The Very Venerable Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche

The Seven Points Of Mind Training

Birmingham Karma Ling, December 2002

IV. The Practice Of Mind Training In This Lifetime

A. The Five Powers During This Lifetime

How to practice from now before one dies and how to practice at the time of death, there are two topics.

1. The condensed heart instructions are the five strengths; practice them.

What are the five strengths? The first one is determination, the second is familiarisation, and the third is the white seed of virtue. It is a big white seed; we need this big seed. Like a mountain, (I'm just joking). When you translate into English you have to say seed don't you? A long time ago there was a meditator who stayed in a cave meditating. He did not have a very good understanding of anything though. One day he came down from the mountain and he met Sakya Pandita a very erudite and clever lama. Where have you come from the Lama asked? Now the meditator was quite proud and he said I am the great meditator and I have just come down from my cave on the mountain. What is your practice? Asked the Lama. Mahamudra he replied. How is your Mahamudra? It's very big and a yellow colour, better than gold! Sometimes if I meditate very well I can go inside this yellow sphere. But the Mahamudra isn't like that is it? It has no form, colour or shape.

Sakya Pandita had great compassion for the meditator. He doesn't know anything but he is so proud, then he shed tears. Then the meditator saw the lama crying and said yes, if you didn't study when you were young you won/t know anything, and to meet someone as clever as me has brought you to tears.

Some people who meditate on Mahamudra think that it has form, colour and shape, but it is not like that.

The fourth power is repudiation and the fifth power is that of prayer. These are the five powers.

The power of determination means that one will practice to the best of my ability. From now until enlightenment I will continually practise and train in Bodhicitta. For example we make a time or schedule to practise the Bodhicitta. Maybe everyday at least 25 times I must remember or be mindful of the Bodhicitta. This is very beneficial. One's mind will become relaxed and open. One keeps this schedule for a week or so then one just relaxes. Then again one thinks now strictly for two weeks I will be mindful of Bodhicitta. As much as one can one does this. If it goes well or no doesn't matter, I will do my best. That is the power of determination.

The second power is familiarisation. One reminds oneself that one is practising for the benefit of all the sentient beings and one keeps reminding oneself so it becomes one's habit.

There was a very great Lama in Tibet who was teaching his four-year old cousin the Tibetan alphabet Ka, kha, ga, nga. The small boy forgot what was next and the lama said ok I want you to think that you are learning the alphabet for the benefit of all sentient beings. The small boys heard what the lama said but didn't really take much notice of it or think about it. Later when he was much older he had a good understanding of Bodhicitta. Likewise for us if we remind ourselves often why we are practising and about the Bodhicitta it will be very beneficial.

One needs to have mindfulness. If anger or problems arise, they start from something quite small. Like we said yesterday, someone looks at you and one thinks they are looking at you in a funny way and one starts to become angry. At that moment we need mindfulness. Oh this is the start of anger arising, we have a choice at that moment if we have mindfulness and remember Bodhicitta then we can stop the anger right there. It won't increase. That was the second power of familiarisation.

The third power is the power of the virtuous action. This refers to all virtuous activities, the ten virtues, generosity, moral conduct and so on. Together with the practise one prays that may the Bodhicitta arise in my stream of consciousness and may it increase more and more.

The fourth power is repudiation.What do we have to repudiate or reject? It is the ego clinging which we have to reject. Because of ego clinging we have a lot of hope and fear, so we think that is not good for me to have, I will reject this ego clinging.

The fifth power is the power is the power of prayer or aspiration. Whatever practise one performs one prays that through this may I bring all sentient beings to the level of Buddhahood. Also that from now until I achieve enlightenment may I never be separate from the Bodhicitta. Whatever negative circumstances may arise may they become friends on my Dharma path. That is the practice for one's lifetime.

B. The Five Powers At The Moment Of Death

2. The Mahayana instructions for ejection of consciousness at the time of death is the five strengths: how you conduct yourself is very important.

At the time of death, in this text this is the Mahayana method of Powa, or ejection of consciousness that is being referred to here, not the Vajrayana method. First when one realises that one is dying one collects all of one's possessions and offers them as a mandala offering to one's Guru. This is called the power of the virtuous seed. If we have grasping for our possessions then at the time of death they become an obstacle for us so we should have no attachment for our possessions.

We think in our mind that all of the merit I have accumulated in my lifetime I dedicate it all to the sentient beings so they will reach the level of Buddhahood. May it happen like this. This is the second power, that of prayer or aspiration.

After that we think now I am dying and the cause of my dying is the ego clinging, if I didn't have ego clinging I would not experience death. The reason for this is that birth and death are just projections of one's mind. In reality both birth and death are emptiness. If I realise that I would not need to be born or to die. The Buddha ultimately did not experience birth or death. He only performed these activities to show the sentient beings. Also when Milarepa died, the day after he was seen to be teaching in another part of Tibet.

Birth and death do not have any true reality. They arise because of our ego clinging. So this third power of rejection or repudiation is that we reject the ego clinging.

The fourth power is that of determination. One wishes very strongly and with great determination may I not be separate from the Bodhicitta even when I am in the Bardo or intermediate, after Death State.

The fifth power of prayer is that when one is dying one meditates or visualises the Bodhicitta and pray that one will continue to have the Bodhicitta mind in one's consciousness.

When one is dying if one can sit up straight in meditation posture that is very good. If one cannot do that then one can lay down on the right side. With the ring finger of the right hand one closes the right nostril. If one cannot lay down on the right side then lay however is comfortable.

The main thing to remember at this time is the sending and taking practise. When one breathes out one visualises white light that goes out to all the sentient beings and sends them all of one's good karma and everything positive. One prays that all the beings experience happiness.

On the in-breath one visualises black smoke that contains all of the sickness and bad karma and whatever negative the sentient beings have and this dissolves in your heart centre. One prays that may all the beings be free of suffering. Now I have taken away all the sufferings of the body, speech and mind of all sentient beings. With a relaxed mind one has joy because one has taken away all their suffering. If one can do this two or three times it is very beneficial. Finally one reminds oneself that birth and death are emptiness and do not have any true reality. With this in mind and being relaxed then one dies. This is extremely beneficial to do at the moment of death.

If one can do this it is possible that one gains liberation at the time of death. That is the fourth of the seven points completed.