know, look look look, France is such a beautiful country or the western world is such a civilized country. Look, they make such wonderful cemeteries or, you know, houses for dead people. Whereupon, he said, oh yeah, he said, oh yeah, oh yeah, he said, yes, they make such wonderful houses for dead corpses. But also, it’s such a civilized country, they make such wonderful houses for living corpses.
That’s what it is. So, in many ways, the death represents something more than just death. To life, death represents acceptance, looking into life and facing the truth. So for me, I see death is like a mirror in which when you look you see the the meaning of your life. Now the interesting from the account of people who have died, they said that the when they die, the whole life that they have lived flashes past by them like a fast fast forward.
The whole life goes for review. I give you a direct quote. Everything in my life went by for review. I was ashamed of a lot of things experienced because it seems I had a different knowledge. Not only what I’d done, but even how what I had done affected other people.
And I found out that not even your thoughts are lost. So death represents really the meaning of life and I feel it is because of this that death happens just at the end of life I always tease people and say it doesn’t death doesn’t happen as intermission. It happens at the end. The end is like the totality. The summary, the summation of your life is death.
The mystery, the plot of life. Like an Agatha Christie movie, the plot is at the end. The plot happens at the end. And that’s where you begin to realize when people are faced with death, they begin to realize what the meaning of life is. Until that time, they’re believing in a very heady heady state of conditioning.
Clear? So, I think the whole point of the teaching is to look into death. This is what I always try to tell people. Is to look into death. And death represents something more than just death.
Death represents looking into life, evaluating life and appreciating your life. Because for example, when you help someone who’s dying What do you mean by helping someone who’s dying? In many ways, you help someone who’s dying, you’re trying to make those last moment of his life worthwhile. So that when he dies, his life has been valuable, meaningful, so that he when he dies, he does not die empty handed. Clear?
So, many ways that represented acceptance and acceptance is what we avoid especially in the western world. Though in some ways western world is very practical minded in a sense but yet in a sense is facing real truth is something avoided on a deep level deep spiritual level is avoided as one famous American psychologist is a friend of mine he told me the western people do everything and anything interesting to avoid themselves They’ll go to all kinds of lectures, they’ll even go to Buddhist centers and live in institutes Not to face themselves That’s why you see they go on from one place to other, like kind of how do you say like kangaroos. Australian Dharma students go like jump like kangaroos. That’s a good imagery now I have. Now I’m teasing Adam, I’m just teasing Adam, don’t take me seriously.
Never take me seriously. Then you have no problem. I think the reason why we cannot stick anything for long time is because of not really facing the truth And I think it’s sooner or later we have to really face and look into life And when we do that, that’s called acceptance of death or acceptance of life It’s the same It’s the two sides of the same coin. Life and death. And it’s interesting with these people who have died in the comeback they become really beautiful people.
Not only that, I have some students who were actually told they are going to die in six months Because they were suffering from the so called incurable disease like cancer And so when they’re really faced with death, previously they were talking about it like in the condemnation Everything is impermanent. Death is inevitable. Death is just a way of, you know, evading the whole issue. But when you really face face directly, then it’s totally a new ballgame. I picked up this expression new ballgame or another ballgame?
That’s Austrians use it also, no? That’s more American though. Yeah. So when they’re really faced with the death and they had to accept because there’s no choice. When they come emotionally to accept that the amazing change thing happen is they become very different people in some ways the real life in them is released they become people with some kind of a different beauty radiance they have like a more how do you say light around them more kind of how do you say there’s more life on their faces that’s really true I’m not exaggerating and they not only come they come to accept death but they even begin to appreciate life more and become really really good people totally different people and not only that very interesting thing is many of them are still alive they’re not dying because the healing takes effect when the acceptance comes.
So that in some ways the death is the greatest medicine. Death is the greatest medicine. Death is the greatest how do you say? Inspiration for healing. Is that?
Very much. That is acceptance. Now for example in the psychotherapeutic world and in the new age world where the main theme is acceptance. It’s one of the main slogans that use accepting facing life and also in ordinary world facing the truth is an important issue that’s always true and that what death represents is that clear so that’s the how would you say the is the bigger message of death. When you look into that mirror of death you begin to see that the real importance of appreciating and evaluating and living life more to its fullest meaning.
For example, when we were doing this this conference in England, the BBC interviewed us, the participants, along with the interviewed several people who were dying. They’re very very good, you know, in those things. And they asked the woman who was dying then to see what was her regret and what was her message to people. And she said, it was very very touching. She said that her real regret is that she did not take this thing so seriously, that seriously.
Now as it happens, it’s for real. And then her message was telling people to take this more seriously. I think what she said was more powerful than any of us was trying to, you know to say at that conference. So, death represents very much that acceptance. Then I find from the Buddhist teaching point of view death is the big death, okay?
And that happens once in one’s life. But then what about in life itself? What are the ways in which we can actually learn about it? What is the, you might say, the living links of death? If you look into that, then you realize that in actual fact, there are many many deaths that occur in a life These deaths are what we call changes The changes are the small deaths And it is these through these changes that we come to learn to face death.
Particularly when the changes happen, through the change in the gap there comes the the possibility of awakening comes in the gap. Clear. As my master once said he had an Indian student he was he was actually he was a Maharaja of India and his father was very famous teaching teacher in the Hatha yoga tradition and in fact he had how do you say created a whole new posture called Surya namaskar, the homage to the sun and he was later the Indian political officer in Sikkim he later became the Indian high commissioner in London and different places and he was a really great yoga practitioner at the same time also he really wanted to study meditation he really wanted know so he should press to my teacher all the time saying how to meditate, how to meditate, how to meditate So one day my teacher was watching a Lama dance and he was quite amused because in the Lama dance there’s one called Acharya It’s actually acharya It’s kind of a Tibetan joke, it’s a clown. It’s a clown. Acharya is not a clown, Acharya is a clown.
Okay, Acharya is he was kind of so what was funny was he was trying to be funny but not funny at all. That was funny so my teacher was really laughing at that he was really amused by the whole thing whereupon he start pestering saying how to meditate how to meditate so my teacher said in such a tone like as though he’s fed up now saying, okay, I’m going to tell you once and so don’t don’t bother me anymore. In that tone he said. You know, sometimes it’s very interesting. With traditional masters, you go to pester them, then they’ll really tell you.
The main thing. And he said, look, he said, when one thought dies, another thought has not yet come. The gap prolongs that. That’s meditation. So what I am saying is that when changes occur, there is a definite change, a space before the next reality comes.
Because normally what does ego covers that? The gap. And the unawareness covers that possibility of that awareness of that open space. It is open space in which there’s a crack in the cloud and you can see the sunshine of enlightenment can come through. So, in Buddhist ways, it’s looking through those changes is we have recognized the nature mind and also coming closer to knowing the definiteness of death.
Clear? And the confidence with which we we can be armed in order to face death. Because you see, our main fear about not letting go, but holding on to things is I’m afraid to let go because I lose, so therefore I grasp on it. That’s the kind of realizing that though everything is impermanent, in fact the discontinuity is in fact the fundamental part of the continuity. Buddhism, even the discontinuity is the the fundamental aspect of the continuity.
When you realize that then when you realize that emptiness, you realize the true nature of impermanence. There is a kind of a slightly rising above the smallness of changes and realizing the overall vision or the recognition or the compassionate view of emptiness which is the insight or the confidence that one has with which one can let go. Because there’s something else beyond. Like, for example, when you go beyond the cloud you realize the sky is totally a different thing when you begin to realize that kind of nature mind, sky like nature mind then you can more easily let go I’m not explaining it so well but I think perhaps you can figure it out. What I’m trying to say roughly.
So, that’s the answer to your question? Okay, but what I feel is that when you’re faced with someone who’s dying if you go with or even with Tibetan ideas of you know you have the Tibetan Book of the Dead and all kinds of many teachings and ideas you want to just go and apply or like do your experiment on your poor parent your scattered knowledge of Tibetan Book of the Dead that I think is a really hard It’s something you should avoid I don’t think you should go there with Tibetan knowledge as such Knowledge, true knowledge is always there, with not having to particularly arm yourself with it Sometimes when you arm with knowledge it’s a feeling of inadequacy Clear? Knowledge is a refuge Only cowards have knowledge That kind of knowledge That’s why little knowledge is a dangerous thing So what I’m trying to say is, when you face when someone is dying, more than knowledge it just be genuine Just be yourself Just be yourself More you can be yourself truly genuinely yourself and really relate to that person, relate to that person’s being if you can create that. That’s the most important.
That’s the first thing that will open and that will make everything fit. If you can establish it, then all other knowledge that you have will slowly come and come at the right moment and you will be surprised with what you know you’ll be surprised with the how skillful you can be also because you connect fundamentally almost like a gut level boom like kind of communication. Clear? So the first is communication, rapport. I think it’s not so good idea even though in Buddhism it is said that you know you have to realize the impermanence of death.
Don’t give a lecture on death if someone who’s dying. Particularly if someone is who’s dying doesn’t want to hear about death So don’t give a thing, look here! My dear dad, now you’re dying! And Buddhist teaching together, sometimes looking at old pictures also. Sometimes dying people before they die, they look at all the they get sometimes very worried because their album is not put together before they die.
You know? You understand? So, look through the, you know, reminisce and hang out, you know? And so when there’s like a good atmosphere happening between you two, a loving atmosphere where there is a really deep loving communication and it creates an ambience and atmosphere, nice atmosphere it is at this moment when you be a good listener and let the person talk out and slowly then person will say he knows he’s dying and rather than you saying slowly you allow you bring that out and you know you you give broad hints, large hints you can do that but skillfully without, how do you say, without antagonizing slowly and then let the person talk out because a lot of the time when someone is dying like that there’s a lot of fear and then really sharing with someone is so important and bringing out the repressed emotion and there’s a case of a woman and an example that I’ve been using in many of my talks is this woman who she was from Cyprus and she was in a hospital in England she couldn’t sleep, she was dying of cancer, had lot of pain and she couldn’t sleep and the nurses kept on giving her drugs and the doctors too she still kept on complaining and finally they asked a Doctor.
Dr. Meares, who is more kind of into this new method, that’s what I’ve been saying, the hospice type of care. And so he was asked to come, and when he came to us, he asked her, what do you want? She said, well, I just wanted a cup of tea. But the nurses kept on giving me drugs. So then when he asked, well, is it just a cup of tea that you want?
He said, no. Actually, I’m really scared of dying. I just want to talk to somebody. I’m really shit scared of dying. I really want to talk to somebody.
So he sat down and brought the matron and the night nurse on duty, thought it would be a good experience for them so they sat down for an hour and a half during which she cried, she laughed she shared her fears, her regrets, her joys, her high moments, her low moments she shared and during which time also the doctor shared also his own fear because sometimes when you share, you must share. Also your fears because when you realize that the there is a fear in the other people too that makes the fear more how do you say bearable because the commonness of pain is a very good situation to actually endure or come to know pain and also a very good how do you say ground for learning compassion Enormous thing. Clear. So it relieves the repressed emotions. So that is the first thing.
Just talk and just be together. Just be together. And take care of more just taking care of putting the pillow nicely or bringing a cup of tea or whatever he wants and very sensitively, considerately without kind of how do you say it without irritating because sometimes dying people or sick people can be easily irritable so you don’t impose your kindness ness on them. You know, the worst thing is when people impose their kindness on you. And that’s that’s what’s called killing killing softly.
There’s a song, no? What is it, Roberta Flack? Killing me softly. So don’t kill softly with your kindness, but more and also don’t be a jerk or clumsy, you know, but just try to be more relate, and it’s the way you do. The kind of the way you bring bring the cup of tea or the way you touch the person or you know, think the way you do is very important.
The way you do. And sometimes just a little gesture like that says much more than words. And then also to allow the person to take care of his unfinished business Because sometimes a lot of worry is like he’s because he’s worked so hard, he’s you know how his business and these and other things So you should help with that so that his mind is at ease when he dies. His bag is packed. Know?
I mean it’s an interesting account of people who are dying in hospice situation say that they feel in a like half coma state. They feel that they’re in railway station and this railway station is a bit like in a Hitchcock movie it’s kind of pretty misty, mysterious start and this this station and he’s this person who’s dying standing on the platform and the train is going to come at any time, there’s no schedule but it’s going to come for sure but this person has to catch, there’s no way out but then there’s a deep anxiety as he waits on the platform that he’s ready, the bags are not packed. So therefore I think finishing the unfinished business is a very important part of the care. Absolutely. Yes.
That’s true. Very important. That’s too and especially I find that in a western society, I was saying last night in in my talk in Brisbane, is that western society in some ways is like a god realm. It’s spoken of in the Tibetan teachings. It’s where life is beautiful to be youthful to be beautiful is beautiful and that’s confirmed that death is not looked upon because that’s not beautiful you understand?
Even when you go on funerals rich people use all kinds of cosmetic jobs so that the dead person’s face looks beautiful It’s a lack of a face uplift, no? So, that this whole life is kind of and when someone dies immediately you, you know, take the body immediately to the mortuary. And so, because of this kind of social trend and attitude that when someone is dying immediately person begin to feel almost I feel like half corpse That the feeling that the person is no longer lovable and then would look therefore as the person is very insecure would look for any signs from the loved ones whether they really they look for the unlovedness or, you know, they may be disgusted with them or, you know, don’t love them anymore. So, you have to reassure that very much. You understand?
Because sometimes dying people isolate themselves. And we also, sometimes when we’re faced with someone dying, even though it’s a close person, we become a little nervous, you know? We don’t know what to do. We cannot we get little bit embarrassed and we talk about the weather. Or something kind of, how do you say, polite.
And always it’s a kind of an un how do you say it? Kind of a Unsaid. Unsaid, you know? A lot of things unsaid. So, I think it’s important thing is to show your love.
You know? Give a hug to them, kiss them, I don’t know. Whatever you used to, do it more. To show your love, to show that the person is lovable and it’s cherished. Cherishing is very important and treating the person.
According to the Tibetan teachings, the Buddhist teachings that the consciousness though death happens in a kind of a medical sense when he breathes out last, yet the death is still happening internally. According to some of the masters that the when the visions are happening still in the body so in such a case I think the only thing we can do of course the basic thing what we have to try to do is to try to actually change the attitude of respecting the dead. Just as West is so concerned about privacy, respecting the living. So just as soon as you die, at least give them three days to enjoy the rest of life. You understand?
You know, that kind of a disrespect. And interesting thing is it works, is working and I was very encouraged to see that some hospitals in England talking to some of the nurses and the doctors is that they are actually trying to change some attitude and like for example when someone said try to leave the body in a quiet place and not touch it and leave it in peace for a while try to do it. Yeah. Yeah. It’s become more of a ritual rather than a meaningful spiritual respect.
And it’s on a ritualistic level and so lost kind of the how do say? The real meaning. So in such a case, the question what can we do? Like suppose you’ve been handling bodies, now what do you do? Now the best thing you can do is at that moment when you just touch the body, before you touch the body do the transference of consciousness called phowa practice.
Of course, elaborate phowa practice is something that you need to practice. You see the transmission and you need to really perfect the practice, and then of course can you do. But you can just simplify it, a prayer form of phowa practice, which I’ve been teaching last night which did you visualize Buddha Amitābha in the form of light as embodying all the Buddhas and all the masters as being the embodiment of truth and in fact also the nature of the dying person. And to ask him to pray deeply so that may the negativity and the obscuration of the dying person, the dead person be purified. So from then you can consider a tremendous phase of light coming from his heart.
Touches the dying person, purifies him and takes his consciousness into his being. That’s the first stage. One way of doing. If you feel it needs a strong helping hand, it’s the light coming downward and almost like, you know, how do you say it? Almost almost Buddha handling it, man handling it.
You what I mean? Another way is you can consider that from the conscious of the dying person comes in the form of light and goes into the mind of the wisdom mind of the Buddha in the heart. That’s another.