[the Bardo of the Moments of Death]
[INSTRUCTIONS ON THE SYMPTOMS OF DEATH, ORL RE -Piksl SUAGE Ok THE CHK AAL BARDO: THE PRIMARY CLEAR LIGHT SEEN AT THE MOMENT OF DEATH]
The first, the setting-face-to-face with the Clear Light, during the Intermediate State of the Moments of Death, is:
though recognizing, are, nevertheless, weak in familiarity. But all classes of individuals who have received the practical
be set face to face with the fundamental Clear Light; and, without any Intermediate State, they will obtain the Unborn Dharma-K aya, by the Great Perpendicular Path.®
3 Text: Yar-gyi-zang-thal-chen-po: the ‘Great Straight Upward Path’. One of the Doctrines peculiar to Northern Buddhism is that spiritual emancipation, even Buddahood, may be won instantaneously, without entering upon the Bardo Plane and without further suffering on the age-long pathway of normal evolution which traverses the various worlds of sangsdric existence. The doctrine underlies the whole of the Bardo Thédol, Faith is the first step on the Secret Pathway. Then comes Illumination; and, with it, Certainty; and, when the Goal is won, Emancipation. But here again success implies very unusual proficiency in yoga, as well as much accumulated merit, or good karma, on the part of the devotee. If the disciple can be made to see and to grasp the Truth as soon as the guru reveals it, that is to say, if he has the power to die consciously, and at the supreme moment of quitting the body can recognize the Clear Light which will dawn upon him then, and become one with it, all sangsaric bonds of illusion are broken asunder immediately: the
go BARDO. OF THE-DYING [BOOK I
The manner of application is:
It is best if the guru from whom the deceased received guiding instructions can be had; but if the guru cannot be obtained, then a brother of the Faith; or if the latter is also unobtainable, then a learned man of the same Faith; or, should all these be unobtainable, then a person who can read correctly and distinctly ought to read this many
and will at once come to recognize that Fundamental Light and undoubtedly obtain Liberation.
As regards the time for the application [of these in- structions |:
When the expiration hath ceased, the vital-force will have sunk into the nerve-centre of Wisdom?! and the Knower? will be experiencing the Clear Light of the natural con- dition.? Then, the vital-force,t being thrown backwards and flying downwards through the right and left nerves,° the Intermediate State momentarily dawns.
traversed the navel nerve-centre].
The time [ordinarily necessary for this motion of the vital-
Dreamer is awakened into Reality simultaneously with the mighty achievement of recognition.
* Text: rlung (pron. lung): ‘vital-air’, or ‘vital-force’, or ‘psychic-force’.
Cf. p. 215.)
the time required for eating a meal.?
When the breathing is about to cease, it is best if the Trans-
O nobly-born (so and so by name), the time hath now come for thee to seek the Path [in reality]. Thy breathing is about to cease. Thy guru hath set thee face to face before with the Clear Light; and now thou art about to experience it in its Reality in the Bardo state, wherein all things are like the void and cloudless sky, and the naked, spotless intellect is like unto a transparent vacuum without circumference or centre. At this moment, know thou thyself ; and abide in that state. I, too, at this time, am setting thee face to face.
Having read this, repeat it many times in the ear of the person dying, even before the expiration hath ceased, so as to impress it on the mind [of the dying one].
If the expiration is about to cease, turn the dying one over on the right side, which posture is called the ‘Lying Posture of a Lion’. The throbbing of the arteries [on the right and
If the person dying be disposed to sleep, or if the sleeping state advances, that should be arrested, and the arteries pressed gently but firmly.2. Thereby the vital-force will not be able to return from the median-nerve * and will be sure to pass out
8 ‘Skt. of text: dhutth (pron. duié), meaning “ median-nerve”’, but lit. ‘ tri- junction’’. V.S. Apte’s Sansenit-English Dictionary (Poona, 1890) gives dhitts as the only similar word, defined as “ shaking” or ‘‘ moving ’’, which, if applied to our text, may refer to the vibratory motion of the psychic force traversing the median-nerve as its channel,’—Lama Kazi Dawa-Samdup.
‘Duti may also mean “ throwing away’’, or “throwing out”’, with reference
through the Brahmanic aperture.1_ Now the real setting-face- to-face is to be applied.
Clear Light of Reality, which is the Infallible Mind of the Dharma-K aya, is experienced by all sentient beings.
The interval between the cessation of the expiration and the cessation of the inspiration is the time during which the vital-force remaineth in the median-nerve.?
The common people call this the state wherein the con- sciousness-principle? hath fainted away. The duration of
force, In those who have had even a little practical experience of the firm, tranquil state of dhyana, and in those who have sound nerves, this state continueth for a long time.*
to the outgoing of the consciousness in the process of death,’—Sj. Atal Bihari Ghosh,
The death process is the reverse of the birth process, birth being the incar- nating, death the discarnating of the consciousness-principle ; but, in both alike, there is a passing from one state of consciousness into another. And, just as a babe must wake up in this world and learn by experience the nature of this world, so, likewise, a person at death must wake up in the Bardo world and become familiar with its own peculiar conditions. The Bardo body, formed of matter in an invisible or ethereal-like state, is an exact duplicate of the human body, from which it is separated in the process of death, Retained in the Bardo body are the consciousness-principle and the psychic nerve-system (the counterpart, for the psychic or Bardo body, of the physical nerve-system of the human body). (Cf. p. 161°.)
In the setting-face-to-face, the repetition [of the above address to the deceased | is to be persisted in until a yellowish liquid beginneth to appear from the various apertures of the bodily organs [of the deceased].
In those who have led an evil life, and in those of unsound “nerves, the above state endureth only so long as would take to snap a finger. Again, in some, it endureth as long as the time taken for the eating of a meal.
In various Zantras it is said that this state of swoon endureth for about three and one-half days. Most other
face-to-face with the Clear Light ought to be persevered in [during the whole time].
diagnosing the symptoms of death], use [of the knowledge] should have been made ere this.1 If [the dying person be] unable to do so, then either the guru, or a shishya, or
very intimate, should be kept at hand, who will vividly
as they appear in due order [repeatedly saying, at first] thus :?
Now the symptoms of earth sinking into water are come.®
his soul.’
94BARDO OF THE DYING [BOOK I
speaking in a low tone of voice in the ear:
O nobly-born (or, if it be a priest, O Venerable Sir), let not thy mind be distracted.
If it be a brother [in the Faith], or some other person, then
O nobly-born, that which is called death being come to thee now, resolve thus: ‘O this now is the hour of death. By taking advantage of this death, I will so act, for the good of all sentient beings, peopling the illimitable expanse of the heavens, as to obtain the Perfect Buddhahood, by resolving on love and compassion towards [them, and by directing my
Shaping the thoughts thus, especially at this time when
can be realized for the benefit of all sentient beings, know
obtain the best boon of the State of the Great Symbol, in which thou art, [as follows]:
‘Even if I cannot realize it, yet will I know this Bardo, and, mastering the Great Body of Union in Bardo, will appear
the breath coming in gasps just before the loss of consciousness, whereby /amas trained in the science of death detect, one by one, the interdependent psychic phenomena culminating in the release of the Bardo body from its human-plane envelope. The translator held that the science of death, as expounded in this treatise, has been arrived at through the actual experiencing of death on the part of learned Jamas, who, when dying, have explained to their pupils the very process of death itself, in analytical and elaborate detail. (See p. 1627.)
subdue in this sense any sentient being of the human world, a form which will appeal religiously to that being is assumed. Thus, to appeal to a Shaivite devotee, the form of Shiva is assumed ; to a Buddhist, the form of the Buddha Shakya Muni; to a Christian, the form of Jesus; to a Moslem, the form of the Prophet ; and so on for other religious devotees; and for all manners and con- ditions of mankind a form appropriate to the occasion—for example, for subduing
I will serve all sentient beings, infinite in number as are the limits of the sky.’
Keeping thyself unseparated from this resolution, thou shouldst try to remember whatever devotional practices thou wert accustomed to perform during thy lifetime.!
In saying this, the reader shall put his lips close to the ear, and shall repeat it distinctly, clearly impressing it upon the dying person so as to prevent his mind from wandering even for a moment.
After the expiration hath completely ceased, press the nerve of sleep firmly; and, a /@ma, or a person higher or more learned than thyself, impress in these words, thus :
Reverend Sir, now that thou art experiencing the Funda- mental Clear Light, try to abide in that state which now thou art experiencing.
And also in the case of any other person the reader shall set him face-to-face thus :
O nobly-born (so-and-so), listen. Now thou art experienc- ing the Radiance of the Clear Light of Pure Reality. Recog- nize it. O nobly-born, thy present intellect,” in real nature void, not formed into anything as regards characteristics or colour, naturally void, is the very Reality, the All-Good.*
Thine own intellect, which is now voidness, yet not to be
children, parents, and vice versa; for shishyas, gurus, and vice versa; for common people, kings or rulers ; and for kings, ministers of state.
regarded as of the voidness of nothingness, but as being the intellect itself, unobstructed, shining, thrilling, and blissful, is the very consciousness,! the All-good Buddha.’
Thine own consciousness, not formed into anything, in reality void, and the intellect, shining and_blissful,—these two,—are inseparable. The union of them is the Dharma- Kaya state of Perfect Enlightenment.*
Thine own consciousness, shining, void, and inseparable from the Great Body of Radiance, hath no birth, nor death, and is the Immutable Light—Buddha Amitabha.*
Knowing this is sufficient. Recognizing the voidness of thine own intellect to be Buddhahood, and looking upon it as being thine own consciousness, is to keep thyself in the [state
In this part of the Bardo Thédol the psychological analysis of consciousness or mind is particularly abstruse. Wherever the text contains the word rig-pa we have rendered it as ‘consciousness’, and the word shes-vig as ‘intellect’ ; or else, to suit the context, 7ig-fa as ‘consciousness’ and shes-rig as ‘ conscious- ness of phenomena’, which is ‘intellect’.
° Realization of the Non-Sangsara, which is the Voidness, the Unbecome, the
it will cause the naked consciousness to be recognized as the Clear Light; and, thirdly, recognizing one’s own self [thus], one becometh permanently united with the Dharma-K aya and Liberation will be certain.}
[INSTRUCTIONS CONCERNING THE SECOND STAGE OF -THE -CHIKHAI BARDO: THE SECONDARY CLEAR LIGHT SEEN IMME- DIATELY AFTER DEATH]
Thus the primary Clear Light is recognized and Liberation attained. But if it be feared that the primary Clear Light hath not been recognized, then [it can certainly be assumed]
Unborn, the Unmade, the Unformed, implies Buddhahood, Perfect Enlighten- ment—the state of the Divine Mind of the Buddha. Compare the following
(trans. by W. Gemmell, London, 1912, pp. 17-18): ‘Every form or quality of phenomena is transient and illusive. When the mind realizes that the pheno- mena of life are not real phenomena, the Lord Buddha may then be clearly perceived.’—(Chinese Annotation : ‘ The spiritual Buddha must be realized within the mind, otherwise there can be no true perception of the Lord Buddha.’)
1 If, when dying, one be familiar with this state, in virtue of previous spiritual (or yogic) training in the human world, and have power to win Buddhahood at this all-determining moment, the Wheel of Rebirth is stopped, and Liberation instantaneously achieved. But such spiritual efficiency is so very rare that the normal mental condition of the person dying is unequal to the supreme feat of holding on to the state in which the Clear Light shines; and there follows a progressive descent into lower and lower states of the Bardo existence, and then rebirth. The simile of a needle balanced and set rolling on a thread is used by the /amas to elucidate this condition. So long as the needle retains its balance, it remains on the thread, Eventually, however, the law of gravitation affects it, and it falls. In the realm of the Clear Light, similarly, the mentality of a person dying momentarily enjoys a condition of balance, or perfect equi- librium, and of oneness. Owing to unfamiliarity with such a state, which is an ecstatic state of non-ego, of subliminal consciousness, the consciousness-principle of the average human being lacks the power to function in it ; karmic propensi- ties becloud the consciousness-principle with thoughts of personality, of individualized being, of dualism, and, losing equilibrium, the consciousness- principle falls away from the Clear Light. It is ideation of ego, of self, which prevents the realization of Mivvaua (which is the ‘blowing out of the flame of selfish longing’); and so the Wheel of Life continues to turn,
Clear Light, which dawneth in somewhat more than a meal- time period after that the expiration hath ceased."
According to one’s good or bad karma, the vital-force floweth down into either the right or left nerve and goeth out through any of the apertures [of the body].2_ Then cometh a lucid condition of the mind.®
condition of the nerves and also whether there hath been previous practice or not [in the setting-face-to-face].
When the consciousness-principle getteth outside [the body, it sayeth to itself], ‘Am I dead, or am I not dead?’ It cannot determine. It seeth its relatives and connexions as it had been used to seeing them before. It even heareth the wailings, The terrifying karmic illusions have not yet dawned. Nor have the frightful apparitions or experiences caused by the Lords of Death * yet come.
During this interval, the directions are to be applied [by the lama or reader]:
HEE yo SSS
3 Text: shes-pa, rendered here as ‘mind’. The translator has added the following comment: ‘The vital-force, passing from the navel psychic-nerve centre, and the principle of consciousness, passing from the brain psychic-nerve centre, unite in the heart psychic-nerve centre, and in departing thence from the body, normally through the Aperture of Brahma, produce in the dying person a state of ecstasy of the greatest intensity. The succeeding stage is less intense. In the first, or primary, stage, is experienced the Primary Clear Light, in the second stage, the Secondary Clear Light. A ball set bounding reaches its greatest height at the first bound; the second bound is lower, and each succeeding bound is still lower until the ball comes to rest. Similarly is it with the consciousness-principle at the death of a human body. Its first spiritual bound, directly upon quitting the earth-plane body, is the highest; the next is lower. Finally, the force of karma having spent itself in the after-death state, the consciousness-principle comes to rest, a womb is entered, and then comes rebirth in this world.’
* Text: Gshin-yje (pron. Shin-ze): ‘Lord of Death’; but the plural form is allowable and preferable here.
visualizing stage. If it be one who was in the perfected stage, then call him thrice by name and repeat over and over again the above instructions of setting-face-to-face with the Clear Light. If it be one who was in the visualizing stage, then read out to him the introductory descriptions and the text of the Meditation on his tutelary deity,! and then say,
O thou of noble-birth, meditate upon thine own tutelary deity.—[Here the deity’s name is to be mentioned by the reader.?]_ Do not be distracted. Earnestly concentrate thy mind upon thy tutelary deity. Meditate upon him as if he were the reflection of the moon in water, apparent yet in- existent [in itself]. Meditate upon him as if he were a being with a physical body.
Meditate upon the Great Compassionate Lord.’
By thus being set-face-to-face even those who would not
certain to recognize it.
Persons who while living had been set face to face [with the
familiar with it, will not be able to recognize the Lardo clearly by themselves. Either a guru or a brother in the Faith will have to impress vividly such persons.*
martyrs, the confessors and the virgins, and in special all the saints that he most loved ever.’
pane
There may be even those who have made themselves familiar with the teachings, yet who, because of the violence of the disease causing death, may be mentally unable to withstand illusions. For such, also, this instruction is abso- lutely necessary.
with the teachings, have become liable to pass into the miserable states of existence, owing to breach of vows or failure to perform essential obligations honestly. To them,
If the first stage of the Bardo hath been taken by the forelock, that is best. But if not, by application of this distinct recalling [to the deceased], while in the second stage of the Bardo, his intellect is awakened and attaineth liberation.
While on the second stage of the Bardo, one’s body is of the nature of that called the shining illusory-body.?
lucidity cometh [to the deceased].2 If the instructions be successfully applied to the deceased while he is in that state, then, by the meeting of the Mother-Reality and the Offspring- Reality,? karma controlleth not. Like the sun’s rays, for example, dispelling the darkness, the Clear Light on the Path dispelleth the power of karma.
? With the departure of the consciousness-principle from the human body there comes a psychic thrill which gives way to a state of lucidity.
* Lit., ‘Zarma is unable to turn the mouth or head’, the figure implied being that of a rider controlling a horse with a bridle and bit. In the Tantra of the Great Liberation, there is this similar passage: ‘The man blinded by the dark- ness of ignorance, the fool caught in the meshes of his actions, and the illiterate man, by listening to this Great Tantra, are released from the bonds of karma’ (cf. Tantra of the Great Liberation, line 205, as edited by Arthur Avalon, London, 1913, P- 359):
That which is called the second stage of the Bardo dawneth upon the thought-body.! The Knower? hovereth within those places to which its activities had been limited. If at this time this special teaching be applied efficiently, then the purpose will be fulfilled; for the karmic illusions will not
turned hither and thither [from his aim of achieving En- lightenment].