Karma Phuntsho: Buddha-Nature and Dying: Clear Light at the Point of Death

Karma Phuntsho: Buddha-Nature and Dying: Clear Light at the Point of Death - 7 of 10

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Old Topic, New Insights: Buddha-Nature at the Crossroads between Doctrine and Practice

Abstract from the Author

Karma Phuntsho: Buddha-Nature and Dying: Clear Light at the Point of Death

According to Gö Lotsāwa Zhonu Pal, Tsen Khawoche, who at the mature age of 56 traveled to Kashmir, is said to have requested the teachings of Maitreya from Sajjana so that he can adopt them as dharma for dying (འཆི་ཆོས་). Similarly, before the transmission of Maitreya's work on buddha-nature, we find the concept of luminosity being used for practice at the point of death in the Atyayajñānasūtra. The various tantric traditions on bardo and clear light also deal with the application of the luminous nature of the mind at the time of death.

Subsequent masters of buddha-nature study and practice elaborated on the technique of harnessing the clear light or luminous nature of mind for enlightenment at the time of death, culminating in the theories, instructions, and rituals found in works such as the Tibetan Book of Dead and other bardo teachings. This paper attempts to study the evolution of the eschatological application of the luminous nature of the mind in the Indo-Tibetan Buddhist traditions and its current forms of practice.

About the video

Featuring	Karma Phuntsho
Creator	Tsadra Foundation
Director	Perman, M.
Producer	Tsadra Foundation
Event	Old Topic, New Insights: Buddha-Nature at the Crossroads between Doctrine and Practice (, Prague)
Related Website	Buddha-Nature
Citation	Phuntsho, Karma. "Buddha-Nature and Dying: Clear Light at the Point of Death." Old Topic, New Insights: Buddha-Nature at the Crossroads between Doctrine and Practice. The 16th IATS Conference, Prague, July 3–9, 2022. Produced by the Tsadra Foundation Research Department. Video, 15:47. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j3lOZAUfKi8.