Phowa
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Phowa (Wylie: 'pho ba; also spelled Powa or Poa phonetically) is a Tibetan term for a Buddhist meditation practice that may be translated as the "practice of conscious dying", "transference of consciousness at the time of death" or "mindstream transference". The chöd subsumes within its auspices aspects of phowa sadhana. The main form is one of the six yogas of Naropa, although other transmissions also exist. Through this Phowa practice, one supposedly learns to transfer one's consciousness through the top of the head directly into a pure realm, buddha-field dimension, field, kshetra or loka, and in so doing, by-pass some of the typical experiences that are said to occur after death.[1] Phowa is also the discipline that has developed the Tulku lineages within the Bonpo, Ngagpa, Mantrayana and Vajrayana lineages.
Some lineages of Phowa are also practiced which include a rite of incision, or opening of the sahasrara (see Artificial cranial deformation) at the cranial zenith, to assist with transferral.[citation needed]
Shugchang, et al. (2000), in an exegesis of the Zhitro, discuss phowa and mention dharmakaya, meditation and Dzogchen:
Phowa has many different meanings; in Tibetan it means "transferring consciousness." The highest form is known as the phowa of the dharmakaya which is meditation on the great perfection. When you do Dzogchen meditation, there's no need to transfer anything, because there's nothing to transfer, no place to transfer it, nor anyone to do it. That's the highest, and greatest phowa practice.[2]
Professor Pema Gyalpo, a Tibetan Buddhist scholar in Japan, says that phowa is the act of sending the spirit of a person on his deathbed to the Pure Land.
"One concept in Tantra Vajrayana is that referred to by Asahara as poa, in which the spirits of the dead are transferred to a higher status through secret rites based on the power of the guru. The absolutization of this power can give rise to the perverted logic that if a person of low spiritual status is murdered by one with gedatsu then the former person’s karma improves, making the murder a good deed. It would not be surprising if a notion of this type was secretly taught in Aum." —Shimazono Susumu[3]
"Poa is a Tibetan meditative technique used near death to provide good karma in the cycle of reincarnation." —Barry Cooper[4]
"Poa is practiced chiefly by members of a sect of Tibetan Buddhism called Vajrayana, or “Diamond Vehicle.” According to the Vajrayana tradition, poa meditation transfers consciousness from the mundane world of existence to a transfigured world of post-existence. This meditation is undertaken with the intention of attaining a higher state of consciousness in the next rebirth." —Barry Cooper [5]
[edit] See also
[edit] Notes
- ^ Lingtrul Rinpoche. Teachings on Phowa
- ^ Shugchang, Padma (editor); Sherab, Khenchen Palden & Dongyal, Khenpo Tse Wang (2000). A Modern Commentary on Karma Lingpa's Zhi-Khro: teachings on the peaceful and wrathful deities. Padma Gochen Ling. Source: [1] (accessed: December 27, 2007)
- ^ Shimazono Susumu, in the Wake of Aum The Formation and Transformation of a Universe of Belief, Japanese Journal of Religious Studies 1995 22/3–4 (This article, a condensed version of Shimazono Susumu’s book Aum Shinrikyõ no kiseki (c. 1995), was translated from the Japanese by Robert Kisala.)
- ^ Barry Cooper, University of Calgary, 'Jihadists' and the War on Terrorism
- ^ Barry Cooper, Fraser Institute, Calgary Policy Research Centre, UNHOLY TERROR: The Origin and Significance of Contemporary, Religion-based Terrorism
[edit] References
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