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Emptiness and Compassion Retreat Serial 00027
The talk focuses on the visualization and recitation practices associated with the meditation on Chenrezig, the Bodhisattva of Compassion, highlighting the importance of mantra recitation, including Om Mani Padme Hum, and visualization techniques as means to impart compassion and receive blessings. It also delves into the Mahamudra meditation, emphasizing the inseparability of samsara and nirvana through mindful recognition of mind's empty nature and breath control practices. The benefits of maintaining the deity's perspective in daily life and different stages of Mahamudra—ground, path, and fruition—are also discussed.
Referenced Works and Texts:
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Chenrezig Practice: This involves visualization and the recitation of the mantra Om Mani Padme Hum, portraying oneself as Chenrezig to embody and receive compassion and wisdom.
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Mahamudra Meditation: This advanced meditation method highlights recognizing the mind's true nature of emptiness, beyond descriptive characteristics, associated with enlightenment.
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Vajra Recitation: A breathing meditation technique using the syllables OM AH HUM, facilitating mind control through breath awareness.
Relevant Practices:
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Vajrasattva Purification Practice: Recommended as an adjunct to the Chenrezig practice for purifying defilements before proceeding to visualization and mantra recitation.
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Poha (Phowa) Practice: Discussed as a method of consciousness transference at death, involving visualization of Amitabha and the Chenrezig deity.
Important Figures:
- Chenrezig (Avalokiteshvara): Represents the Bodhisattva of Compassion, central to the meditation and visualization practice.
- Amitabha Buddha: Regarded as the embodiment of Buddha Nature and part of the Chenrezig practice visualization.
Meditative Considerations:
- Emphasis on integrating the visualization of oneself as the deity in daily actions to maintain and internalize the compassionate perspective.
- Discussion on the conception of various stages of Mahamudra—ground, path, and fruition—which pertain to the recognition and realization of mind's nature.
This talk is particularly relevant for practitioners keen on deepening their understanding of Tibetan Buddhist visualization techniques and the interplay of emptiness and appearance in advanced meditation practices.
AI Suggested Title: Compassion Through Mindful Visualization
Taught by: Luding Khen Rinpoche (now Luding Khenchen Rinpoche)
Nothing. And so in the liturgy and in the way that you do this practice, after the self-visualization, which is what we've dealt with so far, you perform the, you do the Mahamudra meditation. However, I'm going to explain the Mahamudra meditation this afternoon, so at this point I will explain the actual aspect of the recitation of the mantra and how you visualize that, how you meditate during the recitation. And so visualizing yourself as described so far as the wisdom being of Chenrezig, then you imagine that upon a lotus and moon disc within your heart is the upright white seed syllable free, and around it is rotating in a clockwise direction with the letters facing outwards, the six-syllable mantra, Om Mani Padme Hum.
[01:29]
And so, as you recite the mantra, Om Mani Padme Hum, you imagine that... So, that is correct. which goes out in the ten directions and this light is transferred into an offering of sensory enjoyment to all the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. And again the light goes out to all sentient beings and transforms all their suffering, confusion into supreme bliss. And then the light is, so the light as you're reciting the mantra is going out and returning at the same time. So it's returning from all the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas in the form of the blessings of compassion and wisdom from all the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. So as you're doing this and having the light going out and coming back whilst you're reciting the mantra, You're thinking that you're really receiving into the depth of your being the blessings of compassion and wisdom of all the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas.
[02:38]
I am very happy to be able to do this. I am very happy to do this. Some of them, some of them, some of them, some of them, And so sometimes you visualize like that. Sometimes even without saying the mantra, like you say it quieter and quieter until it's no longer audible at your lips and then your mouth, is not involved in the meditation, but you still see the, visualize the letters rotating around the three syllable.
[03:57]
And it's like you're just reading them as you visualize and you gain a degree of absorption by focusing upon seeing the letters rotate around the three syllable and actually hearing them with your mind. And this is called like mental recitation of the mantra. And then sometimes you, as you're reciting the mantra, you imagine that all sentient beings in the form of Chenrezig, some very small, that are completely pervading space, there's billions of forms of Chenrezig, and that all of them are reciting the mantra, and within the heart of all of them is the seed syllables. And so you imagine that your mantra recitation is like this universal hum of all beings reciting together the mantra. And this has an extremely powerful effect. And it's like if you meditate that all beings are reciting the mantra, then you gain the benefit as if you were to recite yourself billions and billions of these mantras.
[05:08]
So in one recitation you gain the benefit of billions of recitations. And so what is important whilst reciting the mantra is that your mind is not wandering in distracted discursiveness and that is focused in a way or relaxed within the sound and the recitation of the mantra Can you tell me what the mantra is going to be? In the past, there was a lot of talk about how the government should take care of the people. But now, the government has decided that the government should take care of the people. The government has decided that the government should take care of the people. When I was young, I used to go to the temple to pray.
[06:09]
I used to go to the temple to pray. I used to go to the temple to pray. I used to go to the temple to pray. Thank you. And then furthermore it's very important whilst you are reciting the mantra, well, so sometimes whilst you're reciting the mantra you imagine that you're receiving the blessings of all the different deities, all the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas as being absorbed into you and you think that this
[07:10]
it's important to consider that this Chenrezig is the combined essence of all the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, of all the Yidam deities without exception. And that, so that whilst practicing one deity, you actually fulfill and realize all deities. And so it's important not to think that the Chenrezig is just one separate thing and the deities all separate, but this is the essence of all the deities. And furthermore, the Guru Amitabha upon one's head, you think of that as all the gurus, all the lamas, without exception. And so it's very important to have this sense of this greater perspective. Thank you. So at this point you go about your your life
[08:28]
as experiencing the inseparability of form, emptiness and the ineffable murmur of the mantra within all sounds. And so thinking in this way we take a break at this point. And if you have any questions, then please save them for this afternoon and think about what you would like to ask and what you would like to have discussed. And we'll ask this afternoon. So this concludes the morning discussion. Ripshed will be speaking. and then you meet the people who tell you that you are part of the universe.
[10:39]
That's what you do when you meet the people who tell you that you are part of the universe. That's what you do when you meet the people who tell you that you are part of the universe. That's what you do when you meet the people who tell you that you are part of the universe. And so with regards to the Mahamudra, there isn't so much covering the Mahamudra meditation that is contained within the liturgy of this practice. however we'll deal with what is there. And normally when doing this practice, after you have developed the visualization of yourself as the deity Chenrezig and have completed all the different stages and supplicated the Guru Amitabha,
[11:42]
then you meditate upon the Mahamudra, which is the sort of code word for that here, is samsara and nirvana inseparable. And so, however, for the purposes of a good way to present the teachings, I have completed the description of the... visualization and put the mantra recitation visualization in before describing the Mahamudra, whereas normally after the Mahamudra, then you start to recite the mantra. So when you're meditating on it, go by the sequence that is prescribed in the liturgy of this practice. When I was a child, I used to go to school with my parents. I used to go to school with my parents.
[12:46]
When I was a child, I used to go to school with my parents. When I was a child, I used to go to school with my parents. When I was a child, I used to go to school with my parents. I am very happy to be able to talk to you today. [...] So, so, Within the realm of experience, there is the whole totality of experience that is comprised of samsara and nirvana.
[14:18]
And all of these experiences have one quality, which is that they are mind-produced, that they are mental projections, that in themselves all these experiences are insubstantial and nonexisting. And all experience throughout the whole of samsara and nirvana is arising from this very mind itself, from this mind's nature itself. And so with that recognition that all arises from the mind, we have to examine the mind. And firstly you see, well, is it somewhere outside of the body or is it within the body? And look at the mind in terms of some kind of finite characteristics that you could apply and say the mind is like so. And as you examine in that way, looking to see if there is size, location, color, shape or whatever,
[15:21]
then you completely exhaust all the possibilities of descriptive characteristics and discover that no analysis in that way can possibly define the mind. And so the mind's nature itself in essence, is emptiness. That is, it is void of any kind of descriptive characteristics. And as you look in that way, then you reach the state where there is no comment that you can make, mentally or verbally, about mind's nature. And that state of no comment is the direct recognition of mind's true nature of emptiness, being emptiness in essence. And so, Oh, sorry. So seeing this mind's nature, in essence emptiness in this way,
[16:28]
then you see that that very essence of awareness was never created, that it doesn't have any beginning and is beyond the extreme of creation. And furthermore, it has no abiding and it has no ending. So the mind's nature is away from the extremes of arising, abiding or ending. And because this mind's nature is emptiness itself, it cannot be finite in those terms of beginning, abiding and ending. And so seeing that, you recognize that it is completely unproduced, it is completely unconnected. created, that it is not any substantial thing. And so with that recognition of mind's nature, you rest the mind in this very relaxed state, just experiencing the uncreated, unproduced, completely free from any extremes, true nature of mind, and seeing that all experience are of this one flavor of emptiness.
[17:58]
I think it's very important for us to be able to do this. I think it's very important for us to be able to do this. I think it's very important for us to do this. I don't know what to do. [...] The name, we'll, we'll, we'll, we'll, we'll,
[19:11]
Now the base, they put a hole in which they saw something. Then they put a hole in it, and [...] they put a hole in it. So this is the basic description of the Mahamudra meditation according to the liturgy itself. I omitted one thing which within this realization is the recognition that mind is not one thing, neither it is many things.
[20:31]
And so with that being the basic Mahamudra meditation, there is some more to say about Mahamudra that's not covered by the words that are in the liturgy. So firstly, because the mind rides upon the breath like a rider upon a horse, then you have to gain some control of the breath. And so in order to be able to do that, then you practice what is called the doji-depa, the vajra recitation. And the vajra recitation means that to begin with, as you take your composure to begin the meditation, then with the, what do you call that finger? The middle finger of your right hand, first you close off the right nostril of your nose and exhale with your forefinger to the back of your middle finger.
[21:46]
That's right. Like so. Just the forefinger is touching the knuckle of the first top knuckle there. And so you close the right nostril and breathe out one long breath with the left nostril. And then you close the left nostril with the other middle finger and breathe out through the right nostril. And then you take your composure and breathe out deeply through both nostrils. And you do this process three times. And the in-breath happens all by itself. You don't apply any kind of effort or pressure to the in-breath. You just let that happen by itself. And then you begin what is called the Vajra recitation, where you...
[22:46]
combined this natural flow of breathing that is completely relaxed after that point and is just allowed to take place naturally without any effort, just the ingoing and outgoing of the breath. And as you relax into seeing that, then you start to, as you breathe out, you sort of hear mentally the syllable AUM. And imagine that from your nose comes out the OM syllable. And then as you breathe back in, you hear the syllable AH, a red AH syllable. So white OM syllables come out with the breath. and red R syllables return in with the breath. And there is a moment that normally we are extremely unaware of, but there's a moment of stillness between the inflow of the breath and then its subsequent outflow.
[23:51]
And normally we don't see that, but in this breathing then we recognize just that instant. And as that instance takes place, we hear and visualize the blue syllable HUNG in the heart. And so we have the breathing is combined with the visualization of the om, ah, and hun. And in the abridged version of the same Vajra recitation practice, then without trying to see all the different, the three syllables, you merely think om as you breathe out and imagine white. And then as you breathe in, you think, ah, and have the red light. And at that moment of stillness between the incoming breath and the next outflow of breath, you think, hum, and see the blue light. And this... Vajra recitation, there's many different techniques of doing the Vajra recitation, and it is extremely beneficial and powerful that you quickly gain control over the breathing process itself, which leads to control over the mind.
[25:09]
And as you gain the realization of the nature of the breath, then you can see actually very clearly the five different colors within the breath that correspond to the five different elements, so that within the breath there is the, like, earth breath, water breath, fire breath, wind breath, space breath that are within our breath. And you gain very close awareness of that and then gain control of the mind. And so
[26:22]
Then, as described previously in the method of meditation upon calm abiding and profound insight, then you develop you apply yourself to the technique to calm the mind, to gain a degree of calm abiding. And as I described previously, this may be achieved through letting the gaze focus upon, say, the image of a Buddha or a blue flower or blue cloth. And you rest the gaze into this object of your attention. And developing through this technique, you gradually gain the ability to not let the mind wander, to off onto discursive projections, discursive thoughts, memories, reflections, dreams or whatever, and are able just to let the gaze be focused, the attention be focused upon the object of meditation.
[27:58]
And once you gain a degree of calm and stability with your mind's attention, then you deepen that further by developing, by recognizing with thinking, with thought and recognizing the mind's nature as being free from any descriptive characteristics, being in essence empty. And you see that this mind's nature in its calm abiding state is free from the extremes of some kind of beginning, some kind of abiding and some disappearing, likewise with thought. And so that you realize that appearance and Buddhahood itself is mind, nothing other than mind, and see that, that this is, in essence, is emptiness. And this recognition and this applying with a degree of effort towards this technique of calming the mind serves to bring the mind to rest.
[29:06]
We have a lot of things to do. We have a lot of things to do. We have a lot of things to do. We have a lot to do. I was very happy to hear that. I was very happy. I was very happy to hear that. I was very happy to hear that. Then, the people of Maitreya started to fight. The people of Maitreya started to fight. Then, the people of Maitreya started to fight.
[30:12]
Then, the people of Maitreya started to fight. I am very happy to be here. I am very happy to be here. I am very happy to be here. That's what I want to say. That's what I want to say. And so suppose you are doing this meditation of focusing your gaze upon a blue flower. And by doing that with the mind abiding calmly in this focused state of attention, then first you notice that you have this idea of blue flower.
[31:39]
that when you examine in this way of calm abiding, you see that this idea of blue flower is merely an idea, that it is not something self-existing, that in fact it is mind's projection. And it kind of falls into place of seeing this blue flower as being mental projection. And then seeing that it's mental projection, you see that this whole idea of blue flower is illusion. Seeing that it is illusion, then you see that the blue flower, the idea of a blue flower, the experience of blue flower is arisen by the combination of various causes and conditions, such as the combination of something of your eye consciousness, of your organ of eye, of your memories of blue and all your kind of autosuggestive propensities of labeling phenomena as being certain things.
[32:45]
And you realize that this experience of blue flower is a combination of many, many causes and conditions that produce this thought, blue flower, that until now you're thinking is something self-existing, something substantial and real. And when you recognize that all these causes and conditions, that it's all these causes and conditions, therefore what is it? And at the moment of seeing what is it, then you realize that it's completely beyond any kind of descriptive characteristics. So you have no further comment to make on the experience, and it is merely direct experience of what actually is, which is mind's nature. And so this process that in a way is like deductive analysis, in fact, is the way the mind comes to rest in its own true nature. And at the same time, the same process applies to observing mind's nature itself.
[33:47]
When you first see that all your mental phenomena, mental experience, is mental projection. And you see that it's illusion. It has no reality in it whatsoever. See that all of mental experience is produced in an illusory way by means of various conditions, and therefore all experience is ineffable. And at that point you completely remove the the discursive process of making comments upon your experience and labeling as being substantially existing things within your experience and are into the vast open space of this non, like no comment, non-conceptual emptiness. I don't know.
[34:56]
I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. If you don't do it, you will not be able to do it. If you don't do it, you will not be able to do it. If you don't do it, you will not be able to do it. If you do it, you will not be able to do it. Thank you. So seeing this mind's true nature as being so, as being completely void of any kind of conditions of arising, abiding and disappearing, that it is completely unimpeded or unobstructed,
[36:09]
is in fact the union of clarity and emptiness and is beyond any kind of descriptive characteristics one recognizes that the whole of samsara is just a very tiny kind of incidental mistake that you didn't recognize that mind's nature and that the whole deluded perception of samsara comes about merely from not recognizing mind's nature. And so this understanding of mind in this way, that in essence it is totally enlightened and totally free from restrictive conditions, free from any kind of descriptive properties, And yet, there's this slight mistake of not recognizing its own nature. So you realize your mind is Buddha nature, and samsara is just this, like an error in your perception.
[37:14]
This is called the path, sorry, this is called the ground mahamudra, the beginning mahamudra. On one side, it was like this, and on the other side, it was like this. And so within the three divisions of ground Mahamudra, path Mahamudra, and fruition Mahamudra, That was the ground mahamudra and the path mahamudra is all of the methods to be able to gain this recognition of what is mind's true nature and to undo this slight accident of not perceiving mind's nature. So all of that includes the
[38:17]
The whole technique of developing the pure appearance of oneself as the deity and the recitation of the mantras and the supplication to the guru, developing devotion and faith and so on, all of this is called path mahamudra. I am very happy to be able to speak with you today. I am very happy to be able to speak with you today. I am very happy to be able to speak with you today. So the fruition Mahamudra occurs when there is absolute recognition of this mind's nature, at which point the mind becomes dharmakaya.
[39:38]
The mind is realized as being dharmakaya, and the body is the illusory manifestation of nirmanakaya, and is like, it's called the jhulu, or the illusory body, and one realizes illusory body. And achieves the full realization of great bliss of Mahamudra. And so within these three degrees of ground Mahamudra, path Mahamudra and fruition Mahamudra, the mind's nature is completely unchanged, is completely the same. In essence, it is the union of clarity and emptiness. that is this indescribable mind's nature that is very Buddha nature itself. So within this process of ground, path and fruition, the only change is the degree that this is realized. So once one realizes mind's nature, this is none other than Buddhahood. And not realizing it and therefore being ignorant of it is the source of the whole deluded perception of samsara.
[40:48]
So this is a description of the Mahamudra. uh... long-term care but you don't want to talk about it but because it's a little bit of a cousin that i'm going to share with him on marlowe's it because it didn't want to change it but you know i mean it's not it but it's a little bit you know i mean you don't know i don't know if you put it in there at the center of the world city and then they get some sense of it you know uh... has it been quite a while since i was watching it and i think it's good Thank you. So this is how you meditate on the Mahamudra within the actual session and is... So we have covered to a degree the union of the meditation of the Great Compassionate One and the Mahamudra.
[42:05]
And in the post-session awareness, post-meditation awareness, then you carry over the experience by, like for instance, if you're eating, then you firstly bless your food with the syllables OM AH HUNG. and imagine that all the food has been transformed into a vast ocean of wisdom nectar that fulfills all desires. And you offer this food to yourself as the deity and to the guru, Buddha Amitabha, upon the head as a wisdom nectar that completely satisfies all the senses. Or you may imagine that the food becomes deity itself and it's that you're offering the deity to the deity and combining the two and so that you approach like just this ordinary thing of eating in the same
[43:14]
using the same view of the pure appearance of yourself as Chenrezig? And so like when you put on your clothes, then first of all you bless the clothes with om ahung And then as you put on the clothes, you imagine that you're making this fantastic offering to the sense of touch of yourself as the deity. And you put on the garb of the deity, which is that of great compassion.
[44:19]
And then when you enter a building, then you think that you are the great compassionate one. Chenrezig entering the bliss-filled palace of great liberation. And so in this way, whatever you do, wherever you go, whatever experiences you encounter, you maintain this sacred outlook of pure vision of yourself as the deity within this whole paradise of blissful experience. And in that way, you transform your impure vision of yourself and the universe into this pure vision of the Deity. Thank you.
[45:34]
When I was a child, I used to go to school with my parents. My mother was a teacher. My mother used to go to school with my parents. My mother used to go to school with my parents. And so, furthermore, as you fall asleep, there is the yoga, the sleeping yoga, which is the clear light yoga, where you maintain this pure view.
[47:03]
And so as you're falling asleep, you imagine that within your heart there is the Chenrezig within your heart. And from this emanates light, which rises up as an offering invocation to the Lama, with Amitabha red upon the top of your head. And this is an invocation inviting the Lama to come give blessings. And so you imagine that with this light is accompanied by this kind of fervent devoted prayer to please come give blessings. And then you visualize that Buddha Amitabha does indeed accept the invitation and comes down and resides upon the head of Chenrezig within your heart. This is very small. And then once again the Chenrezig emanates pure white clear light from his heart that is an offering to the Buddha Amitabha upon the head.
[48:13]
And then Buddha Amitabha responds with clear light, red light, and that goes down to Chenrezig, just below. And you fall asleep into the state of the clear light. But by imagining this glimmering of white and red light that's taking place between Chenrezig and Buddha Amitabha within your heart, they're kind of going backwards and forwards with this shining, brilliant, clear light. And of the two kinds of clear light sleeping yoga, this is the first kind that is called with support or with... Well, with support. In the beginning of the war, there was a lot of conflict between the U.S.
[49:16]
and the U.S. and the U.S. and the U.S [...] And for the the method of falling asleep that's without support, without having this focused attention upon this glimmer of red and white light, then as you're falling asleep, you visualize yourself as Chenrezig with the white free letter within the heart. And from that, you imagine blazes out immeasurable light in all directions. and reaches out to the entirety of space, all is transformed into completely pure white light, and then all this light is absorbed.
[50:26]
Chenrezig, yourself as Chenrezig, dissolves into light, into this shri syllable, which dissolves piece by piece until it dissolves into nothingness. Then as you awake in the morning, as soon as you wake up, imagine that you hear the sound of the dhammarus and bells of all the dakinis that come swirling through the sky to awaken you on this glorious occasion of the rising of the deity. And so you perceive this like celestial sound of drums and bells right as you wake up. And as you wake up, you think of yourself instantly as Chenrezig. I don't listen to any of it.
[51:29]
I don't listen to it. In the past, we used to go to the temple to pray. We [...] used to go to the temple to pray. So then the
[53:19]
the yoga of transference of power which is to be performed at the time of death goes in the following way. Firstly, to actually do it, then you have to make sure that the death is irreversible, that you are definitely dying. And so observe very closely the signs of death before you do it, because if you're not actually dying, you shouldn't do the Pala. However, to learn how to do it, then you have to practice it to a degree in the following way. So, firstly, meditating on yourself as Chenrezig, upon the top of your head is standing Amitabha, standing up like Maitreya Buddha is standing on two legs.
[54:50]
And just inside your head is the white syllable Han, which is upside down, hanging upside down. And you imagine that from the heart of Amitabha, wood amitabha comes the light from the shi syllable, which comes and just like a hook attaching itself to a ring, holds on to the upturned hang syllable. So imagine this light that has got your hang syllable up inside the very top of your central channel. And so then you visualize that in the... How long did it take for you to become a monk? It took about four years. It took about four years to become a monk.
[55:52]
It took about four years. It took about four years to become a monk. And so then you visualize that at your heart center is a very small, tiny Chenrezig within the heart. And so within this central channel that's extremely straight and fine, you imagine that at the bottom in the sexual center, there is like an upside-down pyramid. like it's called a chujung, but it's triangular with the three points coming down like this and flat triangle on the top. Get that? And then within that, there's many like glimmering points of light of all the different colors. By the way, the upturned pyramid is blue in color, right at the bottom of the central channel, right touching into the sexual chakra.
[57:00]
And within this, there is these many different glimmering colored lights in like spots of lights, little orbs of light that are green, blue, yellow, white, and red. and are all like moving around and glimmering within there. And this is, at that time, you consider this to be the mind's essence. I don't know if you can hear me or not. I don't know if you can hear me or not. I don't know if you can hear me or not. Do you understand what I'm saying?
[58:12]
Yes. If you don't understand what I'm saying, and then march on the back, they were killed by the war. They [...] now take him home for you.
[59:12]
Yes. That is why you are talking to me. Really, really you are talking to me. I'm sorry. That's why we call it Lhasa. [...] That's it. So visualizing thus, just to correct one part of that visualization, within this upturned pyramid, the bottom of the very tip of the central channel, it is one orb of light that is glimmering with these five different colors, not many colors.
[60:51]
altogether. And so, visualizing like this, then you supplicate, you pray for blessings to Buddha Amitabha, thought of as being in essence your guru, and pray for blessings that the power will be successful. And so, as you're praying in that way, at the Same time as you can or can't, you may or may not say the syllable hik. And as you say that, then this orb of light that's at the very bottom of the central channel, rises up and does three rotations around the heart of the small body of Chenrezig in the heart and then goes up and enters into the hang syllable hanging upside down in the very
[61:57]
October tip of the central channel and at that point Gets hooked into the light ray that's beaming down from the heart of Buddha Amitabha and is drawn up into his heart and then at that point you say the syllable car and the these orb of light again descends those three rotations around the tenrezi and falls down to the bottom of the bottom tip of the central channel and resides once again in the in this place at the bottom and you do this many times over and over again practicing shooting this orb of light up and down, up and down. Thank you.
[63:28]
So during the session where you are actually learning how to do this poor practice, you may do the process of the rising, falling of the orb, or tigla, is what I'm going to call it, that... you do that maybe 21 times each session, and in this way you practice. But then at the end of the session, because if you do this, just that part of the poem practice repeatedly, then you actually shorten your lifespan. So what you have to do at the end of the session when you're practicing the power is to imagine the Buddha Amitabha dissolves, like blazes with immeasurable light. It dissolves into light which is absorbed into the Chenrezig within your heart. And this blazes with light and dissolves into a... into this immeasurable ocean of longevity nectar that is the nectar of deathlessness.
[65:01]
And it completely fills your whole body and you feel your whole body pervaded with a real sense of vitality and glowing health and so on. And this serves to counteract the... the shortening of your life that would be caused by repeatedly doing the power practice and also to enhance your natural vitality and make your body within the world very strong. And so you should practice this for maybe one week or three weeks or a period like that where you practice it and you become very familiar with the visualization and you actually achieve some kind of sign of success at this practice.
[66:20]
And once you have achieves a certain degree of familiarity with this practice so that you know that you could do it if you were about to die, then you don't do it anymore except on occasion just to remind yourself of the sequence and of how to do the practice. If you keep doing it over and over again as you practice, then you will, in fact, shorten your lifespan and diminish your vitality. So this is the practice of Poha. When I was a child, I used to go to school with my parents.
[67:26]
I used to go to school with my parents. [...] Thank you. I just want to correct one thing in the visualization, is that when you're visualizing the tigle rising up and rotating around the genrazine going up like this, actually it's a part of the original tigle that comes off and does this.
[68:36]
And actually, like, there's a... main part of it that remains at the bottom of the central channel. You understand what I mean? But at the time of actual death itself, when you are completely convinced that you are about to die, then you meditate just in the same way as before. If you are able to, you sit upright. If you cannot manage to sit upright, then you lie down on your right side in what's called the sleeping lion position. like that sleeping Buddha position. And so at this time you visualize that the whole of this tiglai that is residing with it at the very bottom of the central channel comes up and dissolves into the Chenrezig
[69:41]
it within your heart and then this shoots up and dissolves into Amitabha. And you do this repeatedly, but in the case of actual the death experience, you don't come back down again. And you just shoot it up, and there's no descent of the tigla once again. And so you keep doing that, and at each time that the tigla shoots up and dissolves into the heart of Amitabha, You think, I've arrived in Devachen, in the realm of great bliss, or else you think that all has dissolved into the supreme bliss void, and you keep repeating that until you actually achieve that at the moment of death. It was a very long time ago.
[70:50]
It was a very long time ago. It was a long time ago. It was a long time ago. It was a long time ago. Lhasa. [...] When I was a child, I used to go to school with my parents. [...]
[71:53]
I used to go to school with my parents. So to actually do the poem, your final poem, at the time of death, you have to examine for the various signs of death and be sure that you are in fact dying, otherwise you shouldn't do the paw. And one sign is that you put your elbow upon your knee and your hand with the stop of your thumb on your forehead. Oh, and you look at your wrist, and you will now, at this moment, you will see that there is definitely something there, like there's this little thin wrist that you can see because your eyes just catch it on either side.
[73:05]
And at the time of death, the sign of death is that you won't see anything, that there will appear to be no arm there, and that's one way to check to see if you're dying. Right, definitely. At this time, you have to have the sun behind you. So the sun shining behind you and you look at the thickness of your wrist at that time. And so that's, and then currently when we touch the eyeball, with the finger, then you'll see like bright spots and dark spots will come across your field of vision. And when this no longer happens at the time of death, if when this no longer happens, when you rub the eye, then you know that this is a sign of death. And also now when you block off your ears, you can hear like a an underlying rumble that's always there.
[74:08]
And so you listen to that, and you'll find, if you find that you can't hear any sound, this rumble, then this is a further sign of death. And a fourth sign is that of the... Let me just ask this again. I don't know. And um... Currently, when we look at our shadow with the sun overhead and behind us, then if you look at the top of your shadow where the head is, you see a little kind of smokiness happening over the top of the head. And when this ceases, if you see your shadow and there's no smoke, Look like steam kind of rising then you know this is a sign of death so at that time You may do the power, but if if possible you may apply certain methods to reverse these signs of death and such as taking the longevity empowerment and
[75:29]
and so on. And if these signs can be reversed and altered, then by all means do so. But if they cannot be altered, then without doubt you are about to die, so you should start to do the power practice and actually perform it. I don't know.
[76:37]
I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. So this completes the instructions on this practice.
[77:42]
So basically when you're doing the practice of Chenrezig, then although it is not described in this particular text, then it is good to insert the practice of Vajrasattva as I described earlier. so that after the going for refuge and the developing bodhicitta, then you insert the practice there of the purifying defilements practice of Vajrasattva, reciting the hundred-syllable mantra, and then give rise to yourself as the deity, then practice the Mahamudra, and then do the visualization accompanying accompanying the recitation of the mantra, seeing the mantra syllables rotating within the heart and do the visualization as I described in that way. And then at the end of the mantra recitation, then you visualize that from the Pai Kri syllable within the heart emanates immeasurable light which goes out in all directions
[78:52]
and reaches the infinity of space and transforms the whole of existence into the pure bliss realm of Chenrezig. All of that then dissolves into light and is reabsorbed back into yourself as the body of Chenrezig. This dissolves into light and is absorbed into the Xi syllable which dissolves little by little into a tiny speck of light getting smaller and smaller and finally disappears into complete indescribable emptiness. And you rest the mind briefly in that state of emptiness, non-conceptual, without any kind of contrivance. And then once again out of that emptiness you reappear as the deity and prepare to go about your business within the world. And so you actually say that, once again, I appear as a deity. And for the worldly activity, it is fine to meditate upon yourself as Chenrezig, but in the form of a person.
[80:02]
and you don't have to necessarily go around thinking you have four arms and have all the ornaments and so on, however you can. But it is quite sufficient just to think, I am the deity, I am Chenrezig, as you go about and do whatever you do, such as the yoga of eating, the yoga of dressing, yoga of sleeping, or whatever you do. So in that way you carry over the pure vision of yourself as deity throughout your daily life. If you don't know how to do it, you will not be able to do it. If you don't know how to do it, you will not be able to do it. If you don't know how to do it, you will not be able to do it. And so completing the meditation, then you dedicate the merit and virtue of the meditation to all sentient beings without exception, just by making the thought, may this merit go to alleviate all suffering throughout existence, may all beings be happy.
[81:45]
And so you make like a verbal and mental dedication of this merit to all beings. And then As you go about your worldly life, then you have three considerations, the consideration of appearance, of sound, and of thought. And so you see all appearance as the form of the deity and think that everything is, in essence, is the illusory play of the deity. And as you hear all sounds, then you think that all sounds is the indescribable form murmur of the mantra, of the six-syllable mantra, and you learn to hear sounds as mantra. And then all thoughts, ideas, emotions, memories, whatever, all of this, then you think of as it arises, you perceive it as the non-dual wisdom, which is the mind of Chenrezig. And so you think of your place where you live, you think of that as the vast supreme bliss realm of Deva Chin, that is Chin Rezi's
[83:33]
place, and your friends, consorts, and all your associates you think of also as deities, as actually Chenrezig. And so throughout whatever you do, you maintain this vision of all as the pure appearance of the deity. And then as you go around doing different things, whatever work it is that you're doing, think of it as you're offering your services to Buddha Amitabha, to your guru Buddha Amitabha as Chenrezig. So in this way, Whatever you do, you transform into the activity of the deity, and from time to time you give rise to great compassion and love for all sentient beings, and then develop this sacred outlook of yourself and all beings as the deity. And in this way, through this practice, through this carryover, then you can very quickly realize the supreme enlightenment, which is the state of Chenrezig.
[84:43]
So this concludes the instructions on the practice of Chenrezig. And if there's any questions, please feel free to ask. If one is doing several sadhanas with different deities, how does one choose which deity to visualize oneself in out of that patient? I don't know how to describe it. I don't know how to describe it. I don't know how to describe it. I don't know. [...] There is no difference.
[86:09]
You just decide, you know, whatever you wish to whatever preference you have of thinking yourself, you know, whichever way you prefer to think of yourself in your realm and so on. And so, however, suppose you do one, the sadhana of Chenrezig, and then you get up and move around and stuff, and at that time you carry over as Chenrezig, and then you may sit down again and do the sadhana of Tara. And then when you get up and move around, then you're Tara until you do the next sadhana and so on. This is also acceptable. But the important thing is just to develop this idea of all as the deity, just the deity. And if you can develop a particular deity visualization very clearly, then this is very good. The song is both in Tibetan transliteration and English.
[87:12]
Is there a difference with the practitioner, which one they use in the practice? You mean whether you recite it in English or...? What do you think is the most important thing in your life? What do you think is the most important thing in your life? What do you think is the most important thing in your life? There's no difference. Why should there be any difference? The liturgies were translated originally from Sanskrit into Tibetan. So why shouldn't they be translated from Tibetan into English?
[88:17]
And perhaps to recite it in English would be very satisfying because you could understand the concepts as you go along. And it might be easier to draw on your memory as when you're reciting your words in English. However, I'm uncertain about the quality of the translation, and if the translation is accurate, then it would be fine to say it in English. And at the same time, it's fine to say it in Tibetan because this is a language that carries a great deal of blessing because there's many, many mahasiddhas doing this very practice who have attained complete, full-blown enlightenment using the same words. So there's a degree of connection with a great blessing by saying it in Tibetan. However, there's no real substantial difference, and it's your choice. Also, in this practice, is it that there are three parts where you meditate on emptiness? The Manasavala, mantra, the Mahamudra meditation, and after the mantra recitation?
[89:26]
Would you like to know if the degree of emptiness is different? No, it's the way Rinpoche covered it that was out of order. That would be a very interesting idea to see if there's... Well, can you ask two questions? Okay. I said the emptiness meditation with the mantra, the Mahamudra meditation, and the emptiness meditation after the mantra recitation. Just to clarify. All right. Yeah. Can I?
[90:00]
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