Nedren
Nedren (Tib. གནས་འདྲེན་, Wyl. gnas 'dren) — a 'guidance' practice intended to help guide the deceased to enlightenment by purifying the various realms of samsara and granting empowerment.
The nedren that Rigpa upholds and practices for the deceased is based on Dukngal Rangdrol, the Natural Liberation of Suffering an Avalokiteshvara practice of the Longchen Nyingtik.
Sogyal Rinpoche writes:
- Hand in hand with the reading of the Tibetan Book of the Dead goes the practice of Né Dren, the ritual for guiding the dead, or Chang Chok, the ritual purification, in which a master will guide the consciousness of the dead person to a better rebirth.
- Ideally, the Né Dren or Chang Chok should be done immediately after death, or at least within forty-nine days. If the corpse is not present, the consciousness of the deceased is summoned into an effigy or card bearing the likeness and name, or even a photograph, called a tsenjang. The Né Dren and Chang Chok derive their power from the fact that during the period immediately after death, the dead person will have a strong feeling of possessing the body of its recent life.
- Through the power of the master's meditation, the consciousness of the dead person, roaming aimlessly in the bardo, is called into the tsenjang, which represents the dead person's identity. The consciousness is then purified; the karmic seeds of the six realms are cleansed; a teaching is given just as in life; and the dead person is introduced to the nature of the mind. Finally the phowa is effected, and the dead person's consciousness is directed toward one of the buddha realms. Then the tsenjang, representing the individual's old—now discarded—identity, is burned, and their karma is purified.[1]
Texts
- The Excellent Path to Perfect Liberation: A Guidance Practice for the Natural Liberation of Suffering Practice of the Great Compassionate One, from the Heart Essence of the Vast Expanse, by Dodrupchen Jikme Trinle Özer[2][3]
Teachings Given to the Rigpa Sangha
- Khenchen Pema Sherab, 9-10 & 16-17 April 2022
Notes
- ↑ The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying, page 310.
- ↑ (thugs chen gnas 'dren - klong chen snying thig gi cha lag thugs rje chen po sdug bsngal rang grol gyi gnas 'dren rnam grol lam bzang) Tsapö vol 4 (393-414)
- ↑ Colophon: This Excellent Path to Perfect Liberation, a guidance practice (nedren) for the Natural Liberation of Suffering (Dukngal Rangdrol), a mind treasure of my guru, the lord of all buddha families, was written by Jikme Trinle Özer in response to the repeated requests of Lama Sangye Chöpel. May it be a cause for all those who have died and who lack protection to attain omniscience!