Preparing for Death

You don’t need to worry at all, you don’t need to have any fear, because you have had a good life, excellent—you are a nun and you practiced sutra and tantra.

Do tong-len as much as you can and rely on bodhicitta. This is the best way to die, and because we don’t know when we will die, we must prepare for it now. Anyway, this is good preparation, no matter what happens.

You have had a very good life, so you don’t need to be afraid; you don’t need to have any fear. The best thing to do is bodhicitta meditation. Your main refuge should be bodhicitta, and thinking that your guru and Amitabha are as one on your crown, so that is the main object of refuge. Then do tong-len, to experience all sentient beings’ pain—even death—by yourself.

Let them all be free from death and all the sufferings. So, generate that wish. Think this way, without clinging to your family, friends, etc, any of the things, and mainly do bodhicitta and tong-len. The main thing is, there is nothing to worry about, no clinging to sentient beings.

Then on your crown, the guru is in the aspect of Amitabha Buddha. So, Amitabha is on your crown and you are looking up, like looking up an upside-down trumpet. The bottom part is open, up to the crown and straight down the body. It is closer to your back, and it is made of light; it is in nature of light (this is important). There is no hole, so it is blocked at the ends. Then your consciousness, which you see as a bright, white red drop, is in your heart. So, looking up into Amitabha’s heart, you are ready to jump up at any minute; it is very blissful.

Then shoot your consciousness to Amitabha’s pure land, but first to Amitabha’s heart. Your consciousness, in the nature of red light, goes up (jumps up) to Amitabha’s heart, through the channel, so Amitabha completely hooks your consciousness. As it shoots up, make strong prayers to be reborn in Amitabha’s pure land to be able to liberate sentient beings. Make very strong prayers to Amitabha, so he completely hooks your consciousness in one second, heart to heart, and takes you to the pure land. So, you absorb into Amitabha’s heart. Then you come out born in a lotus and receive teachings from Amitabha.

In the pure land all the trees and petals of the flowers and the leaves are all making the sound of Dharma, the teachings of Buddha. Even the sound of the wind is Dharma; the wind blowing in the trees and the birds are making the sound of pure Dharma. All the trees are wish-granting trees and the ground is lapis lazuli, very blissful. Everything is wish-fulfilling and there is no suffering.

You are in my heart and I am making prayers for you.