Phowa

This is the 26th entry from my fieldwork diary. The original date is 05.10.2010.

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Drupon Sangyas:

"This is the direct teaching from Buddha Amithabha. There are many different buddhas and every buddha has its own pure land. Amithabha's is the best one. We have the Phowa practice to reach his pure land and someday it will be very useful for you (at the time of death). We can become free from Samsara through this practice. It was founded during the time of Padmasambhava.

Phowa - the transference of consciousness. It's like pouring water from one cup (our body) into another cup (a different body or form). The body is only temporary. So Phowa is a teaching on how to transfer the consciousness from this body to the pure land.

The consciousness leaves the body directly through the top of the head (if you're an enlightened person). For gods and demi-gods - through the nose. And for animals - it's all over the place.
The center channel of the body is blue on the outside and red on the inside. At the heart level there's a lotus with our seeds (the essence from our parents) and the consciousness is formless.



When you visualize you need to have a pure Buddha-mind. You can, for example, visualize your guru. Don't become affected, distracted or disturbed by your surroundings, you must meditate regardless of anything."

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*Important side note: These diary entries do not reflect every word the teacher said, and there may be some mistakes or misunderstandings, for which I am sorry and accept responsibility. In a few instances, I have interjected my own interpretation or explanation.