Geshe Jinpa's Advice
The second teaching session on the last Sunday of every month is reserved for Questions and Answers. It is a time when students can ask any questions and receive advice or spiritual guidance from our precious teacher Geshe Jinpa Sonama.
November 27, 2006
Note: The following is from a student's notes. If there are any errors or miss-reporting it is solely the responsibility of JoAnn Bush, the most unworthy of all of Geshe-la's students. However, in the hope that these notes will be of benefit to someone and perhaps lead to a deeper understanding of the Dharma, I present them here.
Question: Is instinct the same as subtle consciousness?
Answer: Instinct is the awakening of mental imprints [accumulated in past life times].
Subtle consciousness is manifested at the time of dying when breathing stops. It is what goes into the bardo and is reborn in the next life. The subtle consciousness leaves the body. When a person is clinically dead, s/he may not be completely dead because the subtle consciousness still resides inside the body. We know when the subtle consciousness leaves the body because a white substance called the white bodhichitta appears in the right nostril and a red substance called the red bodichitta appears in the left nostril. This is when the subtle consciousness leaves the body.
It is important not to touch the body of a dead person until the subtle consciousness leaves. If you do, you could disturb the subtle consciousness...you may unintentionally kill the the person and thus create unlimited sins without even realizing it. It is even worse if the dead person is a parent.
We also experience subtle consciousness when we yawn, have a sexual experience, or in deep sleep.
Question: What relationship should you try to develop with the yidam you are born with?
Answer: You can find your yidam, or meditation deity, through the use of an astrological calendar.
Geshe Jinpa Sonam's Teaching, Hindu Temple of Central Indian, February 2008