giving breath to the wretch practice
TRANSCRIPT
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Giv
ingBreathtotheWretched
1
TheMethodofBenefitin
gSentientBeingsatthe
Timeof
Death:
GivingBreathtothe
Wretched
byKusaliDharmaVajra
Translatedfrom
theTibetanbyL
amaThubtenZopaRinpoche
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GivingBreath
totheWretched
Giv
ingBreathtotheWretched
3
Con
tents
Introduction
3
TheActualBodyoftheMethod
4
TheBenefitsoftheMethod
16
AuthorsAfterword
22
AdvicefromLamaThubtenZopaRinpoche
23
Appendix:TheElaborateSeven-LimbP
rayer
24
Colophon:
ThistextentitledTheMethodo
fBenefitingSentientBeingsattheTimeofDeath,G
ivingBreathto
theWretchedhasbeenwritten
because,letalonetheordinarybeingswhoareunderthe
controlofthepresentdegeneratetime,Ihaveseensomewhohavetheprideofbeingthe
leaderofmanytransmigratingbeingsandwho,uponreachingthebedside
ofasentient
beingneardeath,knownootherwaytohelpthantoputblessedpillsinthe
mouthofthat
being.Furthermore,Ithought
thatitwouldbenefitsomebeingsifIsetdownthesemethods
thatcanbeeasilypracticedby
bothlowerandsupremebeings.
ThistextwaswrittenattheverycenterofFlowerParkbyKusaliDhar
maVajraand
transcribedbyBhikshuVagindraShasenwarta.
ItwastranslatedintoEnglishbyVen.LamaThubtenZopaRinpoche,transcribedbyVen.
ThubtenPelgye,originallyeditedbyHermesBrandt,andfirstpublishedbyW
isdomPubli-
cationsin1981.Itwaslaterre
printedbyWisdomin1984.Thetranslationw
asmadefrom
thetextincludedin:CollectedW
orksofThuu.bKwan.bLo.bZangChos.Kyi.Nyi.Ma
,Vol.VII,pp.
241261,GadanSungrabMinyamGyunphelSeries,editedandreproducedbyNgawang
GelekDemo,NewDelhi,January1971.
Ithasbeenlightlyre-editedbyVen.ConstanceMillerforpublicationby
FPMTEduca-
tionServicesinJuly2001.
Allerrorsarethefullrespo
nsibilityoftheeditors.
LamaZopaRinpoche,1981
,2001
Allofthemantrascontainedhereinareavailable,togetherw
ithTibetan
script,asaseparateb
ookletentitledPowerfulMantrasfor
theTimeof
Death.Thisbookletis
partofacollectionofprayersandpracticesto
benefitthedyingandthedead,calledtheHopepacket,availablefrom:
F
PMTInternationalOffice
EducationDepartment
125BLaPostaRoad
Taos,NewMexico87571
USA
Tel:1(505)758-7766
Email:[email protected]
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GivingBreath
totheWretched
Giv
ingBreathtotheWretched
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TheActualBodyoftheMethod
Theholygurussaid:
Evenforonewhohassoughttopracticevirtuethroughouthisentire
life,if,atthetimeofdeath,hisconsciousnesstransferswhileactual-
izingstrongnon-virtuousthoughtssuchasangerandattachment,he
willbereborninarealmofeviltransmigrators.
If,however,onewhohaspracticednon-virtuethroughouthis
entirelifegeneratespurevirtuous
thoughtswhilehisconsciousness
transfersatthetimeofdeath,hew
illbereborninarealmofhappy
transmigrators.
Becausethemindjustbefored
eathisextremelypowerful,it
greatlyincreasesthetendencyofp
articularpreviouslycreatedkarma
toripenfirst,resultinginrebirthinanappropriaterealm.Nonethe-
less,othervirtuousandnon-virtuouskarmaaccumulatedduring
oneslifewillbearfruitattheappropriatetime,thatis,whenallthe
necessaryconditionsarepresent.Itneverhappensthatkarmathat
hasnotbeencreatedcanbeexperiencedorthatkarmathathasbeen
createdcanbewasted.
Theessenceofallmethodsbenefitingsentientbeingsatthetimeof
deathisgeneratingpurevirtuoustho
ughtssuchasdevotion,withoutal-
lowingnon-virtuousthoughtssuchasangertoarisestrongly.Although
thismethodcanbestbepracticedby
oneselfalone,ordinarybeingsun-
abletodosowillbebenefitedifthismethodisperformedforthembya
virtuousteacherorgoodfriends.
Introduction
Ibowdowntotheguru
andtoHayagriva,whoareinseparableandwhose
compassionatepowerreleasesalltransmigratingbeingsfrom
themiser-
ablerealms.Ishallwritedowntheadvicethatgivesbenefit
tosentient
beingsatthetimeofdeath.ThismethodcalledBenefitingSentientBeingsat
theTimeofDeathispra
cticedbytheyogisofBhagavanShriHayagriva,
whoworkforothersmotivatedcompletelybyloveandcompassion.
Ithastwosections:
Theactualbodyofthemethod
Thebenefitsof
themethod
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GivingBreath
totheWretched
Giv
ingBreathtotheWretched
23
AdvicefromLamaTh
ubtenZopaRinpoche
Forthoseincapableofdoingthesepracticesthe
methodofbenefitingsentientbeingsatthe
timeofdeathcanbesimplifiedasfollows.Recite
thefollowingprayersandmantrasintheear
ofthedyingperson,orevenoveroldcorpses.
Tothefounder,theendowedtranscendentdestroyer,theonegonebe-
yond,thefoedestroyer,thecomplete
lyperfected,fullyawakenedbeing,
thegloriousconqueror,thesubduerfromtheShakyaclan,Iprostrate,go
forrefuge,andmakeofferings.Please
grantmeyourblessings.
Tnpachomdnddezhinsheg
padrachompayangdagpardzog
pisanggyplgylwashakyath
ubpalachhagtshllokyabsu
chhiwochhdojingyilabtusl
Totheendowedtranscendentdestro
yer,theonegonebeyond,thefoe
destroyer,thecompletelyperfected,fullyawakenedbeingHavingaJewel
Ushnisha,Iprostrate.
Chomdnddezhinshegpadra
chompayangdagpardzogpi
sanggyrinchhentsugtorchnlachhagtshllo
TheCom
passionateB
uddhasmantra:
OMMANIPDMEHUM
Thewish-grantingwheelmantra,savingbeings
fromthelowerrealm
s:
OMPDMOUSHNISHABIMALEHUMPHAT
Milarepasmantra,
grantingrebirt
hinhis
purerealm
Ngonga:
OMAHGURUHASAVAJRASARVA
SIDDHIPHALAHUM
A
uthorsAfterword
Ifthelovingcompassio
nateonewishestobenefittheliving
sentientbe-
ingswhoareabouttobeeatenbythefearfulcannibalofimpermanence,
heshouldusethismeth
odexplainedbyBuddha.
Whenthevividvisio
nofthislifesuddenlysinksandonefindsoneself
aloneinanunfamiliarandupsettingplace,think:Isthereanymethod
otherthanDharmathatbenefits?Then,beforethatgreat
fearfulone
whocannotbedelayed
arrives,itisworthwhiletostrivefort
heDharma
whichiscertaintobenefit,relyingontheguruandtheprecioussublime
onestobetheguideson
thepathinfuturelives.Bythemerito
fthiswork,
mayIquicklyreleaseallmothersentientbeings,whosebodiesareeaten
byimpermanenceandw
hoareexperiencingunbearablesuffe
ringsinthe
limitlessoceanofsamsara.
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GivingBreath
totheWretched
Giv
ingBreathtotheWretched
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Dedication
Ifanymeritshavebeen
createdbythosewhocontributedtothispub-
lication,wededicatethesetothelonglivesofourpreciousgurus,
LamaThubtenZopaR
inpocheandLamaTenzinOselRinpoche.May
alltheirenlightenedwishesbeimmediatelyfulfilled,andm
ayallliving
beingsquicklyreachultimatehappiness.
CareofDharmaBooks
DharmabookscontaintheteachingsoftheBuddha;theyhavethepower
toprotectagainstlowerrebirthandto
pointthewaytoliberation.There-
fore,theyshouldbetreatedwithresp
ectkeptoffthefloorandplaces
wherepeoplesitorwalkandnotsteppedover.Theyshouldbecovered
orprotectedfortransportingandkeptinahigh,cleanplaceseparate
frommoremundanematerials.Otherobjectsshouldnotbeplacedon
topofDharmabooksandmaterials.
Lickingthefingerstoturnpagesis
consideredbadformaswellasnegativ
ekarma.Ifitisnecessarytodispose
ofwrittenDharmamaterials,theyshouldbeburnedratherthanthrown
inthetrash.WhenburningDharmatexts,itistaughttofirstrecitea
prayerormantra,suchasOM,AH,H
UM.Then,youcanvisualizethe
lettersofthetexts(tobeburned)absorbingintotheAH
andtheAH
absorbingintoyou,transmittingtheir
wisdomtoyourmindstream.After
that,asyoucontinuetoreciteOM,AH
,HUM,youcanburnthetexts.
LamaZopaRinpochehasrecommen
dedthatphotosorimagesofholy
beings,deities,orotherholyobjectsn
otbeburned.Instead,theyshould
beplacedwithrespectinastupa,tree,orotherhigh,cleanplace.Ithas
beensuggestedtoputthemintoasm
allstructurelikeabirdhouseand
thensealthehouse.Inthisway,the
holyimagesdonotenduponthe
ground.
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GivingBreath
totheWretched
FoundationforthePreservationoftheMahayanaTradition
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