Tukdam ཐུགས་དམ
Present still
And gone
For good
Transition
Carries on
Consciously
Beyond body
And the mind
So deep within
Let go without
All that was still
Sitting in silence
No more breath
Almost empty
Soul hovers
In due time
Moving on
Graciously
From one
To another
State to be
Here now
Incarnate
As we are
Detached
We see
The love
Life flows.
Tukdam ཐུགས་དམ refers to a post-mortem meditative state observed in advanced Tibetan Buddhist practitioners.
“Breath of life chant” — whistle breath plain
Dharmākaya ཆོས་སྐུ་
Dharmakāya refers to the formless body of the Buddha, to ultimate truth itself, reality, or the innate nature of all things.
Patrul said, “Don’t worry. There is actually nothing you cannot know! Don’t think about it.”
…
“Now we’ll unravel everything,” he promised. “Stay awake!”
Together they gazed up into the vast, empty firmament. In the distance they heard the barking of dogs…
“Dear friend, do you hear the dogs barking?”
“Yes,” Lungtok answered.
“That’s it!” … “Do you see the stars in the sky?”
Lungtok again answered affirmatively.
Patrul exclaimed, “That’s exactly it! It’s all intrinsic enlightened awareness… Don’t look elsewhere!”
Just then, in the gloaming, Lungtok’s non-dual wisdom eye opened. At that very moment his own mind and the Dharmākaya were absolutely inseparable; there was nothing to know or attain that had not been present all along. Then he wept for joy.
— The snow lion’s turquoise mane, Surya Das, pp. 49-50
Tukdam ཐུགས་དམ and dharmākaya ཆོས་སྐུ་ rememberance
