So in the Tibetan tradition,
It's very,
Very clear with everything that they do in their practice that this life is just a preparation for death.
And the way that they see the time of death is through eight different stages,
Which essentially are the absorption of these subtle layers of consciousness.
And we move down and down and down.
You can kind of imagine it like a wave softening back down into the ocean,
If you will.
And of these dissolutions,
The first four are associated with the four elements,
Earth,
Water,
Fire,
And air.
And the last four are kind of associated with this,
I guess,
Ever increasing subtlety of consciousness and awareness that comes after the elements have disappeared.
And after the physical body,
After we've departed our physical body.
So you'll see it kind of moves in through these eight stages,
But there's these kind of four stanzas,
And then another four stanzas.
So I'd invite you all to close down the eyes again when you're ready.
And just begin to once again,
Notice the breath.
Feel the air at the tips of your nose.
Just letting all thoughts and evaluations just disappear,
Turn your attention inwards once more.
And we start by noticing the senses just beginning to soften.
The smell,
Hearing,
Any sight behind the eyes.
Just noticing them beginning to soften,
And in fact,
Ceasing to function at all.
Your senses are just disappearing.
And you notice that your body itself begins to lose all its strength.
Just feel the vitality,
The energy just beginning to drain away.
You're beginning to feel like you couldn't move.
If you're lying down,
There's a sense that you could no longer support your head.
You couldn't lift it if you tried.
There's a sense that you're falling,
Sinking underground,
Or maybe being crushed by a great weight.
You feel heavy.
You feel as if the pallor is escaping from your skin.
Your complexion is fading as the blood moves away.
It would be almost impossible to open your eyes at this point.
The aggregate of your form is beginning to dissolve.
You're feeling weaker and weaker.
Your mind is sinking into drowsiness,
Falling,
Sinking underground.
And this is the sign that the earth element is withdrawing into water.
And in your mind appears a shimmering mirage.
We hold that there as long as we can.
Now you begin to feel a dryness in the mouth and throat,
A loss of hydration.
You feel as if you cannot move your tongue.
Your eyes are drawn back,
Drying their sockets.
Your lips become sticky,
Bloodless,
As do your mouth,
Your throat,
And your nose.
Bodily sensations continuing to dwindle.
Although you may feel periods of hot and cold,
Your mind is becoming hazy.
It's difficult to think straight.
You now feel as if you're being swept away by a huge river,
Washing you away.
This is the water element dissolving into fire.
And this fire is now taking over in its ability to support your consciousness.
In your mind,
You become hazy.
You may see swirling wisps of smoke.
Next,
All the warmth of your body begins to seep away.
Usually beginning from the feet and the hands,
The extremities,
And this coldness moving towards the heart.
Your breath feels cold as it passes through your mouth and nose.
Your perception is altogether dissolving.
It's hard to remember your own name.
It's hard to recognize your family and friends.
And your inner experience now is of being consumed in a great blaze.
You may feel like the whole world is being consumed in an inferno of fire.
This is the fire element dissolving into air and becoming less able to function as a base of consciousness.
And while the ability of air itself is becoming more able to do this,
Becoming more able to hold your consciousness.
And in your mind,
You see shimmering red sparks dancing above an open fire like fireflies.
And now all your focus is on the breath.
It may even become audible.
If you've been with a dying person,
You may have heard the death rattle.
The aggregate of intellect is dissolving.
The mind is completely unaware of the outside world.
Your last feeling of contact with any physical environment is quickly slipping away.
You may begin to have visions.
Allow whatever arises to simply be there.
There is a great wind sweeping away the entire world.
Sweeping you away like dust and consuming the whole universe.
This is the air element dissolving into consciousness itself.
The values uniting in the life-supporting wind in the middle of your chest.
Your heart.
And in your heart,
There is a vision of a flaming torch with a red glow.
And at this point,
It is said that the blood gathers and enters the channel of life deep in the center of your heart.
And nothing remains but a slight warmth there.
All your vital signs are gone.
And in a modern clinical context,
This is the moment you would be certified as dead.
And with the disappearance of the winds that hold your consciousness,
Increasingly subtle levels of this consciousness begin to be encountered.
You become aware of a white and blissful essence.
It descends from the crown of your head through the central channel towards your heart.
This essence is inherited from your father.
There is an experience of whiteness everywhere.
The Tibetans say it is like a pure sky struck by moonlight.
Inwardly,
Your awareness becomes extremely clear.
And all the 33 thought states resulting from anger all come to an end.
And this phase is known as the appearance.
And then your mother's essence begins to rise through your central channel from just below the navel.
It is red and hot,
Like a sun shining in a pure sky.
Inwardly,
There arises an experience of great bliss as all disturbed and confused thoughts leave.
This stage is known as the increase.
And when these red and white essences meet at your heart,
In the center of your chest,
Pure consciousness is enclosed between them.
You experience a vastness,
A blackness,
An empty sky.
The seven thought states resulting from ignorance and illusion are brought to an end.
And the inner experience is of pure mind,
Free of thought.
This is known as full attainment.
This is sometimes called mind of the clear light of death.
This consciousness is the innermost,
Subtle mind.
We might call it Buddha nature,
The true source of all consciousness.
The continuum of this mind lasts through eternity.
And we recognize this final stage,
The clear light of death,
As our true self.
And in that moment we give up all attachment to our body,
To anybody.
We understand this clear light is present right now,
And it is the very root of our existence.
Remember this feeling.
Remember the clear light of death,
The pure,
Clear light from which everything in the universe comes,
To which everything in the universe returns.
The original nature of your own mind,
The natural state of the universe,
Unmanifest.
Allow yourself to let go into this clear light.
Trust it.
Merge with it.
This is your own true nature.
It is home.
Just allow yourself to remain in this space.
There's no rush,
There's no hurry.
And just notice what comes up for you.
Just notice if there's a gift there that you can take away.
The conclusion of this call as you move back into your world.
Moment by moment,
Step by step,
Breath by breath.
How long can you hold this view?
And just in your own time,
In your own way,
Just take this final minute to put your own signature on this meditation.
Close it in your own way,
Whatever you need right now.
Just allowing yourself to come back into the space.
Re-inhabiting the body.
Feeling the vitality,
The life force flowing back through you.
Maybe giving the toes and the fingers a little wiggle.
Rotating the wrists and ankles and just feeling,
Feeling the life force.
Just honoring that process,
That old,
Beautiful,
Ancient,
Traditional eight stage meditation on death.
And thank you.
Thank you for joining me in that.
