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

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-zama), ‘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 impartiality.

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. Meditate 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.

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2 Quarrelling and warfare are the chief passions of a being born as an asura in the Asura-loka.

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‘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.

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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 thoughtforms, 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.

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-Discriminating 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 concentration (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 concentration.’—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 =

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