by Jampa Gendun

Master, how do I prepare for death?
Learn to live.
How shall I learn to live?
Prepare yourself for death.

The five powers are instructions on how to live and how to die. Actually, there's no difference. The same advice applies to both, because if you know how to do one you'll know how to do the other.

The power of positive seed

The first of the five powers is the power of positive or white seed. When you realize you are shortly to die, you can begin by making provisions for your family in order to provide for their material needs, make offering to the Three Jewels and your teachers, and donating the rest to others such as the needy, charitable organizations, and so forth. Specifically, you must give up in your mind any object which at the moment of your death you may develop longing for. This could even be a trifling, seemingly worthless thing.

For example, there is a story of an old dying monk who had a great liking for Tibetan butter tea. He associated his tea with a simple, old wooden bowl from which he drank it. The old monk was having a rough time of it. He simply couldn't let go and move on. His teacher came to see him and understanding his problem asked if he could have his bowl, but quickly added, "You know. Where you're going they have even better butter tea than they do here." The monk let go, and peacefully died.

Essentially, the power of positive seed is emphasizing the accumulation of merit through offering and the process of letting go - letting go of your clinging whether to people, things or your own body. You're saying your good-byes, putting your affairs in proper order, giving possessions away, getting ready to set out on a journey. It's being mindful of the fact that all that is born is bound to decay including your own body, accepting and getting on with the impermanence of life. This is something that should be an important part of your practice throughout your life. You are going to have to give everything up sooner or later. This power reminds you of that fact and the necessity to begin the process now.

As the signs of actual death approach you should sincerely dedicate again and again all your possessions, merit and even your own body - anything and everything towards which you may still harbour some lingering attachment, to the benefit of all sentient beings. Let go of everything, clear yourself out and mentally give it all away until there is nothing left but you, your mind and your practice to go forward together.

The power of aspiring prayer

The second power is the power of aspiring prayer. As death approaches you must try to cut through the possible fears and confusion surrounding your death to what is of undying ultimate value to you - the awakening of your heart and mind. Again and again make heartfelt prayers of aspirations to the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha and to your teachers that you will never be separated from your spiritual practice and spiritual teachers and again and again dedicate your merit to this end.

Now, and at all times, throughout my death,
The intermediate stage, the next
And all subsequent rebirths,
Bless me never to be apart from this spiritual practice.
May I always be guided by authentic spiritual teachers
Who repeatedly lead me to generate

The Awakened Heart.[1]

The power of repudiation

The third power is the power of repudiation. This involves making clear for yourself what most basically you don't want - suffering, and what are its real sources - self-centeredness and self-grasping. It involves developing and maintaining a deeply felt aversion towards your afflictive emotions - hatred, attachment, ignorance, pride, jealousy and so forth - and towards cyclic existence in general - the controllably recurring dissatisfactory patterns of life. You simply do not want anything to do with any of them any longer, like a bad dream that you just don't want to go through again. At the time of death it is vital that you do not allow strong afflictive emotions to arise since they will activate a negative projecting karmic seed giving rise to a corresponding negative rebirth. A strong feeling of aversion towards them will help in this.

There are three particular supportive conditions that come together at the time of death to nourish and activate the previously implanted projecting karma seeds - the type of karma that directs your eventual rebirth state.

The first two of these conditions are two forms of attachment which act as moisture that nourishes the karmic seed. In the context of the twelve links of dependent origination, these are craving and grasping. Craving is a general attachment for cyclic existence, the desire for pleasure to continue and for discomfort to cease. When craving intensifies into the urge to reach out and grasp the means of satisfying this desire, that is the second form of attachment, grasping.

The third condition is like the warmth that is necessary for a seed to germinate. It is a secondary mental karma, the virtuous and nonvirtuous thoughts arising during the death process that are similar in type to the main projecting karma directing your next rebirth state. Virtuous thoughts activate the seed of a corresponding positive projecting karma, while nonvirtuous thoughts activate the seed of a corresponding negative projecting karma.

Our state of mind at death is all-important. If you die in a positive frame of mind, you can improve your next birth, despite your negative karma. And if you are upset and distressed, it may have a detrimental effect, even though you may have used your lives well. This means that the last thought and emotion that you have before you die has an extremely powerful determining effect on your immediate future. Just as the mind of a mad person is usually entirely occupied by one obsession, which returns again and again, so at the moment of death your mind are totally vulnerable and exposed to whatever thought then preoccupy you. That last thought or emotion you have can be magnified out of all proportion and flood your whole perception.[2]

Since the thoughts arising while dying act as an essential condition, it is important to try to guide the mind to a virtuous object as you approach death. This will assist in the arising of virtuous thoughts and, thus, ensure that a positive projecting karmic seed will be activated at the moment of your death.

Also, in this regard, again and again purify past negative karma by applying the "four powers" which have the ability to weaken and destroy the negative karmic seeds implanted in your mind by past unskilful actions: the power of repudiation, the power of reliance, the power of restraint and the power of thorough application of the antidote.

The power of determination

The fourth power is the power of determination. When the time of your death is near, you must set an exceptionally strong intention to maintain a positive state of mind throughout the transition of death, the intermediate state and into the future.

Most especially you should deeply resolve that you will generate and not be separated from the compassion of the Awakened Heart and the wisdom of the Awakened Mind throughout the entirety of the death process and that you will take rebirth where you can be of benefit to others and carry on your practice of these two. Hold tight to this thought.

The power of familiarity

The fifth power is the power of familiarity. In general acquaint yourself with what it is that you will do at the moment of your death so as to avoid any panic as the time approaches. And most especially, familiarize yourself with the Awakened Heart and the Awakened Mind so that you will be ready with them at the time of your death.

For example, if able, physically you should lie on your right side, your head towards the north (if only imagined), with your cheek supported by your right palm and ring finger closing the right nostril,[3] place your left arm along the left side of your body,[4] mentally generate an Awakened Heart and while there is still breath, practice Taking and Giving - imaginatively taking on yourself the sufferings of others and giving away your happiness to them.[5] Then, by the power of your Awakened Mind, not clinging to anything, rest in the understanding that all that is about to appear to you does not truly exist out there from its own side, but in reality depends upon on your own mind.

To die in such a positive way is to die skilfully and there can be no doubt that you have created the conditions necessary to activate a positive projecting karmic seed in your mind that will bring about the type of rebirth where you will be able to uninterruptedly continue your spiritual practice in the future. This is the finest way for an ordinary individual to transfer their consciousness at the time of death.

*****

[1] Geshe Rabten and Geshey Ngawang Dhargey, Advice From a Spiritual Friend, ed. Brian Beresford, trans. Brian Beresford with Gonsar Tulku and Sherpa Tulku (New Delhi: Pub. for Wisdom Culture, 1977) p. 66.

[2] Sogyal Rinpoche, The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying, (London: Rider, 1992), p. 224.

[3] Anger rides on the wind-energies predominately flowing within the right channel. In this way, blocking the right channel helps to curtail the arising of anger during the death process.

[4] This is the bodily position of the passing away of Shakyamuni Buddha.

[5] This practice is explained within the meditative tradition of "Equalizing and Exchanging Self with Others."