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

* Unless previously endowed with a very high degree of spiritual enlighten-

PART T] MIRACULOUS POWERS 159

the King of Mountains, Mt. Meru itself, can be passed through by thee, straight forwards and backwards unimpededly. That, too, is an indication that thou art wandering in the Szdpa Bardo. Remember thy guru’s teachings, and pray to the Compassionate Lord.

O nobly-born, thou art actually endowed with the power of miraculous action,’ which is not, however, the fruit of any samadhi, but a power come to thee naturally; and, therefore, it is of the nature of karmic power.2 Thou art able in a moment to traverse the four continents round about Mt. Meru.? Or thou canst instantaneously arrive in whatever place thou wishest; thou hast the power of reaching there within the time which a man taketh to bend, or to stretch forth his hand. These various powers of illusion and of shape-shifting desire not, desire not.*

None is there [of such powers] which thou mayst desire which thou canst not exhibit. The ability to exercise them unimpededly existeth in thee now. Know this, and pray to the guru.

O nobly-born, ‘ Visible to pure celestial eyes of like nature’

ment, the deceased cannot consciously go to these two places at will; for from Budh-Gaya (as a great psychic-centre) and from the mother’s womb (as being the destined path to rebirth) radiate such psychically-blinding radiances that the ordinary mentality would be overcome with fear in the same manner as when in the Bardo various radiances dawn, and so would avoid them. (Cf, stanza 6, ‘The Path of Good Wishes Which Protecteth from Fear in the Bardo’, p. 206.)

1 Text: rdeu-hphrul (pron. eu-til); rdeu meaning ‘power to change one’s shape’; and Apfhrul meaning ‘power to change one’s size and number’, by appearing or disappearing at will, as one or as many, large or small, - If developed on the earth-plane, through yogic practices, such miraculous power becomes a permanent endowment, and can be employed in the body or out of the body (as when in the Bardo),

2 The text implies that the deceased is possessed of the miraculous power as a result of his being—through the workings of karma—in the Intermediate State, wherein such power is natural, and not because of merit acquired through the practice of yoga when in the human body.

3 See pp. 62-5, concerning Cosmography.

4 The most advanced of the /amas teach the disciple not to strive after psychic powers of this nature for their own sake ; for until the disciple is morally fit to use them wisely they become a serious impediment to his higher spiritual development: not until the lower or passional nature of man is completely mastered is he safe in using them.

p. 160

p. 160

implieth that those [beings] of like nature, being those of similar constitution [or level of knowledge] in the Intermediate State, will individually see each other.1 For example, those beings who are destined to be born amongst devas will see each other [and so on]. Dote not on them [seen by thee], but meditate upon the Compassionate One.

‘Visible to pure celestial eyes’ [also] implieth that the devas, being born [pure] in virtue of merit, are visible to the pure celestial eyes of those who practise dhyana. These will not see them at all times: when mentally concentrated [upon them] they see [them], when not, they see [them] not. Sometimes, even when practising dhyana, they are liable to become distracted [and not see them ].?

[CHARACTERISTICS OF EXISTENCE IN THE
INTERMEDIATE STATE]

O nobly-born, the possessor of that sort of body will see places [familiarly known on the earth-plane] and relatives [there] as one seeth another in dreams.

Thou seest thy relatives and connexions and speakest to them, but receivest no reply. Then, seeing them and thy family weeping, thou thinkest, ‘I am dead! What shall I do?’ and feelest great misery, just like a fish cast out

1 In addition to the normal human eyes with their limited vision, Jamas say that there are five sorts of eyes: (1) Eyes of Instinct (or Eyes of the Flesh), like those of birds and beasts of prey, which, in most cases, possess a greater range of vision than human eyes; (2) Celestial Eyes, like the eyes of the devas, capable of seeing the human world as well as their own, and the past and future births of beings in both worlds throughout many lifetimes; (3) Eyes of Truth, like the eyes of Bodhisattvas and Arhants, capable of seeing throughout hundreds of world-periods (or £al/pas) backwards and in the future; (4) Divine Eyes, of the most highly advanced Bodhisattvas, capable of seeing throughout millions of world-periods that which has been and that which will be; and (5) Eyes of Wisdom of the Buddhas, capable of seeing, in like manner, throughout eternity.

2 Ordinarily it is only when clairvoyant vision is induced by dhyana, or exists naturally in certain specially gifted clairvoyants, and directed to the deva-world, that the devas are seen; sometimes, however, the devas appear unexpectedly. The T7i-Pitaka, like the canonical literature of Northern Buddhism, is replete with visions and unexpected visitations of devas, as Christian and Moslem sacred literature is replete with lore concerning angels.

PART T] THE WIND OF KARMA 161

The T7i-Pitaka, like the canonical literature of Northern Buddhism, is replete with visions and unexpected visitations of devas, as Christian and Moslem sacred literature is replete with lore concerning angels.

PART T] THE WIND OF KARMA 161

{of water] on red-hot embers. Such misery thou wilt be experiencing at present. But feeling miserable will avail thee nothing now. If thou hast a divine guruz,) pray to him. Pray to the Tutelary Deity, the Compassionate One. Even though thou feelest attachment for thy relatives and connexions, it will do thee no good. So be not attached. Pray to the Compassionate Lord; thou shalt have nought of sorrow, or of terror, or of awe.

© nobly-born, when thou art driven [hither and thither] by the ever-moving wind of karma, thine intellect, having no object upon which to rest, will be like a feather tossed about by the wind, riding on the horse of breath.2 Ceaselessly and involuntarily wilt thou be wandcring about. To all those who are weeping [thou wilt say], ‘ Here Iam; weep not. But they not hearing thee, thou wilt think, ‘I am dead!’ And again, at that time, thou wilt be feeling very miserable. Be not miserable in that way.

There will be a grey twilight-like light, both by night and by day, and at all times.’ In that kind of Intermediate State thou wilt be either for one, two, three, four, five, six, or seven weeks, until the forty-ninth day.* It hath been said that ordinarily the miseries of the Szdpa Pardo are experienced for about twenty-two days; but, because of the determining influence of Zarma, a fixed period is not assured.

O nobly-born, at about that time, the fierce wind of karma, terrific and hard to endure, will drive thee [onwards], from behind, in dreadful gusts. Fear it not. That is thine own

1 This refers to a superhuman guru of the Divyaugha Order. (See Addenda, p- 222.)

2 Like the restless wind, karma is ever in motion, and the intellect, when without the support of the human body, is its plaything.

2 Yowis explain this by saying that in the Bardo-budy, which is a mind-born desire-body, the nervous system of the earth-plane body being lacking, the light of the sun and moon and stars is not visible to the deceased. Only the natural light of nature ‘referred to by medieval alchemists and mystics as the ‘astral light’, is to be seen in the after-death state; and this ‘astral light’ is said to be universally diffused throughout the ether, like an earth twilight, yet quite bright enough for the eyes of the ethereally constituted beings in the Bardo. (Cf. p. 924.)

* See our Introduction, pp. 6~7.

2069 Y

162 BARDO OF SEEKING REBIRTH [BOOK Il illusion. Thick awesome darkness will appear in front of thee continually, from the midst of which there will come such terror-producing utterances as ‘Strike! Slay!’ and similar threats.! Fear these not.