The Tibetan Book of the Dead — ed. W. Y. Evans-Wentz

Jam-pal-yang): Skt. Maiijughosha, ‘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

p. 114

The primal form of the aggregate of feelings as the red light of the All-Discriminating Wisdom, glitteringly red, glorified 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 attachment [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, transparent, 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 hookrays 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 lightpath 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,

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 propensities, 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

1 Text: Don-yod-grub-pa (pron. Don-yéd-rub-pa): Skt. Amogha-Siddht: ‘ Almighty Conqueror,’

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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 Bodhisattvas, Gandhema® and Nidhema.’ These six Bodhic forms, from amidst a halo of rainbow light, will come to shine.

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 Bodhisattvas, 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).