The-Tibetan-Book-of-Living-and-Dying

250 THE TIBETAN BOOK OF LIVING AND DYING
very difficult experience. But if we have had instructions on
the meaning of death, we will know what enormous hope
there is when the Ground Luminosity dawns at the moment
of death. However, there still remains the uncertainty of
whether we will recognize it or not, and this is why it is so
important to stabilize the recognition of the nature of mind
through practice while we are still alive.
Many of us, however, have not had the good fortune to
encounter the teachings, and we have no idea of what death
really is. When we suddenly realize that our whole life, our
whole reality, is disappearing, it is terrifying: We don't know
what is happening to us, or where we are going. Nothing in
our previous experience has prepared us for this. As anyone
who has cared for the dying will know, our anxiety will even
heighten the experience of physical pain. If we have not taken
care of our lives, or our actions have been harmful and negative,
we will feel regret, guilt, and fear. So just to have a measure
of familiarity with these teachings on the bardos will
bring us some reassurance, inspiration, and hope, even though
we may never have practiced and realized them.
For good practitioners who know exactly what is happening,
not only is death less painful and fearful but it is the very
moment they have been looking forward to; they face it with
equanimity, and even with joy. I remember how Dudjom
Rinpoche used to tell the story of the death of one realized
yogin. He had been ill for a few days, and his doctor came to
read his pulse. The doctor detected that he was going to die,
but he was not sure whether to tell him or not; his face fell,
and he stood by the bedside looking solemn and serious. But
the yogin insisted, with an almost childlike enthusiasm, that
he tell him the worst. Finally the doctor gave in, but tried to
speak as if to console him. He said gravely: "Be careful, the
time has come." To the doctor's amazement the yogin was
delighted, as thrilled as a little child looking at a Christmas
present he is about to open. "Is it really true?" he asked.
'What sweet words, what joyful news!" He gazed into the
sky and passed away directly in a state of deep meditation.
In Tibet everyone knew that to die a spectacular death was
the way to really make a name for yourself if you had not
managed to do so already in life. One man I heard of was
determined to die miraculously and in a grand style. He knew
that often masters will indicate when they are going to die,
and summon their disciples together to be present at their
death. So this particular man gathered all his friends for a great