Ep236: Art of Dying - Lama Lhanang 2
Lama Lhanang is a spiritual teacher of the Nyingma Longchen Nyingthig lineage of Tibetan Buddhism and an expert in meditation, geomancy, art, cultural and historical studies, and Tibetan medicine.
Available on Youtube, iTunes, SoundCloud & Spotify – search ‘Guru Viking Podcast’.
Lama Lhanang discusses the Tibetan Buddhist and traditional Tibetan medical beliefs about death, including a detailed description of the death process itself, physical signs of imminent death, and the system of divination and omens that can indicate that one’s life will soon end.
Lama Lhanang reveals the methods and mechanisms of the yogic death practices of phowa, tukdam, and rainbow body, and tells stories of his own role in guiding his students through the death process.
Lama Lhanang also gives his heart advice to those facing death and to those who are supporting the dying, and explains how to die well.
00:00 - Intro
00:58 - What is the Tibetan Book of the Dead?
06:52 - Practice for the living and the dead
08:22 - A story of a Lama performing phowa for a woman
11:11 - Phowa, a magical meditation
12:24 - Who can perform phowa for others?
14:26 - Lama Lhanang performed phowa for a dying student
17:52 - How to perform phowa for others
21:49 - Omens of impending death
25:56 - The three energies of life and how to retrieve life force
27:01 - Asking a demon about death
29:25 - Predicting life and death
32:12 - Signs of imminent death
34:50 - The process of death
41:19 - Beyond the Western scientific point of death
48:18 - Advice for when being around dying people
51:19 - Fake tukdam
54:06 - What is tukdam?
56:32 - How to achieve tukdam
59:54 - The crazy yogi
01:01:10 - How to recognise a Buddha
01:03:40 - Tukdam vs rainbow body (jalu)
01:06:48 - Story about Lama Lhanang’s teacher who achieved rainbow body
01:09:15 - What it means to be a yogi
01:12:43 - Advice for facing death
01:19:42 - The secret to having peace at death
01:20:19 - A woman who died well
Previous episode with Lama Lhanang:
To find out more about Lama Lhanang, visit:
Music ‘Deva Dasi’ by Steve James