Session 82: Awareness of Awareness, Shamatha That Can Assist at the Moment of Death

B. Alan Wallace, 19 Nov 2010

This morning we had the last guided Shamatha meditation. Alan explained how in this transient world in which all things that are born have to die, we can tap into the substrate consciousness and even though it is also impermanent in the sense that it changes moment by moment, it is a continuum that carries from one life to the next. It is present even during deep dreamless sleep, comatose and general anesthesia and that’s the reason that we can wake up again. When dying, if you have achieved Shamatha you can follow the process. After the black out if you have Shamatha it will be luminous, then your substrate consciousness dissolves into the clear light of death and you get access to Rigpa. When resting in the clear light there are physical signs that have been witnessed by medical doctors several times, even though the breathing and heart beating has stopped, there is no decomposition of the body, the skin is fresh and the area of the heart remains warm.
Then we practiced awareness of awareness directing our attention to the space in different directions.

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