Audio recorded at Buddha House Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. In this 61-minute teaching, Ven Thubten Dondrub guides practitioners through a two-part meditation on death and rebirth during a retreat session. The first half focuses on cultivating certainty that death is indefinite—that it can come at any moment through disease, accident, natural disaster, violence, or simple bodily failure—using concrete examples to counter the comfortable but baseless feeling that death is distant. He then walks practitioners through a detailed visualization of the actual death process itself: the sequential dissolution of the earth, water, fire, and wind elements in the body, the corresponding internal signs (the mirage-like vision, smoke, fire sparks, white light, red light, and darkness), the entry of subtle winds into the central channel, and finally the emergence of the subtle mind of clear light that experiences the intermediate state before rebirth. Suited for practitioners already engaged in retreat practice or serious students of Buddhist death meditation.
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File: 2013 08 11 DB-Death&RebirthRetreat 11082013Med4-5.mp3
UUID: 74aacb2c-7a77-44d7-9cf0-5cd826b672a9
Teacher: Ven Thubten Dondrub
Collection: DB Death & Rebirth (Ven Thubten Dondrub)
Date: 2013-08-11
Recorded at: Buddha House Adelaide
Duration: 61.3 minutes
Words: ~2,365
Session will again do two sessions, two teachings with a break in the middle. About three minute break, if that’s okay. Well, too bad if it isn’t because that’s what we’re doing. That’s where’s the piece of paper? Oh, that’s later.
You survive the three minute break, there is a twenty five minute break. In this session we will continue doing the time of death as indefinite. Then we’ll take a little three short break, three minute break, and then we’ll go through the death process. Okay. So again we begin by sitting comfortably in the correct posture as much as possible and then just for a short time checking our posture, moving our awareness down through our body.
As we think of or visualize the Buddha in front of us and all sentient beings surrounding us, We again try and generate this strong sincere motivation, especially trying to generate the the bodhicitta motivation, wishing to use this precious human rebirth, all our future rebirths to achieve enlightenment, recognizing the the incredible kindness of sentient beings and but also recognizing how they are trapped in cyclic existence. Seeing this meditation as part of this whole process of being able to awaken the mind, free the mind of disturbing thoughts, awaken all positive qualities and achieve enlightenment. I go for refuge until I’m enlightened to the Buddha, the Dharma and the Supreme Assembly. By my practice of giving and other perfections may I become a Buddha to benefit all sentient beings. Thinking the Buddha is very pleased with our motivation, we imagine the Buddha coming to the crown of our head facing the same direction as ourselves and then remaining above our crown for the rest of the session.
So I also make a strong determination to be mindful throughout the session, not letting the mind get bored and sleepy and dull or distracted by sounds, sensations in the body, and particularly thoughts other than the topic of the meditation. If the mind does get distracted, be determined to bring it immediately back to the topic, seeing how beneficial it is to meditate on this subject. So we can begin by trying to generate a sense that not only am I I’m definitely going to die, but in fact I could die at any moment. And the reason for this is that the human lifespan isn’t fixed. So there’s no guaranteed length of life.
Other human beings, some live up to be very old, but some die when they’re very young. Some die even in the womb. So this means that, you know, death can really come at at any time. The young can die before the old, the healthy before the sick. People plan to do all sorts of exciting and interesting things in their life, but they can die long before any of those plans reach fruition.
There’s the old but quite useful example analogy of life is like a candle in the wind. So we just don’t know when the candle is snuffed out. It can happen at any time. And from another perspective was to a large extent, our life expect lifespan depends on the merit that we accumulated in past lives, the merit we created to have this particular human life. So we don’t know how much merit we created for this life.
So that we don’t therefore, we don’t know when that merit runs out. So death can happen at any time. But apart from death being unsure when it occurs because it depends on our unknown amount of merit, Our life can also come to an end at any time because there are just simply, in this world, so many causes of death. human beings die for so many many different reasons. So this means that I could die from any of these causes which can occur at any time because I am not immune to any of the things that have caused death to others.
So reflect that one general category that brings death is disease. So just think of all the different kinds of diseases there are. So I’m not immune to any of them. So I can be stricken down by them at any time and death can come. Just like a common cold can occur so quickly, so a terminal disease can come just as quickly.
So one can think that some diseases that were common causes of death in the past hardly exist anymore. But the point is that there are now new diseases that didn’t exist before, that are fatal to humans. And some diseases that were supposedly cured are now coming back. And consider all the different kinds of accidents that have caused death for other human beings, from very common accidents to very freakish kinds of accidents. Since I I again am not immune to any of these things occurring to me.
And since these things can happen at any time, then, again, it means death could come to me at any time. As we reflect on these points, it’s also important to consider that just because it feels like I’m not going to die, that doesn’t mean anything. It doesn’t feel like I could suddenly get sick. It doesn’t feel like I could suddenly have an accident. It doesn’t feel like I could die at any time, but this has no validity.
That doesn’t mean I won’t die at any time. Consider that in addition to sickness and accident, death can occur at any time because of all sorts of natural disasters that occur. Again, it doesn’t it may not feel like I could experience such a thing, But it’s the it’s the it’s the it is the nature of these kinds of disasters, natural occurrences, that that they happen completely unexpectedly Despite all sorts of sophisticated scientific warning systems, all sorts of natural disasters occur unexpectedly. And, again, I have no real protection from any of them. In beginningless past lives, I’ve engaged in all sorts of actions, creating the cause for all sorts of things to occur.
I have no idea when those karmas can ripen. If I consider that one can die at any time because of all sorts of social factors, human factors of war occurring, being murdered, and so on. This happens all the time around the world. I’m not immune to this. It could happen at any time.
And consider that in addition to all the these many factors that can cause death, there is so little that protects me in this life, that guarantees life. And even the things that normally we we have to sustain our life, even these things can, in in some cases, cause death. The food we eat, medicine we take, even the houses we live in, all can become a cause of death. Now finally consider how how death can occur at any time simply because this body we have can be so easily harmed no matter how strong and healthy it may be. It is so susceptible to harm.
And the body itself is such a complex organism. One small thing can go wrong that can lead to something else that leads to something else, and death can come. Bring this segment of the meditation to a conclusion by making strong determination to be more mindful in daily life that since death could really happen at any moment, at any time, in any circumstance, then I have to stop postponing the practice of Dharma. I have to practice now. Make it my number one priority.
So can we establish a good posture, reaffirm our motivation, remember the Buddha on our crown, all sentient beings surrounding us. So now we will practice just trying to imagine our own death occurring, imagining that it’s happening in the best possible way just through completely natural causes. We are lying in our bed, in a hospital or at home. Because the death processes have started, the earth element in the body, that energy is decaying rapidly, and as a result our body becomes thinner and thinner. Our body becomes weaker and weaker.
We no longer have any strength in our body. Our sight becomes gradually more unclear until at some point we cannot really open or close our eyes anymore. One experiences as the earth element energy completely fades away, one experiences a sense of the body being weighed down, pressed down. And at the same time, one experiences a vision of all that one is aware of is space pervaded by a mirage like vision, somewhat shimmering grayish blue mirage like vision. That vision occurs because the dominant energy is now the water element but that now rapidly loses its potency.
As a result, the liquids in the body, the saliva, sweat, and so on, all of these decrease. The body consciousness is no longer aware of any feelings of pleasure or pain. Similarly, the mental consciousness also is no longer mindful of those feelings. All hearing ceases, and eventually even the the subtle buzzing in the ears, even that sound ceases. The fire element in the body becomes dominant and as a result the mirage like vision fades away and is replaced by an experience of a smoke like vision.
All that one is aware of is a sense of space pervaded by smoke or smoke like appearance. As the energy of the fire element quickly fades away, What the results are that the body is no longer able to digest food or drink. One’s breathing becomes very difficult so that the inhalation is very weak and the exhalation very strong and lengthy. One is no longer conscious of any smells and no longer able to recognize those who were once familiar, people who are familiar to you. As a result of the decline in the energy of the fire element, The wind element becomes the dominant energy left in the body.
As a result, the smoke like vision fades away to be replaced by a vision like fire sparks, a sense of all the consciousness is aware of is dark space with these tiny moving flickering fire sparks. During all this time, the various winds in the body have been absorbing this in the smaller channels into the larger ones. As a result of that process, Because there is less wind movement in the body, the body cannot move. One can’t experience taste, and eventually the breathing ceases. The gross breathing ceases.
The body the the tongue becomes thick and short, and the root of the tongue starts to turn blue. The spark like vision fades away and there is an experience of space pervaded by very, very dull light. While the winds which have gathered from all the extremities in the body have now entered into the two side channels running on either side of the central channel that runs from the crown down below the navel. And those winds running in at those two channels now enter the central channel from the crown of the head and start moving downwards. And this causes the dull light vision to fade away, and there is an experience of space pervaded by white light.
So at this stage, the gross mind has ceased, and this white light is being experienced by the subtle mind. As that process is occurring the winds which have entered the side channels at the base around the navel now enter into the central channel and then move up the central channel towards the heart chakra. As this occurs, that causes the white vision to fade away, and the subtle mind has the experience of a vision like coppery red light. Eventually the wind is moving from the crown down towards the heart chakra and the winds moving from the navel up into the heart chakra meet in the heart chakra. As a result the vision like coppery red light fades away and then there is experience of, like, falling unconscious, and there is simply the experience of darkness.
Finally all these subtle winds, which are the basis of the subtle mind, they all absorb, dissolve into the most subtle life supporting wind energy in the indestructible drop in the heart chakra. So at this point, the subtle mind ceases, and all that is left is the very subtle mind based on that very subtle life supporting wind energy. This is the primordial mind of clear light, and as that manifests, the vision of darkness fades, and the clear light mind gives rise to the experience of a vision of clear light. So then that mind of clear light, the very subtle mind of clear light leaves the body. The visions occur in the reverse order and as a result eventually the gross mind of the Bardo being emerges to experience the Bardo state.
Try to imagine what that could be like where absolutely everything that we are familiar with, absolutely everything has fallen away including our body. All sense of reference has gone. Bring the meditation to a conclusion by making a strong determination to be more and more mindful in daily life that this process is definitely going to occur. There’s no way to escape it. It is definitely going to happen.
Therefore, I need to prepare for this event. I need to use this life to prepare for this incredibly important time. So then recall the Buddha on our crown, imagining the Buddha very pleased with our practice, showing this by now dissolving into golden light, and then that blissful light pouring down into us, blessing our mind to be able to have a clear awareness of the death process at the time of death. And then we dedicate the merit Through the merits of these virtuous actions, may I quickly attain the state of a Guru Buddha and lead all living beings without exception into that enlightened state. May the precious Bodhi mind not yet born arise and grow.
May that born have no decline but increase forevermore. So we have a tea break, half hour tea break, something like that. And then one more half hour session, and then we’re done.