Unborn, the Unmade, the Unformed, implies Buddhahood, Perfect Enlighten- ment—the state of the Divine Mind of the Buddha. Compare the following passage, from The Diamond [or Immutable] Sara, with its Chinese commentary (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 /a@mas 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 Jacks 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 Nirvana (which is the ‘blowing out of the flame of selfish longing’); and so the Wheel of Life continues to turn.
3069 O 98 BARDO OF THE DYING [BOOK I 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.* To say that the state [of the primary Clear Light] endureth for a meal-time period [would depend upon] the good or bad 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]: There are those [devotees] of the perfected stage and of the 1 Immediately after the passing of the vital-force into the median-nerve, the person dying experiences the Clear Light in its primitive purity, the Dharma- Kaya unobscured; and, if unable to hold fast to that experience, next ex- periences the secondary Clear Light, having fallen to a lower state of the Bardo, wherein the Dharma-Kaya is dimmed by karmtc obscurations.
SEC apesorxs SEC apesorxs 8 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 ahuman 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-ye (pron. Shin-je): ‘Lord of Death’; but the plural form is allowable and preferable here.
PARTI] RECOGNITION OF THE BARDO 99 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. LEarnestly 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.
So saying, [the reader will] impress it.
If [the deceased be] of the common folk, say, Meditate upon the Great Compassionate Lord.® By thus being set-face-to-face even those who would not be expected to recognize the Bardo [unaided| are undoubtedly certain to recognize it.
Persons who while living had been set face to face [with the Reality] by a guru, yet who have not made themselves 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.* 1 Cf. the following, from The Craft to Know Well to Die, chap. [V, Comper’s ed. (p. 73): ‘And after he [the person dying] ought to require the apostles, the martyrs, the confessors and the virgins, and in special all the saints that he most loved ever.’
2 The favourite deity of the deceased is the tutelary (Tib. y#-dawz), usually one of the Buddhas or Bodhisattvas, of whom Chenrazee is the most popular.
3 Text: Jo-vo-thugs-rje-chen-po (pron. Jo-wo-thu-ji-chen-po): ‘ Great Compas- sionate Lord’, synonymous with Tib. Spyan-ras.gzigs (pron. Chen-ré-si): Skt. Avalokiteshvara.
4 A person may have heard a detailed description of the art of swimming and yet never have tried to swim. Suddenly thrown into water he finds himself unable to swim. So with those who have been taught the theory of how to act in the time of death and have not applied, through yogic practices, the theory: they cannot maintain unbroken continuity of consciousness; they grow be- wildered at the changed conditions; and fail to progress or to take advantage of the opportunity offered by death, unless upheld and directed by a living guru. Even with all that a guru can do, they ordinarily, because of bad Zarma, fail to recognize the Bardo as such.
pale 100 BARDO OF THE DYING [BOOK I 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.
Again [there are those] who, although previously familiar 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, this [instruction] is indispensable.
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.} Not knowing whether [he be] dead or not, [a state of] lucidity cometh [to the deceased].? 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,? kayma controlleth not.4 Like the sun’s rays, for example, dispelling the darkness, the Clear Light on the Path dispelleth the power of karma.
1 Text: dag-pahi-sgyu-lus (pron. tag-pay-gyu-lit): ‘pure (or shining) illusory body’: Skt. mayd-riipa. This is the ethereal counterpart of the physical body of the earth-plane, the ‘astral-body’ of Theosophy.
2 With the departure of the consciousness-principle from the human body there comes a psychic thrill which gives way to a state of lucidity.
§ Text: Chés-nyid-ma-bu: Skt. Dharma Matri Putra: ‘Mother and Offspring Reality (or Truth).? The Offspring-Truth is that realized in this world through practising deep meditation (Skt. dhyana), The Mother-Truth is the Primal or Fundamental Truth, experienced only after death whilst the Knower is in the Bardo state of equilibrium, ere karmic propensities have erupted into activity. What a photograph is compared to the object photographed, the Offspring- Reality is to the Mother-Reality.
* Lit., ‘karma 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 harma’ (cf. Tantra of the Great Liberation, line ao5, as edited by Arthur Avalon, London, 1913, P- 359).
PART 1] BARDO OF KARMIC ILLUSIONS 101 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 have come yet, and, therefore, he [the deceased] cannot be turned hither and thither [from his aim of achieving En- lightenment ].
[PART 1]j Pee 2.47900 OF THE EXPERIENCING OF KREALITY| LINTRODUCTORY INSTRUCTIONS CONCERNING Tee ESP RI PNCING OF REAL DURING THe THIRD STAGE OF THESt4AnR20, CALDED THE CHONYID BARDO, WHEN THE KARMIC APPARIDIONS APPEAR] But even though the Primary Clear Light be not recognized, the Clear Light of the second Bardo being recognized, Libera- tion will be attained. If not liberated even by that, then that called the third Bardo or the Chonyid Bardo dawneth.
In this third stage of the Bardo, the karmic illusions come to shine. It is very important that this Great Setting-face-to- face of the Choényid Bardo be read: it hath much power and can do much good.
About this time [the deceased] can see that the share of food is being set aside, that the body is being stripped of its garments, that the place of the sleeping-rug is being swept;° 5 The references are (1) to the share of food being set aside for the deceased during the funeral rites; (2) to his corpse being prepared for the shroud; (3) to his bed or sleeping-place.
102 BARDO OF KARMIC ILLUSIONS [Book I can hear all the weeping and wailing of his friends and rela- tives, and, although he can see them and can hear them calling upon him, they cannot hear him calling upon them, so he goeth away displeased.
At that time, sounds, lights, and rays—all three—are experienced. These awe, frighten, and terrify, and cause much fatigue. At this moment, this setting-face-to-face with the Bardo [during the experiencing] of Reality is to be applied. Call the deceased by name, and correctly and dis- tinctly explain to him, as follows: O nobly-born, jisten with full attention, without being distracted: There are six states of Bardo, namely: the natural state of Bardo while in the womb;! the Bardo of the dream-state;? the Bardo of ecstatic equilibrium, while in deep meditation;* the Bardo of the moment of death;* the Bardo (during the experiencing| of Reality;° the Bardo of the inverse process of saugsdric existence.® These are the six.
O nobly-born, thou wilt expericnce three Bardos, the Bardo of the moment of death, the Bardo [during the experiencing] of Reality, and the Sardo while seeking rebirth. Of these three, up to yesterday, thou hadst experienced the Bardo of the moment of death. Although the Clear Light of Reality dawned upon thee, thou wert unable to hold on, and so thou hast to wander here. Now henceforth thou art going to experience the [other] two, the Chényid Bardo and the Sidpa Bardo.
1 Text: Skye-gnas Bardo (pron. Kye-nay Bardo): ‘Intermediate State’, or ‘State of Uncertainty, of the place of birth (or while in the womb)’.
* Text: Rmi-lan Bardo (pron. Mi-lam Bardo): ‘Intermediate State’, or ‘State of Uncertainty, [during the experiencing] of the dream-state’.
° Text: Ting-nge-hzin Bsam-giam Bardo (pron. Tin-ge-ain Sam-tam Bardo): ‘Intermediate State’, or ‘State of Uncertainty, [during the experiencing] of Dyhana (Meditation) in Samadhi (Ecstatic equilibrium)’.
* Text: Hehi-khahi Bardo (pron. Chi-khai Bardo): ‘Intermediate State’, or ‘State of Uncertainty, of the dying moment (or moment of death) ’.
5 Text: Chés-nyid Bardo (pron. Ché-nyid Bardo): ‘Intermediate State’, or ‘State of Uncertainty, [during the experiencing] of Reality’.
® Text: Lugs-hbyung Srid-pahi Bardo (pron. Lu-jung Sid-pai Bardo: ‘Inter- mediate State’, or ‘State of Uncertainty, in the inverse process of sangsdaric (worldly) existence’—the state wherein the Knower is seeking rebirth.
PART II] THE SECRET OF RECOGNITION 103 Thou wilt pay undistracted attention to that with which I am about to set thee face to face, and hold on: O nobly-born, that which is called death hath now come. Thou art departing from this world, but thou art not the only one; [death] cometh to all. Do not cling, in fondness and weakness, to this life. Even though thou clingest out of weakness, thou hast not the power to remain here. Thou wilt gain nothing more than wandering in this Sangsara.} Be not attached [to this world]; be not weak. Remember the Precious Trinity.?
O nobly-born, whatever fear and terror may come to thee in the Chinyid Bardo, forget not these words; and, bearing their meaning at heart, go forwards: in them lieth the vital secret of recognition: ‘Alas! when the Uncertain Experiencing of Reality is dawning upon me here,’ With every thought of fear or terror or awe for all [appari- tional appearances] set aside, May I recognize whatever [visions] appear, as the reflections of mine own consciousness; May I know them to be of the nature of apparitions in the Bardo: When at this all-important moment [of opportunity] of achieving a great end, May I not fear the bands of Peaceful and Wrathful [ Deities], mine own thought-forms.*’ Repeat thou these [verses] clearly, and remembering their significance as thou repeatest them, go forwards, [O nobly- born]. Thereby, whatever visions of awe or terror appear, 1 Text: Hkhor-va (pron. Khor-wa): ‘a thing whirling round’; ‘ whirligig’: Skt. Sangsdra (or Samsara).
2 That is, the Buddha, the Dharma, the Sangha, 8 Reality is experienced or glimpsed in a state of uncertainty, because the Knower experiences it through the Bardo counterpart of the illusory perceptive faculties of the earth-plane body and not through the unobscured supramundane consciousness of the pure Dharma-Kaya state, wherein there can be no Bardo (i.e ‘Uncertain’, or ‘Intermediate State’).
4 Text: rang-snang (pron. rang-nang): ‘one’s own [mental] visions (or thought-forms).’
104 BARDO OF KARMIC ILLUSIONS [Book I recognition is certain; and forget not this vital secret art lying therein.
O nobly-born, when thy body and mind were separating, thou must have experienced a glimpse of the Pure Truth, subtle, sparkling, bright, dazzling, glorious, and radiantly awesome, in appearance like a mirage moving across a land- scape in spring-time in one continuous stream of vibrations. Be not daunted thereby, nor terrified, nor awed. That is the radiance of thine own true nature. Recognize it.
From the midst of that radiance, the natural sound of Reality, reverberating like a thousand thunders simultaneously sounding, will come. That is the natural sound of thine own real self. Be not daunted thereby, nor terrified, nor awed.
The body which thou hast now is called the thought-body of propensities! Since thou hast not a material body of flesh and blood, whatever may come,—sounds, lights, or rays, —are, all three, unable to harm thee: thou art incapable of dying. It is quite sufficient for thee to know that these apparitions are thine own thought-forms. Recognize this to be the Bardo.
O nobly-born, if thou dost not now recognize thine own thought-forms, whatever of meditation or of devotion thou mayst have performed while in the human world—if thou hast not met with this present teaching—the lights will daunt thee, the sounds will awe thee, and the rays will terrify thee. Shouldst thou not know this all-important key to the teach- ings,—not being able to recognize the sounds, lights, and rays,—thou wilt have to wander in the Sangsara.
[THE DAWNING OF "THE PEACEFUL*s DEITEa] PROM THE FERST TO THE SEVENTH Diag) [Assuming that the deceased is karmically bound—as the average departed one is—to pass through the forty-nine days of the Bardo existence, despite the very frequent settings-face- to-face, the daily trials and dangers which he must meet and ‘thought-body’; dag-chags: ‘habit’, ‘propensities’ (born of samgsaric or worldly existence).
PART II] DAWNING OF VAIROCHANA 105 attempt to triumph over, during the first seven days, wherein dawn the Peaceful Deities, are next explained to him in detail; the first day, judging from the text, being reckoned from the time in which normally he would be expected to wake up to the fact that he is dead and on the way back to rebirth, or about three and one-half to four days after death.]
[THE FIRST DAY] [THE FIRST DAY] 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 Saxgsara will be in revolution;! and the phenomenal appearances that thou wilt see then will be the radiances and deities. 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 1 That is to say, phenomena, or phenomenal experiences as experienced when in the human world, will be experienced in quite another way in the Bardo world, so that to one just dead they will seem to be in revolution or confusion; hence the warning to the deceased, who must accustom himself to the after-death state as a babe must accustom itself after birth to our world.
2 At this point, where the marvellous Bardo visions begin to dawn, the student in attempting to rationalize them should ever keep in mind that this treatise is essentially esoteric, being in most parts, especially from here onwards, allegorical and symbolical of psychic experiences in the after-death state.
3 Text: Thiglé-Brdalva (pron. Thigle-Dalwa): ‘ Spreading forth the Seed [of all Things].’? Esoterically, this is the Dharma-Dhatu.
4 Text: Rnam-par-Snang-mzad (pron. Nam-par-Nang-2ad); Skt. Vairochana, the Dhyani Buddha of the Centre (or Central Realm). Vavvochana literally means, ‘in shapes making visible’; hence he is the Manifester of Phenomena, or the Noumena, The wheel he holds symbolizes sovereign power. His title Bhagavan (applied to many other of the deities to follow hereinafter), meaning “One Possessed of Dominion’ (or ‘of the Six Powers’), or ‘The Victorious’, qualifies him as being a Buddha, i.e. One who has conquered, or has dominion over, sangsaric, or worldly, existence.
As the Central Dhyani Buddha, Vairochana is the highest path te 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).
3069 P 106 BARDO OF KARMIC ILLUSIONS [BOOK I 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 in thee fear and terror, and thou wilt [wish to] flee from it. 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 1 Text: Nam-mkh-ah-dvyings-kyi-duang-phyung-ma (pron. Nam-kha-ing-hya- wang-chug-ma): ‘ Sovereign Lady of the Space of Heaven’: Skt. Akasa Dhatu /shvari. The Mother is the female principle of the universe; the Father, Vairochana, the seed of all that is, ? Here the Block-Print reads: ‘It is the aggregate of consciousness (Rvam- par Shes-tahi—pro. Nam-par She-pay —Skt. Vijfiana 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 ‘{He] who hath gone that same way’, i.e. One who hath reached the Goal (Nirva@na)—a Buddha, PART II] LIBERATION BY VAIROCHANA 107 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 Sazgsara, because of intense stupidity, On the radiant light-path of the Dkarma-Dhatu Wisdom May [I] be led by the Bhagavan Vairochana, May the Divine Mother of Infinite Space be [my] rearguard; May |I] be led safely across the fearful ambush of the Bardo; May [I] be placed in the state of the All-Perfect Buddha- hood.’?
Praying thus, in intense humble faith, [thou] wilt merge, in halo of rainbow light, into the heart of Vairochana, and obtain Buddhahood in the Sambhoga-K aya, in the Central Realm of the Densely-Packed.® 1 Text: hphrang (pron. htang): ‘narrow passage’, ‘ambush’.
2 Cf, the following instructions to the dying person and the prayer from The Craft to Know Well to Die, chap. IV, Comper’s ed. (p. 73): ‘ He ought after- wards, if he may, to call on the holy angels, in saying: ‘‘ Ye spirits of Heaven, Angels much glorious, I beseech you that ye will be assistant [i.e. present] with me that now beginneth to depart, and that ye deliver me mightily from the awaits and fallacies of mine adversaries; and that it please you to receive my soul into your company. The principal, my leader and my good angel, which by our Lord art deputed to be my warder and keeper, I pray and require thee that thou now aid and help me.”’’
3 Text: Stug-po-bkod-pahi shing-khams (pron. Tug-po-kod-pai shing-kham): ‘Thickly-formed’ or ‘Densely-packed Realm’, i.e. the seed of all universal forces and things are densely packed together therein; also called in Tibetan ‘Og-min: lit, ‘No-down’, the realm whence there is no fall, the state leading into Nirvdua; it is pre-eminently the realm of the Buddhas, 108 BARDO OF KARMIC ILEWSIONS [BeeK!
[THE SECOND DAY] But if, notwithstanding this setting-face-to-face, through power of anger or obscuring karma one should be startled at the glorious light and flee, or be overcome by illusions, despite the prayer, on the Second Day, Vajra-Sattva and his attendant deities, as well as one’s evil deeds [meriting] Hell, will come to receive one.
Thereupon the setting-face-to-face is, calling the deceased by name, thus: O nobly-born, listen undistractedly. On the Second Day the pure form of water will shine as a white light. At that time, from the deep blue Eastern Realm of Pre-eminent Hap- piness, the Bhagavan Akshobhya [as] Vajra-Sattva,’ blue in colour, holding in his hand a five-pronged dovze,? seated upon an elephant-throne, and embraced by the Mother Mamaki?, will appear to thee, attended by the Bodhisattvas Kshiti- garbha* and Maitreya,® with the female Bodhisattvas, Lasema and Pushpema.® These six Bodhic deities will appear to thee.
1 Text: Rdorje-sems-dpah Mi-bskyod-pa (pron. Dorje-sems-pa Mi-kyod-pa): Skt. Vajra-Sativa Akshobhya. Akshobhya (the ‘ Unagitated’ or ‘Immovable’), the Dhyani Buddha of the Eastern Direction, here, as throughout the text, appears as Vajra-Sattva (‘The Divine Heroic-Minded’, or ‘ Indestructible-Minded’), his Sambhoga-Kdaya, or adorned active reflex. WVajra-Dhara (‘The Indestructible or Steadfast Holder’ [see p. 13]) is, also, a reflex of Akshobhya; and both reflexes are very important deities of the Esoteric School.
2 The dorye is the lamatc sceptre, a type of the thunderbolt of Indra (Jupiter).
8 This is the Sanskrit form as incorporated in our Tibetan text. Here the Block-Print, evidently in error, contains, in Tibetan, Sangs-rgyas-spyan-ma (pron. Sang-yay Chan-ma), meaning ‘She of the Buddha Eye’, who, in our manu- script text, comes with Ratna-Sambhava on the Third Day. Mamaki is also one of the ro8 names given to Délma (Skt. Tara), the national goddess of Tibet. (See p, 116%.) In the Dharma Samgraha it is said that there are four Devis, namely, Rochani, Mamaki, Pandura, and Tara.
* Text: Sahi-snying-po (pron. Sayi-nying-po): Skt. Kshitigarbha: ‘Womb (or Matrix) of the Earth.’
5 Text: Byants-pa (pron. Cham-pa): Skt. Mattreya: ‘ Love’; the Buddha to come, who will reform mankind through the power of divine love.
® Lasema and Pushpema are corrupt Sanskrit forms incorporated in our manuscript. Their Tibetan equivalents are, respectively, Sgeg-mo-ma (Skt. Lasya), meaning ‘ Belle’ (or ‘ Dallying One’), and Me-tog-ma (Skt. Pushpa), ‘She who offers (or holds) Blossoms’. Pushpa, depicted holding a blossom in her hand, is a personification of blossoms. Ldsya, the Belle, depicted holding a mirror in a coquettish attitude, personifies beauty, PART 1] DAWNING OF VAJRA-SATTVA 1cg The aggregate of thy principle of consciousness,! being in its pure form—which is the Mirror-like Wisdom—will shine as a bright, radiant white light, from the heart of Vajra-Sattva, the Father-Mother,? with such dazzling brilliancy and trans- parency that thou wilt scarcely be able to look at it, [and] will strike against thee. And a dull, smoke-coloured light from Hell will shine alongside the light of the Mirror-like Wisdom and will [also] strike against thee.
Thereupon, through the power of anger, thou wilt beget fear and be startled at the dazzling white light and wilt [wish to] flee from it; thou wilt beget a feeling of fondness for the dull smoke-coloured light from Hell. Act then so that thou wilt not fear that bright, dazzling, transparent white light. Know it to be Wisdom. Put thy humble and earnest faith in it. That is the light of the grace of the Bhagavan Vajra- Sattva. Think, with faith, ‘I will take refuge in it’; and pray- That is the Bhagavan Vajra-Sattva coming to receive thee and to save thee from the fear and terror of the ardo. Believe in it; for it is the hook of the rays of grace of Vajra- Sattva.?
Be not fond of the dull, smoke-coloured light from Hell. That is the path which openeth out to receive thee because of the power of accumulated evil karma from violent anger. If thou be attracted by it, thou wilt fall into the Hell-Worlds; and, falling therein, thou wilt have to endure unbearable misery, whence there is no certain time of getting out. That being an interruption to obstruct thee on the Path of Libera- tion, look not at it; and avoid anger.* Be not attracted by 1 Text: Ruampar-shes-paht-phung-po (pron. Nampar-she-pay-phung-po), ‘ag- gregate of consciousness-principle’, the Knower. The Block-Print contains, in place of this, Geugs-kyt-phung-po (pron. Zu-kyt-phung-po), ‘aggregate of the body’ or ‘ Bodily-aggregate’.
2 See p. 1063.
8 The rays of divine grace are a hook of salvation to catch hold of the deceased and drag him away from the dangers of the Bardo. Sometimes each ray is thought of as ending in a hook, just as each ray emanating from the sun- god Ra, and descending as a grace ray upon a devotce, is depicted in ancient temples of Egypt as ending in a hand. Similarly, the Christian thinks of the saving grace of God.
4 The deceased is here thought of, perhaps, as being able to see his people 110 BARDO OF KARMIC ILLUSIONS [800K I it; be not weak. Believe in the dazzling bright white light; [and] putting thy whole heart earnestly upon the Bhagavan Vajra-Sattva, pray thus: ‘Alas! when wandering in the Sangsdra because of the power of violent anger, On the radiant light-path of the Mirror-like Wisdom, May [I] be led by the Bhagavan Vajra-Sattva, May the Divine Mother Mamaki be [my] rear-guard; May [I] be led safely across the fearful ambush of the Bardo; And may [I] be placed in the state of the All-perfect Buddhahood.’
Praying thus, in intense humble faith, thou wilt merge, in rainbow light, into the heart of the Bhagavan Vajra-Sattva and obtain Buddhahood in the Sambhoga-K aya, in the Eastern Realm called Pre-eminently Happy.
[THE THIRD DAY] Yet, even when set face to face in this way, some persons, because of obscurations from bad karma, and from pride, although the hook of the rays of grace [striketh against them], flee from it. [If one be one of them], then, on the Third Day, the Bhagavan Ratna-Sambhava! and his accompanying deities, along with the light-path from the human world, will come to receive one simultaneously.
Again, calling the deceased by name, the setting-face-to-face is thus: O nobly-born, listen undistractedly. On the Third Day the primal form of the element earth will shine forth asa yellow light. At that time, from the Southern Realm Endowed with on earth and as liable to anger should he see them disputing over the division of his property, or if he perceives avarice on the part of the Jama conducting the funeral rites. But the prohibition touching anger is essentially yogic, yogis of all religions recognizing that anger prevents spiritual progress; and it