--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, TurquoiseB <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > I'm stayin' out of this whole discussion, but if any > of you are actually interested in what happens during > the process of dying and what one can do during this > period to...uh...enhance your possibilities in the > next incarnation, I'd suggest you look into Tibetan > teachings, not Indian ones. > > All of the things mentioned here so far seem rather > confused and silly compared to the Bardo teachings > I've heard. Just as one example, the idea that one's > "last thought" shapes their next incarnation is just > plain silly. Consciousness continues into the Bardo. > As long as their is consciousness you can make choices. > Therefore at any point in the dying process (which > continues several days after the body has died), you > still have the ability to make choices that can affect > your state of consciousness and your next incarnation. > > Just in general, I would think that the advice given > here to ponder your sins or faults would be the *worst* > possible thing you could do while dying. That shit's > over; you're on to a new path...deal with it as it > unfolds and, when there is an opportunity to turn > either right or left, go in the brighter direction.
In retrospect, the above isn't nearly as helpful as it could have been :-), so here's a slightly more extended version, based on personal experience and the time I spent studying with a Phowa teacher. Dying just ain't that big a deal. Get over it. We've all done it tens of thousands of times, and will probably do it tens of thousands more. At one point during the teachings I went through, most of the students (including myself) managed to remember the last time they died, their entire transit through the Bardo, and their rebirth. Big deal. Such memor- ies are no more valuable than remembering last week, except to remind you that dying is No Big Deal. I personally believe that the most important thing one can learn *while living* to enhance the exper- ience of dying is to have a strong practice of mind- fulness. That is, mindfulness in the sense of, during activity or meditation, learning to recognize when you have slipped into a lower state of attention (one that is less productive than it could be) and how to shift your attention instantly to a higher state of attention (one that is more productive). That's the Bardo game, in a nutshell. The Bardo presents you with *all* of your desires and *all* of your aversions, one after another. If you have had no experience dealing with such things during life, and react to the desires with attachment, or to the aversions with fear, then you're probably going to get trapped by the first set of desires or aversions that come up for you during the Bardo. If you dwell on the desires or run from the aversions, *that* is the state of attention/reality you will be born into in your next incarnation. On the other hand, if you just react to them the way you've learned to do via a daily practice of mindful- ness, and just put the experience aside and focus on something more productive (like Self, or light, or whatever you use as the "key" of your mindfulness practice), then you can slip past these desire/ aversion events as the minor distractions they are, and continue on your Way. In TM terms, for those who have no interest in study- ing Tibetan techniques of dying and rebirth and know they never will, the most important thing to remember is to "effortlessly come back to the mantra." That alone would get you through the gnarlier parts of the Bardo with some sense of preserved equanimity. It's all a movie -- you're going to meet the most desirable babes and/or guys you've ever met, and the gnarliest, most horrific monsters you've ever conceived of (worse than the worst horror movie you've ever seen). Big deal. They're all phantoms, put there to distract you. If you just remember not to become distracted, and focus on Self, or come back to what reminds you of Self (in TMers, probably the mantra), then you can just dissolve them like the wraiths they are and move on to something far more enjoyable. Bottom line is, enjoy the roller coaster ride. It's not as if it's new, or as if it's going to be the last such ride you'll ever take. ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Join modern day disciples reach the disfigured and poor with hope and healing http://us.click.yahoo.com/lMct6A/Vp3LAA/i1hLAA/UlWolB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> To subscribe, send a message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Or go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ and click 'Join This Group!' Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
