The Ship of Death

8/9/2019 The Ship of Death

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10/10/13 7:he Ship of Death

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THE LUMINOUS NATURE OF THE MIND

by Peter Morrell

...the mind itself is a sentience or awareness that is a factor of luminosityand knowing...preceded by a similar factor of luminosity and knowing. [1]

Mind...[is] described as being in essence empty, but nevertheless exhibitingnatural clarity and unimpeded manifestation... [2]

...consciousness is that which is luminous and knowing...not somethingphysical...does not have shape or color...its nature is luminous, clear, and

capable of knowing any object through reflecting the aspect of that withwhich it comes into contact. [3]

...our consciousness is in the nature of luminosity and knowing... [4]

********

Once the details of impermanence and death have been thoroughly

contemplated in depth, one then arrives at the conclusion that samsara is a

pretty unpleasant place to be and one feels inspired with a wish to leave it.

Uncompounded phenomena are considered to be permanent things; forms,consciousnesses, and non-associated compositional factors...are consideredto be impermanent things. [5]

Impermanence confronts us with the immanence of death and the utter

groundlessness for our hopes that anything we now enjoy will outlast themoment. We are urged to use our fear of death as a motivation for religious

practice. [6]
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However, this is just the beginning of the Buddhist path. Once these ideas are

thoroughly absorbed and understood, then the mind truly becomes a tool

suitable to contemplate impermanence more closely - even until the finest and

most subtle aspects of it can be apprehended.

...every moment we have many different levels of consciousness - coarseand subtle. [7]

Truly useful contemplation begins when we can place our mind in a neutral or

natural state. That state is often referred to in the great texts. It means when

there is neither attraction nor aversion, neither love nor hatred, no desire and

no repulsion. In that state where there is no thought of good or of ill, in which

one is truly in a neutral frame of mind, it is as if the mind is dampened, reacts

to nothing but remains in a neutral, lucid and steady state at all times.

Since desire, hatred, and ignorance cause birth into cyclic existence, theonly way to become free is to eliminate your own desire, hatred andignorance. [8]

Once that is the case, then the mind can be used to contemplate

impermanence, undistracted by any such thoughts or biases and then we can

begin to make some real progress in understanding the way the world is, the

way mind is and the way we ourselves are, and the situation we find ourselves

in.

...the reason it is hard to identify the nature of the mind is that it is as ifcovered over by our own conceptions. [9]

...let the mind flow of its own accord, without conceptual overlay. [10]


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The neutral state of the mind is like a mind without any bias or preoccupation.

It means that the mind has no strong feeling either way about things. It is like

a state with no drugs, no alcohol, no anger or aversion, no strong desire, no

sex, no appetite for anything - a very bland and neutral state. The mind is

calm and flat like water, not choppy or agitated. Bright, yet empty at the same

time.

...meditation...[is] withdrawing this scattered mind on one object inside...[11]

Only when the mind is in such a state can it be truly considered suitable for

contemplating impermanence and death and such subtle subjects in the type of

depth Buddhism requires of us.

If you repeatedly meditate on impermanence, attraction to the things ofthis life will be lessened...there are many types of meditation in Buddhism,and the best is impermanence...in the jungle the elephant has the biggest

footprint, and in meditation the greatest mark or effect is left by meditatingon impermanence. This is a great quintessential instruction...keep thisunderstanding of impermanence in your consciousness, never allowing your

mind to lose it. [12]

When you pay the closest attention to transitoriness by death, above allyou give yourself a push on entering the Dharma, which creates a

favourable condition for persevering in the practice of good, and lastly youacquire an intimate understanding of the sameness of all constituents ofreality. [13]

...if you generate an understanding of impermanence in your mentalcontinuum, it will ultimately release you into the clear light of your ownmind. [14]

Meditation on impermanence begins with reflection on the impermanenceof the external world. [15]

All compounded phenomena are necessarily impermanent... [16]

...life ebbs from moment to moment, means that life continually passesaway and so approaches death. [17]


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The mind itself also becomes a subject of study for itself and that also gives

rise to a degree of subtle detachment. It is a state beyond ego, beyond desire,

beyond all attractions and desires, beyond art and aesthetics, beyond I like

this and I don't like that - even in its most subtle sense.

In order to recognize and identify the essential nature of the mind, it is

necessary to peel away the different conceptual layers and clear theobscurations... [18]

Unless and until the mind is freed from these biases which distract it from

perceiving itself and the world in their raw suchness, then it is not a clear and

naked mind and thus cannot perceive clearly and neutrally very much at all.

...there is utterly no such thing as non-mind becoming mind or mindbecoming non-mind. [19]

...matter cannot serve as the substantial cause of a consciousness. [20]

Once we see that mind can be separated out from the impermanent evanescent

flux that is samsara, on the basis of its qualities, properties and how it

operates, then it follows logically, that because the mind can be so separated,

then it must be of a very different nature compared thereto.

Without a preceding mind a later mind cannot be produced...there is nobeginning to consciousness, and in the same way there is no end to thecontinuum of a persons consciousness. [21]

Thus it follows, that mind is not so subject to impermanence or the forces of


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change, loss and decay, as are samsaric forms. The mind essentially stands

above the impermanent flux of samsara and must go forwards and be

indestructible. It is in the world, but not of the world.

...there existed a mind that was the earlier continuum of the presentmind... [22]

This empty mind, which is happy and sad, not physical and not just

nothing, cannot possibly end. [23]

Any instance of consciousness requires a substantial cause in the form ofanother preceding moment of consciousness...consciousness is infinite andbeginningless. [24]

The main reason establishing rebirth is the continuation of mind. [25]

An eye consciousness is generated as an entity of luminosity and knowingis due to an immediately preceding moment of consciousness that serves asits immediately preceding condition. [26]

This therefore begins to become a very joyful matter. Once this vivid and

luminous nature of mind is realised, then it follows that none of the changes

that occur in the outer world of samsara can really affect it unless it allows

them to. Thus, to believe that the mind must have become a slave to its ownconstructs and a slave to its own perceptual field.

...phenomena exist only nominally, or conventionally...there is a disparitybetween the way things appear to us and the way they exist. This is whythey are said to be illusory...but conventional reality cannot be logically

proven. [27]

It sees what it wants to see, but it does not see what it chooses not to. This is

a great shame, as it means we follow the transient nature of outer forms and

believe that the same processes also apply, by reflex, to our minds. Thus, we

actually come to believe that death is the end and that when a physical

machine is broken or destroyed, so the body is the same and thus the mind


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goes with it. We rarely conceive that because impermanence does not apply to

the mind, therefore mind is a cut above and thus not so transient.

...the mind...is essentially empty, without limiting characteristics orultimate reality. This empty mind, however, has its projection, which is thewhole phenomenal world....once we see, through meditation, that the nature

of mind is fundamentally empty, we become automatically aware that theprojections of mind are fundamentally empty too... [28]

The universe is a projection of mind. [29]

...the experience of the illusion of waking reality. [30]

Mind thus appears like a part of a timeless realm with only some transientqualities pertaining to it. In many respects, it is unlike the physical forms of

the outer world, which are all such fundamentally perishable items that will

pass away so soon and disappear.

Our body is like a boat which takes us across the oceans of samsara. [31]

Nothing we experience is anything more than the minds perception of its

own projections, the reality of which is only conventional. [32]

Although people die, we can posit that their mindstreams have not passed

away, but endure somewhere, maybe not here with us, but they are

imperishable. This is a very joyous realisation.

...you will develop conviction that these physical things as well as your life,have an end. [33]

It is comforting to be reassured that we are indestructible. That those we have

loved, and who have loved us, are still nearby and are not gone for good. Fate


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brings us back together many times. The mind is really the mover of the

machine, it is the ghost in the machine and being the organiser and

controller, moves on into an unknown realm. How can the controller of the

biochemical machine perish when the machine is tired out and old and about

to perish? How can that vital, organising principal, which has kept us alive for

so long, suffer the same fate as the molecules which it used to control so

effortlessly? But we believe this - through our association with matter, mindhas come to believe that the same rules also apply to it.

Rebirth in the wheel of existenceis always based on causality and thekarmic influences that go with it. [34]

Through the power of ignorance...we are reborn into samsara... [35]

Attachment is the origin, the root of suffering; hence, it is a cause ofsuffering... [36]

...attachment to cyclic existence acts as a cooperative condition for theproduction of suffering... [37]

...it is said that as long as one is in cyclic existence, one is in the grip of

some form of suffering. [38]

Cyclic existence has a nature of suffering...thus it is important...to developa revulsion from it, thereby engendering an attitude seeking liberation [from

it]... [39]

Regarding the defilements, these are adventitious rather than primary, they are

more like stains within the fabric of the mind and carried along with it.

...delusions and afflictive emotional and cognitive states, are adventitious,

they are occasional...they are not enduring... [40]

Yet the fundamental Buddha consciousness is present in all of us, regardless

of what non-virtues may also be present. If we compare the Buddha nature

[Tathagatagarbha] to a bright mirror, then the defilements are like smears and


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fogs that cloud that mirror. The polishing of the mirror has been described as

one function of religious practice.

The fundamental threefold nature of mind - empty, clear and unimpeded -is Tathagatagarbha, the seed of enlightenment, possessed by every livingbeing, human or otherwise...the fundamental purity of the minds intrinsic

nature...all beings are innately enlightened but...adventitious obscurationsblock the experience of enlightenment. [41]

...the various contaminated states of mind, such as delusions and afflictiveemotional and cognitive states are adventitious, they are occasional; theyarise in a certain moment but soon disappear...they are not enduring. [42]

...the conventional nature of the mind is clear light, and thus defilements donot reside in the very nature of the mind; defilements are adventitious,

temporary and can be removed. From the ultimate point of view the natureof mind is its emptiness of inherent existence. [43]

The defilements comprise bad habits of mind from previous lifetimes,

negative traits of desire and hatred which have been indulged repeatedly in

past lives. These repeated actions have set up grooves of habit in the mind

such that they are acted out repeatedly over many lifetimes.

...your own virtuous and non-virtuous actions determine what your mindwill undergo during death and afterwards. The effects of these actions

follow the mind like a flower and its scent. [44]

It is like the drug addict always wanting his fix, so the mind has become

accustomed to doing whatever it does.

Transmigrating beings first conceive of a truly existent I and then independence upon that, conceive of truly existent mine. Through the force ofsuch, beings wander in samsara, like a bucket powerlessly travelling up anddown in a well. [45]


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Removing these defilements is an important part of religious practice that

enables a person to train their mind over many years to relinquish bad habits

and establish good ones.

Through my own experience, I know that the mind can be trained, and bymeans of that training we can bring about a profound change withinourselves. [46]

I am convinced that through constant training one can change onesmind...our positive attitudes, thoughts, and outlook can be enhanced, andtheir negative counterparts can be reduced. [47]

...over time as years pass, it will improve - the amount of anger will

decrease...the situation will change, if you work at it wisely and not justwith stubbornness. The mind is such that if we make a plan...and carry it outwith strong determination, the mind will definitely change. [48]

...since the mind is an entity of mere luminosity and knowing, when thebasis of training is the mind, it is possible through gradual familiarisationto develop salutary attitudes limitlessly. [49]

...qualities that depend on the mind can be increased limitlessly. [50]

...good attitudes can be increased limitlessly. [51]

...mental pangs and regret disappear, and when those are absent, oneattains physical lightness and pliancy. Consequently, mental joy and bliss

increase, through the power of which the mind comes to abide one-pointedly. [52]

The mind is fundamentally pure from first to last in its innate, natural and

naked state. It is pure and undefiled, stain-free and radiantly pure as if no non-

virtues are present. It is like a clear flowing stream of fresh water - carryinglittle, crystal clear and always moving. This is the absolutely pure state of the

mind as a radiant, clear and knowing consciousness, the mind we see reflected

in the little babys eyes.


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...all of us have the fundamental substances necessary for the attainment ofBuddhahood. [53]

It is the pure and bright [vivid and clear] consciousness of the waking mind,

and by analogy, the same mind of the young child. It is a mind that has no

preconceptions or biases, it has no strong conceptual overlay - it travels light.

What karmic patterns it may contain remain dormant and undeveloped,

inactive and thus do not interfere with its radiant clarity. This is the waking

mind, the mind of meditation, the mind referred to in texts as the mind in its

naked state.

In its most fundamental sense, mind is not something we can limit...it has

no particular shape, size, location, colour or form, or any other limitingcharacteristic...it has the illuminating potential to perceive anythingwhatsoever [54]

...on the ultimate level the empty, clear and unimpeded nature of mindexhibits no limiting qualities such as maleness or femaleness, superiority orinferiority...even in the various realms of rebirth, there is no ultimatedifference between one mind and another. [55]

The mind comes and goes successively like night and day, but a very subtle

level of consciousness is always present.

...between the arising of different moments of conceptual thought, the clearlight nature of mind occurs uninterruptedly. [56]

This is the same level of consciousness, which passes through sleep and

through death and re-emerges at the other side of both. Mind, like a light, is

always aglimmer and can never be utterly destroyed or extinguished.


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The eighteen constituents are...the six constituents that are the sensepowers - the eye, ear...the six consciousness constituents...eye, ear,nose...the six constituents that are objects - the observed objects - forms,sounds, odors... [61]

During the onset of sleep, as in death, the mind goes through the reverse

process, withdrawing from and shutting down each sense consciousness in

turn and withdrawing back, like tentacles, those subsidiary minds into the

corpuscle at the heart, re-packing them before it leaves the body entirely [in

death]. The sense consciousnesses diminish in power and clarity in successive

waves until only the bright consciousness at the heart is left.

...during dreams, we inhabit a different kind of body, and experience adifferent state of being...we see, smell, touch, hear, feel, think andcommunicate - we experience a complete universe. But when we awaken it

becomes obvious that the universe of the dream has no ultimatereality...when the dream is over, its reality simply disappears - it was onlya projection of mind...our experience in the waking state is of the samegeneral nature... [62]

Sleep and death have so many strong and interesting parallels. Indeed, the

very fact that daily we can sleep and then awaken is almost personal, positive

proof in itself that life follows death over and over again. In both cases the

coarse and bright consciousnesses of the waking self [what we might term the

day mind] is closed down, and progressively diminished in clarity, until

only the more subtle internal consciousness remains [the night mind].

The dying process begins with the dissolution of the elements within thebody... [63]

...[leaving only] the fundamental innate mind of clear light - that is, thesubtlest level of mind... [64]

...the most subtle is the mind of clear light... [65]


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...this subtlest consciousness is what transmigrates... [66]

This consciousness is the innermost subtle mind. We call it the Buddhanature, the real source of all consciousness. The continuum of this mindlasts even through Buddhahood. [67]

Eventually, both in sleep and in death, only the most subtle of all

consciousnesses is left, and that passes forward into the next life. Without

exploring these subtle forms of mind in meditation, Buddhists would be as

oblivious of their existence as the rest of us. Because they have made it their

business to explore these matters, so that forms the basis and authority of

what they say.

Citations

[1] Dalai Lama, 1985, Opening the Eye of New Awareness, Wisdom Books, London,p.36

[2] Kalu Rinpoche, 1986, The Dharma that Illuminates all Beings Impartially like theLight of the Sun and the Moon, SUNY Press, New York, p.16

[3] Dalai Lama, 1988, The Dalai Lama at Harvard, Snow Lion, pp.49-50

[4] Dalai Lama, 1995, The World of Tibetan Buddhism, Wisdom Books, London, p.48

[5] Geshe Lhundup Sopa & Jeffrey Hopkins, 1989, Cutting through Appearances:Practice and Theory of Tibetan Buddhism, Snow Lion, USA, p.182

[6] Jamgon Kongtrul, 1977, The Torch of Certainty, Shambhala, USA, p.29

[7] Dalai Lama, 1988, op cit., p.29

[8] Khetsun Sangpo Rimbochay & J Hopkins, 1982, Tantric Practice in Nyingma, Rider,London, p.64

[9] Dalai Lama, 1984, Kindness Clarity and Insight, Snow Lion, p.20



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[12] Rimbochay & Hopkins, op cit., p.62

[13] sGampopa, 1959, The Jewel Ornament of Liberation, Translated and Edited byHerbert V Guenther, Rider, London, p.54



[16] Sopa & Hopkins, op cit., pp.194-5

[17] sGampopa, op cit., p.46

[18] Dalai Lama 1995, op cit., p.152





[23] ] Rimbochay & Hopkins, op cit., p.64





[28] Kalu, op cit., p.48


[30] Lama Lodro, 1987, Bardo Teachings, Snow Lion, p.2

[31] Lama Sherab Gyaltsen Amipa, 1987, The Opening of the Lotus, Wisdom Books,London, p.49



[34] Amipa, op cit., p.52


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[35] Amipa, op cit., p.54


[37] Dalai Lama, 1988, op cit., pp.37-8
























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Sogyal Rinpoche, 1992, The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying, Random House,London

Lati Rinbochay & Jeffrey Hopkins, 1981, Death, Intermediate State & Rebirth inTibetan Buddhism, Rider, London

...realisation of bodhicitta - [is] the altruistic aspiration, based on love andcompassion, to achieve enlightenment for the benefit of all living beings.[wotb, p.94]

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