To: K-list
Recieved: 2002/01/07 14:31
Subject: [K-list] Tibetan Book of the Dead
From: Magdalene Meretrix
On 2002/01/07 14:31, Magdalene Meretrix posted thus to the K-list:
It may sound strange to some, but I find the Book of the Dead very
comforting. The book is a collection of Buddhist teachings for the dying,
but I often feel like these are very important lessons for the living.
Today I was reading a passage and I could hear bells ringing as I read the
words. I felt like I should share the words here in case other people find
them soothing, too.
This is something that is read to dying people so that they can complete
"soul ejection" (Moving on to where they're supposed to be instead of
lingering around the body like a ghost). If the dying person hasn't
completed soul ejection before they die, this is to be read to them as they
lay dying, to encourage them to soul eject at the moment of death.
While it is about dying and moving to other planes of existence, this spoke
loudly to me about accepting kundalini experiences as well. (And remember,
your breath stops every time you change from inhalation to exhalation or
vice versa. Life is a series of deaths.) This passage is from the Thurman
translation and the line in the passage that reads "so-and-so" is meant to
be replaced with the name of the person to whom it is being read. If you
read it to yourself, put your own name in it.
-=-
"Hey! Noble one, you named So-and-so! Now the time has come for you to seek
the way. Just as your breath stops, the objective clear light of the first
between will dawn as previously described to you by your teacher. Your
outer breath stops and you experience reality stark and void like space,
your immaculate naked awareness dawning clear and void without horizon or
center. At that instant, you yourself must recognize it as yourself, you
must stay with that experience.
"Now this mirage you see is the sign of earth dissolving in water. This
smoke is the sign of water dissolving into fire. These fireflies are the
sign of fire dissolving into wind. THis candle flame is the sign of wind
dissolving into consciousness. This moonlit sky is the sign of
consciousness dissolving into luminance. This sunlit sky is the sign of
luminance dissolving into radiance. This dark sky is the sign of radiance
dissolving into imminence. This predawn twilight sky is the sign of
imminence dissolving into clear light.
"Venerable teacher! Please act on your spiritual conception without wavering."
-=-
I realized that this description of the moment of death is also a
description of accepting kundalini when I read the commentary about soul
ejection. Thurman describes postures that hte dying person should be moved
into and then says:
"Then the winds will enter the central channel and will not be able to
reverse, and his soul will definitely exit up the path of the Brahma-hole.
[...] The Brahma-hole is where the soft fontanelle aperture is located on
the fore of the crown of the head. The soul embodied in the subtle energy
life-drop exits there through understanding the Natrual Liberation, in the
same way it ejects in the practice of soul-ejection."
Looking at these descriptions in the perspective of kundalini, it becomes
apparent to me that kundalini experiences are pre-death dying. This is a
good thing. The Tibetan Book of the Dead says that a dead person is
"unconscious" for four and a half days, meaning they are still with their
body and should still be spoken to and encouraged to seek the clear light.
According to these theories, everyone experiences rising kundalini at some
point, even if it's after death.
What makes kundalini so frightening to many people who experience it while
their body is still alive is the fact that they are brushing against death
and many people are frightened of death.
I picked up a book at last year's Expo called "Sacred Dying." It's sat on
my shelf unopened since then. I'm beginning to feel a pull towards that
book, as if it has information that is important to me right now, in life.
If anything in the book sings to my current experiences (and I suspect
something will) I'll bring it back here and share it.
Blessings to everyone. Sarva mangalam.
Agape,
M
--
http://www.magdalenemeretrix.com
"Aim above morality. Be not simply good; be good for something."
-- Henry David Thoreau
http://www.kundalini-gateway.org
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