The Great Secret of Mind

liberation into the dharmakaya of simplicity. That is what contemporary
existential yogins call “tukdam,” or the experience of clear light at the moment of
death.
The following anecdote illustrates the key point of tukdam. In July 2005, at Mt.
Pukmoche in Nepal, there was a great yogin known as Me Me Gyeltsen, who had
stayed in retreat all his life. For several months he had had some minor sickness;
then one day he asked his friends to invite Tulku Degyel Rinpoche to visit him
while he was still able to greet him. They did so, and when Me Me Gyeltsen met
Rinpoche, he told him that he had completed his life’s work and requested him to
perform the consciousness sublimation. Rinpoche reminded him that he had
trained in tantra for his whole life and had met many authentic rigzin-lamas
during that time, so that he did not need anyone to perform consciousness
sublimation for him. “Just pray to those rigzin-lamas,” he told him. “And at the
time of death, don’t forget to continue the yoga in the same way that you have
always done in the past and that will help you.” “Yes, I can induce consciousness
sublimation myself,” Me Me replied. The next day at around 10 o’ clock a monk
called “Gendun” came to visit him and talk for awhile and to make some hot
porridge for him. While he was making the porridge, he heard the explosive sound
of the syllable PHAT repeated thrice, and upon going inside, he saw Me Me
Gyeltsen seated with a straight spine, cross-legged, repeating the syllable again
four times but in a small voice. This was during the time of the Maoist insurgency
in Nepal, and the Maobadi kept watch even over death ceremonies. In our
neighboring villages of Yangar and Yolwang, they would come to witness a lama’s
death, and this time they were surprised to see the lama seated upright in cross-
legged position. They gained some faith in buddha-dharma and praised the yogins
who could sit cross-legged in death.
In 1959 at Golok Serta in Tibet, Dorje Dadul, the lineage-bearing heart-son of
Dudjom Lingpa, sat cross-legged in the middle of the market square, stared at the
sky, loudly articulated the syllable PHAT, and died. The incident was seen by
many people. Tukdam, or experience of the clear light at death, is occasioned by
the mingling of the clear light of mother and son. By virtue of capturing the citadel
of the primordial ground of being, by virtue of attaining unchangeability on the
path of the creative and fulfillment stages, and by gaining freedom from the
delusions of the bardo of the death process, the immaculate sign is to be able to
remain in the experience of unfabricated body-mind.
Moreover, at the instant before death, it is necessary to scrutinize the precepts as
carefully as a dancer examining herself in a mirror, clarifying uncertainties. A
lovely lady dressing for a party first puts on her clothes and ornaments flawlessly,
then puts on her makeup, and only after checking herself in the mirror and
feeling completely satisfied does she confidently leave for the party. Likewise,
when we learn consciousness sublimation, first we must practice it until we are
fully confident, making sure the inner and outer signs manifest accordingly. Later,
when death comes to us, we apply the practice, in actuality transferring
consciousness to a pure realm. Those who have confidence in consciousness
sublimation are not afraid of death but rather welcome it. The mahayogin