Preparing for Death

My most dear, most kind, most precious and wish-granting one,

This is the reality of life. If we are thinking without distraction about outside phenomena, instead we have to think about inside and bring our attention back inside [i.e. become an inner being].

Buddha taught the four noble truths: true suffering, the true cause of suffering, the true cessation of suffering and the true path. Of course, many eons ago the Buddha himself actualized the true cessation of suffering through the true path, the wisdom directly perceiving emptiness. Not only that, he became free from even the subtle obscurations and achieved enlightenment for us sentient beings numberless eons ago.

If we have actualized the true path, the wisdom directly perceiving emptiness, which ceases the seeds of delusion and karma, then we become free from the true cause of suffering, delusion and karma. Then we become totally free forever from true suffering.

This is important to understand. If we don’t get to actualize the true path in this life, then as we are born with delusion and karma, and it seems we did not actualize the path, then we have to die. This is like the plants. If we put the seeds in the ground, if we dig and give them water, and there is heat, everything coming together, then the flowers grow from the seeds, but then they die. That is their normal nature. Our life is like that; we have to accept that. It makes a big difference, accepting or not accepting the nature of life. Not accepting that makes for big, huge suffering.

Now one thing is thought transformation, lojong.

There are five powers integrating the whole lifetime practice and there are five powers which are practiced near the time of death. These five powers are very important. I am going to explain to you on the basis of the five powers near the deathtime. [Read about both sets of five powers in Liberation in the Palm of Your Hand, pp. 560–63.]

The Power of the White Seed

It’s very important to not let death make you frightened. This is very important.

Do not let the mind cling or grasp at the loved ones, the family and friends. Do not let that happen. Also, do not cling to possessions, money and all those things; do not have a grasping mind. The most difficult one is our own body. Normally we cherish that. There are numberless buddhas and bodhisattvas, but we cherish the body as more precious than them. There are numberless sentient beings, but we cherish our body more than them. Letting go of that clinging makes death so much easier, the more we let go of the clinging mind. Otherwise, it is like a rope tying us up. The problem becomes huge like a mountain or like a balloon, blown up, becoming bigger and bigger, but this is mainly a concept.

We have been clinging to these things from beginningless rebirths with attachment, the self-cherishing thought, and we have been suffering in samsara from beginningless rebirths. We have experienced the suffering of the hell realms numberless times, the suffering of the hungry ghosts numberless times, and the suffering of the animal realm numberless times. We have experienced all the animal’s sufferings numberless times, the human sufferings numberless times and the suffering of suras and asuras, from beginningless rebirths.

If we cling to [people, our possessions or our body] we will have to suffer in samsara without end. It’s not only beginningless but without end we will suffer, on and on. If we can’t bear even the small problems of this life, then how can we bear all those sufferings life after life, for eons and eons? There is no way!

We should make offerings to the Guru, Buddha, Dharma and Sangha and give charity to sentient beings with compassion, by thinking about the kindness of sentient beings, having compassion for the suffering of sentient beings, like the numberless homeless who have no food, no medicine. There are so many, so many in the world to whom we can make charity.

Even if we do not give things away physically, we can give away mentally and dedicate to them, then there is nothing to be attached to. We have been universal kings, we have had everything in past lives, we have been beggars, we have been wheel-turning kings, we have had everything numberless times in past lives. So, remember that. Because we have not given up attachment, the self-cherishing thought, that is why we are still in samsara.

Buddha was the same as us before. He had problems, emotional problems, delusions, all this, but he changed his mind. Instead of cherishing I, he cherished numberless others; instead of renouncing others, he renounced the I, where all the suffering comes from. All the happiness from beginningless rebirths up to now and into the future and up to enlightenment, everything we have comes from others. Therefore, cherish others.

Buddha generated bodhicitta and then he reached enlightenment. We are the same as he was before, but because we did not do that, we are still in samsara. We are still like that.

Blaming the Self-cherishing Thought

The next thing is confession. We are angry with different people in our lives and we criticize them, so we need to do confession.

You can think you are in front of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, or you can think you are in front of me, because we have a Dharma connection. Then you confess, feeling sorry that all these things happened, all the negative karma due to anger, the self-cherishing thought, things like that.

Visualize strong beams emitted from His Holiness—or you can think of me—entering your body. It’s like being in a dark room, then the light goes on and all the darkness is gone. All the obscurations and negative karma collected from beginningless rebirths are completely gone. All those negative karmas of criticizing and being angry with people are completely gone, completely purified.

You can say sorry for all this to His Holiness. That is very good. Normally, if we can, if we have received a Highest Yoga Tantra initiation, there is self-initiation, the long one, middle one and short one, which purifies everything—pratimoksha vows, bodhisattva vows and tantric vows. That is one of the most powerful, best things.

At least do confession and purification practices by reciting the names of the Thirty-five Buddhas, then do a general confession after that. Or you can do Vajrasattva practice, one mala or half a mala or more every day, with strong regret for all the negative karma collected with body, speech and mind from beginningless rebirths, besides in this life. Then from Guru Vajrasattva light comes, nectar comes, purifying all those things, completely washing them away, and your body becomes like crystal, completely clear.

Think that from now on, what you can observe or protect, even the very difficult vows, even for one day, one hour or even a few seconds, you observe or protect whatever you can. Then Guru Vajrasattva is extremely pleased and says all your degenerated samaya vows from beginningless rebirths are totally purified. They are gone, right away.

Then Guru Vajrasattva absorbs into your heart. Not the pumping one, but imagine between the two breasts, the center where all the anger comes from, where the compassion comes from, that heart. Then your body, speech and mind—this does not mean the gross one, but the extremely subtle body, speech and mind—become one with Guru Vajrasattva’s holy body, holy speech and holy mind. Stay there for a little bit, being oneness.

Confession is very, very important. All the negative karma collected with body, speech and mind from beginningless rebirths [is purified.] Confession to the guru, like His Holiness Dalai Lama, is so important. How much there is confession, that much we can reduce the suffering of samsara, the lower realms. Our mind can do that. So we don’t have to worry about being reborn in the lower realms. That is very important.

I am going to recite some mantras so that you will not be reborn in the lower realms. Since you have taken Kalachakra initiation—I am [not] sure about other initiations, but you must have Kalachakra initiation—I am going to recite the bodhisattva vows for you three times. You must have taken them before, so while I recite, think you are receiving the bodhisattva wishing vows and entering vows. When wishing vows are taken, you collect skies of merit to achieve enlightenment for sentient beings. Wow, wow, wow. When you have taken the bodhisattva entering vows, then every second you collect skies of merit. So you make this pure before you change lives.

Visualize His Holiness, and the deities of the initiations you have received are in oneness. They are all His Holiness and His Holiness is them.

[Rinpoche recites the bodhisattva vows]

Now think that you have received the bodhisattva vows. Whatever has been degenerated is purified, is revived, so now you feel great happiness.

Now the tantric vows.

[Rinpoche recites the tantric vows]

Think that you have received the tantric vows. What has been degenerated in the past is purified and revived, so feel great happiness. This is the quick way—the highest tantric vows—to achieve enlightenment in one brief lifetime of this degenerate time. Like Milarepa, who was a lay person but achieved enlightenment. He killed thirty or thirty-seven people and even more animals through black magic, but because he followed exactly the advice of his guru, the enlightened being Marpa, he practiced Dharma by going to the mountains, as advised by Marpa, then he achieved enlightenment in one brief lifetime of this degenerate time. The basis is the tantric vows, so now they are made pure.

Now I am going to recite some mantras for you to not get reborn in the lower realms.

1. Holy name mantra of Shakyamuni Buddha

[Rinpoche recites the name and mantra]

[LA MA] TÖN PA CHOM DÄN DÄ DE ZHIN SHEG PA DRA CHOM PA YANG DAG PAR DZOG PÄI SANG GYÄ PÄLGYÄLWA SHA KYA THUB PA LA CHHAG TSHÄLLO

[Guru], Teacher, Bhagavān, Tathāgata, Arhat, Perfectly Complete Buddha, Glorious Conqueror Śākyamuni Buddha, I prostrate.

TADYATHĀ OṂ MUNE MUNE MAHĀ MUNAYE SVĀHĀ

This contains all the Dharma—pratimoksha, bodhisattva, tantra—the entire Dharma taught by the Buddha. By reciting this, we are able to generate compassion for all the sentient beings. It not only frees us from the lower realms, the negative karma, but by generating compassion, it becomes so easy to be born in a pure land and so easy to achieve enlightenment. There are skies of benefit.

2. Homage to Chenrezig and mantra

[Rinpoche recites homage and mantra]

OM MANI PADME HUM

You can recite one mala or more of these different mantras. Here, I will just recite them a few times, but you can carry on reciting.

3. Mantra of the Sutra of Great Liberation

[Rinpoche recites the mantra]

So now there is a mantra from the Sutra of Great Liberation. If anybody hears this, even if animals hear this, it brings them to enlightenment. It not only frees us from the lower realms but also brings us to enlightenment. It frees us from samsara and brings us to enlightenment.

4. Namgyalma mantra

By hearing this mantra, you will never get reborn in the lower realms. There are incredible benefits, I am just mentioning this much.

5. Mitukpa mantra

Mitukpa mantra is very powerful for purification. When His Holiness gave the initiation he mentioned that when we eat meat or when we collect the animal’s bones and then recite this mantra, it purifies that animal’s negative karma and delusions. It is very common to do this and very powerful.

There are more benefits of Mitukpa mantra. It purifies the negative karma we create when criticizing arya Sangha, who have developed the wisdom directly realizing emptiness. [We purify the karma of] criticizing the holy beings and also the general Sangha, those with 253 vows, gelong. All those negative karmas get purified by hearing and reciting this mantra. 

[We purify the karma of] avoiding the holy Dharma, any holy Dharma that came from the Buddha, but we give it up, thinking, “Oh, what is the use for me?” When this thought arises, then we give up the holy Dharma as the object of respect and devotion. It is said that is much heavier negative karma than destroying all the temples, all the stupas, all the statues in the world. It’s much worse negative karma than that. It is said that by hearing and reciting Mitukpa mantra, we purify all those negative karmas, so we can see how important it is. So even before we are dead, when we recite this mantra, all these negative karmas get purified.

6. Exalted Stainless Beam Totally Pure Light mantra

This is a very powerful mantra to purify the heavy negative karma of having killed one’s father or mother, or an arhat, drawn blood from the Buddha or having caused disagreement in the Buddha, Dharma, Sangha—the five very heavy negative karmas without break. This mantra purifies that heavy karma and no question about purifying the ten negative actions that we normally do. It purifies that also. It’s so powerful.

[Rinpoche recites the mantra]

NAMAḤ NAWA NAWA TĪNÄN…

7. Mantra of Great Wisdom Vimalosnisa 

[Taught by Buddha Droden Gyalwa Cho, this can also be translated as Dharani of Great Knowledge Vimalosnisa.]

8. Lotus Pinnacle of Amoghapasha

[Rinpoche recites the mantra]

OM PÄDMO USHNISHA VIMALE HUM PHAT

This mantra is also unbelievably powerful. Even when a fully ordained monk has broken all four root vows and then is reborn in hell, when we recite this mantra by thinking of that monk, then he is immediately liberated from that hell realm. The purification and the benefits are unbelievably, unbelievably powerful. By reciting this, we will be reborn as a wheel-turning king 100,000 times, then it is so easy to be born in a pure land.

9. Buddha Rinchen Gyaltsen’s holy name and mantra (Rinchhen Tsugtor)

CHOM DÄN DÄ DE ZHIN SHEG PA DRA CHOM PA YANG DAG PAR DZOG PÄI SANG GYÄ RIN CHHEN GYÄL TSHÄN LA CHHAG TSHÄL LO (3X)

To Bhagavān, Tathāgata, Arhat, Perfectly Complete Buddha, Precious Victory Banner, I prostrate.

This name of the Buddha is so powerful to recite, not only for people but also for animals before they die. If they can hear this, they never get reborn in the lower realms. It’s not only for people, but also for animals. So I recite this. Normally when I do powa, I recite this first. Then you can do powa or anything.

10. Celestial Mansion Extremely Secret Sublime Success

This mantra, called Celestial Mansion Extremely Secret Sublime Success, is very powerful. It is said in the Kangyur, that the Buddha explained, that if we hear this mantra or recite it, we will see the universes completely filled with precious jewels and then we offer them all to the buddhas. Wow! Can you imagine the merit?

In the past, in India, there was one person who had nothing and he offered medicinal food to four monks. I think I might have mentioned this story to you before. They were not arya monks, those who have wisdom directly perceiving emptiness; they were ordinary monks living in the 253 vows. That person offered just once, then he died and was reborn as the most powerful, wealthiest king, Kashika. That was the immediate result.

Therefore, offering the whole universe filled with jewels to the Buddha is most unbelievable, unbelievable merit, even compared to this example. But compared to the benefits of having heard or recited this mantra just one time, all that merit of offering the universe filled with jewels to the Buddha is almost like not collecting merit at all. Can you understand this?

By reciting this mantra, all the obstacles are purified. I am just talking about the essence of the benefits. [If we recite this mantra] then even if we talk to somebody or look at them, all [their negative karma] is purified.

[Rinpoche recites the mantra]

That is all, thank you very much.

Now, after that, I don’t know if you know how to offer tsog, but even if you have not done the retreat, you can offer tsog. To do self-initiation you need to have done the retreat of the deity before, so if you cannot do self-initiation (long, middle or short), then you can offer tsog. There are the four initiations: the common one, the uncommon one, the short self-initiation, and the very short one, the Lama Chöpa.

If you have not done the [approach] retreat, then tsog can be done. Tsog is very powerful to purify broken samaya and to revive the vows. It is very powerful to purify not only tantric vows, but also pratimoksha and bodhisattva vows, those negative karmas [relating to broken vows] get purified. I explained how to offer tsog one night at Vajra Yogini Institute, in particular, the visualizations.

Now, put all the blame on the self-cherishing thought. Then also the root of samsara, the ignorance grasping at I, the truly existing I. From beginningless time we have totally followed the self-cherishing thought, we’re completely under the control of that. It’s like our guru. That’s how we live our life and that is why we have been experiencing the oceans of samsaric sufferings of each realm—hell, hungry ghost, animal, human being, asura and sura—from beginningless rebirths.

We don’t have omniscience or even clairvoyance, so we don’t remember. We totally don’t remember, but that’s why we have so much suffering. [Due to the self-cherishing thought] we don’t practice Dharma, we don’t realize emptiness, we don’t realize bodhicitta or close to that.

This one time, we have received a perfect human rebirth, we have met the Dharma, we have met the perfect guru, like His Holiness the Dalai Lama, which is like having met the real Buddha, Chenrezig, but if our mind has not changed from the selfish mind to bodhicitta, or at least close to that, then again we will have to suffer in the oceans of samsaric sufferings of the six realms, numberless times in the future. It’s an endless cycle; it’s hard to imagine. So do not follow the self-cherishing thought. That is a very important practice.

The Power of Prayer

Pray, “In the intermediate state, in the next life and in all my lives, may I never be separate from the perfectly qualified guru, His Holiness the Dalai Lama, and may I always to be guided by His Holiness until enlightenment.” Make a strong bond or connection, heart to heart.

Also pray, “May I never be separate from bodhicitta, may I always practice bodhicitta and leave my heart in bodhicitta, at death time, in the intermediate state and in all my lives up to enlightenment.”

The Power of Intention

Next is the power of planning [intention]. Think, “From today until I die, may my life never go under the control of the self-cherishing thought, until enlightenment. First, until enlightenment; then second, until I die; then third, especially today, may my life never go under the control of the self-cherishing thought. May I always abide in bodhicitta, the thought of cherishing others; may I always leave my heart with that.”

The Power of Habituation

It is said that many meditators pass away while they are sitting up and meditating, but here it says to lie down in the lion position, like the Buddha when he passed away. So the right ribs are on the bed and your right hand is under your right cheek. If you can, with the right ring finger close the right nostril where the breath of attachment flows, to stop that. If you can’t do that, block the right nostril with cotton. Keep the left and right legs together and stretch out, with your left hand also stretched out on the body [and placed on the left thigh].

You just stay in the same position as the Buddha when he showed passing away; even that helps you to go to the pure land. Pabongka said this is a very important condition to help with that. We are supposed to sleep every night in that position by remembering the Buddha. That helps very much so that the death time will be very easy and we will be able to pass away in that way.

You can die with tonglen practice by generating compassion for sentient beings, taking their suffering and its causes and conditions into your heart. Take the suffering of every hell being, hungry ghost, animal, human being, sura and asura being and every intermediate state being into your heart, and give it to the self-cherishing thought, your main enemy. This is your main mara or enemy, who has been harming you from beginningless rebirths and endlessly into the future.

Take their suffering and destroy the self-cherishing thought like with a bomb. Destroy the I that you cherish so much, that does not exist except in mere name. That also means the object of ignorance, the real I, the truly existing I, the I existing from its own side, existing by its own nature, that is also gone. We cherish that, so that is gone. With that gone, it means emptiness, our mind is in the meditation of emptiness.

Then, by generating loving kindness and compassion, give your body, possessions and three-times merits, all the happiness, to all sentient beings. They receive that and it fulfills all their wishes. They get everything, whatever they want, and the numberless hell beings, numberless hungry ghosts, numberless animals, numberless human beings, numberless sura and asura beings are totally satisfied.

They receive everything they need: a perfect human rebirth, meeting Mahayana teachings and a perfectly qualified holy guru who reveals the unmistaken path to enlightenment, and by pleasing the holy mind of the guru, they achieve enlightenment as quickly as possible.

By giving your body possessions and three-time merits to everyone, they are completely fulfilled, satisfied, they get everything they need. They don’t know what they need, but they get everything: a perfect human rebirth, meeting Mahayana teachings, meeting the perfect guru who reveals the unmistaken path to enlightenment, and by pleasing most the holy mind, they achieve enlightenment as quickly as possible. They receive all the realizations on the path and are freed from all obscurations and achieve enlightenment and feel so happy. Then you die with that.

By thinking of His Holiness and the qualities of His Holiness, his wisdom and compassion, when you die with that, while devotion is arising, definitely you are so easily saved from the lower realms and eons of suffering. You are saved and it causes your rebirth in a pure land. In certain pure lands you can become enlightened there, for example, in Amitabha’s pure land after you are born there you become enlightened.

So that is all. Thank you very much.

With much love and prayers ...

[Find links to Practicing the Five Powers Near the Time of Death and Ten Powerful Mantras for the Time of Death in the FPMT Catalogue.]

Motivation for Dying

This is a motivation for when we are dying. Of course, those who know how to practice will have their own motivation.

However, if our life is finishing and we are dying, first we try to have long life. There are various practices to do for long life. There are distant signs of death and also signs that death is near, such as dreams about red flowers or riding on a donkey, going to the south, and so forth. Why it is the south is because the Lord of Death, Yama, abides there. So, our dreams like that. There are more dreams that are signs of death, especially when they happen again and again.

Of course, we can take long-life initiation and do long-life practices, like White Tara, Amitayus or other deity practices for long life, or we can make long-life statues or thangkas. The most powerful one, according to Pabongkha, is if an artist draws Tara on the Tibetan 8th, completing the entire rough painting that day. The details can be done the next day, but on the same day, the 8th, the painting has to be consecrated. That’s a very special method to prolong the life, to pacify the danger of untimely death.

You can do that, and also make tsa tsas for long life. If you are unable to make long-life tsa tsas, you can ask other people to do it and pay money for that. A tsa tsa has many atoms, depending on how big the tsa tsa is, but even if it’s the size of a thumb it has so many atoms. As many atoms as there are, that many times you will be born as a king in the deva realm. Like that, you will achieve the firm contemplation, of which there are four types in the form realm.

However, we need to achieve zhi nä, calm abiding, which is the cause to be born in the form realm and then through meditation, achieve the formless realm. We achieve these four categories: infinite sky, infinite consciousness, nothingness and the tip of samsara. We achieve those things through the six beliefs, in Tibetan, yi che drug. We achieve things like that. We achieve perfect meditation of those realms, and also, depending on how many atoms the tsa tsa has, that many times we create good karma to achieve the aryan path, the arya bodhisattva path, where we are totally free from the suffering of rebirth and the sufferings of sickness, old age and death. As many atoms as the tsa tsa has, we create that many causes of enlightenment. Very briefly, it is like that.

It’s amazing the merit you create by making tsa tsas, by being able to make them yourself or asking somebody else to make them for you. Of course, you can dedicate that merit for the long life of His Holiness, for the fulfillment of all the holy wishes, and also for all the holy beings and your gurus, of course. You can dedicate for all the Sangha who preserve and spread Dharma, for their long lives and for them to succeed in preserving and spreading Dharma and actualizing the path. Dedicate for all the benefactors who serve the Sangha, for their long lives, and for all their wishes to serve the Sangha and the teachings to succeed. You can dedicate like that.

Also, if you are an FPMT student, you can dedicate for all the benefactors of the FPMT and for those who serve at the FPMT centers and projects in particular—for them to never to be reborn in the lower realms, to actualize the path and bodhicitta, and achieve enlightenment as quickly as possible. Since I have so many projects, you can do the same dedication for all the benefactors who help the main projects.

There are many other people to whom we can dedicate. For example, during the COVID virus time, one actor helped so many people in India travel by train or bus back to their own place, also getting food for them and so forth. He helped so many, so many. There’s also the Tibetan boy who helped many poor people in India. Those he met on the road, he always helped. There’s also Lady Gaga, who helps His Holiness’ work. She gives for Tibet, helping His Holiness and emphasizing compassion. She has also helped many people who have AIDS. And Richard Gere has offered many years of service to His Holiness and Tibet.

There are many people like this who we don’t know, who help other people so much. Dedicate for the long life of all those people, for all their wishes to succeed according to Dharma, for them to actualize Dharma, to never be reborn in the lower realms, to actualize bodhicitta and achieve enlightenment as quickly as possible.

Even the evil people, all those evil people who harm so may sentient beings, like butchers and so forth, dedicate that they all meet Buddhadharma, abandon the cause of suffering, nonvirtue, and practice the cause of happiness, virtue. Dedicate for them to actualize bodhicitta, to stop giving harm and only benefit sentient beings and for them to have long life. 

Even if you are making tsa tsas, you can also develop long-life deity photos, so that many people can have them. You can do larger photos or smaller ones if you don’t have money. If you have a lot of tsa tsas, then you and your friends can put them around your house, inside or outside. Have a bigger round table or make some kind of throne, not putting tsa tsas on the ground but putting them a little bit higher, like on bricks. You can fill up the inside with all the tsa tsas, then put a bigger tsa tsa or stupa or something on top, like I have in Aptos. In Aptos there are four levels, with tsa tsas very nicely set up and a big one on top. You can use that to go around, especially when you do prayers.

Sometimes, you may fall asleep when saying prayers, so when you go around the holy objects, you collect virtuous actions of body or speech. Then by developing compassion, bodhicitta, devotion to the guru or to Buddha, Dharma and Sangha, you collect virtuous activities of body, speech and mind. You can also tell your friends and those who would like to do that. Even if you are making a phone call for a long time, you can go around [the holy objects]. While you are talking, you can go around, so you don’t waste time. You can talk while you go around, so at least there is some virtuous action. You can do that, then you never waste your time.

There are many nice ways to make this, even in the house. You can have a kind of table, then a throne, very high with many levels, and put many nice tsa tsas, statues and stupas around, and set it out very beautifully with offerings, also around. Tsa tsas can also be placed below the ceiling in your meditation room. You can put lined-up tsa tsas on the wall at about the level of the ceiling. Then put up one thin wooden [shelf] on which you can offer lights, like Christmas lights, lined up. You can put another row of tsa tsas down below, lined up nicely and again have a wooden shelf and lights. You can do it in many ways.

There are meditations for long life, such as an eating meditation, where the sky is food. The vase breathing meditation also becomes a long-life meditation. So you see, there are different things that can be done.

Reading the Long-life Sutra is a very powerful one. It has the [same] benefits as having read all the Buddhadharma. Unbelievable. Doing this purifies mountains of negative karma. It’s unbelievable, unbelievable. You can read it yourself or ask friends or other people to read it—for example, have it read at the monasteries or nunneries if there is a large number. You can ask the monks or nuns to read it, and of course, you can make offerings to them.

There is also the puja Betraying the Death [Tib. འཆི་བསླུ་; Wyl:'chi bslu], with the different deities, Most Secret Hayagriva and Tara Cittamani. It’s very powerful. There’s also the bodhisattva Samantabhadhra’s prayer, The King of Prayers, which you have to recite 100,000 times. There are different practices to do with the different deities: kam bar ma, ten drel chi lu (dependent arising), and a practice to do with betraying the death. I think you also need to recite the Heart Sutra. So, there are many different practices, depending on what comes in the observation.

The practice of liberating animals is such a great thing. If you have money, liberate a big animal. It will cost a lot of money, yes, but if you have money you should do that because they have to suffer so much when they get killed. If you were to be killed at the butcher’s place, how would you feel about that? It doesn’t matter whether you have a tall body, a small body or whatever. How is it if it’s you? There are so many sufferings for animals. If you want to liberate one thousand, ten thousand or one hundred thousand animals, buy insects. In Chinese towns and especially in those countries where people keep animals as pets, those animals which are the best pets are fed with the insects. That’s why people sell different insects in the city. You can buy them so easily, for example, in one plastic bag there can be one thousand crickets. I did that in Hong Kong many years ago, with only half that number. It’s so cheap and there are many other types of beings. As well as being so cheap, if you buy insects, you can liberate a lot. 

Not only can you buy animals and put them on a mountain or in the water, you can also take them around a holy object. At least, develop pictures of holy objects—hundreds or thousands—then put many in a bundle and carry the insects around them. Even goats and beings like that you can bring around [the holy objects]. Similarly, you can put tsa tsas on a table along with any holy texts, such as lamrim, Prajnaparamita, the Buddha’s teachings, and the stupas and statues from your room. Or other people can bring these. Set them up and take the animals around. That’s the best one.

We cause everyone to achieve enlightenment, even the insects. However many times we take them around, that many times we create the cause of enlightenment. If there are one thousand insects, every thousand insects or one hundred thousand or however many there are, we help them create the cause to achieve enlightenment. It’s unbelievable, incredible, incredible! Therefore, we should do this as much as possible.

The second thing to do is to bless the water with mantras, all the powerful, different mantras and then put the water on the insects and other animals. For those animals that live in the water, of course, we can pour water on them. For birds and other things like that, sprinkle it on them. After reciting the mantras, everybody should blow over the water, to bless it. Put water over the sea animals and for birds and so forth, sprinkle them with water to purify them, doing it again and again.

These are all the different things for long life, then if nothing works, we die.

Thirdly, recite mantras for those that can hear, as it plants the seed of enlightenment for them. I have written a book, Liberating Animals, so follow that. It has very important mantras, like OM MANI PADME HUM, Chenrezig’s mantra. By hearing this mantra, beings don’t get reborn in the lower realms. Instead, they will be reborn in the higher realms, like in the pure realms, and meet Dharma again. It has infinite benefits.

Other mantras to recite over the water include:

• Wish-granting Wheel Mantra: OM PÄDMO USHNISHA VIMALE HUM PHAT. If we recite or even see, touch or remember this mantra, it purifies the heavy negative karmas without break, which cause us to be born in the most unbearable hell realm. We will never be reborn in the lower realms, and for 100,000 eons we will achieve the state of a wheel-turning king. If we recite the mantra seven times each day for the benefit of transmigrating beings, we will be reborn in the blissful pure realm. If we recite seven mantras then blow on a conch, drum or other musical instrument, hearing the sound purifies the five heavy negative karmas without break. That means hearing it purifies the ten nonvirtuous karmas by the way. If a fully ordained monk has broken any of the four root vows, which causes rebirth in a hell realm, then if someone recites this mantra and thinks of that monk, it causes him to be liberated immediately from the hell realm and get a higher rebirth.
• Celestial Mansion Extremely Secret Sublime Success Mantra
• Medicine Buddha Mantra
• Maitreya Buddha Mantra
• Namgyalma Mantra: the long and short mantra. If there’s no time to recite the long one, then you can recite the short one.
• The Holy Name of Buddha Rinchen Tsugtor Chän: DE ZHIN SHEG PA RIN CHHEN TSUG TOR CHÄN LA CHHAG TSHÄL LO. Those beings who hear this name never get reborn in the lower realms. This is what we recite before doing powa. The first thing is to recite this mantra, then we do powa, practicing whatever we know.

Then recite the extremely blessed Mantra from the Sutra of the Great Liberation. Also recite The Heart Mantra of Secret Relic if you can. [Find this mantra in the Four Dharmakaya Relic Heart Mantras PDF] and the Ornaments of Enlightenment mantra (Tib: jang chub gyän bum). If you can, recite the Five Powerful Mantras, the five divisions of great mantra. Otherwise, recite the names of those I have mentioned.

[Find links to the above mantras and practices in the FPMT Catalogue.]

It’s very important to first take the animals around the holy objects in case some animals die while prayers are being done. If some people can take the animals around during the prayers, that’s the best thing. Generally at your house (if you are in a house), if you have tsa tsas or a stupa or statue of the Buddha, or even pictures of the buddhas—the Guru Puja merit field, sixteen arhats, Twenty-one Taras, Thirty-five Buddhas, Medicine Buddhas and so forth—you can take pictures of many of them, then make copies, like one hundred or fifty or however many you can, put them all together on a table, then they can be used for the animals and people, other humans and yourself, to go around. Even if you don’t have animals at your house, you can go around.

For the animals in the house, the ants and especially those that get into the kitchen, in Singapore I created this idea. At the center there, two boxes were created, one was called compassion and the other was called wisdom. With the two boxes, you collect the insects, ants and whatever you find in the house and under the house. They go inside the box, which has the mantra OM PÄDMO USHNISHA VIMALE HUM PHAT on top. By going inside the box, the animal has one thousand eons of negative karma purified. From the inside perspective, there’s a Namgyalma protection on top, so they are constantly purifying for however long they are inside. There are also two pieces of paper that describe how to think from our side and the benefits from the animals’ side. It’s very, very good.

So butterflies and anything else that you find, big or small, you can collect with these boxes. Put the insects inside, then take them around the holy objects as many times as you can, because each time it creates the cause of their enlightenment. They also help you create the cause of enlightenment. Like that, you benefit each other. After that, you put them in a safe place, among the plants or something, so that the birds don’t eat them. At home, picking up insects and then taking them around is an incredible way to help sentient beings, to bring them to enlightenment—freeing them from the oceans of samsaric suffering and bringing them to enlightenment. Incredible, incredible. Outside there are also numberless creatures, but inside the house, whatever you find, benefitting them like this is unbelievable, so good.  It gives you the opportunity to help sentient beings and they help you to achieve enlightenment. You help each other. So fantastic!

One time in Singapore, I offered some money to print many images of holy objects and each student’s family received a whole bundle of holy pictures. There were maybe more than one hundred and maybe less than one thousand, I’m not sure. They were to use for liberating animals, by collecting the insects in the box then carrying them around the holy objects. You can develop pictures yourself and you can do that. It’s very, very good. Otherwise, you can do it at the center or if you have a lot of holy objects on your altar, you can go around the house. In Singapore, there’s a truck that takes the big fish around the center. They circumambulate, then are liberated in covered or reserved water. Like that.

A Meditation for Long Life and Motivation for Death and Dying

This is a meditation from the great translator, Ra Lotsawa. [The verse is not translated yet.] The meaning is that instantaneously you become Heruka, then parts of the body—the skin, nerves and arteries—you take off, like taking off a dress. The body parts are taken out so only the skeleton is left. Then two skulls are joined, one is turned up and one is turned down, and you’re inside. Go to bed like that. Then you cannot be harmed by the Lord of Death. It becomes the supreme method for achieving long life.

Probably, I didn’t get teachings on this, but I think it’s like the cemetery in the deity’s mandala, where you have to visualize the corpse and pieces of the body, bones and so forth. I think all that appearing as ordinary is the essence of the transcendental wisdom of nondual bliss and voidness of Heruka, for example, as in the Heruka mandala. So it’s like that. All this is in essence Heruka’s transcendental wisdom of great bliss nondual with emptiness. I think it might be like that. Alternatively, if you know just Heruka’s holy mind, then that’s enough. The essence appears ordinary, but the reality is that. Then there’s no problem.

Concerning the motivation for death and dying, of course, for somebody who practices, they know how to do it, so I don’t have to push. But for those who would like to know, I explained this particular motivation. So many ordinary people do not know what to think, so this can be very good, very effective for the ego, the self-cherishing thought.

The first thing is to meditate on all the obstacles to His Holiness, the precious object of refuge and guide. Think, “May all the obstacles to his long life and all the obstacles interfering with the success of every single wish of His Holiness be ripened on me, on my self-cherishing thought, right now.” That’s the first motivation.

Secondly, “May all the obstacles to the great holy beings’ preserving and spreading Buddhadharma be ripened right away on this self-cherishing thought, who is my enemy, who is giving me suffering from beginningless rebirths, now and in the future and who didn’t allow me to achieve enlightenment until now and also in the future, and didn’t allow me to liberate sentient beings from the oceans of samsaric suffering and bring them to enlightenment.

“May all the obstacles to the teachings of Buddha lasting a long time in the world be ripened on my self-cherishing thought right now. May all the sentient beings’ sickness and all their sufferings be ripened on my self-cherishing thought and may it be annihilated from the root. May it be non-existent, even in name. May the root of samsara, the ignorance holding the I [as truly existent], be non-existent even in name.

“May the root of true success for self and others, conventional bodhicitta, and the remedy to samsara, absolute bodhicitta, be simultaneously generated right away in my mental continuum and may the practice be completed immediately. Please grant me blessings for this.”

If you have disease, think, “May all these obstacles ripen on my disease, so I become the substitute for all the obstacles of all those holy beings, the teachings and all sentient beings and become worthwhile in the sickness and death of all the sentient beings.”

If you wish, you can do tonglen by taking all the sentient beings’ suffering. Continue the meditation on that, taking all the suffering and its causes, until the gross mind stops functioning. Or you can meditate on the emptiness of the I, looking at the I as empty, as it is empty. If you have received initiation you can meditate on the dharmakaya, utilizing death in the path to achieve dharmakaya. You can do that meditation until the breath and the mind functioning stops. That’s it.

Thank you very much. Goodbye. Welcome to the pure land, to Buddha, and after that, to enlightenment.

My most dear, most kind, most precious, wish-fulfilling one, 
You don’t need to think your death is bad. In fact, the way to look at it is that now you can go to the pure land faster or have better conditions to practice Dharma again with a precious human rebirth. So don’t look at this as bad. One way is to really think that you will get to the pure land faster. That is the way to think now.

As I already mentioned, if you can, sometimes do Vajrayogini self-initiation. Also do Vajrasattva and Thirty-five Buddhas practice, if possible three times each day, especially the confession. If you can, confess to your gurus also, but within the Thirty-five Buddhas, really focus on the confession.

Now is the time for you to really focus on Guru Vajrayogini. Recite the mantra a lot and of course, when the time of passing comes, really meditate on the deity.

Now you need to rejoice, because you met the Dharma and dedicated your life to Lama Yeshe and myself for so many years. From that you have collected the most merit, the most purification. Rejoice in this. You have been working for the centers and teaching Dharma for so, so many years, and working for His Holiness, following His Holiness’s advice and fulfilling the holy wishes. Think like that over and over, rejoicing day and night.

Maybe you can also think that Guru Vajrayogini is above your crown all the time, then your consciousness can become oneness with Guru Vajrayogini. Always think that. If possible, be ready [for your consciousness] to shoot up to the heart [ of Guru Vajrayogini]. Always be ready for this, then in the aspect of the deity you are able to go to the  pure land, where dakas and dakinis will be doing prostrations and playing music for you. 

You can see Guru Vajrayogini in the pure land; the deity will be there to receive you and give teachings. The main thing is for your mind to be oneness with Guru Vajrayogini. You must think that as much as possible without being distracted. As much as possible, try that.

You are most fortunate. This is the best way for your life to end; a most unbelievable, unbelievable, worthwhile life. You are still continuing to follow your guru’s advice; you worked very hard and fulfilled my wishes. You worked for so many years for all sentient beings and the teachings of the Buddha. It’s been a most unbelievable, beneficial life.

With much love and prayers ...

Dear one,
You should drink the blessed mantra water. This is very good. We will send it to you.

You don’t need to think [your death] is bad. In fact, the way to look at it is that now you can go to the pure land faster or have better conditions to practice Dharma again with a precious human rebirth. So don’t look at this as bad. In one way if you really think about it, you will get to the pure land faster. That is the way to think now.

It would be good if you can go to Nepal, so that you can go around Boudha Stupa and Swayambunath Stupa.

For practice, if you can, sometimes do Vajrayogini self-initiation and Heruka self-initiation (it can be short one). Also do Vajrasattva and the Thirty-five Buddhas practice, especially focusing on the confession. If you can, confess to your gurus, and within the Thirty-five Buddhas, really focus on the confession.

Now spend time really focusing on your deity, whether it’s Vajrayogini or Heruka, whichever you feel closest to. Recite the mantra a lot and of course, when the time of passing away comes, really meditate on the deity.

If possible, you and another nun can recite the pain mantras. Recite the sutra Entering the City of Vaishali three or four times or maybe you need it more, like six, seven or eight times. If possible, do that for the pain. [You can find the audio as an MP3 file, Recitations for Alleviating Pain, in the FPMT Catalogue. To find the PDF file of the sutra Entering the City of Vaishali, go to "Sutras and Dharanis" in the FPMT Catalogue.]

You need to rejoice, because you met the Dharma and dedicated your life to Lama Yeshe and myself for so many years. From that you have collected the most merit, the most purification. Rejoice in this. You have been working for the center for many years, working for His Holiness, following His Holiness’ advice and fulfilling the holy wishes. Think like that over and over again, rejoicing day and night.

Maybe also think that Guru Heruka is above your crown all the time, then your consciousness can become oneness with Guru Heruka. Always think that. If possible, be ready [for your consciousness] to shoot up to the heart [of Guru Heruka]. Always be ready for this, then in the aspect of the deity you are able to go to the pure land, where dakas and dakinis will be doing prostrations and playing music for you.

You will see Guru Heruka in the pure land; the deity will be there to receive you and give teachings. The main thing is for your mind to become oneness with Guru Heruka. You must think that as much as possible, without being distracted. As much as possible, try that.

You are most fortunate. This is the best way of ending your life, a most unbelievable, unbelievable, worthwhile life. You are still continuing to follow your guru’s advice; you worked very hard and fulfilled my wishes. You worked for so many years for all sentient beings and the teachings of the Buddha. It’s been a most unbelievably beneficial life.

If you can reach Nepal—it’s not a big thing, but this is most important. You can carry a rucksack and go to Nepal. I’m joking.

With much love and prayers

Lama Zopa

P.S. It is most important to apologize. I am not Heruka, but before you die you need to confess to the gurus that you have a Dharma connection with. That is very important purification. Confess any negative karma done in connection with the guru, any degenerate vows—pratimoksha, bodhicitta and tantric vows—and any negative karma done with the guru.

You should feel happy. Rejoice all the time in all the good things you have done in your life, working for the Dharma, benefiting sentient beings and fulfilling the guru’s advice. This purifies your heavy negative karma and obscurations collected since beginningless rebirths.

My most dear one,
I want to tell you, the self-cherishing thought causes us to suffer, to experience the oceans of suffering in samsara, from beginningless rebirths. And now we are following that.

Normally, in the teachings and debate it is explained that all sentient beings are definitely going to achieve enlightenment, but even though that will happen, if we continuously follow the self-cherishing thought, then we will experience the oceans of suffering in samsara endlessly.

Not only that, this self-cherishing thought has also harmed the numberless sentient beings. There’s not even one sentient being—not even one insect or anyone, gods, the worldly gods—that we never gave harm to. We gave harm numberless times to all the sentient beings.

Therefore, this is the worst enemy, this is the real enemy. Then there’s the ignorance holding the I as real while there’s no such thing, what exists is only in mere name. This is the creator of our samsara.

So therefore, make it worthwhile, and not only this suffering, but even experiencing death, make it worthwhile. So the best is, like poisonous food, transforming it into medicine, like nectar.

So we take first, for example, His Holiness the Dalai Lama, all the obstacles to his long life and all the obstacles to the success of his holy wishes. We take that in our heart and give it to the self-cherishing thought, as well as to the ignorance which holds the I as real, the creator of our samsara.

So all the sufferings, all that, we give it to that, like bombing over the enemy, just as America, when they were fighting in Afghanistan, they threw missiles from very, very, very far, but they hit right on the target, on the army place. Then that burst in pieces, totally in one second. So, like that, we can destroy our enemy, thinking it is totally eliminated.

Then also all the holy beings who are in the world to benefit sentient beings, we take all the obstacles to their long life, and the obstacles to all their holy wishes to benefit others; we take that in our heart and give it completely—like bombing the enemy—to our self-cherishing thought, the ignorance holding the I [as real].

Then after that, we totally eliminate [the obstacles], so all the teachings of Buddha will last a long time in the world without obstacles and will develop. We take all the obstacles and give them to the enemy, the self-cherishing thought, the root of samsara, the ignorance holding the I, so that is totally eliminated.

Then after that, all sentient beings: we take their sufferings and the cause of suffering in our heart, and then totally bomb our self-cherishing thought, the ignorance holding the I as real. Then we totally eliminate that.

So this self-cherishing thought has been our main enemy, the cause of oceans of suffering in samsara from beginningless rebirths, the oceans of suffering of each realm.

As long as we follow the self-cherishing thought, the enemy, it will cause us to suffer, to experience the oceans of suffering of samsara without end. And not only that, because of the self-cherishing thought, we have harmed the numberless sentient beings from beginningless rebirth, so again it harms us and again we will suffer. This will continue in the future without end, so this is the real, the worst enemy.

Therefore, all the spirits who cause disease, the nagas and all the different spirits, all those different things are the condition for our sickness. There are 424 diseases, all those spirits who cause that, so that means we have to know that they are all harming the self-cherishing thought, the I, the self-cherishing thought. So that means all those spirits are extremely kind; they’re not harming us, they are benefiting us.

So, to achieve enlightenment, buddhahood, to free the sentient beings from the oceans of samsara suffering and bring them to enlightenment, to be able to do that perfectly, we need to achieve enlightenment, therefore we need to generate bodhicitta. And to generate bodhicitta we have to cease the enemy to the bodhicitta, the self-cherishing thought. We have to cease that, we have to eradicate that.

Therefore, all those sicknesses are so helpful because they are harming the self-cherishing thought—wow, wow, wow—they are harming the I, so they are helpful. All those spirits, all those nagas and all the different beings are so kind, extremely kind, so helpful to us.

Not only that, there are also the 360 kinds of spirit possession, those who cause obstacles and sickness and so forth, who harm us. They are harming the self-cherishing thought, the I, so they are really, really kind, unbelievable. So our enemy is the self-cherishing thought. Wow, wow, wow, wow. We only develop the self-cherishing thought and serve that, but we can see that they are harming the self-cherishing thought, the I, so wow, wow, wow, they’re so kind, so kind, so kind.

Then there are the 1,080 interferers that cause obstacles, but really, they are so kind because they are harming the self-cherishing thought. Wow, wow. They are actually our friend; they are all our extremely kind friend. Wow, wow, wow.

It is said by Kadampa Geshe Khamlungpa:

All the bad conditions are the virtuous friend.
And the obstacles are persuading us to practice virtue.
The suffering is the broom to clear away the negative karma,
Therefore, don’t have an unhappy mind;
Don’t look at it as an obstacle.

Wow, wow, wow, this is really, really, really, so unbelievably kind. We should realize and recognize this, instead of looking at it as an obstacle.

In other words when we’re dying, therefore we die on behalf of His Holiness, so [we are taking] the obstacles to his long life and obstacles to all his wishes. Of course, His Holiness does not have obstacles, but this is in the sentient beings’ view, according to our karma.

So think that we’re dying for His Holiness. Then, on behalf of all the holy beings, using the death for that, for them to have a long life and for all their wishes to succeed. And then all the teachings of Buddha, then all the sentient beings, for their happiness. It’s an incredible practice, it’s an amazing practice, really, really good.

So then, as you know, in Lama Chöpa, in the thought transformation section, it says when we meet unfavorable conditions, to utilize them in the path to enlightenment. So this is what it means, really, this is the best practice. So there’s not much to worry about if we can think this way. Wow, this is the best.

Kadampa Geshe Chekawa had been praying all the time to be born in hell for sentient beings but on the day when he was passing away he had the appearance of the pure land happening around him, so then he told a young monk that it seems he didn’t succeed in his practice.

This is really, really the best practice. Otherwise, we just feel so bad and torture ourselves. But this is to really benefit us, thinking like this.

Now, in this case you’re dying, so this is how to think. Even if you’re not dying, but just sick, this is a very good way to think. This is the best practice; it is more valuable than a wish-fulfilling jewel in the whole sky, this is the best practice.

So then, in other words we’re giving ourselves, like in chöd practice, we’re giving ourselves to the sentient beings, to the spirits, whoever it is that harms us. We’re giving our body then others don’t have to suffer, so it is like that, it is the best practice.

Then this itself becomes the best puja, the best, B, E, S, T, best puja, and we collect so many times skies of merits when we take their suffering, and then when we give away. I didn’t mention much about giving away—I might have explained before, I’m not sure—giving away our body in the form of a wish-granting jewel, numberless, to each sentient being.

Then the second one, giving away our enjoyments, also wish-granting, wish-fulfilling, every enjoyment. And then our merits, all the past, present and future merits, all the merits; we give all the enjoyments and all these merits to every sentient being. It’s unbelievable, unbelievable—wow, wow, wow, wow, wow—so many skies of merits, so many times, so many times are collected each time we do this, that’s just generally, so this is the best practice.

You see, by following the self-cherishing thought, we have harmed ourselves in the past, from beginningless rebirths, now and in the future, then that makes the samsaric suffering endless. Then, also [we have harmed] all sentient beings.

Therefore, now we see who the enemy is—the I—so then we take all these sufferings, [all the obstacles to] the gurus and all the sufferings of all sentient beings and give that to our enemy.

There’s a puja called lu zong where we make a figure of that person (an effigy) and then give that to the spirits, telling them that this is numberless, full of the great three-thousand-fold universes, so many, and how beautiful it is. So we recite like that and then it actually appears like that to the spirits.

For the sentient beings to be free from all the sufferings, we give ourselves to all sentient beings. This is fantastic! Regarding chöd practice, normally people are so intoxicated with the chanting, the damaru, all that, but many people maybe do not know so much about the meaning, the meditation. Basically it’s bodhicitta, emptiness and lamrim. Then, it becomes the best chöd.

Thank you very much!

With much love and prayers ...

My most dear, most kind, most precious, wish-fulfilling one,

Thank you for your kind email and details of what you are doing. I am sorry for the long delay.

I can’t say, as I don’t know every single detail. Generally you can use this as a method for now, but someone might gradually develop it, so then it would have to be changed. It would not be the same for everybody and not all the time.

Generally, if it brings benefit to the people and people like it, then it’s good to do. But just because people like it, that doesn’t mean necessarily that it is positive. People like even when we do very silly things, but just because they like it so much, it doesn’t necessarily mean everything is good. There are old people who like when we play like a child etc., and children who like it when you act like old person, etc.

Thank you very much for helping people. Thank you. As you know, the most important thing is the good heart, to really benefit others; that is the first thing, then we need to do our work with wisdom and a compassionate motivation.

Please see my daily motivation [The Method to Transform a Suffering Life into Happiness (Including Enlightenment)]. I am sure you have it, but this is in case you do not. Also see Practicing the Five Powers Near the Time of Death—I am also sure you have it, but in case you do not. [Find links to both of these practice booklets in the Teachings, Advice and Commentaries section of the FPMT Catalogue.]

Thank you very much.

With much love and prayer ...