tukdam

English

Alternative forms

• thukdam

Etymology

Borrowed from Tibetan ཐུགས་དམ (thugs dam).

Noun

tukdam (uncountable)

1. (Tibetan Buddhism) An advanced state of meditation believed to be attained by some experienced meditators following their deaths.
   • 1999 August 1, Erik Pema Kunsang, Marcia Binder Schmidt, Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche, As it is, volume 1, Rangjung Yeshe Publications, →ISBN, page 25:

     Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche passed away quite suddenly, but after he died he remained in tukdam for quite a while, longer than the sun was in the sky that day.

   • 2009 November 10, Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche, Uncommon Happiness, Rangjung Yeshe Publications, →ISBN, page 9:

     The signs of tukdam are that the heart remains warm, rigor mortis does not set in, and the body does not begin to deteriorate.

   • 2012 April 16, Lama Kunsang, Lama Pemo, Marie Aubele, History of the Karmapas: The Odyssey of the Tibetan Masters with the Black Crown, Shambhala Publications, →ISBN, page 42:

     At noon, after his breathing had stopped, he manifested the state of tukdam, the ultimate meditation at the moment of death.

   • For more quotations using this term, see Citations:tukdam.