Audio recorded at Tibetan Buddhist Institute, Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. In this 47-minute teaching, Kyabje Rinpoche focuses on the moment of death — when craving, the eighth link of dependent origination, determines where we will be reborn. He begins by establishing awakening heart motivation, then continues his commentary on the 12 links, dwelling on how fear and longing at the moment of death activate specific karmic latencies. Using vivid examples, he shows how craving for warmth activates rebirth in a hot hell, craving for cold in a cold hell, aversion to food in the hungry ghost realm. He stresses the importance of a spiritual teacher present at death and recollection of skillful objects during dying, then describes in detail the dissolution of elements, the migration of white and red drops to the heart, and entry into the intermediate state. For practitioners already familiar with the 12 links.
File metadata (for organising)
File: 3A – 1991 Easter Retreat – KR.mp3
UUID: 0ddefd41-65dc-4784-8f3d-1bc26ee59a74
Teacher: Kyabje Rinpoche
Collection: Wheel of Life
Date: 1991 (exact day not recorded)
Recorded at: Tibetan Buddhist Institute, Adelaide
Words: ~2,624
We don’t want to suffer. Therefore, the purpose to which we can make put our life to is the elimination of our suffering and seeking to find a final type of happiness. And how are we going to achieve this? It’s by developing healthy attitudes, and out of those healthy attitudes, engaging in various of healthy conduct.
By this means, we can achieve these ends. And of the various types of healthy attitudes, there’s none greater than the awakening heart. And what is the attitude of the awakening heart? By appreciating the great kindness of the various people within our lives, for example, parents, and not only our parents, but all sentient beings in the way they have, the way they are continually showing showing kindness upon us, and how they benefit us. That being aware of this, appreciating this, holding all sentient beings more dear than ourselves, and seeking to eliminate eliminate all of their suffering and to lead them to happiness.
That is the development of this healthy attitude of the awakening heart. In order to lead sentient beings to a type of happiness which is completely divorced of suffering, that oneself must have achieved this. Therefore, it’s necessary that we ourselves achieve a state of happiness divorced of suffering, whereby we will be empowered to lead them. And in order to achieve this, then we have to eliminate all our various faults and bring to consummation all excellent qualities. Therefore, for the sake of leading all sentient beings to a state of complete happiness, free of all suffering, that each of us must free ourselves of our individual faults and bring to consummation our excellent quality.
So for the next few minutes, we’re going to develop we’re going to cultivate this healthy attitude of the awakening heart such that in order to eliminate my various faults, order to bring the consummation of all my excellent qualities, I must train in the Dharma. In order to train in Dharma, I must understand all the various practices. And therefore, to listen to this present teaching in order to bring about that end whereby to be a benefit to sentient beings. Reciting a verse by Je Tsongkhapa, where he says, I am praising the Buddha for being an immense benefit to sentient beings through his teaching of Dharma.
And the way he was a benefit to sentient beings was by means of his teachings, his peerless, faultless, and excellent reasonings which established emptiness. And out of this praise, I pay homage to the Buddha. And amongst the various types of reasoning setting forth emptiness, ultimate and peerless reasoning is that of dependent arising. So continuing from where we left off last time, discussing the 12 links of dependent origination, we are up to the the eighth link of craving. And we said that there are the three causes, that is the first three links, basic ignorance, karmic formations, and consciousness, these causes are contained within a previous life.
Then the four results of this life are the next four links. Name and form, six sense faculties, contact and feeling are the four results of this life. Final five links occur during this and a future life in which there are three causes and two results. The three causes being craving, grasping, and coming to be, or becoming, and the two results being birth as one result and aging and death as one result. So, in discussing the eighth link of dependent origination, we’re discussing not in terms of the craving which occurs over the course of the life, but most particularly at the craving which arises at the time of death, at the death consciousness.
And there is a fear which arises when one begins to realize that one is separating from one’s body. And and out of this fear arises a craving for re-embodiment. So one one becomes aware that one is separating from the body of this life. It is being abandoned and there arises the thought of what will occur in the future and a craving for re-embodiment arises. Out of this craving for re-embodiment, grasping arises.
Illustrated by a monkey in a tree grasping at fruit. And the tree is the mind, the craving mind, which is grasping for re-embodiment. There are various latencies within the mind. Karmic latencies both negative and positive. And just as water acts as a condition for the development of the seeds which have been planted in the field.
Likewise, these two, these two afflictive emotions of craving and grasping act as the necessary conditions to begin the ripening of these various karmic latencies. So, to illustrate this process, if this were a being who were to, who was to take rebirth in a hot hell, During the death process, he would experience great cold, and there would arise in his mind a longing for warmth. I need to be warm. I need to be warm. This thought would arise in the the dying person’s mind.
So there are these, there are various types of karmic latencies within the mind. Many different varieties. But, out of the condition of the mind continually seeking, thinking it needs to be warm, then this act, this fact of grasping acts as a condition to ripen the latency whereby rebirth in a hot hell will take place. Again, the opposite situation may occur during the death process. One may be feel very hot, experience great heat, and there will arise in the mind a craving for cold that I wish I was cold.
Wouldn’t that be wonderful to be cold right now? And this thought will, like water being added to a seed, will activate the karmic potential to be reborn in a cold hell. On the other hand, there are various other types of karmic potentials, and one of these is to be reborn as a hungry ghost. And, if during the course of the death process, one develops the attitude where, I don’t even want to I can’t stand food.
I don’t even want to see food. I don’t even want to hear about food. And this, this, one develops this attitude. Then, this will act as the condition whereby to activate rebirth as a hungry ghost. The grasping is like the watering of these various seeds, whether it’s hot, the various hot, cold hells or the latency to be reborn as a hungry ghost.
So additionally, the the thoughts which occur at the moment of death. And therefore, if we were to see We may call to mind bird, we may call to mind various animals, we may call to mind human. We may call to mind a celestial being. And this will act as a condition in the grasping for that type of embodiment. Will serve as a condition to ripen that type of karma which will bring about this type of rebirth.
So it’s not necessary to see these various types of beings, but simply by calling them to mind, by remembering, you know, remembering to calling to mind to a human rebirth or being as a celestial being or an asura. So, these two afflictive emotions of craving and grasping are like the watering of the seed. And due to this condition the seed is activated, and it’s just about to give a result. It hasn’t, it’s very close to giving a result, but it’s not quite, it’s not quite there.
So this, just about, this act, the seed is activated, it’s just about ripen into expressing itself as a result, but so it’s pregnant with possibility. And this is the tenth link of dependent origination, sometimes called existence, sometimes called becoming, to be, the coming to be. So, due to the quality of craving and grasping, or acting just like the water of a seed, then the result is just about to bear fruit. That just like when we water an actual seed, it’s just about ready to grow. It hasn’t, it has, let us say, in this case, we haven’t taken rebirth yet, but it’s just about the next moment rebirth will take place.
With respect to the death consciousness, there are two levels. There’s a coarse and subtle. With coarse death consciousness is able to make various discriminations. You know, it’s able to make recognitions of these are my friends. This is my spiritual teacher.
It would understand what are the Three Jewels. It’s able to make these various discrimination. So this would, this would continue up to the level of where craving has developed within one’s mind. So, it is up to this point that we must be extremely careful. You know, we have probably been habituated to skillful actions to some degree.
And while this coarse consciousness, has this discriminating ability, is still active up to the point of craving, then if we can call to mind skillful objects, then we will activate skillful latencies and we will not take rebirth in, for example, the hell realm. If we aren’t able to do this, then there’s a probability we will. On the other hand, though, someone during the course of their human life is involved in very skillful actions at the time of death when the, while the coarse death consciousness, death consciousness is still active, if they were to take to mind unskillful objects, then they will probably activate unskillful latencies and be reborn in hell. On the other hand, the opposite can occur. Someone who has not, who during the course of their life has been involved with unskillful actions.
If at this point they are able to bring to mind skillful objects, then they can activate a skillful latencies and will take a positive type of rebirth. So, the types of thoughts which occur at the moment of death are extremely important, and therefore the people around us at the time of our death are extremely important. That if during the dying process, others can whisper in our ear to remember, for example, one spiritual teacher, to remember the Buddha, to remember the Dharma and the spiritual community, not to forget them. Then, this will help us to recollect recollect these skillful objects and thereby activate skillful types of latencies and we will take a positive type of rebirth. So, we must rely upon those around us to help us to be mindful of these skillful objects.
Within, you know, within the Tibetan tradition, it was generally, the way we generally proceeded was if someone knew they were dying and undergoing the death process, they would not have their immediate family around them. They would not have their wife or their spouse. They would not have their children, but they would have their spiritual teacher who would help them by teaching them, helping them to recollect very positive types of objects during that course of death, of the death process. On the other hand, were one to develop, if there was some object to which we were attached to, if we were at that moment of the death consciousness, were to develop attachment, then we would activate a negative latency and take a negative rebirth. So, it’s extremely useful to have those things and people around you who can be a benefit to you at the time of death in order as methods to help you to keep a skillful state of mind through the death process.
Once the coarse death consciousness has subsided, then there is the, there comes, there manifests a very subtle consciousness, a neutral consciousness, that is to say a non specified or perhaps neutral, simplest, neutral type of consciousness which is not a thought consciousness. For those who created a great deal of negativity during the course of their life, can now occur many fearful signs as the various elements in their body begin to lose their ability to support consciousness. And as the Earth Element, potential of the Earth Element to support consciousness deteriorates, then one has a sensation that one is being smashed beneath a mountain. As the water element, potential of the water element deteriorates, one feels as if one would be carried away by water. When the fire element deteriorates, it is as if one is being consumed by a great fire., one is being consumed by a great fire.
When the wind element potential deteriorates as if one is being blown about by the wind. But this doesn’t occur for those who have created skillful actions during the course of their life. So, there are many inner and external signs which appear during the death process as the various elements deteriorate. As the elements deteriorate, the coarse consciousness begins to dissolve into the more subtle levels of consciousness, and so the most subtle level of consciousness is activated, which resides at the heart area between the two constituent white and red drops which came from one’s parents. So there are two constituents which have come from from our parents, which during the course of our life, there is a white drop which resides in the head area, and a red drop which resides at the level of the navel. And at the time of death, these begin to migrate toward the heart.
As the white drop reaches the heart area, is an internal sign of the appearance of a white appearance arises. It is like a white moon in an autumn sky. And then, there is the migration of the red drop which has come from our mother which during the course of life have resided at the level of the navel. This begins to migrate upward. When it reaches the heart area, there is an internal sign and the appearance of a red sun arises.
And then, due to the migration of these two drops to the heart area, the white drop moving downwards, the red drop moving upward, they enclose the subtlemost consciousness and one now experiences an appearance of complete blackness. Just like a completely black sky where there’s not even a speck of light. And then, but this only lasts momentarily. The drops continue to migrate, the white drop migrating downwards, the red drop continuing to migrate upward, and therefore, at this point that the subtle consciousness leaves the body. It is at this point that consciousness enters into the intermediate state.
So the intermediate state is that time, is that period of time from the consciousness leaving the body, having left the body behind, and previous to the taking of rebirth. That intervening period is called the intermediate period. So what type of body does the intermediate being have? It has a complete body that has all the five aggregates, has eyes, ears, nose, etcetera. What form does the body take?
The life of the previous life has now been exhausted and the karma of the future life is now ripened. And intermediate body which is taken is the type of body which will be taken at rebirth, that form. So, the form of the body in the intermediate period will be the same form as which will eventually be taken as at rebirth time. If rebirth is to be taken as a human, one will have the aspect of a human in the intermediate period. If one is if it’s to be a god or a hungry ghost, one will have that aspect during the intermediate period.
Intermediate being begins to search for a place of taking rebirth, and this is established through its karmic affinities, what type of realm and with whom it will take rebirth through their karmic relationships.