The Bardo: Web Version
By Cathleen Cummings
26 May, 1998
The Tibetan Book of the Dead, or Bardo Thodol, is one of the
fundamental texts of Tibetan Buddhist practice. A self-contained doctrine,
the book whose title more accurately translates as The Great Liberation
Through Hearing in the Between -- stands in its own category of Tibetan
literature. The Bardo, or Between, is the postdeath plane of existence wherein
one's enduring consciousness wanders between the end of this life and the
next rebirth. The experiences of each individual consciousness drifting
in the Bardo realm -- the visions that confront him and the condition of
his liberation or eventual rebirth -- are determined by the spiritual effects
of karmic accumulation resulting from his own particular life's deeds.
Every individual undergoes a journey through the Bardo during which the
consciousness of each is clothed in a subtle body, one that resembles the
body of his future rebirth. For some, the journey is very short; for others
it can last up to forty-nine days. The experience of each individual in
the Bardo, and the length of time one spends there, is dependent upon one's
understanding of the processes of death and dying, and the training for
death that is undertaken during life. For the practitioner who has been
trained in deity yoga and has achieved the ability to recognize the Clear
Light of death that manifests during the first three-and-a-half days following
the death experience, enlightenment is easily achieved. This stage of Clear
Light is known as the Chikhai Bardo, or the experience of death, and the
Clear Light is the vision of the radiant dharmakaya, the Uncreated,
Essential Wisdom which is the essence of the Universe in which both incarnated
existence (samsara) and nirvana exist. The adept practitioner
simply recognizes that this Clear Light is in reality the nature of his
own mind: the fundamental mind that exists without beginning in each person
throughout all his lifetimes and into his Buddhahood, and is therefore synonymous
with the mind of a Buddha. Realizing this, the experienced practitioner
achieves the state of a Dharmakaya Buddha.
The consciousness of the individual who passes through these first few days
of Clear Light without recognizing it and attaining enlightenment is confronted
by powerful and confusing visions and sensations. That consciousness enters
the second stage of the Bardo, called the Chonyid Bardo, or experience of
reality, where the Peaceful and Wrathful deities manifest themselves. The
individual with some training, who can recognize these images as products
of his own mind, can turn their appearance to his advantage. Realizing that
these beings are but products of his mind, the consciousness of the deceased
can join itself with them and become an enlightened being of the sambhogakaya.
Alternately, by focusing on and praying to one of these Peaceful or
Wrathful beings, the consciousness can take rebirth in that deity's Pure
Land (or Paradise) to study Dharma and meditative techniques.
Most commonly, one's consciousness will dwell some seven days in the Bardo
before achieving liberation through understanding that the true nature of
the Bardo is the nature of the fundamental mind. For him with little or
no training or preparation for death, however, the fearful nature of the
Bardo visions prevents understanding and subsequent release. Unliberated,
his consciousness reacts negatively to the sensations and deity visions
of the Bardo, with resulting negative emotions that drive him on into the
third stage of the Bardo. Blown by the winds of karmic accumulation, and
still feeling the bonds of attachment to a physical body, the individual
is led back to an incarnated form in one of the Six Realms of Existence.
This seeking of the next physical body takes place in the Sidpai Bardo,
the third stage of the postdeath intermediate state. This search involves
a symbolic journey into Hell where Dharmaraja, the Judge of Death, weighs
the good and bad karmic deeds of each individual to determine his appropriate
rebirth realm.
The text of the Bardo Thodol with accompanying initiations is recited to
the deceased by a monk, Lama or other ritual specialist. The Bardo Thodol
text is read to the deceased for at least a fortnight following death. It
explains to the consciousness of the deceased the nature of the various
deities he will encounter on the Bardo plane and reminds him to remain steadfast
and unafraid since these visions have no reality or external existence:
the Bardo visions are only his own thought-forms taking manifested shape.
At every moment the Lama urges the deceased not to succumb to terror in
fear of the deity visions of the Bardo, but instead to recognize these figures
as his own projections, as in a dream; to recognize that the cosmic deity
mandalas unleashed by the dying process are no more than a reflection
of his own interior reality.
Although the Bardo Thodol is part of the more rigorous Tantric or Vajrayana
Buddhist tradition, with its particular methods for attaining instantaneous
enlightenment, it is also a popular manual intended for the Tibetan layperson
who may not be knowledgeable in yogic meditational practice; so, it's teachings
encompass the gamut of Tibetan Buddhist practice.
Descriptions of the Bardo deities and initiations are included in
several works found on this site. Catalogue number (75/97.071)
is a thankg-ka in which are shown all of the Peaceful and many of
the Wrathful deities. Catalogue number (76/92.053)
is focused on one such Wrathful deity, Vajra-Heruka, who is surrounded by
the Wrathful counterparts of the male and female Bodhisattvas. Also included
here (#91.001.004) are an incomplete
set of tsakalis, small initiation cards which are used in the performance
of the Bardo initiations.
References:
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Updated November 2004
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