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Transcripts
Reincarnation: Tibetan Buddhism
Saturday January 10th Weekend Edition Saturday
Alex Van Oss looks into the appeal of reincarnation to Americans.
Rebirth is a basic tenet of Tibetan Buddhism,
which has seized public attention as a result of several recent
movies and rock concerts. But interest in reincarnation has actually been
rising in the United States for about a quarter of a century. And
Tibetan Buddhism seems to be attractive to growing numbers of Americans
who find the belief comforting when illness and death loom near.
You can read the transcript:
SCOTT SIMON, HOST: Reincarnation has seized the attention of some of the
public
in recent months through some Hollywood movies and rock star concerts. But
interest in rebirth has actually been rising in the United States for
about a
quarter of a century now. A Gallup poll a few years back showed that some
25
percent of the American public believe in some kind of reincarnation.
While almost all religions address our anxiety over death, reincarnation
is one
of the central tenets of Tibetan Buddhism, which has many distinctive
ideas and
practices concerning both living and dying.
Alex Van Oss reports that Tibetan Buddhism seems to be attractive to
growing
numbers of Americans who find it comforting when illness and death loom
near.
SOUND OF A CROWD IN SHRINE
ALEX VAN OSS, REPORTER: The room is white, all white, with no windows.
None
required. In 1882, this was the locker room of an old YMCA in the Bowery,
Manhattan.
Over the decades, it became a loft that hosted all kinds of artists and
cultural
events. It was called "The Bunker," the home of the late writer William
Burroughs.
But now this plain room has taken on a new life, this time as a Tibetan
Buddhist
shrine and study center.
SOUND OF MUSIC
ALEX VAN OSS: The Bowery is a far cry from the Himalayas, but the corner
of the
bunker is all aglitter with candles and silks and exotic Tibetan things.
There
are offerings on the shrine altar of incense, crystals, peacock feathers
-- even
a blueberry muffin.
The students arrive, take off their shoes, grab a cushion from a pile in
the
corner and sit on the floor. Soon, the Tibetan teacher comes in and leads
the
group in meditation.
SOUND OF A HIGH PITCHED NOISE
ALEX VAN OSS: The Buddhist teaching conducted here are about practicing such
things
as compassion, healing, living right and dying well. Dying is a daily
concern
for John Giorno (ph), who lives in a loft above the bunker. He's a poet
and a
caregiver.
JOHN GIORNO, POET AND CAREGIVER: A friend of mine is quite sick with
cancer and
is dying these days. I mean, well, he's an old -- very old -- friend. And
I'm
helping him through it all and going to be there when he dies and in the,
sort
of, the many hours of the day after he dies, with his body.
ALEX VAN OSS: Keeping company with the dying and the body after death is
important in
Tibetan Buddhism, which John Giorno has studied for 30 years. It's given
him a
lot of experience in thinking about death, as did his own bout with
cancer.
Then in the '80s came AIDS, and John Giorno set up one of the early AIDS
financial assistance programs. And now, every day, he gives out money or
tends
to the sick and the dying. Buddhist practice has changed his outlook.
JOHN GIORNO: In the Western world, the person's dead, put him in a body bag and
get
him out of here, you know? But when somebody dies, it's not just, sort of,
like...
LAUGHTER
... turn out the light and it's dark -- the dark room. I mean, dying is a
long,
complicated process. And so one can -- one works with that before, during,
and
after the moment of death.
SOUND OF CHANTING
ALEX VAN OSS: Tibetan Buddhists believe that preparation in life for death can
make
all the difference. They hold that the moment of death may actually lead
to
enlightenment, or at least to a transition period before the best possible
rebirth.
Tibetan texts have mapped this spiritual terrain in great detail. For
example,
the famous "Tibetan Book of the Dead" is meant to be read and chanted to
the
dying and to the corpse for many days.
It's a kind of guidebook that tells the dying person what to do and how to
concentrate after death. The idea takes a bit of getting used to, but
Tibetan
spiritual teacher Sogyal Rimpoche says these ancient words are meant to be
practical.
SOGYAL RIMPOCHE, TIBETAN SPIRITUAL TEACHER, AUTHOR, "THE TIBETAN BOOK OF
LIVING
AND DYING": At the moment of death, there is this wonderful advice or
instruction given by this great master called Padma Sambhava (ph), who is
the
author of the "Tibetan Book of the Dead." And he says, "now, when the
moment of
death dawns upon me, I will abandon grasping, yearning and attachment, and
enter
it undistracted, into the clear awareness of the teaching."
When the moment of death has come, suddenly you realize all this, you see,
world
is all just illusory. And that realization -- if you really realize in a
profound way -- will actually help you to let go of attachment and
aversion,
which can actually hinder us in the transition.
Do not be distracted. Do not be distracted. Do not be distracted.
SOUND OF CHANTING
ALEX VAN OSS: In 1992, Sogyal Rimpoche wrote an interpretation of the old
Buddhist
teachings, for Westerners, called, "The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying."
It's
become a bestseller.
Indeed, there is now a wave of interest in Tibetan Buddhism, with classes
offered across the nation. Tibetan Buddhists believe that preparation for
death
can help anyone, regardless of religion or belief.
Last August, the poet John Giorno traveled to be with his old friend, the
writer
William Burroughs, who was dying. Giorno is Buddhist. Burroughs was not.
But
Giorno stayed with him during the entire dying process, and for a period
afterwards.
JOHN GIORNO: Since I'm an intimate of his -- I'm his family, you know -- I was
all --
they let me in immediately into the funeral home to sit with his corpse,
you
know, and do practice. You know, it was very fresh.
I mean, his consciousness was still there outside his corpse. But the
corpse and
the consciousness were in the same place. And one just did various
meditation
practices.
And in doing it, one got very good signs that William, indeed, had -- I
mean,
all very blissful and joyful and peaceful and strong and great clarity --
great.
The room, you know, like shivered with clarity. And so it was -- all of
them
pointed that he had a very good death.
ALEX VAN OSS: Reducing suffering and having a good death are what Buddhists
believe
they can contribute to the Western world.
ROBERT WEINRAUB (PH), BUSINESSMAN, PHOTOGRAPHER: I debated: should I tell
my
father? Should I start talking about -- to him about rebirth and what's
going
on, even though he is a -- is an adamant atheist?
ALEX VAN OSS: Robert Weinraub is a New York businessman and photographer and
mountain
climber. He calls himself basically an agnostic. But Buddhism, he says,
was
helpful when his own father lay dying, though they didn't discuss
religion.
Somehow, he was able to stay calm and focused for his father.
Weinraub says he's read Sogyal Rimpoche's The Tibetan Book of Living and
Dying,
and it was useful.
ROBERT WEINRAUB: One of the thing he says is don't upset the ones who are
dying.
You
don't want them to be upset, teaching them about a new religion or a new
practice, you want -- the most important thing for them is to know that
they're
loved and to be put at ease.
CHRISTINE LONGACRE (PH), BUDDHIST CAREGIVER, HOSPICE OF SANTA CRUZ: We
basically
call out and invoke in the sky in front of us the presence of a Buddha or
of
Jesus Christ or any saint or enlightened
being to whom we feel a devotion or connection -- not as solid, but in the
form
of radiant light.
ALEX VAN OSS: Christine Longacre is a Buddhist caregiver who helped to
establish the
Hospice of Santa Cruz in California. She says the atmosphere of ease at
death is
brought about through specific training and techniques that are largely
internal, even silent.
One of these is called "phowa." It's believed to help transfer or even
eject the
consciousness at the moment of death.
Longacre says these mental states seem to help dissolve emotional barriers
between the caregiver and the dying, even in the hectic atmosphere of a
hospital. Longacre tells of one doctor whom she taught to practice the
phowa
meditation every day before and during this work so it became a reflex.
CHRISTINE LONGACRE: What he told me is that now, since he's been
continuing to do
his
spiritual practice in the emergency room, the whole atmosphere when
someone dies
is completely changed. He said, "I see their tension and their anxiety --
in the
dying person's face -- change into one of a deep release, even a gentle
smile.
Then, when I go to tell the family members that their loved one has died,
instead of becoming hostile, they often thank me and sometimes even hug
me."
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP, SONG BY ALLEN GINSBERG)
ALLEN GINSBERG, POET, SINGING: Born in this world You got to suffer
Everything
changes You got no soul.
ALEX VAN OSS: Poet Allen Ginsberg was a student of Tibetan Buddhism who
often
wove
traditional teaches about suffering, impermanence, and death into his
songs and
verse.
BOB ROSENTHAL (PH), SECRETARY TO ALLEN GINSBERG: Allen told me once that
the one
part of Buddhism that he never could fully accept was the idea of
reincarnation.
ALEX VAN OSS: Bob Rosenthal was Allen Ginsberg's secretary for 20 years.
And he
took
care of the poet last April, when Ginsberg was dying at home in his New
York
loft.
BOB ROSENTHAL: The liver biopsy confirmed a inoperable, heavily
metastasized
cancer.
The game plan switched. Allen always planned work, and he planned out the
next
several months of his life, but we only -- he only had one week.
ALEX VAN OSS: Rosenthal says Ginsberg always had many projects going at once,
but
that now Ginsberg accepted the end and did not become obsessed with all
his
undone work. Rosenthal is Jewish, not Buddhist.
BOB ROSENTHAL: I feel very confident that Allen's meditations eased his
dying
process, that he really -- he could let go and did let go. In a sense, I
think
that almost aided his dying in that he -- when the terminal diagnosis
came, he
was in a low form of ecstasy.
He was exhilarated by this experience. And he put his energy into being
aware of
the experience.
SOUND OF CHANTING
ALEX VAN OSS: The loft is a large space that admits light from the north and
from the
east. There are cushions on the floor and a Buddhist shrine with an altar.
Ginsberg took to his bed at the far end of the room. His spiritual
teacher,
Geleg Rimpoche arrived, along with Tibetan monks. At some point during
Ginsberg's last hour, someone turned on a recorder.
BOB ROSENTHAL: During the day that he was in a coma, there were 70 to 80
friends and
relatives in attendance, talking to him, holding his hand, stroking his
feet,
holding his head. During the death vigil, the monks were chanting.
And they were chanting the various initiations and -- that were part of
Allen's
practice, in a sense completing them. It was like a wake or -- I imagine
-- or a
pre-death wake.
SOUND OF CHANTING
SOUND OF BUDDHIST INSTRUMENTS
BOB ROSENTHAL: The Buddhist tradition is when the last breath is gone that
the
body
is not to be touched. And when Allen did die there in the middle of the
night,
there were only about 12 of us in attendance.
And we cordoned off his body. And Geleg Rimpoche was here. And he
determined how
long Allen's consciousness was taking to leave his body. And Allen lay
there for
20 hours before Rimpoche said that he was gone finally. And then, he could
be
taken to the funeral home.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP, SONG BY ALLEN GINSBERG)
ALLEN GINSBERG SINGING: Hey, Father Death I'm flying home
ALEX VAN OSS: There are a number of Tibetan and other Buddhist- inspired
hospices and
outreach programs in San Francisco, Santa Fe, Philadelphia. Christine
Longacre
and Sogyal Rimpoche conduct workshops in spiritual care and education for
caregivers and health professionals. And Longacre has written a new book,
"Facing Death and Finding Hope."
In Colorado, the Tibetan Buddhist-inspired Naropa Institute has a
gerontology
program that works closely with a Boulder hospice. And there are others.
For NPR News, this is Alex Van Oss, in Washington.
SCOTT SIMON: The Tibetan way of death is part of a series "The End of
Life:
Exploring
Death in America," which continues on this and other NPR news magazines
over the
next several months. More information about the End of Life series is
available
at our website at npr.org.
This is NPR's WEEKEND EDITION. I'm Scott Simon.
Content and programming copyright © 1998 National Public Radio, Inc.
All
rights reserved.
Transcribed by Federal Document Clearing House, Inc. under
license from National Public Radio, Inc. Formatting copyright © 1998
Federal
Document Clearing House, Inc. All rights reserved. No quotes from the
materials
contained herein may be used in any media without attribution to National
Public
Radio, Inc. This transcript may not be reproduced in whole or in part
without
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