O nobly-born, thou hast been in a swoon during the last three and one-half days. As soon as thou art recovered from this swoon, thou wilt have the thought, ‘What hath happened !’
Act so that thou wilt recognize the Bardo. At that time, all the Sangsara will be in revolution ;1 and the phenomenal appearances that thou wilt see then will be the radiances and deities.2_ The whole heavens will appear deep blue.
Then, from the Central Realm, called the Spreading Forth of the Seed,® the Bhagavan Vairochana,* white in colour, and
As the Central Dhyani Buddha, Vairochana is the highest path to Enlighten- ment of the Esoteric School. Like a Central Sun, surrounded by the four Dhyani Buddhas of the four cardinal directions, who dawn on the four succeed- ing days, he symbolizes the One Truth surrounded by its four constituents or elements. As the source of all organic life, in him all things visible and invisible have their consummation and absorption.
For general references to the deities of the Bardo Thédol, see L. A. Waddell, The Buddhism of Tibet or Lamaism (London, 1895) ; and A, Getty, The Gods of Northern Buddhism (Oxford, 1914).
seated upon a lion-throne, bearing an eight-spoked wheel in his hand, and embraced by the Mother of the Space of Heaven,! will manifest himself to thee.
It is the aggregate of matter resolved into its primordial state which is the blue light.?
The Wisdom of the Dharma-Dhatu, blue in colour, shining, transparent, glorious, dazzling, from the heart of Vairochana as the Father-Mother,? will shoot forth and strike against thee with a light so radiant that thou wilt scarcely be able to look at it.
Along with it, there will also shine a dull white light from the devas, which will strike against thee in thy front.
Thereupon, because of the power of bad karma, the glorious blue light of the Wisdom of the Dharma-Dhatu will produce
Thou wilt beget a fondness for the dull white light of the devas.
At this stage, thou must not be awed by the divine blue light which will appear shining, dazzling, and glorious; and be not startled by it. That is the light of the Tathagata * called the Light of the Wisdom of the Dharma-Dhatu. Put thy faith in it, believe in it firmly, and pray unto it, thinking in thy mind that it is the light proceeding from the heart of the Bhagavan Vairochana coming to receive thee while in the
? Here the Block-Print reads: ‘It is the aggregate of consciousness (Ruam- par Shes-tahi—pro. Nam-par She-pay—Skt. Vijiidna Skandha) resolved into its primordial state which is the blue light.’ In our MS. the aggregate of consciousness shines as a white light in relationship with Vajra-Sattva, on the Second Day (see p. 109).
* Here, as in parallel passages following, the chief deity personifies in him- self the female as well as the male principle of nature, and hence is called the Father-Mother—depicted, as described by the text, in appropriate symbolic colours, on the corresponding illuminated folio of our MS., as the Divine Father and the Divine Mother in union (i.e. in divine at-one-ment).
* Text : De-bshing-shegs-pa (pron, De-shing-sheg-pa) : Skt. Tathagata, meaning
(Nirvana)—a Buddha,
dangerous ambuscade! of the Bardo. That light is the light of the grace of Vairochana.
Be not fond of the dull white light of the devas. Be not attached |to it]; be not weak. If thou be attached to it, thou wilt wander into the abodes of the devas and be drawn into the whirl of the Six Zokas. That is an interruption to obstruct thee on the Path of Liberation. Look not at it. Look at the bright blue light in deep faith. Put thy whole thought earnestly upon Vairochana and repeat after me this prayer:
‘ Alas! when wandering in the Sangsara, because of intense stupidity,
On the radiant light-path of the Dharma-Dhatu Wisdom
guard ;
May |I} be led safely across the fearful ambush of the Bardo;
hood.’ ?
halo of rainbow light, into the heart of Vairochana, and obtain Buddhahood in the Sambhoga-Kaya, in the Central Realm of the Densely-Packed.*