2 Text: Thag-bzang-ris (pron. Thag-zang-ree): ‘[He of] Strong Texture’ (Skt. Virdchdra): a name referring either to the bodily strength of, or else to the coat of mail worn by, this Lord of the Asvva-loka, the world wherein warfare is the predominant passion of existence.
3 Text: Chés-kyt-rgyal-po (pron. Ché-kyi-gyal-po): Skt. Dharma-Raja.
4 Text: Kiintu-bzang-mo (pron, Kiintu-beang-mo): ‘ All-Good Mother’; Skt. Samanta-Bhadraé. The Tantric School holds that every deity, even the Supreme, has its shakit, A few deities are, however, commonly depicted skakit-less—for example, Mafijushri, or Mafijughosha (see p. 113*); though there may be, as in the instance of the Prajid-Paramita (often called the Mother) which this deity holds, some symbolic representation of a shakt, This is, apparently, a doctrine of universal dualism, In the final analysis, however, all pairs of opposites being viewed as having a Single Source—in the Voidness of the Dharma-Kaya—the apparent dualism becomes monism.
122 BARDO OF KARMIC ILLUSIONS [nook 1
deities, too, are not come from somewhere else: they exist from eternity within the faculties of thine own intellect.? Know them to be of that nature.
O nobly-born, the size of all these deities is not large, not small, [but] proportionate. [They have] their ornaments, their colours, their sitting postures, their thrones, and the emblems that each holds.
These deities are formed into groups of five pairs, each
group of five being surrounded by a fivefold circle of
radiances, the male Bodhisattvas partaking of the nature
of the Divine Fathers, and the female Bodhisattvas par-
taking of the nature of the Divine Mothers. All these
divine conclaves will come to shine upon thee in one com-
plete conclave.2 They are thine own tutelary deities.®
Know them to be such.
O nobly-born, from the hearts of the Divine Fathers and
Mothers of the Five Orders, the rays of light of the Four
Wisdoms united, extremely clear and fine, like the rays
of the sun spun into threads, will come and shine upon
thee and strike against thy heart.
On that path of radiance there will come to shine glorious orbs of light, blue in colour, emitting rays, the Dharma- Dhétw Wisdom [itself], each appearing like an inverted turquoise cup, surrounded by similar orbs, smaller in size, glorious and dazzling, radiant and transparent, each made more glorious with five yet smaller [satellite] orbs dotted round about with five starry spots of light of the same nature, leaving neither the centre nor the borders [of the blue light-path] unglorified by the orbs and the smaller [satellite] orbs.
1 According to the esotericism of Northern Buddhism, man is, in the sense implied by the mystical philosophies of ancient Egypt and Greece, the micro- cosm of the macrocosm,
2 Text: dkyil-hkhor (pron. kytl-khor): Skt. mandala, i.e. conclave of deities.
3 The Tutelary Deities, too, in the last analysis, are the visualizations of the person believing in them, Zhe Demchok Tantra says that the ‘ Devatas are but symbols representing the various things which occur on the Path, such as the helpful impulses and the stages attained by their means’; and that ‘should doubts arise as to the divinity of these Devatads, one should say ‘The Dakini is only the recollection of the body ”’ and remember that the deities constitute the Path’ (cf. A. Avalon, Tantitk Texts, London, 1919, vii. 41).
Pee) LIGHT-PATHS OF THE WISDOMS — 1:23
From the heart of Vajra-Sattva, the white light-path of the Mirror-like Wisdom, white and transparent, glorious and dazzling, glorious and terrifying, made more glorious with orbs surrounded by smaller orbs of transparent and radiant light upon it, each like an inverted mirror, will come -to shine.
From the heart of Ratna-Sambhava, the yellow light-path of the Wisdom of Equality, [glorified] with yellow orbs [of radiance], each like an inverted gold cup, surrounded by smaller orbs, and these with yet smaller orbs, will come to shine.
From the heart of Amitabha, the transparent, bright red light-path of the Discriminating Wisdom, upon which are orbs, like inverted coral cups, emitting rays of Wisdom, extremely bright and dazzling, each glorified with five [satellite] orbs of the same nature,—leaving neither the centre nor the borders [of the red light-path] unglorified with orbs and smaller satellite orbs,—will come to shine.
These will come to shine against thy heart simultaneously.’
O nobly-born, all those are the radiances of thine own intellectual faculties come to shine. They have not come from any other place. Be not attracted towards them; be not weak ; be not terrified ; but abide in the mood of non- thought- formation.2. In that state all the forms and radiances will merge into thyself, and Buddhahood will be obtained.
The green light-path of the Wisdom of Perfected Actions
will not shine upon thee, because the Wisdom-faculty of thine
intellect hath not been perfectly developed.
O nobly-born, those are called the Lights of the Four
1 Each of these mystical radiances symbolizes the particular Bodhic, or Wisdom, quality of the Buddha whence it shines. In the Tibetan of our text there is here such fervency in the poetical description of the light-paths that the translator, in order to render something of the beauty of the original language, essayed several renderings, of which the actual rendering is the outcome.
2 ‘The mood of non- thought-formation’ is attained in samdadhi-yoga. This state, regarded as the primordial state of Mind, ts illustrated by the following figure: So long as a man afloat on a river passively submits to the current, he is carried along smoothly; but if he attempts to grasp an object fixed in the water the tranquillity of his motion is broken. Similarly, thought-formation arrests the natural flow of the mind.
124 BARDO OF KARMIC ILLUSIONS [Boox 1
Wisdoms United, [whence proceeds that] which is called the Inner Path through Vajra-Sattva.!
At that time, thou must remember the teachings of the setting-face-to-face which thou hast had from thy gurzw. If thou hast remembered the purport of the settings-face- to-face, thou wilt have recognized all these lights which have shone upon thee, as being the reflection of thine own inner light, and, having recognized them as intimate friends, thou wilt have believed in them and have understood [them at] the meeting, as a son understandeth his mother.
And believing in the unchanging nature of the pure and holy Truth, thou wilt have had produced in thee the tranquil-flowing Samadhi; and, having merged into the body of the perfectly evolved intellect, thou wilt have obtained Buddhahood in the Sambhoga-K aya, whence there is no return.
O nobly-born, along with the radiances of Wisdom, the impure illusory lights of the Six Lokas will also come to shine. If it be asked, ‘What are they?’ [they are] a dull white light from the devas, a dull green light from the asuras, a dull yellow light from human beings, a dull blue light from the brutes, a dull reddish light from the frezas, and a dull smoke-coloured light from Hell.? These six thus will come to shine, along with the six radiances of Wisdom; whereupon, be not afraid of nor be attracted towards any, but allow thy- self to rest in the non-thought condition.
} In the transcendental state of the Illumination of Buddhahood, on the Inner, or Secret, Path, into Vajra-Sattva merge, in at-one-ment, all the Peaceful and Wrathful Deities of the greater mandala described by our text; in all, one- hundred and ten,—forty-two in the heart-centre, ten in the throat-centre, and fifty-eight in the brain-centre. (Cf. pp. 217-8.)
2 There are irreconcilable differences between the colours assigned to these light-paths in the Block-Print (25b) and in our MS. The Block-Print gives them as follows: white, from the devas; red, from the asuras; blue, from human beings; green, from the brutes; yellow, from the prefas; smoke- coloured from Hell. According to the translator, the colours should correspond to the colour of the Buddha of each Joka, thus: deva, white; asuva, green; human, yellow; brute, blue; pvefa, red; Hell, smoke-coloured or black. Therefore, the Block-Print is wrong in all save the first and last; and the MS. is wrong in assigning dull blue to the human and black or smoke-coloured to the animal world. On folio 23, the MS. correctly assigns yellow to the
human world light-path, The necessary corrections have been made in the translation herein and in the corresponding passages in folio 46 following.
panel] LIGHT-PATHS OF THE WISDOMS 125
If thou art frightened by the pure radiances of Wisdom and attracted by the impure lights of the Six Lokas, then thou wilt assume a body in any of the Six Lofas and suffer sang- saric miseries; and thou wilt never be emancipated from the Ocean of Sangsara, wherein thou wilt be whirled round and round and made to taste of the sufferings thereof.
O nobly-born, if thou art one who hath not obtained the select words of the guru, thou wilt have fear of the pure radiances of Wisdom and of the deities thereof. Being thus frightened, thou wilt be attracted towards the impure sangsdaric objects. Act not so. Humbly trust in the dazzling pure radiances of Wisdom. Frame thy mind to faith, and think, ‘The compassionate radiances of Wisdom of the Five Orders of Buddhas! have come to take hold of me out of compassion ; I take refuge in them.’
Not yielding to attraction towards the illusory lights of the Six Lokas, but devoting thy whole mind one-pointedly towards the Divine Fathers and Mothers, the Buddhas of the Five Orders, pray thus:
‘Alas! when wandering in the Saxgsara through the power of the five virulent poisons,’
On the bright radiance-path of the Four Wisdoms united,
May [I] be led by the Five Victorious Conquerors,
May the Five Orders of Divine Mothers be [my] rear- guard ;
May [I] be rescued from the impure light-paths of the Six Lokas ;
And, being saved from the ambuscades of the dread Bardo,
May [I] be placed within the five pure Divine Realms.’
By thus praying, one recognizeth one’s own inner light ; *
1 Text: Bde-var-gshegs-pa (pron. De-war-sheg-pa): Skt. Sugata: literally mean- ing ‘Those who have passed into Happiness (or attained Mirvana)’—i.e. Buddhas,
2 The five virulent poisons, which, like drugs, enslave and bind mankind to the sufferings of existence within the confines of the Six Lokas, are: lust, hatred, stupidity, pride or egoism, and jealousy,
8 Text: vang (‘self’) + sNang (‘light’): ‘self-light’ or ‘inner-light’, i.e. thoughts or ideas appearing in the radiance of the consciousness-principle. The Bardo state is the after-death dream state following the waking or living- On-earth state, as explained in our Introduction (pp. 28 ff.); and the whole
126 BARDO OF KARMIC ILLUSIONS [Boox 1
and, merging one’s self therein, in at-one-ment, Buddhahood is attained: through humble faith, the ordinary devotee cometh to know himself, and obtaineth Liberation; even the most lowly, by the power of the pure prayer, can close the doors of the Six ZLokas, and, in understanding the real meaning of the Four Wisdoms united, obtain Buddhahood by the hollow path- way through Vajra-Sattva.!
Thus by being set face to face in that detailed manner,
those who are destined to be liberated will come to recognize
[the Truth] ;* thereby many will attain Liberation.
The worst of the worst, [those] of heavy evil Zarma, having not the least predilection for any religion—and some who have failed in their vows—through the power of karzzzc illusions, not recognizing, although set face to face [with Truth], will stray downwards.
[the Seventh Day]
On the Seventh Day, the Knowledge-Holding Deities, from the holy paradise realms, come to receive one. Simultaneously, the pathway to the brute world, produced by the obscuring passion, stupidity, also cometh to receive one.* The setting- face-to-face at that time is, calling the deceased by name, thus:
aim of the Bardo Thédol teaching is to awaken the Dreamer to Reality—to a supramundane state of consciousness, to an annihilation of all bonds of sangsaric existence, to Perfect Enlightenment, Buddhahood,
1 Vajra-Sattva, as a symbolic deity, the reflex of Akshobhya, is visualized, in Tibetan occult rituals, as being internally vacuous. As such, he represents the Void, concerning which there are many treatises with elaborate commentaries, essentially esoteric. Through Vajra-Sattva there lies a certain pathway to Liberation, he being the embodiment of all the one-hundred and ten deities constituting the mandala of the Peaceful and Wrathful Ones (see p. 1241). To tread this Path successfully, the Neophyte must be instructed by the Hiecrophant.
2 This Truth is that there is no reality behind any of the phenomena of the Bardo plane, save the illusions stored up in one’s own mind as accretions from sangsaric experiences. Recognition of this automatically gives Liberation.