parallels the moral teaching against giving way to anger contained in the ancient Egyptian Precepts of Ptah-hotep.
1 Text: Rinchen-hbyung-ldan (pron, Rinchen-Jung-dan): Skt. Ratna-Sam- bhava, i.c. ‘Born of a Jewel’. He is the Beautifier, whence comes all that is precious; a personified attribute of the Buddha.
PART 11] DAWNING OF RATNA-SAMBHAVA 111 Glory, the Bhagavan Ratna-Sambhava, yellow in colour, bearing a jewel in his hand, seated upon a horse-throne and embraced by the Divine Mother Sangyay-Chanma,! will shine upon thee.
The two Bodhisattvas, Akasha-Garbha? and Samanta- Bhadra,* attended by the two female Bodhisattvas, Mahlaima and Dhupema,*—in all, six Bodhic forms,—will come to shine from amidst a rainbow halo of light. The aggregate of touch in its primal form, as the yellow light of the Wisdom of Equality, dazzlingly yellow, glorified with orbs having satellite orbs of radiance, so clear and bright that the eye can scarcely look upon it, will strike against thee. Side by side with it, the dull bluish-yellow light from the human [world] will also strike against thy heart, along with the Wisdom light.
Thereupon, through the power of egotism, thou wilt beget a fear for the dazzling yellow light and wilt [wish to] flee from it. Thou wilt be fondly attracted towards the dull bluish-yellow light from the human [world].
At that time do not fear that bright, dazzling-yellow, trans- parent light, but know it to be Wisdom; in that state, keeping thy mind resigned, trust in it earnestly and humbly. If thou knowest it to be the radiance of thine own intellect—although thou exertest not thy humility and faith and prayer to it— the Divine Body and Light will merge into thee inseparably, and thou wilt obtain Buddhahood.
If thou dost not recognize the radiance of thine own intel- lect, think, with faith, ‘It is the radiance of the grace of the 1 Text: Sangs-reyas-spyan-ma (pron, Sang-yay Chan-ma): ‘She of the Buddha Eye (or Eyes)’ 2 Text: Nam-mkhahi-snying-po (pron. Nam-khai-nying-po): Skt. Akasha- Garbha, ‘Womb (or Matrix) of the Sky’.
3 Text: Kuntu-byzang-po (pron. Kuntu-zang-po): Skt. Samanta-Bhadra, ‘All-Good’. This is not the Adi-Buddha Samanta-Bhadra (cf. p. 95°), but the spiritual son of the Dhyani Buddha Vairochana.
4 Text: Mahlaima, ‘She Who Holds (or Bears) the Rosary’; and Dhupema, ‘She Who Holds (or Bears) the Incense’. These are corrupt forms, hybrids of Sanskrit and Tibetan, their Sanskrit equivalents being Ma/d and Dhipa, and their Tibetan equivalents Hphreng-ba-ma (pron. Phreng-ba-ma) and Bdug-spis- ma (pron. Dug-pd-ma). The colour of these goddesses, corresponding to that of the earth-light, is yellow.
112 BARDO OF KARMIC ILLUSIONS [Book I Bhagavan Ratna-Sambhava; I will take refuge in it’; and pray. It is the hook of the grace-rays of the Bhagavan Ratna-Sambhava; believe in it.
Be not fond of that dull bluish-yellow light from the human [world]. That is the path of thine accumulated propensities of violent egotism come to receive thee. If thou art attracted by it, thou wilt be born in the human world and have to suffer birth, age, sickness, and death; and thou wilt have no chance of getting out of the quagmire of worldly existence. That is an interruption to obstruct thy path of liberation. Therefore, look not upon it, and abandon egotism, abandon propensities; be not attracted towards it; be not weak. Act so as to trust in that bright dazzling light. Put thine earnest thought, one-pointedly, upon the Bhagavan Ratna-Sambhava; and pray thus: ‘Alas! when wandering in the Sanugsadra because of the power of violent egotism, On the radiant light-path of the Wisdom of Equality, May [I] be led by the Bhagavan Ratna-Sambhava; May the Divine Mother, She-of-the-Buddha-Eye, 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.’
By praying thus, with deep humility and faith, thou wilt merge into the heart of the Bhagavan Ratna-Sambhava, the Divine Father-Mother, in halo of rainbow light, and attain Buddhahood in the Sambhoga-K aya, in the Southern Realm Endowed with Glory.
[THE FOURTH DAY] By thus being set face to face, however weak the mental faculties may be, there is no doubt of one’s gaining Liberation. Yet, though so often set face to face, there are classes of men who, having created much bad karma, or having failed in observ- ance of vows, or, their lot [for higher development] being alto- gether lacking, prove unable to recognize: their obscurations PART IT] DAWNING OF AMITABHA 113 and evil karma from covetousness and miserliness produce awe of the sounds and radiances, and they flee. [If one be of these classes], then, on the Fourth Day, the Bhagavan Amitabha' and his attendant deities, together with the light- path from the Preta-loka, proceeding from miserliness and attachment, will come to receive one simultaneously.
Again the setting-face-to-face is, calling the deceased by name, thus: O nobly-born, listen undistractedly. On the Fourth Day the red light, which is the primal form of the element fire, will shine. At that time, from the Red Western Realm of Happi- ness,? the Bhagavan Buddha Amitabha, red in colour, bearing a lotus in his hand, seated upon a peacock-throne and em- braced by the Divine Mother Gékarmo,? will shine upon thee, [together with] the Bodhisattvas Chenrazee* and Jampal,* attended by the female Bodhisattvas Ghirdhima® and Aloke.° The six bodies of Enlightenment will shine upon thee from amidst a halo of rainbow light.
1 Text: Suang-va-mthah-yas (pron. Nang-wa-tha-yay): Skt. Amustabha, ‘Bound- Jess (or Incomprehensible) Light’, As an embodiment of one of the Buddha- attributes or Wisdoms, the All-discriminating Wisdom, Amitabha personifies life eternal.
3 Text: Spyan-ras-geigs (pron. Chen-rd-2t): Skt. Avalokiteshvara, ‘ Down- Looking One’, the embodiment of mercy or compassion. The Dalai Lamas are believed to be his incarnations; Amitabha, with whom he here dawns, is his. spiritual father, whose incarnate representatives are the Tashi Lamas. He is often depicted with eleven heads and a thousand arms, each with an eye in the palm—as ‘The Great Pitier’—his thousand arms and eyes appropriately representing him as ever on the outlook to discover distress and to succour the troubled. In China, Avalokiteshvara becomes the Great Goddess of Mercy Kwanyin, represented by a female figure bearing a child in her arms.
* Text: Hgam-dpal (pron. Jam-pal): Skt. Matjushri, ‘Of Gentle Glory’. A fuller Tibetan form is Hgam-dpal-dvyangs (pron. Jam-pal-yang): Skt. Maii- jughosha, ‘Glorious Gentle-Voiced One’. He is ‘The God of Mystic Wisdom’, the Buddhist Apollo, commonly depicted with the flaming sword of light held aloft in his right hand and the lotus-supported Book of Wisdom, the Prajza- Paramité, held in his left.
& Text: Ghir-dhi-ma and Aloke, corrupted from Skt. Gita, ‘ Song’, and Aloka, ‘Light’: Tib. Glu-ma (pron, Lu-ma) and Snang-gsal-ma (pron. Nang-sal-ma). Gita, commonly represented holding a lyre, personifies (or symbolizes) music and song, and Aloka, holding a lamp, personifies (or symbolizes) light. Related to the element fire, as herein, their colour is red, 3069 Q 114 BARDO OF KARMIC ILLUSIONS [Book 1 The primal form of the aggregate of feelings as the red light of the All-Discriminating Wisdom, glitteringly red, glori- fied with orbs and satellite orbs, bright, transparent, glorious and dazzling, proceeding from the heart of the Divine Father- Mother Amitabha, will strike against thy heart [so radiantly] that thou wilt scarcely be able to look upon it. Fear it not.
Along with it, a dull red light from the Preta-loka, coming side by side with the Light of Wisdom, will also shine upon thee. Act so that thou shalt not be fond of it. Abandon attach- ment [and] weakness [for it].
At that time, through the influence of intense attachment, thou wilt become terrified by the dazzling red light, and wilt [wish to] flee from it. And thou wilt beget a fondness for that dull red light of the Preta-loka.
At that time, be not afraid of the glorious, dazzling, trans- parent, radiant red light. Recognizing it as Wisdom, keeping thine intellect in the state of resignation, thou wilt merge [into it] inseparably and attain Buddhahood.
If thou dost not recognize it, think, ‘It is the rays of the grace of the Bhagavan Amitabha, and I will take refuge in it’; and, trusting humbly in it, pray unto it. That is the hook- rays of the grace of the Bhagavan Amitabha. Trust in it humbly; flee not. Even if thou fleest, it will follow thee inseparably [from thyself]. Fear it not. Be not attracted towards the dull red light of the Preta-loka. That is the light- path proceeding from the accumulations of thine intense attachment [to sangsaric existence] which hath come to receive thee. If thou be attached thereto, thou wilt fall into the World of Unhappy Spirits and suffer unbearable misery from hunger and thirst. Thou wilt have no chance of gaining Liberation [therein].!. That dull red light is an interruption to obstruct thee on the Path of Liberation. Be not attached to it, and abandon habitual propensities. Be not weak. Trust in the bright dazzling red light. In the Bhagavan Amitabha, 1 Lit. ‘Of Liberation there will be no time.’ Once the deceased becomes a preta, or unhappy ghost, the after-death attainment of Nirvdua is, normally, no longer possible; he must then wait for the opportunity afforded by rebirth in the human world, when his Preta-loka existence has ended.
PART 1] DAWNING OF AMOGHA-SIDDHI 115 the Father-Mother, put thy trust one-pointedly and pray thus: ‘Alas! when wandering in the Sangsdra because of the power of intense attachment, On the radiant light-path of the Discriminating Wisdom May [I] be led by the Bhagavan Amitabha; May the Divine Mother, She-of-White-Raiment, be [my] rear-guard; May [I] be safely led across the dangerous ambush of the Bardo; And may [I] be placed in the state of the All-Perfect Buddhahood.’
By praying thus, humbly and earnestly, thou wilt merge into the heart of the Divine Father-Mother, the Bhagavan Amitabha, in halo of rainbow-light, and attain Buddhahood in the Sambhoga-K aya, in the Western Realm named Happy.
{THE FIFTH DAY} It is impossible that one should not be liberated thereby. Yet, though thus set face to face, sentient beings, unable through long association with propensities to abandon propen- sities, and, through bad karma and jealousy, awe and terror being produced by the sounds and radiances—the hook-rays of grace failing to catch hold of them—wander down also to the Fifth Day. [If one be sucha sentient being], thereupon the Bhagavan Amogha-Siddhi, with his attendant deities and the light and rays of his grace, will come to receive one. A light proceeding from the Asura-loka, produced by the evil passion of jealousy, will also come to receive one.
The setting-face-to-face at that time is, calling the deceased by name, thus: O nobly-born, listen undistractedly. On the Fifth Day, the green light of the primal form of the element air will shine upon thee. At that time, from the Green Northern Realm of Successful Performance of Best Actions, the Bhagavan Buddha Amogha-Siddhi, green in colour, bearing a crossed-dorje in 116 BARDO OF KARMIC ILLUSIONS [Book I hand,! seated upon a sky-traversing Harpy-throne,? embraced by the Divine Mother, the Faithful Délma,’ will shine upon thee, with his attendants,—the two Bodhisattvas Chag-na- Dorje4 and Dibpanamsel,® attended by two female Bodhi- sattvas, Gandhema® and Nidhema.’ These six Bodhic forms, from amidst a halo of rainbow light, will come to shine.
The primal form of the aggregate of volition, shining as the green light of the All-Performing Wisdom, dazzlingly green, transparent and radiant, glorious and terrifying, beautified with orbs surrounded by satellite orbs of radiance, issuing from the heart of the Divine Father-Mother Amogha-Siddhi, green in colour, will strike against thy heart [so wondrously 1 That is, a dorje with four heads, such as is depicted on the front cover of this volume. It symbolizes equilibrium, immutability, and almighty power, 2 Text: shang-shang, refers to an order of creatures like the fabulous harpies of classical mythology, having human form from the waist upwards, and from the waist downwards the form of a bird; but whereas the Greek harpies were female, these are of both sexes. That a race of such harpies exists in the world somewhere is a popular belief among Tibetans.
5 Text: Sgrol-ma (pron. Dél-ma): Délma (Skt. Tara) = ‘Saviouress’. She is the divine consort of Avalokiteshvara. There are now two recognized forms of this goddess: the Green Délma, as worshipped in Tibet, and the White Dolma, as worshipped chiefly in China and Mongolia. The royal Nepalese princess who became the wife of the first Buddhist king of Tibet is believed to have been an incarnation of the Green Dolma, and his wife from the Imperial House of China an incarnation of the White Doélma. (Seep. 74.) The late Lama Kazi Dawa-Samdup told me that, because Tibetans saw the likeness of Queen Victoria on English coins and recognized it as being that of Délma, there developed throughout Tibet during the Victorian Era a belief that Dolma had come back to birth again to rule the world in the person of the Great Queen of England; and that, owing to this belief, the British representatives of the Queen then met with an unusually friendly reception in their negotiations with Lhassa, although probably unaware of the origin of the friendship.
* Text: Phyag-na-rdove (pron. Chag-na-dorje): ‘Bearing the Dore in hand’: Skt. Vajra-pani.
5 Text: Sgrib-pa-rnam-sel (pron. Dib-pa-nam-sel): ‘Clearer of Obscurations’: Skt. Dipani, also Dipika.
® Skt.-Tib. hybrid of text. Corresponding Tib., Dri-chha-ma (Skt. Gandha), ‘She Spraying Perfume’, one of the eight mother goddesses (Matris) of the Hindu pantheon. She is depicted holding a shell-vase of perfume (a7).
7 Skt.-Tib. hybrid of text. Corresponding Tib., Zhal-gas-ma (pron. Shal-za- ma), ‘She Holding Sweetmeats’. Although a goddess like Gandhema, Nidhema (Skt. Wazvedya) cannot be included in the formal list of eight Matris, the eight already having been named in our text. Both goddesses are green in colour, like the light of the All-Performing Wisdom, PART 1] LIBERATION BY AMOGHA-SIDDHI 117 bright] that thou wilt scarcely be able to look at it. Fear it not. That is the natural power of the wisdom of thine own intellect. Abide in the state of great resignation of im- partiality.
Along with it [i.e. the green light of the All-Performing Wisdom], a light of dull green colour from the Asura-loka, produced from the cause of the feeling of jealousy, coming side by side with the Wisdom Rays, will shine upon thee. Medi- tate upon it with impartiality——with neither repulsion nor attraction. Be not fond of it: if thou art of low mental capacity, be not fond of it.
Thereupon, through the influence of intense jealousy,’ thou wilt be terrified at the dazzling radiance of the green light and wilt [wish to] flee from it; and thou wilt beget a fondness for that dull green light of the Asura-loka. At that time fear not the glorious and transparent, radiant and dazzling green light, but know it to be Wisdom; and in that state allow thine intellect to rest in resignation. Or else [think], ‘It is the hook-rays of the light of grace of the Bhagavan Amogha-Siddhi, which is the All-Performing Wisdom’. Believe [thus] on it. Flee not from it.
Even though thou shouldst flee from it, it will follow thee inseparably [from thyself]. Fear it not. Be not fond of that dull green light of the Asura-loka. That is the karmic path of acquired intense jealousy, which hath come to receive thee. If thou art attracted by it, thou wilt fall into the Asura-loka and have to engage in unbearable miseries of quarrelling and warfare.? [That is an] interruption to obstruct thy path of liberation. Be not attracted by it. Abandon thy propensities. Be not weak. Trust in the dazzling green radiance, and putting thy whole thought one-pointedly upon the Divine Father-Mother, the Bhagavan Amogha-Siddhi, pray thus: 1 Here, as in the previous and following paragraph, the jealousy referred to is the karmic propensities of jealousy existing as part of the content of the consciousness (or subconsciousness) of the deceased; and, erupting on this the Fifth Day of the Bardo existence, they produce their corresponding ‘ astral’ hallucinations.
2 Quarrelling and warfare are the chief passions of a being born as an asura in the Asura-loka.
118 BARDO OF KARQNC IERUSIONS [BOOK 1 ‘Alas! when wandering in the Sangsdra because of the power of intense jealousy, On the radiant light-path of the All-Performing Wisdom May [I] be led by the Bhagavan Amogha-Siddhi; May the Divine Mother, the Faithful Tara, be [my] rearguard; May [I] be led safely across the dangerous ambush of the Bardo; And may [I] be placed in the state of the All-Perfect Buddhahood.’
By praying thus with intense faith and humility, thou wilt merge into the heart of the Divine Father-Mother, the Bhagavan Amogha-Siddhi, in halo of rainbow light, and attain Buddhahood in the Sambhoga-K aya, in the Northern Realm of Heaped-up Good Deeds.!
[THE SIXTH DAY] Being thus set face to face at various stages, however weak one’s karmic connexions may be, one should have recognized in one or the other of them; and where one has recognized in any of them it is impossible not to be liberated. Yet, although set face to face so very often in that manner, one long habituated to strong propensities and lacking in familiarity with, and pure affection for, Wisdom, may be led backwards by the power of one’s own evil inclinations despite these many introductions. The hook-rays of the light of grace may not be able to catch hold of one: one may still wander downwards because of one’s begetting the feeling of awe and terror of the lights and rays.
Thereupon all the Divine Fathers-Mothers of the Five Orders [of Dhyani Buddhas] with their attendants will come to shine upon one simultaneously. At the same time, the lights proceeding from the Six Lokas will likewise come to shine upon one simultaneously.
The setting-face-to-face for that is, calling the deceased by name, thus: O nobly-born, until yesterday each of the Five Orders of 1 The Block-Print has ‘Realm of Perfected Good Deeds (or ‘‘ Actions”)?; and this is the more correct form.
3 i 4 ‘ 4 S THE GREAT MANDALA OF THE PEACEFUL DEITIE 7-220 —22, 21 XI, TI8 Described on pages xviti THE TIBETAN WHEEL OF THE LAW Described on page xxitt PART II] THE FIVE DHYANI BUDDHAS 119 Deities had shone upon thee, one by one; and thou hadst been set face to face, but, owing to the influence of thine evil propensities, thou wert awed and terrified by them and hast remained here till now.
If thou hadst recognized the radiances of the Five Orders of Wisdom to be the emanations from thine own thought- forms, ere this thou wouldst have obtained Buddhahood in the Sambhoga-K aya, through having been absorbed into the halo of rainbow light in one or another of the Five Orders of Buddhas. But now look on undistractedly. Now the lights of all Five Orders, called the Lights of the Union of Four Wisdoms,}! will come to receive thee. Act so as to know them.
O nobly-born, on this the Sixth Day, the four colours of the primal states of the four elements [water, earth, fire, air] will shine upon thee simultaneously. At that time, from the Central Realm of the Spreading Forth of Seed, the Buddha? Vairochana, the Divine Father-Mother, with the attendant 1 The philosophically descriptive Tibetan terms (which are not contained in our text) for these Four Wisdoms are: (1) Snang-Stong (pron. Nang-Tong), ‘Phenomena and Voidness’; (2) Gsal-Stong (pron. Sal-Tong), ‘Radiance and Voidness’; (3) Bde-Stong (pron. De-Tong), ‘Bliss and Voidness’; (4) Rig- Stong (pron. Rig-Tong), ‘Consciousness and Voidness’.
They correspond to the four stages of dhyana which arise in the same order. They probably also correspond, but in a less exact manner, to the Four Wisdoms: the Mirror-like Wisdom, the Wisdom of Equality, the All-Discrimi- nating Wisdom, and the All-Performing Wisdom.
‘Dhyana consists of progressive mental states: analysis (Skt. vzlarka), reflection (Skt. wichdra), fondness (Skt. fritz), bliss (Skt. @nanda), and concentra- tion (Skt. eka@gvata). In the first stage of dhyana, the devotee asks himself, ‘‘ What is this body? Isit lasting; is it the thing tobe saved?” and decides that to cling to an impermanent, corruptible bodily form, such as he thereby realizes it to be, is not desirable. Similarly, having gained knowledge of the nature of Form, he analyses and reflects upon Touch, Feeling, Volition, Cognition, and Desire; and, finding that Mind is the apparent reality, arrives at ordinary concentration.
“In the second stage of dhydua, reflection only is employed; in other words, reflection transcends the lower mental process called analysis. In the third stage, reflection gives way to a blissful state of consciousness; and this bliss, being at first apparently a physical sensation, merges into pure ecstasy, in the fourth stage. In the fifth stage, the sensation of ecstasy, although always present in a suppressed or secondary condition, gives way to complete concen- tration.’—Lama Kazi Dawa-Samdup.
2 Heretofore each of the chief deities has been called Bhagavan (‘The Victorious’), but, herein, Buddha (‘ The Enlightened’) is the designation. The text contains Tib. Sangs-rgyas (pron. Sang-yay) = Skt. Buddha: Sangs = 120 BARDO OF KARMIC ILLUSIONS [Book 1 [deities], will come to shine upon thee. From the Eastern Realm of Pre-eminent Happiness, the Buddha Vajra-Sattva, the Divine Father-Mother, with the attendant [deities] will come to shine upon thee, From the Southern Realm endowed with Glory, the Buddha Ratna-Sambhava, the Divine Father-Mother, with the attendant [deities] will come to shine upon thee. From the Happy Western Realm |! of Heaped-up Lotuses, the Buddha Amitabha, the Divine Father-Mother, along with the attendant [deities] will come to shine upon thee. From the Northern Realm of Perfected Good Deeds, the Buddha Amogha-Siddhi, the Divine Father-Mother, along with the attendants will come, amidst a halo of rainbow light, to shine upon | thee at this very moment.
O nobly-born, on the outer circle of these five pair of Dhyani Buddhas, the [four] Door-Keepers, the Wrathful [Ones]: the Victorious One,? the Destroyer of the Lord of Death,? the Horse-necked King,t the Urn of Nectar; ° with the four female Door-keepers: the Goad-Bearer,® the Noose-Bearer,? the Chain-Bearer,2 and the Bell-Bearer; ® ‘awakened [from sleep of stupidity]? + sgyas = ‘developed fully [in all attributes of perfection (or moral virtues) ]’.
1 Between this bar and the bar in the sentence following is contained the translation of the Tibetan text on the upper folio (35a) of our Frontispiece.
2 Text: Ruam-par-rgyal-va (pron. Nam-par-gyal-wa): Skt. Vaya: ‘ Vic- torious [One]’, the Door-keeper of the East.
8 Text: Gshin-rje-gshed-po(pron. Shin-je-shed-po): Skt. Yamdntaka: ‘ Destroyer of Yama (Death)’, the Door-keeper of the South, a form of Shiva, and the wrathful aspect of Avalokiteshvara. He, as a Wrathful Deity, personifies one of the ten forms of Anger (Tib. K’vo-bo—pron. T’o-wo: Skt. Krodha).
4 Text: Rla-mgrin-rgyal-po (pron. Tam din-gyal-po): Skt. Hayagriva: ‘Horse- necked King’, the Door-keeper of the West.
5 Text: Bdud-rtst-hkhyil-va (pron. Di-tst-khyil-wa): Skt. Amrita-Dhara: ‘(He who is the] Urn of Nectar’, whose divine function is to transmute all things into nectar (in the esoteric sense of Tantric Yoga), amrita meaning ‘nectar’ exoteri- cally, and, esoterically, ‘voidness’, He is the Door-keeper of the North.
6 Text: Chags-kyu-ma (pron. Chak-yu-ma): Skt. Ankusha: ‘She holding the Goad’, the shaktt, or female counterpart, of Vijaya.
7 Text: Zhags-pa-ma (pron. Zhag-pa-ma): Skt. Pashadhari: ‘She holding the Noose’, the shakti of Yamantaka.
® Text: Lehags-sgrog-ma (pron. Cha-dog-ma): Skt. Vajra-shringkhald: ‘She holding the Chain’, the ska&ti of Hayagriva.
° Text: Dril-bu-ma (pron. Til-bu-ma): Skt. Kinkint-Dhari: ‘She holding the Bell’, the shakti of Amrita-Dhara.
All the Door-keepers and their shakits possess occult significance in relation PART UI] AZANDALA OF PEACEFUL DEITIES 1a1 along with the Buddha of the Devas, named the One of Supreme Power,’ the Buddha of the Asuras, named [He of] Strong Texture,’ the Buddha of Mankind, named the Lion of the Shakyas, the Buddha of the brute kingdom, named the Unshakable Lion, the Buddha of the Pretas, named the One of Flaming Mouth, and the Buddha of the Lower World, named the King of Truth:%*—[these], the Eight Father- Mother Door-keepers and the Six Teachers, the Victorious Ones—will come to shine, too.
The All-Good Father, and the All-Good Mother,‘ the Great Ancestors of all the Buddhas: Samanta-Bhadra [and Samanta-Bhadra], the Divine Father and the Divine Mother— these two, also will come to shine.
These forty-two perfectly endowed deities, issuing from within thy heart, being the product of thine own pure love, will come to shine. Know them.
O nobly-born, these realms are not come from somewhere outside [thyself]. They come from within the four divisions of thy heart, which, including its centre, make the five direc- tions. They issue from within there, and shine upon thee. The to the four directions and to the mandala (or conclave of deities) to which they belong. As Tantric faith-guarding deities (Tib. Ch’os-skyor: Skt. Dharmapala) they rank with Bodhisattvas. They symbolize, too, the four tranquil or peace- ful methods employed by Divine Beings for the salvation of sentient creatures (of whom mankind are the highest), which are; Compassion, Fondness, Love, and Stern Justice.
1 Text: Dvang-po-rgya-byin (pron. Wang-po-gya-jin): ‘Powerful One of a Hundred Sacrifices’: Skt. Shata-Kratu, a name of Indra (‘(One of] Supreme Power’).
2 Text: Thag-bzang-ris (pron. Thag-zang-ree): ‘[He of] Strong Texture’ (Skt. Virdchdra): a name referring either to the bodily strength of, or else to the coat of mail worn by, this Lord of the Asvva-loka, the world wherein warfare is the predominant passion of existence.
4 Text: Kiintu-bzang-mo (pron, Kiintu-beang-mo): ‘ All-Good Mother’; Skt. Samanta-Bhadraé. The Tantric School holds that every deity, even the Supreme, has its shakit, A few deities are, however, commonly depicted skakit-less—for example, Mafijushri, or Mafijughosha (see p. 113*); though there may be, as in the instance of the Prajid-Paramita (often called the Mother) which this deity holds, some symbolic representation of a shakt, This is, apparently, a doctrine of universal dualism, In the final analysis, however, all pairs of opposites being viewed as having a Single Source—in the Voidness of the Dharma-Kaya—the apparent dualism becomes monism.
3069 R 122 BARDO OF KARMIC ILLUSIONS [nook 1 deities, too, are not come from somewhere else: they exist from eternity within the faculties of thine own intellect.? Know them to be of that nature.
O nobly-born, the size of all these deities is not large, not small, [but] proportionate. [They have] their ornaments, their colours, their sitting postures, their thrones, and the emblems that each holds.
These deities are formed into groups of five pairs, each group of five being surrounded by a fivefold circle of radiances, the male Bodhisattvas partaking of the nature of the Divine Fathers, and the female Bodhisattvas par- taking of the nature of the Divine Mothers. All these divine conclaves will come to shine upon thee in one com- plete conclave.2 They are thine own tutelary deities.® Know them to be such.
O nobly-born, from the hearts of the Divine Fathers and Mothers of the Five Orders, the rays of light of the Four Wisdoms united, extremely clear and fine, like the rays of the sun spun into threads, will come and shine upon thee and strike against thy heart.
On that path of radiance there will come to shine glorious orbs of light, blue in colour, emitting rays, the Dharma- Dhétw Wisdom [itself], each appearing like an inverted turquoise cup, surrounded by similar orbs, smaller in size, glorious and dazzling, radiant and transparent, each made more glorious with five yet smaller [satellite] orbs dotted round about with five starry spots of light of the same nature, leaving neither the centre nor the borders [of the blue light-path] unglorified by the orbs and the smaller [satellite] orbs.
1 According to the esotericism of Northern Buddhism, man is, in the sense implied by the mystical philosophies of ancient Egypt and Greece, the micro- cosm of the macrocosm, 2 Text: dkyil-hkhor (pron. kytl-khor): Skt. mandala, i.e. conclave of deities.
3 The Tutelary Deities, too, in the last analysis, are the visualizations of the person believing in them, Zhe Demchok Tantra says that the ‘ Devatas are but symbols representing the various things which occur on the Path, such as the helpful impulses and the stages attained by their means’; and that ‘should doubts arise as to the divinity of these Devatads, one should say ‘The Dakini is only the recollection of the body ”’ and remember that the deities constitute the Path’ (cf. A. Avalon, Tantitk Texts, London, 1919, vii. 41).
Pee) LIGHT-PATHS OF THE WISDOMS — 1:23 From the heart of Vajra-Sattva, the white light-path of the Mirror-like Wisdom, white and transparent, glorious and dazzling, glorious and terrifying, made more glorious with orbs surrounded by smaller orbs of transparent and radiant light upon it, each like an inverted mirror, will come -to shine.
From the heart of Ratna-Sambhava, the yellow light-path of the Wisdom of Equality, [glorified] with yellow orbs [of radiance], each like an inverted gold cup, surrounded by smaller orbs, and these with yet smaller orbs, will come to shine.
From the heart of Amitabha, the transparent, bright red light-path of the Discriminating Wisdom, upon which are orbs, like inverted coral cups, emitting rays of Wisdom, extremely bright and dazzling, each glorified with five [satellite] orbs of the same nature,—leaving neither the centre nor the borders [of the red light-path] unglorified with orbs and smaller satellite orbs,—will come to shine.
These will come to shine against thy heart simultaneously.’
O nobly-born, all those are the radiances of thine own intellectual faculties come to shine. They have not come from any other place. Be not attracted towards them; be not weak; be not terrified; but abide in the mood of non- thought- formation.2. In that state all the forms and radiances will merge into thyself, and Buddhahood will be obtained.
The green light-path of the Wisdom of Perfected Actions will not shine upon thee, because the Wisdom-faculty of thine intellect hath not been perfectly developed.
O nobly-born, those are called the Lights of the Four 1 Each of these mystical radiances symbolizes the particular Bodhic, or Wisdom, quality of the Buddha whence it shines. In the Tibetan of our text there is here such fervency in the poetical description of the light-paths that the translator, in order to render something of the beauty of the original language, essayed several renderings, of which the actual rendering is the outcome.
2 ‘The mood of non- thought-formation’ is attained in samdadhi-yoga. This state, regarded as the primordial state of Mind, ts illustrated by the following figure: So long as a man afloat on a river passively submits to the current, he is carried along smoothly; but if he attempts to grasp an object fixed in the water the tranquillity of his motion is broken. Similarly, thought-formation arrests the natural flow of the mind.
124 BARDO OF KARMIC ILLUSIONS [Boox 1 Wisdoms United, [whence proceeds that] which is called the Inner Path through Vajra-Sattva.!
At that time, thou must remember the teachings of the setting-face-to-face which thou hast had from thy gurzw. If thou hast remembered the purport of the settings-face- to-face, thou wilt have recognized all these lights which have shone upon thee, as being the reflection of thine own inner light, and, having recognized them as intimate friends, thou wilt have believed in them and have understood [them at] the meeting, as a son understandeth his mother.
And believing in the unchanging nature of the pure and holy Truth, thou wilt have had produced in thee the tranquil-flowing Samadhi; and, having merged into the body of the perfectly evolved intellect, thou wilt have obtained Buddhahood in the Sambhoga-K aya, whence there is no return.
O nobly-born, along with the radiances of Wisdom, the impure illusory lights of the Six Lokas will also come to shine. If it be asked, ‘What are they?’ [they are] a dull white light from the devas, a dull green light from the asuras, a dull yellow light from human beings, a dull blue light from the brutes, a dull reddish light from the frezas, and a dull smoke-coloured light from Hell.? These six thus will come to shine, along with the six radiances of Wisdom; whereupon, be not afraid of nor be attracted towards any, but allow thy- self to rest in the non-thought condition.
} In the transcendental state of the Illumination of Buddhahood, on the Inner, or Secret, Path, into Vajra-Sattva merge, in at-one-ment, all the Peaceful and Wrathful Deities of the greater mandala described by our text; in all, one- hundred and ten,—forty-two in the heart-centre, ten in the throat-centre, and fifty-eight in the brain-centre. (Cf. pp. 217-8.)
2 There are irreconcilable differences between the colours assigned to these light-paths in the Block-Print (25b) and in our MS. The Block-Print gives them as follows: white, from the devas; red, from the asuras; blue, from human beings; green, from the brutes; yellow, from the prefas; smoke- coloured from Hell. According to the translator, the colours should correspond to the colour of the Buddha of each Joka, thus: deva, white; asuva, green; human, yellow; brute, blue; pvefa, red; Hell, smoke-coloured or black. Therefore, the Block-Print is wrong in all save the first and last; and the MS. is wrong in assigning dull blue to the human and black or smoke-coloured to the animal world. On folio 23, the MS. correctly assigns yellow to the human world light-path, The necessary corrections have been made in the translation herein and in the corresponding passages in folio 46 following.
panel] LIGHT-PATHS OF THE WISDOMS 125