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

THE GROUND 271ning joke. We'd ask him, "Are you having any fain?" He'd smilethis extremely kind smile and say, "No."All his vital signs were very low. I gave him a shot... so thathe could communicate in his last minutes. I left the room for a fewminutes while he conversed with the tulkus, whom he assured hewas not intending to die that day. When I returned five minuteslater, he was sitting straight up, with his eyes wide open, and saidclearly, "Hello, how are you?" All his vital signs had reversed andwithin half an hour he was sitting up in bed, talking and laughing.Medically this is unheard of the nurses were all white. Oneof them lifted her sleeve to show me her arm, covered with goosebumps.The nursing staff noticed that Karmapa's body did not followthe usual progression of rigor mortis and decay, butseemed to remain just as it had been when he died. After awhile they became aware that the area around his heart wasstill warm. Dr. Sanchez said:They brought me into the room about thirty-six hours after he died.I felt the area right over his heart, and it was warmer than thesurrounding area. Its something for which there is no medicalexplanation}Some masters pass away sitting in meditation, with thebody supporting itself. Kalu Rinpoche died in 1989 in hismonastery in the Himalayas, with a number of masters and adoctor and nurse present. His closest disciple wrote:Rinpoche himself tried to sit up, and had difficulty to do so. LamaGyaltsen, feeling that this was perhaps the time, and that not tosit up could create an obstacle for Rinpoche, supported Rinpoche'sback as he sat up. Rinpoche extended his hand to me, and I alsohelped him to sit up. Rinpoche wanted to sit absolutely straight,both saying this and indicating with a gesture of his hand. Thedoctor and nurse were upset by this, and so Rinpoche relaxed hisposture slightly. He, nevertheless, assumed meditation posture....Rinpoche placed his hands in meditation posture, his open eyesgazed outwards in meditation gaze, and his lips moved softly. Aprofound feeling of peace and happiness settled on us all andspread through our minds. All of us present felt that the indescribablehappiness that was filing us was the faintest reflection ofwhat was pervading Rinpoche's mind... Slowly Rinpoche's gazeand his eyelids lowered and the breath stopped. 2