Milarepa sang,
What we call death,
That is a small thing for a buddha-yogin.Born into a supreme pure-land and training in what of Dzogchen remains to be
practiced, they attain perfect buddha.
5.5 CONSCIOUSNESS SUBLIMATION IS AMONG THE FIVE NONMEDITATION METHODS OF ATTAINING
BUDDHA
Just before the time of death, we should clarify anything still unclear regarding
consciousness sublimation, like a dancing girl looking in the mirror. There are
four types of consciousness sublimation: dharmakaya, sambhogakaya, and
nirmanakaya consciousness sublimation, and ordinary consciousness sublimation
comprising the three perceptions.
The ordinary consciousness sublimation comprising the three perceptions is to
regard the central channel as the path, consciousness as the guest who moves on,
and the supreme buddha-field of Sukhavati as the destination. We need to train in
these three perceptions until inner and outer accomplishments manifest. When
death comes, if we have been able to make our practice a part of our karma, and
we are able to transfer our consciousness, we are released from the suffering of
samsara and take birth in Sukhavati or some similar place in the supreme realm
of nirmanakaya. The precise details of consciousness sublimation practice can be
learned from Pema Lhungtok Gyatso’s commentary on the Cutting Instruction of
Dudjom Lingpa.
If we are an ordinary person with no experience of the practice of consciousness
sublimation, at the time of death, we should learn the names of the eight
successive buddhas (Vipasyin, Sikhin, Vishvabhu, Krakuchanda, Kanakamuni,
Kasyapa, Shakyamuni, and Maitreya), the names of the eight sugatas who are the
medicine buddhas, and the names of the eight bodhisattvas who were the closest
heart-sons of the Buddha (Manjushri, Avalokiteshvara, Vajrapani, Kshitigarbha,
Nirvaranaviskambin, Akashagarbha, Maitreya, and Samantabhadra). Simply by
hearing their names during the bardo of the death process, we shall be freed from
the suffering of the lower realms.
There is a story that once Sariputra recited the names of the buddhas and their
mantras into the ear of a dying ox. By the power of mantra, the ox took rebirth as a
Brahmin and was later ordained and received teaching from Shakyamuni Buddha
himself before finally attaining arhatship. Likewise, if dharanis, mantras, and the
name of a person’s root lama are recited at the deathbed of a person, the dying
person will obtain great benefit. This should be understood by all.
With the sequential dissolution of the senses, the four elements, and then the
effulgence of vision, optimal effulgence, and penultimate attainment, we die in
perfect equanimity. The mind faints away, and with consciousness regained, but
purified, the light of the ground arises, and its reality is sustained. When the clear