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

HELPING AFTER DEATH 311
cause, avarice, rest at the base of the trunk; the animal realm
and its cause, ignorance, rest at the navel; the human realm and
its cause, doubt, rest at the heart; the demigod realm and its
cause, jealousy, rest at the throat; and the god realm and its
cause, pride, rest at the crown of the head.
In this practice of the Purification of the Six Realms, when
each realm and its negative emotion is purified, the practitioner
imagines that all the karma created by that particular
emotion is now exhausted, and that the specific part of his
body associated with the karma of a particular emotion dissolves
entirely into light. So when you do this practice for a
dead person, imagine with all your heart and mind that, at the
end of the practice, all their karma is purified, and their body
and entire being dissolve into radiant light. 5
4. The Practice of the Hundred Peaceful and Wrathful Deities
Another means to help the dead is the practice of the Hundred
Peaceful and Wrathful Deities. (These deities are
described in Chapter 17, "Intrinsic Radiance.") The practitioner
considers his or her entire body as the mandala of the Hundred
Peaceful and Wrathful Deities; the peaceful deities are
visualized in the energy center in the heart, and the wrathful
deities in the brain. The practitioner then imagines that the
deities send out thousands of rays of light, which stream out
to the dead and purify all their negative karma.
The mantra of purification the practitioner recites is the
mantra of Vajrasattva, the presiding deity of all the Tantric
mandalas, and the central deity of the mandala of the Hundred
Peaceful and Wrathful Deities, whose power is invoked
especially for purification and for healing. This is the "Hundred
Syllable Mantra," which includes "seed syllables" of each of
the Hundred Peaceful and Wrathful Deities. 6
You can use a short, six-syllable form of the Vajrasattva
mantra: OM VAJRA SATTVA HUM (pronounced by Tibetans:
Om Benza Satto Hung). The essential meaning of this mantra
is, "O Vajrasattva! Through your power may you bring about
purification, healing, and transformation." I strongly recommend
this mantra for healing and purification.
Another important mantra, which appears in the Dzogchen
Tantras and the practices associated with the Tibetan Book of
the Dead, is 'A A HA SHA SA MA. The six syllables of this
mantra have the power to "close the gates" to the six realms
of samsara.