Jamyang Rinpoche
When I was young, I once went with Soga Rinpoche, an emanation of Amitabha, to
a family’s home to recite prayers for a dying man. This man was a trader in
horses and cows. He was the savviest businessman in the village and quite well
off.
While we were preparing to do puja for him, we saw this man taking out his
rosary beads. At first, Soga Rinpoche thought that the man was going to recite
prayers and was happy that this man had cultivated a habit of doing practice.
Rinpoche praised him, “Very good, wishing to practice is very good.”
But later on, we realized that the man was using the rosary for doing his
accounts. In olden Tibet, people used their rosary as a tool for calculating
—using different beads for denominations of 10, 100, 1000 etc.
When Soga Rinpoche saw this, he shook his head saying, “Pitiful! He is on the
verge of death, yet he is unconcerned about gaining liberation and only
thinking of calculating his money. It is really so pitiful!”
Many people are like this when dying. Their minds are preoccupied with their
usual habitual tendencies. Businessmen are thinking about their businesses and
money. Soldiers are thinking about killing their enemies. Alcoholics are
thinking about drinking. The strongest habitual tendency tends to surface at
this time.
Similarly, if one is used to practicing Amitabha daily, your mind is directed
to Amitabha when you are dying. This
becomes your good chance to go to the pureland.
If one is always practicing Guru Yoga, at the moment of death, your mind
naturally turns to the Guru. You pray to Guru, think of Guru, the only thought
left is the Guru. You understand that in
the whole world only the Guru can help you at this critical juncture. Nothing
else matters now. If you think like that, this is your chance for liberation.
However, if it is difficult to think of the Guru when you die, it is as expressed in
the song by Tsangyang Gyatso (6th Dalai Lama): “I should think of the Guru, but
there is only darkness when I think of him. I should not think of the lover,
but the face continually appears in brilliant clarity.”
If you can’t recall the Guru at this time and your mind continually thinks of
other things, it means that your merits are lacking. It is the same in the bardos. Would you be thinking of the Guru or thinking
of your children? Would you be worried about your wealth being taken by
others? In this state of confusion and
attachment, liberation is unlikely.
Hence, it is important to make use of our present life while we still have the
chance and ability to habituate our minds to virtue so that these habits come
to the forefront when death arrives.
A Vajrayana practitioner who lacks merits will encounter many obstacles.
Therefore, you should think, “Whether I live or die, I entrust everything to
the Guru Triple Gems. I will not give up on the path.” If you keep making this
aspiration and vow, it is easy to eliminate the obstacles.
When our faith is strong, the blessings of the Guru, Buddhas and Bodhisattvas
are correspondingly strong. When faith is weak, the Bodhisattvas are helpless
to give you assistance. Although the
Bodhisattvas possess strong blessings, our lack of faith blocks their
blessings. Hence, always hold on to
faith and keep praying. Always remember the Guru Triple Gems.
