Khenpo Karthar Rinpoche
Essentially, the practice at the time of death consists of
praying to and cultivating devotion for your particular chosen deity. This
would involve as clear as possible a recollection of the deity's appearance and
so on. The attitude that you always take toward a deity when you are practicing
it is that it is your source of refuge, your protection in this life and in
future lives, as well, because it will dispel obstacles. You have had that idea
throughout your practice life, so at the time of death—since you are familiar
with the appearance of that deity because of your meditation on it—when the
hundred peaceful and wrathful deities appear to you in the interval after death
you will actually see your deity face-to-face. Your deity will be
either one of those deities or their emanation. Because of your familiarity
with it, when you meet your deity face-to-face you will be led by that deity to
their pure realm. You will be born in that deity's pure realm and will take
your place in that deity's greater retinue.
Most of the "Great Liberation Through Hearing in the
Bardo" is concerned with this encounter between the recently dead person
and the forty-two peaceful and fifty-eight wrathful deities. However, the
liberation is effected not only through hearing but through the practitioner's
own previously-created familiarity with the deity. Basically. people achieve liberation through meeting their deity. and this is
one of the great results of meditation on a deity. You meet the deity after
death and are lead to that deity's pure realm.
In fact, there are people who have spent their lives
meditating on the Buddha Arnitabha who see him even in the moments before
death. There was an old woman who passed away in Tibet who had meditated on
Amitabha all her life. I knew her family, and this is how I know what happened.
When she was dying she was told to pray to Amitabha, and she suddenly announced
that Amitabha was right there. She said that he was right in front Of her, and
that she could see not only him but also the entire realm of Sukhavati, and she
began to describe it. In that kind of situation there is no question but that
the person is achieving llberation at the time of death through their
familiarity with and devotion to their deity.
A similar story involves a woman called Marj, who used to
make a lot of lamp offerings on the shrine at the center. She also attended a
month-long teaching I gave on Amitabha, which included instructions in the
Amitabha ejection of consciousness. Later, she developed cancer and went back
to her family in California, where she was cared for by a friend from Florida
who has since then also passed away. Previously, Marj had not gotten along with
her mother, but while Marj was dying, she called her mother by name, she called
her Mommy, and embraced her and they were reconciled. During the next few days
her condition deteriorated quickly, until finally she was hardly able to
breathe. On the day she passed away, she suddenly started laughing and
announced that Amitabha was there right in front of her. Then she passed away.
After she died, her face remained in a smile and her
countenance was quite bright and cheerful. A Gelugpa Geshe came to see her body
and announced that this was the result of the accumulation of merit of someone
who makes offerings, who will not be reborn in lower states, but will be reborn
in higher realms and so on. The people there attempted to tell him that she had
not only made offerings but had meditated on Amitabha as well, because he did
not speak English, the message did not quite get through.
Another similar story concerns Michael Doran, who most of
you knew or met. I was there when he died. I spoke to him a few days before his
death, and at that time he seemed quite sad and cried a bit. But I was there
again on the day of his death, and as he approached the time of death he began
to act somewhat playful. There were a lot of people in the room. He waved
everyone except me and Lois DePiesse out of the room with his hand. Then he
made this remark saying, "Look at all these Buddhas." Then later on he
said, "The light is so bright." The light in the room had not been
adjusted. It had not been changed at all, but he seemed to be seeing some sort
of very bright light. Then he joined his palms in front of his heart and said,
"Lord Buddha," and then he said, "No problem," and he
removed the oxygen that was in his nose. He pulled that out and put it behind
his head. Then he tried to pull out some kind of I.V. or something, probably
morphine or something, that was going into his arm, but was not able to pull it
out. He gave up on that and joined his palms together in prayer. Smiling, he
died.
I never saw Michael doing a great deal of formal practice,
but he had a very benevolent disposition and he was very concerned with things
like, for example, the creation of the First Light. I think it was the merit of
those activities that caused his death to be what it was. All of this has
served as proof for me that the power of Dharma remains undiminished and that
even today, if anyone practices it the results will be evident. The question
still remains about whether we are able to practice or not and whether we will
do so or not, of course, will make a great deal of difference. But the Dharma
itself is still as effective as it ever was.
~
Amitabha’s realm, which is called Dewachen in Tibetan, is very wonderful. It is also known as the miraculous realm, because in this realm there is total bliss and happiness, and there is no sound of suffering to be heard. Not only that, it is an extraordinary realm because, once we have taken birth there, we obtain the enlightened stages from the first to the tenth. It is also a wonderful realm because once we are born there in a lotus, we are immediately mature beings. We do not have to grow up in a gradual way as we do here in the human realm. It is one of the most fascinating, wonderful, and pure realms, because all the male and female beings have perfect physical forms, with equal beauty and appearance, so there is no discrimination there.
Amitabha’s realm is a miraculous realm because beings do not have to rush around and work as we do in the human realm. The moment a desire develops to make an offering and receive a teaching, the offering and teaching appear. Every being who has taken birth in Amitabha’s realm has the ability to see and hear the teachings of any buddha they desire, even if that buddha is a billion realms away.
Amitabha’s realm is a blissful place, where even the sounds of air, water, and birds are not just simple, meaningless, pleasant sounds but are also profound for the mind. When we are in the meditative state, all sounds disappear, and there is no noise to hinder our meditation. At that very moment, the whole realm becomes a pleasant realm of quietude. Within the period of one day in Dewachen, we have the opportunity to hear teachings from any of the buddhas of the five families, regardless of the distance of the place where these enlightened beings are turning the wheel of dharma.
We are praying here that, at the moment we leave the physical body, without needing to take any other physical form, we will take birth directly in Dewachen. If we pray for this, there will be a change of our perception of samsara at the time of death, and immediately we will be able to perceive the blissful realm of Dewachen. This shift of perception can take place before the dying process is completed, and if we can perceive Dewachen right before death, there is no fear of dying. We know, then, that we are not going to take birth in the lower realms, and we become fearless.
Once there was an old lady who lived alone, without any monks, lamas, or spiritual friends nearby. She learned the mantra of Amitabha without any definitions, descriptions, or visualizations. Throughout her life, she recited that mantra with one-pointed concentration of faith. Actually, it was not even the entire mantra, just “Amitabha Chenno”, which means “Amitabha knows.” Without having had any instructions, she imagined that Amitabha was white in color.
At the time of her death she was in bed, surrounded by her family, with her eyes closed. Her perception of samsara changed, and immediately, due to the virtue of her one-pointed prayer to Amitabha, she was able to perceive Amitabha’s realm. She opened her eyes in shock and told her family, “I used to think Amitabha was white, but he is red!” That was the moment when she really saw Amitabha. This is what happens if we pray correctly: there is always a chance for us to become liberated at the time of death, to take birth in Amitabha’s realm.
The story of the old lady may seem to some of you like a mythological story from the past, but I can share a story that happened in my own lifetime, which is evidence of the benefits of prayer to Amitabha. A young woman in Taiwan had an incurable disease and sent a letter to me asking for refuge and a practice to do that might be beneficial for her after death. The doctors told her there was no hope, that at the most she could live for a year or so. Since Taiwan is so far away, I could not personally go there to give her refuge, but I mailed her a cassette of my short teaching on Amitabha. She listened to that teaching, and for more than fourteen months she recited the mantra of Amitabha that I had given in the tape. Her parents and her brother and sister were not Buddhists, but Taoists. When she finally passed away, for three days they could hear the sound of OM AMI DEWA HRI, in the room, resonating from voidness. All of them heard it, not just one or two persons, but the whole family. This was quite fascinating for them.
Another recent example I can give is of a lady named Marge. Some of you knew her very well; she lived here at KTD for quite a while. She was here for my extended teachings on Amitabha and took care of the shrine room during that time. She practiced very diligently. Later she developed an incurable disease and, throughout that time she continued to practice. When her illness worsened, she went to California where her relatives lived. She was in the hospital, and the doctor told her relatives she would pass away any day.
She had a good friend, Francis Norwood, who was also involved in Buddhism; she was a practitioner of Amitabha, and they obtained instructions on the Amitabha practice together. Francis went to the hospital to help her remember the practice. Marge closed her eyes and then opened them again and said, “I don’t have to visualize him—he’s here.” Her friend Francis was not really sure whether Marge was telling the truth or just hallucinating, but from that moment on, Marge became very peaceful. When she passed away, the doctors and her relatives could not believe how much her face was glowing, and there was even a smile on the face of the dead body, which is a strong sign of a painless death. This is true evidence in my lifetime of the power of Amitabha. You may be tired of hearing that these kinds of things used to happen a long time ago, so this is something that actually happened very recently.
