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• Personal Growth

July 2014

The word death , most of us do not want to hear or face it. Why are we afraid of it? May be because we do not know where we will be or where we will land. We all prepare for our life security like taking LIC policy, investing etc. monetary safety is very necessary. but what about death? Do we prepare for our death? the answer is NO.

Why do we not prepare for our death. it is very important that we should prepare for it. Because we are here for our past Karma, if we do not improve our Karma then our future will not be bright. we all suffer because of our past. so if we improve our present then our future is very bright. i am not talking in term of monetary gain. i am talking of the gain that we cannot see it. That gain is that, you will take birth in a conscious level. it means , if you work on your Karma at the moment of death you will be detached from everything including your relations also. Then how to work on ones Karma. Karma means according to me whatever you do comes back to you. Whether it is positive or negative. What does it mean? for e.g if i shout at a person for doing something which he should have not done and in my anger i slap the person, but my intention are good , for i did it because i love the person and i intend good for the person. this does not create a Karma . but if i keep a grudge for that person in my heart and hate the person then this create a Karma. why?because at the time of my death , i will see the picture of what i have store in me , and if my mind gets stuck in any one of the picture which has grown like a tree, then that determines my birth. So it is always good to forgive anyone who has harm you or have hurt you. Bless them from your heart and ask for forgiveness if you have hurt their feelings. Always think good for everyone and love the situation which is present to you. in your pain always pray that whoever is suffering like me their pain should come to me when you breath in and when you breath out give love , happiness and harmony to them. feel the pain and you are that powerful to heal not only yourself but even to others. by doing this exercise not only you will nullify your Karma but also you will create positive energy which will help other people to do good for others. Whenever you are angry or annoy or depress transform the negative feeling into a positive feeling which will not only help you but others also. sometime life gives more to other person and sometimes it does not give as it should but you do not have to regret it because you have to think that you are given an opportunity to work not only for yourself but even for others. and this positive energy will help not only you but other person who are on similar path. Life is so short that we do not have time for our love ones to express how much we care for them. How many time a person dies in their life. You may say only once, no a person dies every moment , new cells are formed and old cell dies. So think, are you same, what you were as a child or adult or what were you five years ago?You are not same . every junction of life we are born and we die and we take a new birth from our new experience of life. The following is the practice which i have taken from the book “THE TIBETAN BOOK OF LIVING AND DYING by Sogyal Rinpoche. The book is worth reading over and over again. i have read it 6 times, but still i find something new in it. my wish is to meet guru Sogyal Rinpoche.

The following are practice which i follow everyday and every moment because we are working on our thoughts.

The essentail Phowa practice

Phowa is a practice from the Tibetan tradition which means the transference of consciousness.(pronounced “po- wa”) Phowa is quite simple and naturally performed all over the world, thousand of people have been given the chance to die serenely because of its power. This is a practice that anyone at all can do . It is simple, but it is also the most essential practice we can do to prepare for our own death and it is the main practice.

Practice one:

First make sure you are comfortable and assume the meditative posture or just sit as comfortable as you are able or practice lying down. Then bring your mind home , release and relax completely.

1) In the sky in front of you , invoke the embodiment of whatever truth you believe it, in the form of radiant light. Choose whichever divine being or saint you feel close to. If you don’t feel linked with any particular spiritual figure , simply imagine a form of pure golden light in the sky before you. The important point is that you consider the being you are visualizing or whose presence you feel is the embodiment of truth, wisdom and compassion of all the Buddha, saints, masters and enlightened being. Don’t worry if you cannot visualize them very clearly, just fill your heart with their presence and trust that they are there.

2)Then focus your mind, heart and soul on the presence you have invoked and pray.

Through your blessing, grace and guidance
through the power of the light that streams from you:
May all my negative Karma, destructive emotions, obscuration and blockages be purified and
removed.
May i know myself forgiven for all the harm i may have thought and done.
May i accomplished this profound practice of phowa and die a good and peaceful death.
And through the triumph of my death, may i be able to benefit all other beings, living or dead.

3) Now imagine that the presence of light is sending out love and compassion in a stream of rays of light. As these touch and penetrate you, they cleanse and purify all your negative karma , destructive emotion and obscuration which are the causes of suffering. You see and feel that you are totally immersed in light.

4) You are now completely purified and healed by the light streaming from the presence. Consider that your very body, itself created by karma, now dissolves completely into light.

5) The body of light you are now soars up into the sky and merges , inseparable with the blissful presence of light.

6)Remain in that state of oneness with the presence for as long as possible.

Practice two.

1)To do this practice even more simply, begin as before by resting quietly and then invoke the presence of the embodiment of truth.

2) Imagine your consciousness as a sphere of light at your heart, which flashes out from you like a shooting star and flies into the heart of the presence in front of you.

3)It dissolves and merges with the presence.

Through this practice you are investing your mind in to the wisdom mind of the Buddha or enlightened being which is the same as surrendering your soul into the nature of God. Imagine that through the blessing your mind is transformed into the wisdom mind of this enlightened presence.

Practice three.
The most essential way to do the practice is this: Simply merge your mind with the wisdom mind of the pure presence.

Choose whichever one of these version of the phowa feels more comfortable, or has most appeal for you at any particular moment. You should be so familiar with the practice of phowa that it becomes a natural reflex, your second nature. Remember that we never know how we will die or if we smash our car into a truck at 100mph on the freeway?There won’t be a second then to think about how to do phowa or to check the instruction from the book.Either we are familiar with the phowa or we are not. Practice phowa as intensively as you can until you can be sure you will react with it to any unforeseen event. This will make certain that whenever death comes, you will be as ready as you can be.

How can we use this practice to help someone who is dying?

The principle and the sequence of the practice are the same, the only difference is that you visualize the Buddha or spiritual being above the head of the dying person. Imagine that the rays of light pour down onto the dying person, purifying his or her whole being and then he or she dissolves into light and merges into the spiritual presence. Do this practice throughout your loved one’s illness, and especially (and most imp) when the person is breathing their last breathe or as soon as possible after breathing stops and before the body is touched or disturbed in anyway. So it is not only a practice for dying but can be also be used both to purify and to heal, it is imp. for the living and for the sick as well. If a person is going to be healed it will assist that healing, if a person is dying , it will help them and heal their spirit in death and if the person has died, it will continue to purified them