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

Therefore, to the abbots [or discipline-holders], to the doctors, and to those mystics who have failed in their vows, and to all the common people, this 7ddol is indispensable.} But those who have meditated upon the Great Perfection and the Great Symbol? will recognize the Clear Light at the moment of death; and, obtaining the Dharma-Kaya, all of them will be such as not to need the reading of this Thodol. By recognizing the Clear Light at the moment of death, they also will recognize the visions of the Peaceful and the Wrathful during the Chényid Bardo, and obtain the Sambhoga-Kaya; or, recognizing during the Szdpa Bardo, obtain the Virmana-K aya; and, taking birth on the higher planes, will, in the next rebirth, meet with this Doctrine, and then enjoy the continuity of karma.® with thee: the fair, white, shining company of holy confessors, with the victorious number of glorious martyrs, come about thee: the joyful company of holy virgins receive thee: and the worthy fellowship of holy patriarchs open to thee the place of rest and joy, and deem thee to be among them that they be among, everlastingly.’

1 The /émas maintain that, while mere goodness and book knowledge are desirable in devotees seeking Liberation, spiritual wisdom coupled with unshakable faith, and the setting aside of all intellectualisms, are indispensable. One of the precepts of the great Tibetan yogis, taught to all neophytes, is: ‘ Difficult indeed is it to obtain Liberation through intellectual knowledge alone ; through faith, Liberation is easily obtained.’

2 ¢The Great Perfection’ refers to the fundamental doctrine concerning the gaining of Perfection or Buddhahood as taught by the School of Guru Padma Sambhava. ‘The Great Symbol (Tib. Chhag-chhen: Skt. Maha Mudra)’ refers to an ancient Indian system of yoga, related to the same School, but more especially practised nowadays by the followers of the semi-reformed Kargyutpa sect, founded in the latter half of the eleventh century a.p. by the learned Tibetan yog? Marpa, who, having sojourned in India as the disciple of the pandtt Atisha and of Naropa, Atisha’s disciple, introduced the Great Symbol into Tibet. Milarepa, the most beloved of all Tibetan yog?s, who was Marpa’s successor, developed the practice of the Great Symbol and made it the foundation teaching of the Sect. (See pp. 78-9.)

3 If there be recognition of Reality when it first dawns, i.e. if the Dreamer in sangsaric existence be awakened into the divine state of the Sambhoga-Kaya during the Chényid Bardo, the normal cycle of rebirth is broken; and the Awakened One returns voluntarily and fully conscious to the human world as

p. 136

if the Dreamer in sangsaric existence be awakened into the divine state of the Sambhoga-Kaya during the Chényid Bardo, the normal cycle of rebirth is broken; and the Awakened One returns voluntarily and fully conscious to the human world as

p. 136

Therefore, this 7Zcdol is the doctrine by which Buddhahood may be attained without meditation ; the doctrine liberating by the hearing [of it] alone; the doctrine which leadeth beings of great evil Aarvma on the Secret Path; the doctrine which produceth differentiation instantaneously [between those who are initiated into it and those who are not]: being the profound doctrine which conferreth Perfect Enlightenment instantaneously. Those sentient beings who have been reached by it cannot go to the unhappy states.

This [doctrine] and the Zahdol [doctrine]', when joined together being like unto a mandala of gold inset with turquoise, combine them.

Thus, the indispensable nature of the 7ddol being shown, there now cometh the setting-face-to-face with the dawning of the Wrathful [Deities] in the Bardo.

[THE EIGHTH DAY]

Again, calling the deceased by name, [address him] thus:

O nobly-born, listen undistractedly. Not having been able to recognize when the Peaceful [Deities] shone upon thee in the Lardo above, thou hast come wandering thus far. Now, on the Eighth Day, the blood-drinking Wrathful Deities will come to shine. Act so as to recognize them without bcing distracted.

a Divine Incarnation, to work for the uplifting of mankind. If recognition be delayed till the Sidpa Bardo, and the Mirmana-Kaya be attained, that is but a partial awakening, not an unclouded realization of Reality, the Szdpa Bardo being a much lower plane than the Chéuyid Bardo; but even then there will be won the great boon of spiritually enlightened birth on one of the higher planes— deva-loka, asura-loka, or the human-/oka—and, upon being born anew in the human world, the devotee will take up, in virtue of acquired propensities gained in the previous earth-life, the study of the mystic mantraydua doctrines and yogic practices from the point where it was broken off by death—this being the continuity of karma,

* Text: Btags-grol (pron. Tah-dol), a small Tibetan work, consisting wholly of mantras, used as an accompaniment to the Bardo Thédol. If the deceased dies knowing the Tahdol mantras, they, being powerful talismans, give him safe passage through the Bardo and a happy rebirth. Very often a copy of the Tahdol (or perhaps merely some of its mantras copied on small strips of paper and wound together in a tiny roll) is tied to the corpse and burned or buried with it—just as a copy of the Egyptian Book of the Dead was ordinarily interred with a mummy.

cru wae aS ety MANE DOT amt

THE GREAT MANDALA OF THE KNOWLEDGE-HOLDING
AND WRATHFUL DEITIES

Described on pages xix-%%, 127-8, 217-20

THE DORJE
THE LAMAIC SCEPTRE

Described on page xxiii

cru wae aS ety MANE DOT amt

THE GREAT MANDALA OF THE KNOWLEDGE-HOLDING
AND WRATHFUL DEITIES

Described on pages xix-%%, 127-8, 217-20

THE DORJE
THE LAMAIC SCEPTRE

Described on page xxiii

PART 11} DAWNING OF HERUKA ORDER 137

O nobly-born, the Great Glorious Buddha-Heruka,! darkbrown of colour; with three heads, six hands, and four feet firmly postured; the right [face] being white, the left, red, the central, dark-brown; the body emitting flames of radiance ; the nine eyes widely opened, in terrifying gaze; the eyebrows quivering like lightning; the protruding teeth glistening and set over one another; giving vent to sonorous utterances of ‘a-la-la’ and ‘ha-ha’, and piercing whistling sounds; the hair of a reddish-yellow colour, standing on end, and emitting radiance ; the heads adorned with dried [human | skulls, and the [symbols of the] sun and moon; black serpents and raw [human] heads forming a garland for the body; the first of the right hands holding a wheel, the middle one, a sword, the last one, a battle-axe; the first of the left hands, a bell, the middle one, a [human] scalp, the last one, a ploughshare; his body embraced by the Mother, Buddha-Krotishaurima,”? her right hand clinging to his neck and her left putting to his mouth a red shell [filled with blood], [making] a palatal sound like a crackling [and] a clashing sound, and a rumbling sound as loud as thunder; [emanating from the two deities] radiant flames of wisdom, blazing from every hair-pore fof the body] and each containing a flaming dorje; [the two deities together thus], standing with [one] leg bent and [the other] straight and tense, on a dais supported by horned eagles,® will come forth from within thine own brain and shine vividly upon thee. Fear that not. Be not awed. Know it to be the embodiment of thine own intellect. As it is thine own tutelary deity, be not terrified. Be not afraid, for in reality it is the Bhagavan Vairochana, the Father-Mother. Simultaneously with the recognition, liberation will be obtained: if they be recognized, merging [thyself], in at-one-

1 Text: Dpal-chen-po Bud-dha Heruka (pron. Pal-chen-po Bud-dha Heruka) :
‘Great Glorious Buddha-Heruka.’

2 Text: Bud-dha Kro-ti-shva-ri-ma (pron. Buddha Kroti-shau-ri-ma), i.e. the [female] Buddha, the Mighty Wrathful Mother.

3 These are the Garudas of Indian and Tibetan mythology. They are depicted with eagle head, and human-bird body, having two human-like arms, two eagle wings, and two eagle feet. Symbolically, they personify energy and aspiration. (Cf. p, 116%.)

3069 Tp. 138 ment, into the tutelary deity, Buddhahood in the Sambhoga- Kaya will be won. [THE NINTH DAY]

But if one flee from them, through awe and terror being begotten, then, on the Ninth Day, the blood-drinking [deities] of the Vajra Order will come to receive one. Thereupon, the setting-face-to-face is, calling the deceased by name, thus: