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Giv

ingBreathtotheWretched

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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:materials@fpmt.org

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GivingBreath

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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

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Giv

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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

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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

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