|
from
The Essential Phowa Practice
in
The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying
by Sogyal Rinpoche
HarperCollins
The most valuable and powerful of all practices I have found in caring for
the dying, one which I have seen an astonishing number of people take to
with
enthusiasm, is a practice from the Tibetan tradition called phowa
(pronounced
“po-wa”), which means the transference of consciousness.
Phowa for dying people has been performed by friends, relatives, or
masters, quite simply and naturally, all over the modern world–in
Australia,
America, and Europe. Thousands of people have been given the chance to die
serenely because of its power. It gives me joy to make the heart of the
phowa
practice now available to anyone who wishes to use it.
I want to emphasize that this is a practice that anyone at all can do.
It
is
simple, but it is also the most essential practice we can do to prepare
for own
death, and it is the main practice I teach my students for helping their
dying
friends and relatives, and their loved ones who have already died.
Practice One
First make sure you are comfortable, and assume the meditative posture. If
you are doing this practice as you are coming close to death, just sit as
comfortably as you are able, or practice lying down.
Then bring your mind home, release, and relax completely.
1. In the sky in front of you, invoke the embodiment of whatever truth
you
believe in, in the form of radiant light. Choose whichever divine being or
saint you feel close to. If you are a Buddhist, invoke a buddha with
whom you feel an intimate connection. If you are a practicing Christian,
feel with all your heart the vivid, immediate presence of God, the Holy
Spirit, Jesus, or the Virgin Mary. If you don’t feel linked with any
particular spiritual figure, simply imagine a form of pure golden light in
the sky before you. The important point is that you consider the being
you are visualizing or whose presence you feel is the embodiment of the
truth, wisdom, and compassion of all the buddhas, saints, masters, and
enlightened beings. Don’t worry if you cannot visualize them very
clearly, just fill your heart with their presence and trust that they are
there.
2. Then focus your mind, heart, and soul on the presence you have
invoked, and pray:
Through your blessing, grace, and guidance, through the power of the
light that streams from you:
May all my negative karma, destructive emotions, obscurations, and
blockages be purified and removed,
May I know myself forgiven for all the harm I may have thought and
done,
May I accomplish this profound practice of phowa, and die a good and
peaceful death,
And through the triumph of my death, may I be able to benefit all other
beings, living or dead.
3. Now imagine that the presence of light you have invoked is so moved
by your sincere and heartfelt prayer that he or she responds with a
loving smile and sends out love and compassion in a stream of rays of
light from his or her heart. As these touch and penetrate you, they
cleanse and purify all your negative karma, destructive emotions, and
obscurations, which are the causes of suffering. You see and feel that
you are totally immersed in light.
4. You are now completely purified and completely healed by the light
streaming from the presence. Consider that your very body, itself
created by karma, now dissolves completely into light.
5. The body of light you are now soars up into the sky and merges,
inseparably, with the blissful presence of light.
6. Remain in that state of oneness with the presence for as long as
possible.
Practice Two
1. To do this practice even more simply, begin as before by resting
quietly,
and then invoke the presence of the embodiments of truth.
2. Imagine your consciousness as a sphere of light at your heart, which
flashes out from you like a shooting star, and flies into the heart of the
presence in front of you.
3. It dissolves and merges with the presence.
Through this practice you are investing your mind in the wisdom mind of
the
Buddha or enlightened being, which is the same as surrendering your soul
to the nature of God. Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche says this is like casting a
pebble into a lake; think of it plummeting down into the water, deeper and
deeper. Imagine that through the blessing your mind is transformed into
the
wisdom mind of this enlightened presence.
Practice Three
The most essential way to do the practice is this: Simply merge your mind
with the wisdom mind of the pure presence. Consider: “My mind and the mind
of the Buddha are one.”
Choose whichever of these versions of the phowa feels more comfortable,
or has most appeal for you at any particular moment. Sometimes the most
powerful practices can be the most simple. But whichever you choose,
remember that it is essential to take the time now to become familiar with
this practice. How else will you have the confidence to do it for yourself or
others at the moment of death? My master Jamyang Khyentse wrote, “If you meditate
and practice in this manner always, at the moment of death it will come
easier.”
|
