| One of our personal experiences with our deceased | | | | pilgrim. The instructions of the Bardo Thodol may |
| friend with whom we related previously would | | | | thus telepathically be heard by the dying soul. |
| substantiate this principle as described by | | | | It is well worth quoting the fundamental doctrines of |
| Swedenborg: | | | | the Bardo Thodol as summed-up by Evans-Wentz in |
| We once decided to visit our friend in the heavenly | | | | the Tibetan Book of the Dead, as this will help us |
| regions. We had some joyful news that we wanted | | | | understand the bardo as well as give us some insight |
| to convey to her--news that she was waiting to hear | | | | into Buddhistic beliefs: |
| while she was alive in the physical. Not knowing | | | | "1) That all possible conditions, or states, or realms of |
| where she was or able to directly manifest before | | | | sangsaric existence, heavens, hells, and worlds, are |
| her, we were escorted by a guide to a lovely garden | | | | entirely dependent upon phenomena, or in other |
| with a Greek temple in the midst of it. The garden | | | | worlds, are naught but phenomena. |
| was empty, or so it seemed. But while adjusting our | | | | "2) That all phenomena are transitory, are unreal, and |
| sight, people appeared everywhere. They did not | | | | non-existent save in the sangsaric mind perceiving |
| notice us, however. It was as though we did not | | | | them. |
| exist in their eyes. Our escort went into the building | | | | "3) That in reality there are no such beings anywhere |
| and moments later our friend came out all beaming | | | | as gods, or demons, or spirits, or sentient |
| with joy. "I've been waiting for you," she said. Then | | | | creatures--all alike being phenomena dependent upon |
| she looked more closely at me and commented | | | | a cause; |
| jocularly, "you are so bright, I could faint." After | | | | "4) That this cause is a yearning or thirsting after |
| conveying to her our message we bade farewell. As | | | | sensations, after the unstable sangsaric existence; |
| we were leaving, we noticed that no one was yet | | | | "5) That so long as this cause is not overcome by |
| aware of our presence; however, a dark-skinned | | | | Enlightenment, death follows birth and birth death |
| man who was sitting on a bench reached out and | | | | unceasingly--even as the wise Socrates believed. |
| touched me to, perhaps, reassure himself of my | | | | "6) That the after-death existence is but a |
| presence and reality. We smiled at each other. | | | | continuation, under changed conditions, of the |
| After a lengthy stay in the astral or lower mental | | | | phenomena-born existence of the human world--both |
| heavens, and when one is about ready to reincarnate | | | | states alike being karmic. |
| through karmic necessity or choice, one first goes to | | | | "7) That the nature of the existence intervening |
| the causal realms for a brief sojourn. Not all souls | | | | between death and rebirth in this or any other world |
| experience this; however, some incarnate directly | | | | is determined by antecedent actions; |
| from whatever realm they may be. In the causal | | | | "8) That, psychologically speaking, it is a prolonged |
| world the soul experiences bliss and peace, and a real | | | | dream-like state, in what may be called the fourth |
| rest as a reward for a soul-mission well done. One of | | | | dimension of space, filled with hallucinatory visions |
| the purposes of this stay in the causal realms is the | | | | directly resultant from the mental-content of the |
| transference of the positive qualities acquired by the | | | | percipient, happy and heaven-like if the karma be |
| soul and recorded in the seed-atoms, to the causal | | | | good, miserable and hell-like if the karma be bad; |
| body where it is stored as one's "treasure in heaven." | | | | "9) That, unless Enlightenment be won, rebirth in the |
| The positive deeds and virtues of the soul adorn the | | | | human world, directly from the Bardo-world or from |
| causal body with a greater glory than its former | | | | any other world or from any paradise or hell to which |
| condition. Every incarnation offers a form of | | | | karma has led, is inevitable. |
| nourishment to the causal body when its incarnated | | | | "10) That Enlightenment results from realizing the |
| life ends. This causal body is called in Masonry "the | | | | unreality of sangsara, of existence; |
| temple not made with hands." Other traditions call it | | | | "11) That such realizing is possible in the human world, |
| "the Chalice." When the soul is prepared to | | | | or at the important moment of death in the human |
| reincarnate for new soul-experiences, it seeks out | | | | world, or during the whole of the after-death or |
| the appropriate parents, time and place to be reborn | | | | Bardo-state, or in certain of the non-human realm; |
| in the physical world. This seeking is done with the | | | | "12) That training in yoga, i.e. in control of the training |
| help of spiritual guides. | | | | process so as to be able to concentrate the mind in |
| Reincarnation is a law for those not having | | | | an effort to reach Right Knowledge, is essential. |
| transcended ignorance and earthly desire. Although | | | | "13) That such training can best be had under a |
| some religions do not openly teach reincarnation, the | | | | human guru, or teacher. |
| concept or precept does appear in some form in | | | | "14) That the Greatest of Gurus known to mankind |
| their holy scripture. | | | | in this cycle of time is Gautama the Buddha. |
| Although not exhaustive, the above information is | | | | "15) That this doctrine is not unique, but is the same |
| sufficient enough to offer us some idea of the occult | | | | doctrine which has been proclaimed in the human |
| knowledge available concerning the after death state | | | | world for the gaining of salvation, for the Deliverance |
| that is based on personal experiences of psychics | | | | from the Cycle of Rebirth and Death, for the |
| and mystics. In order to know more in a convincing | | | | Crossing of the Ocean of Sangsara, for the |
| way, one would have to study and master the art of | | | | Realization of Nirvana, since immemorial time, by a |
| soul-travel. Only in this manner, through personal | | | | long and illustrious dynasty of Buddhas, who were |
| experience, will we satisfy our thirst for a greater | | | | Gautama's Predecessors. |
| knowledge of God's many dimensions, the Cosmic | | | | "16) That lesser spiritually enlightened beings, |
| laws, and the purposes of life. | | | | Bodhisattvas and gurus, in this world or in other |
| The Tibetan Tradition | | | | worlds, though still not freed from the Net of illusion, |
| Tibetan Buddhism declares that men are enchained to | | | | can nevertheless, bestow divine grace and power |
| a world of suffering and pain, of illusion and ignorance. | | | | upon the sishya [student] who is less advanced upon |
| This they call samsara. Samsara refers generally to | | | | the Path than themselves. |
| the condition of the six worlds, but more specifically | | | | "17) That the Goal is and can only be Emancipation |
| it refers to the physical plane. To be liberated from | | | | from Sangsara. |
| samsara one had to awaken to one's true Reality | | | | "18) That such Emancipation comes from the |
| and the Reality of the Cosmos called in Mahayana | | | | Realization of Nirvana. |
| and Vajrayana literature, the "Clear Light of the | | | | "19) That Nirvana is non-sangsaric, being beyond all |
| Void," "Sunyata," "Dharmakaya," etc. Tibetan | | | | paradises, heavens, hells, and worlds. |
| Buddhism, or Vajrayana, declares that there are | | | | "20) That it is the ending of Sorrow. |
| various ways of liberating oneself. One may be | | | | "21) That it is Reality" (1975:66-68) |
| liberated--if prepared beforehand through arduous | | | | Man, in general, is ignorant of his divinity. His mind and |
| spiritual work--through initiation by a spiritual master | | | | consciousness are veiled by the false light of Maya. |
| where the Clear Light of one's true primordial nature | | | | Maya is the way we perceive and interpret Reality. It |
| is introduced; or one may be liberated through | | | | translates in our consciousness cosmic vibrations into |
| samadhi or meditation where the Clear Light dawns in | | | | forms, colours and sensations--a world of appearance. |
| the consciousness; liberation may also be achieved | | | | We perceive not what is, but what we believe to be. |
| through recognizing and merging with the Clear Light | | | | Maya produces a deceiving state of duality, of object |
| during transition in the first phase of the bardo. | | | | and subject. All appearances in the mind and |
| Techniques have been formed by lamas and applied | | | | consciousness as a product of Maya are illusory and |
| at the onset of transition to assist the dying to | | | | unreal. The mind, not understanding the nature of |
| achieve Liberation. These techniques are called: | | | | Maya, is indeed the slayer of the Real, as stated by |
| 1) Liberation Through Taste, where consecrated pills | | | | Helena Blavatsky. This ignorance of Reality causes |
| are placed in the mouth to assist the soul to sustain | | | | man's prolonged stay in samsara. Recognition of the |
| consciousness throughout the bardo so that it would | | | | Clear Light, of Reality, of the Unity of Being, releases |
| recognize the Clear Light when it dawns. | | | | man from his spiritual bondage. Tibetan Buddhism |
| 2) Liberation Through Contact, where the ashes of | | | | believe that the six worlds are transitory and that |
| burnt talismans are rubbed on the heart for the same | | | | rebirth into any one of them is undesirable and should |
| purpose as the above. | | | | be avoided. Man's loftiest aspiration should be |
| 3) Liberation Through Listening, this is by far the | | | | directed to the awakening to Reality as the highest |
| most common practice. In this method, a manual-ritual | | | | religious goal, and this illumination naturally terminates |
| such as the Bardo Thodol is read to the dying to | | | | the ceaseless rounds of birth and rebirth in the |
| remind the person of what it had previously learnt of | | | | samsaric worlds. In Christian terms, this is the |
| the bardo and the way of approaching it. | | | | attainment of salvation where the true follower of |
| The Bardo Thodol | | | | Christian principles is made into a pillar in the kingdom |
| The "Bardo Thodol," or the Tibetan Book of the | | | | of heaven and "goes no more out." |
| Dead, as Christianized by Evans-Wentz, deals with | | | | Tibetan Buddhism is not the only religion that |
| the phases of the bardo that the soul would undergo | | | | possesses manuals to be read to the dying. To the |
| and what it should do in order to liberate itself from | | | | Hindus, the Garuda Purana fulfills the same purpose. |
| samsara. It provides a unique psychology of the | | | | Ancient Egyptians, too, had their death-manuals such |
| death process and the attitudes that the soul should | | | | as the one translated by Wallis Budge, the Book of |
| assume in order to escape rebirth in the lower realms. | | | | the Dead, or "The Coming Forth From Day," to give |
| Recognition of the Clear Light in the first bardo phase | | | | its original title. This title suggests the acquaintance of |
| is stressed in the manual, because it is the only | | | | the ancient Egyptians with the Clear Light of the |
| means for the soul to save itself from experiencing | | | | bardo. In this manual, taken from hieroglyphical murals |
| the subsequent phases of the bardo, which from the | | | | painted in tombs, says that death is followed by the |
| viewpoint of Tibetan metaphysics, lead to rebirth and | | | | soul's entry into the "clear light of day." Experience of |
| a prolonged stay in the samsaric worlds. Thus, the | | | | the bardo is universal and fundamental to the human |
| Clear Light that dawns in the first phase of the bardo | | | | psyche, therefore, manuals such as the Bardo Thodol |
| offers a chance for the soul to redeem and free | | | | or the Book of the Dead that possesses keys to |
| itself from the shackles of samsara. This Clear Light is | | | | spiritual portals, are relevant to human psychological |
| the grace of God that offers death-bed | | | | and spiritual integration. The relevance of such texts |
| salvation--salvation from one's so-called "sins," or | | | | are not to be confined to its place of origin in time or |
| liberation from karma. | | | | in space. Adaptations may be made for western |
| In Tibet there are many manuals composed as | | | | society with its world-wide influence. The |
| guides for the dying or the newly departed soul. The | | | | phenomenon of the Clear Light with its inherent |
| Bardo Thodol is one of the most well-known among | | | | nature of spiritual grace is for all human beings |
| them in the Western world. It is said to have been | | | | regardless of race, sex or creed. In one sense, this |
| written down in the 8th century by the Precious | | | | Clear Light may be seen as the "comforter" promised |
| Guru, Padmasambhava. The teachings and doctrines | | | | by the Piscean Master to his followers. |
| of the Bardo Thodol as an oral tradition, however, | | | | The Bardos and Tibetan Practices Related to Dying |
| are much older. It is believed that Bon, the indigenous | | | | Before continuing, it is appropriate that we define |
| religion of Tibet, transmitted much knowledge to | | | | here the word "bardo." Bardo is often translated as |
| Tibetan Buddhism concerning the death process. | | | | "intermediate state," an interval, or a period between |
| Unlike the Christian forms of prayers of burial-rituals | | | | two conditions, planes, or states of consciousness in |
| recited on behalf of the newly-departed (and also the | | | | the samsaric worlds. Basically, it refers to the |
| living), the Bardo Thodol is more of an instruction | | | | following four states: |
| manual read to the dying by a spiritual guide, that it | | | | 1) Between two states of consciousness |
| may understand the psychological processes that it | | | | 2) Transitional state |
| would undergo through transition. It is of especial | | | | 3) Uncertain state |
| value to those who practice and follow Buddhistic | | | | 4) Twilight state |
| doctrines, or teachings similar to it because of certain | | | | Tibetan teachings refer to these 4 states as the |
| inherent concepts. The underlying doctrine of Tibetan | | | | psychological nature of the following six bardos: |
| Buddhism is that man, a slave to samsara--the wheel | | | | 1) Bardo of Life (Kye Ne Bardo) |
| of birth and rebirth, or reincarnation--is able to liberate | | | | 2) Bardo of Dreams (Milam Bardo) |
| himself through being aware of his primordial nature | | | | 3) Bardo of Meditation (Samten Bardo) |
| represented by the Clear Light which appears in the | | | | 4) Bardo of the Transition Process (Chikai Bardo) |
| early stages of the bardo. Recitation of texts such | | | | 5) Bardo of State After Death (Chonyid Bardo) |
| as the Bardo Thodol reminds the departing soul, the | | | | 6) Bardo of Rebirth into Samsara (Sidpa Bardo) |
| "awareness-principle," what it had previously learnt of | | | | The word Bardo, as is commonly used and |
| the bardo and its liberating potential while still alive in | | | | understood, refers to the general framework of the |
| the physical plane. | | | | death process. In this section we will be considering |
| Although dissociated from the physical body, the | | | | the nature of the last three bardos listed above. But |
| awareness-principle still retains its sensory faculties. In | | | | before we do, however, it would be interesting to |
| the disembodied state its psychic senses are acute | | | | note certain practices related to the art of dying and |
| and enhanced and is able to register and perceive | | | | the psycho-somatic processes of dying as occultly |
| physical surroundings--to listen to the bardo-guidance | | | | observed by spiritual practitioners of Lamaism |
| and instructions as given by the spiritual guide or | | | | throughout the centuries. |
| lama, for instance. In the death process, as the | | | | Physiologically speaking, when one undergoes a |
| physical senses grow dull the psychic senses grow | | | | natural death the physical senses fail one by one. First |
| more keen. | | | | the sense of vision blurs, then the sense of hearing is |
| The recitation of the bardo text to the departed | | | | impaired, next the sense of smell fails; this is followed |
| may last for a total of 49 days. This is done at first | | | | by the deterioration of the sense of taste and touch. |
| in the presence of the corpse but later a | | | | There is also a feeling or sensation of pressure, |
| representation of it. The 49 days is supposed to be | | | | followed by coldness, heat, and a sense of being |
| the maximum length of days the soul would spend in | | | | blown to bits. Dissolution of the senses and its varied |
| the bardo. This given figure is probably symbolic, | | | | sensations are symbolically described in Tibetan |
| representing as it does the number 7 squared. The | | | | Buddhism as the merging of the elements one into |
| number 7 is the mathematical and geometrical | | | | the other until it sinks into the primal substance. This |
| principle in which our solar system is based. We have | | | | is the process of Thimrim. To describe the illustrative |
| many indications of the number seven as creative | | | | process above in symbolical detail: |
| manifestations, for instance, the seven colours of the | | | | First, "earth sinks into water;" second, "water sinks |
| light spectrum, and the seven notes in an octave. | | | | into fire;" third, "fire sinks into air;" fourth, "air sinks |
| Forty-nine days of the bardo may also refer to | | | | into space." |
| soul-progression and evolution within the 49 realms of | | | | As for the external signs of the approach of death |
| the cosmic physical plane. In Indonesia, 40 days is | | | | that may be observed by an outsider, they may |
| referred to as the period it takes for the soul to | | | | include sagging facial muscles, coldness in the |
| complete its wandering in the borderland between | | | | extremities, blueness beneath the nails, difficulty in |
| the physical and higher worlds before settling in its | | | | breathing, and glazed eyes. |
| destined home in the subtle spheres. In other | | | | This merging of the elements are accompanied by |
| traditions, three days and three nights after transition | | | | internal and external phenomena or signs which the |
| are considered to be of some importance to the soul. | | | | dying is taught to recognize. Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche |
| For instance, the Hadhokht Nask, one of the | | | | explains certain inner signs as cited in the Bardo |
| scriptures of Zoroastrianism, declares that the soul | | | | Guidebook: |
| remains near its body for such a period. This 3-day | | | | "First the earth element starts to disintegrate. One |
| lingering is probably based on the occult fact that | | | | feels very heavy. That's when people say `Please lift |
| sometimes the sutratma may still be connected to | | | | me up, raise me up. I feel like I'm sinking.' When the |
| the body after the pronouncement of "death," | | | | water element dissolves then one feels very cold and |
| meaning that the so-called corpse is actually in a | | | | says, `Please warm me up. It's too cold in here.' |
| comatose state and that revival may occur. | | | | When the fire element dissolves one feels very |
| Being symbolic, in reality the 40 or 49 days may take | | | | thirsty and wants water, one's lips are drying up. |
| just a few moments or several days. Should the | | | | When the wind element dissolves one feels as if one |
| spiritual guide be unable to attend to the dying for | | | | is floating at the brink of an abyss, not anchored |
| reasons of physical distance, an effigy is usually made | | | | anywhere. When consciousness dissolves into space |
| to represent the one undergoing transition with | | | | it means that everything grows very big and |
| personal effects surrounding it to attract by magnetic | | | | completely ungrounded. The outer breath has |
| attunement the awareness-principle of the dying | | | | stopped but the inner breathing is still taking place. |