The Tibetan Book of the Dead, or Bardo Thödol, is a funerary text of much more recent origin than its Egyptian counterpart and it has incomparably more inner consistency and congruence. Unlike Pert em hru, it is a well-defined and homogenous text for which we know the author and the approximate time of its origin. Although it is clearly based on a much older oral material, it was first put into writing in the eighth century A.D. and it is attributed to the Great Guru Padmasambhava. This legendary spiritual teacher introduced Buddhism into Tibet and laid the foundations for Vajrayana, a unique amalgam of Buddhist teachings and elements of an ancient indigenous tradition called Bon that had been Tibet's principal religion prior to Padmasambhava's arrival.

Little is known with certainty about the pre-Buddhist religion of Tibet; however, one of its dominant features seemed to be preoccupation with the continuation of life after death. It included elaborate rituals aimed at insuring that the soul of the dead person was conducted safely to the beyond. Sacrificed animals, foods, drinks, and various precious objects accompanied the deceased during the posthumous journey. The funeral rites were particularly elaborate in connection with the death of a king or a high nobleman. Here the sacrifice included immolation of selected human companions and the ceremonies involved a large number of priests and court officials and lasted for several years. Beside insuring the happiness of the deceased in the beyond, these rites were also expected to have beneficial influence on the wellbeing and fertility of the living.

Additional characteristic features of the early indigenous Tibetan religion were the cult of local gods, especially mountain and warrior deities, and the use of trance states for oracular activities. The original Bon had significant animistic and shamanistic components. After the arrival of Buddhism into Tibet, both of these religious systems coexisted and in spite of their separate nature showed rich crossfertilization. In their extreme forms, it is relatively easy to distinguish genuine Buddhism and the Bon religion; however, in practice the two have been so closely combined that in most people's minds they fused into a single belief system. The non-Buddhist elements are particularly prominent in the terrifying rite of deliberate sacrifice of oneself to local demons, as practiced by certain ascetic yogis, and in the remarkable Bardo Thödol.

The Bardo Thödol is a guide for the dying and the dead, a manual helping the departed to recognize, with the help of a competent lama, the various stages of the intermediate state between death and subsequent rebirth and to attain liberation. The states of consciousness associated with the process of death and rebirth belong to a larger family of intermediate states or bardos:

1. The natural bardo state of the intrauterine existence
2. Bardo of the dream state
3. Bardo of ecstatic equilibrium during deep meditation
4. Bardo of the moment of death (Chikhai Bardo)
5. Bardo of the karmic illusions following death (Chonyid Bardo)
6. Bardo of the inverse process of sangsaric existence while seeking rebirth (Sidpa Bardo)

The Tibetan Book of the Dead is written as a guide for the dying; however, it has additional levels of meaning. According to the Buddhist teachings, death and rebirth do not happen only in connection with the biological demise and subsequent beginning of another lifetime, but in every moment of our existence. The states described in the Bardo Thödol can also be experienced in meditative states during systematic spiritual practice. This important text is thus simultaneously a guide for the dying, for the living, and for serious spiritual seekers. It is one of a series of instructions on six types of liberation: liberation through hearing, liberation through wearing, liberation through seeing, liberation through remembering, liberation through tasting, and liberation through touching.

The instructions on the different types of liberation were formulated by Padmasambhava and written down by his wife. Padmasambhava buried these texts in the Gampo hills of central Tibet, as it was done with many other texts and sacred objects, called termas or "hidden treasures". He gave the transmission of power to discover them to his twenty-five chief disciples. The texts of the Bardo Thödol were later found by Karma Lingpa, who belonged to the Nyingma tradition and was an incarnation of one of these disciples. They have been used throughout centuries by serious students of this teaching as important guides to liberation and illumination.

The Bardo Thödol describes the experiences that one encounters at the time of death (Chikhai Bardo), during the period of facing the archetypal visions and karmic illusions following death (Chonyid Bardo), and in the process of seeking rebirth (Sidpa Bardo). Traditionally, upon death and for a period of forty-nine days thereafter, this text has been chanted by teachers or lamas to give instructions to the spirit of the deceased what to expect in the Bardo state and how to use the experiences for liberation.


Chikhai Bardo: The Bardo of the Moment of Death

The Chikhai Bardo describes the experiences associated with the moment of death. Their most characteristic feature is a sense of losing touch with the familiar world of polarities and entering a realm of unreality and confusion. The logical and ordered world that we know from everyday life starts to dissolve and with it comes the sense of uncertainty whether one is attaining enlightenment or becoming insane. The Bardo Thödol discusses the experiences heralding imminent death in terms of the different elements of the body.

Here belong experiences of heaviness, intense physical pressures, and progressive loss of touch with the physical world. In this situation, one takes refuge to the mind and tries to reach reassurance that it is still functioning. This is described as "earth sinking into water". In the next stage, the operations of the mind cease to be fluid and the circulation of thoughts is disturbed. The only way to relate is through emotions, to think of somebody one loves or hates. The feelings of clammy cold are replaced by fiery heat. The Bardo Thödol refers to this experience as "water sinking into fire". Then the vivid emotions dissolve and attention moves away from the objects of love and hatred; one entire being seems to be blown into atoms. This experience of "fire sinking into air" creates a state of openness for the following encounter with cosmic luminosity.

At the actual moment of death, one has an overwhelming vision of Dharmakaya, or the Primary Clear Light of Pure Reality. It is as if all of existence suddenly appeared in its absolute totality shining as a timeless unborn light. In this experience, all dualities are transcended - agony and ecstasy, good and evil, beauty and ugliness, burning heat and chilling cold, all coexist in one undifferentiated whole. In the last analysis, the Dharmakaya is identical with the experiencer's own consciousness, which has no birth and death and is by its very nature the Immutable Light.

According to the Bardo Thodol, if one recognizes this truth and has been prepared by systematic practice for the enormity of this experience, this situation offers a unique opportunity for instant spiritual liberation by surrendering one's individuality into it. Those who let themselves be deterred and shy away from the Dharmakaya, will have another chance immediately after death when the Secondary Clear Light dawns upon them. If they also miss this opportunity for a complete dissolution of their individuality, the force of their karma draws them relentlessly into a complicated sequence of spiritual adventures with an entire pantheon of blissful and wrathful deities, during which their consciousness becomes progressively more separated from the liberating light as they are approaching another rebirth. These are the experiences described in the second and third bardo.


Chonyid Bardo: The Bardo of Experiencing Reality

The experiences in the Chonyid Bardo consists of successive visions of a rich panoply of divine and demonic presences that one encounters during his or her journey from the moment of death to the time of seeking rebirth. In the first five days of this bardo appear the glorious images of the five Peaceful Deities. These are the transcendental Dhyani Buddhas, or Tathagatas, enveloped in brilliant light of different colors - Vairocana (Buddha Supreme and Eternal), Akshobhya (Immovable Buddha), Ratnasambhava (Buddha of Precious Birth), Amitabha (Buddha of Infinite Light), and Amoghasiddhi (Buddha of Unfailing Success). They appear with their attendents, male and female Bodhisattvas.

On the sixth day, all the Dhyani Buddhas appear at once with their attendents, together with the four wrathful Door-Keepers and their female shaktis or dakinis, the Buddhas of the six lokas or realms into which one can be reborn, and a number of additional divine figures, forty-two deities altogether. Their radiances are in sharp contrast with the luring of the dull and illusory lights representing the six lokas. On the seventh day, five Knowledge-Holding Deities from the paradisean realms appear with their dakinis, innumerable heroes and heroines, celestial warriors, and faith-protecting deities. Radiances of colorful light emanating from their hearts compete with the dull light of tiryaloka, the realm of animals, or brutal subhuman creatures.

The emotions that attract us to the individual lokas are: karmically determined fear and terror (devaloka), violent anger (narakaloka), egotism (manakaloka), attachment (pretaloka), jealousy (asuraloka); the rebirth in tiryaloka is described in the Bardo Thodol as a result of the " influence of the illusions of one's propensities".

The period between the eighth and fourteenth day is the time for the appearance of the Wrathful Deities. The demonic figures which manifest between the eighth and twelfth day, as terrifying as they might seem, are in actuality the dark aspects of the transcendental Buddhas. On the thirteenth day, the Kerimas, the Eight Wrathful Ones, and the animal-headed Htamenmas emerge from within the deep realms of the psyche. On the fourteenth day appears a rich array of deities, among them Four Female Door-Keepers with animal heads and other powerful theriomorphic goddesses, and yoginis.

For the unprepared and uninitiated, the wrathful deities are a source of abysmal awe and terror. However, those familiar with these images from their previous studies and prepared for them by intensive spiritual practice would be able to recognize them and realize that they are essentially empty images of their own mind. They will be able to merge with them and attain Buddhahood.


Sidpa Bardo: The Bardo of Seeking Rebirth

Those who have missed the opportunity for liberation in the first two bardos have to face this last stage of the intermediate state. After having fainted because of fear in the Chonyid Bardo, they now awaken in a new form - the bardo body. The bardo body differs from the gross one we know from everyday life. It is not composed of matter and has many remarkable qualities. It is endowed with the power of unimpeded motion and can penetrate through solid objects.

Those who exist in the form of bardo body can appear and disappear at will, travel instantaneously to any place on earth and even to the sacred cosmic mountain Mt. Meru. They can change size and shape, and replicate their form, manifesting simultaneously in more than one location. At this point, one might seem to be in command of miraculous karmic powers; here the Bardo Thodol issues a serious warning against allowing oneself to feel desire for these forces and against becoming attached to them.

The quality of experiences in this bardo- the degree of happiness or misery- depends on the karmic record of the person involved. Those who have accumulated much bad karma will be tormented by frightening events, such as flesh-eating demons or rakshasas swinging weapons, terrible beasts of prey, and raging elemental forces of nature. They can be encountering clashing and crumbling rocks, angry overflowing seas, roaring fires, or ominous crevices and precipices. Those who have accumulated karmic merit will experience various delightful pleasures, while those with neutral karma will face colorless dullness and indifference.

A culmination of the experiences in the Sidpa Bardo is the scene of judgment, during which the Lord and Judge of the Dead, whose name is Yama Raja or Dharma Raja, examines the past actions of the individual from a karmic point of view with the help of his tale-telling mirror. He then assigns the person according to his or her merits and debits to one of the six lokas or realms into which one can be reborn- the realm of gods, belligerent asuras, brute subhuman beings and beasts, humans, the hungry ghosts, or hell.

When the lights of the six lokas are dawning on the person at this stage of the bardo journey, an attempt can be made to close the door of the womb and prevent an unfavorable reincarnation. The Bardo Thodol suggests several approaches to this end. It might help to contemplate one's tutelary deity or meditate on the clear light; another possibilities are to realize the essential voidness of all samsaric apparitions or to focus on the chain of good karma. One can also avoid the strong feelings experienced at this time toward the figures of one's future parents who are perceived as naked bodies in sexual union. In agreement with modern depth psychology, these emotions take the form of attraction to the parent of the opposite sex and repulsion or anger toward the parental figure of one's own gender.

If all the opportunities for liberation have been missed, one will be maneuvered irresistibly by vivid illusions and rebirth will invariably follow. With proper guidance, the unfortunate individual still has one hope left: with proper guidance, he or she can still have some influence on the choice of the womb into which he or she will be born. With the right environment and support, the new life might offer opportunities for spiritual practice that would provide better preparation for the next journey through the bardo states.


THE TIBETAN WHEEL OF DEATH AND REBIRTH

The Pantheon of Tibetan Buddhist Deities of the Bardo Thödol

Many religions and cultures have elaborate mythologies with vivid descriptions of the deities and demons, as well as complex scenery of various archetypal realms. However, none of them matches the rich and meticulous iconography of Tibetan Buddhism. This also found its expression in the Bardo Thodol which offers meticulous accounts of a fantastic array of blissful and wrathful deities and other archetypal inhabitants of the afterdeath plane. They are described with amazing precision as to their general appearance, specific characteristics, symbolic attributes, and associated colors.

While the experiences of the Primary and Secondary Clear Light characterizing the Chikhai Bardo represent the cosmic creative energy in its pure nature and reflects in a completely formless way all its potential for manifesting infinite realms of being, the progression through the remaining two Bardos reveals an ever increasing multitude of specific forms. In the Chonyid Bardo, the five primordial expressions of this energy, or the Dhyani Buddhas, first appear in their blissful aspects and gradually develop into an amazing pantheon of Knowledge-Holding, Wrathful, and Door-Keeping Deities, Yoginis of the Four Cardinal Points, and a rich array of other archetypal beings. Simultaneously shine the dull lights of different colors, representing the six lokas, or realms into which one can be born. The Sidpa Bardo then brings the scene of Judgment with Dharmaraja and his helpers, as well as the intricate scenery of the six lokas and their inhabitants.


The Peaceful Deities of the Chonyid Bardo

The first five primordial Buddhas are also called Tathagatas or Jinas. Tathagata means literally "thus gone", or he who has become one with the essence of what is, and Jina translates as "victorious". Both of these terms are synonymous with the name Buddha that signifies "the awakened one". The five Tathagatas are the five principal modes of energy of Buddha-nature, fully awakened consciousness. They embody five qualities of wisdom; everything that is part of existence- living beings, places, or events- is deeply connected with and can be described in terms of one of the five. For this reason, they are also known as the five families. However, in the samsaric world or in the state of mind of an unenlightened person, they appear as five poisons or confused emotions. This situation is then represented by their wrathful aspects.

Vairochana (Spreading Forth of the Seed) is the Buddha of the Central Realm. He is white and the space in which he appears is blue; the dazzling blue light of Dharmdhatu that radiates from his heart competes with the dull white light of the realm of gods (devaloka). Seated on a lion throne and embraced by the Mother of the Space of Heaven, he is holding an eight-spoked wheel in his hand, symbolizing transcendence of direction and time. Vairochana is often represented with four faces, simultaneously perceiving all directions, which expresses complete openness of consciousness and decentralized panoramic vision. He represents the wisdom of the dharmadhatu, the limitless, all-pervading space in which everything exists as it really is. Since he is the original and central figure, his family is known as the Buddha family or the Tathagata family; these names represent the true reality, opposite of ignorance. In his negative aspect, he symbolizes the basic poison of confusion or basic ignorance out of which all the others evolve.

Akshobhya (the Immovable Buddha) or Vajrasattva (Diamond Being) is the Buddha of the Eastern Realm of Pre-Eminent Happiness. He is blue and the bright white light of the mirror-like wisdom radiating from his heart competes with the dull smoke-colored light of the Hell realm (narakaloka). Embraced by his Shakti Buddha-Locana, the Buddha Eye, he he is resting on an elephant throne, holding in his hand a five-pronged Vajra or thunderbolt. His attendants are the Boddhisattvas Kshitigarbha, the Essence of Earth, and Maitreya, the Loving One, as well as two female Bodhisattvas, Lasya, the goddess of dance, and Pushpa, the goddess of flowers. Akshobhya is the ruler of the Vajra family that represents deep transcendental wisdom reflecting everything with clarity and without critical judgment. The corresponding poison is aggression or hatred.

Ratnasambhava (Born of A Jewel) is the Buddha of the Southern Realm Endowed with Glory. He is yellow and radiates dazzling yellow light of equanimity and non-discrimination, the richness and majesty of which might make one choose the competing dull bluish-yellow light of the human realm (manakaloka). Seated on a horse throne, Ratnasambhava is holding in his hand the wishfulfilling gem. His yellow color represents the fertility, wealth, and richness of the Earth; his consort Mamaki represents water, an element which is indispensable for fertility. The two accompanying male Bodhisattvas are Akashagarbha, or the Essence of Space, and Samantabhadra, the All-Good, and their female counterparts are Mala, representing jewels and precious adornments of all kinds, and Dhupa, the goddess of smell, scent, and fresh air. Ratnasambhava presides over the Ratna family which is characterized by the wisdom of equanimity, equality, and non-discriminating light; its specific poison is pride.

Amitabha (the Buddha of Infinite Light) is the Buddha of the Western Realm of Happiness, the Western Paradise, or Sukhavati. He is red and radiates from his heart brilliant red light of the all-discriminating wisdom; the alternative here is the dull red light of the realm of the hungry ghosts (pretaloka). Amitabha is seated on a peacock throne, holding a lotus in his hand, and embraced by his shakti Pandaravasini, the White-Clad One. The peacock and the lotus symbolize purity, openness, and acceptance. Amitabha's Boddhisattvas are Avalokiteshvara, the ultimate intelligence of compassion, Manjushri, representing the communication of compassion through sound, Gita, the goddess of sound, and the torch-bearing Aloka. Amitabha rules the Padma family characterized by compassion and discriminating wisdom; its poison is indulgence in ordinary passions and attachment to pleasurable aspects of the material world.

Amogha-Siddhi (the Buddha of Infallible Magic) is the Buddha of the Northern Realm of Successful Performance of Best Actions. He is green and emanates from his heart radiant green light which competes with the dull green light from the realm of the divine warriors (asuraloka). He is sitting on a seat of sheng-shang, a form of harpy or Garuda, an archetypal bird who is a musician and a symbol of fulfillment; he can fly and cover all space. Amogha-Siddhi is embraced by his consort, Samaya-Tara, the Savior of Sacred Word, and the crossed multicolored vajra he is holding in his hand symbolizes the area of all activities perceived in all directions, a kind of panoramic fulfillment. Here we find the Bodhisattvas Vajrapani, or Vajra Holder, symbolizing enormous energy, and Sarvanivarana- viskambhin, the Purifier of All Hindrances, as well as their female counterparts Gandha, the goddess of perfume, and Naivedya, who provides the food of meditation. Amogha-Siddhi presides over the Karma family, associated with wise action, efficiency, and fulfillment; its characteristic poison is jealousy.

The five Tathagatas appear individually on the first five consecutive days of the Chonyid Bardo. On the sixth day, all these five primordial Buddhas manifest simultaneously. If one is unprepared for this experience, this leads to a state of bewilderment, since the five Tathagatas fill all the space, all the directions; there is no escape, since the four gates are also guarded by the guardians of the gates: Vijaya or the Victorious One (East), Yamantaka or the Destroyer of the Lord of Death (South), Hayagriva or the Horse-Headed King (West), and Amritakundali or the Coil of the Nectar of Immortality (North), all with their shaktis. In addition, there are the Buddhas of the six lokas, and other figures, forty-two deities altogether.


The Knowledge-Holding Deities of the Chonyid Bardo

On the seventh day, with further development of the Chonyid Bardo imagery, the Vidyadharas, or Knowledge-Holding Deities, make their appearance. The deities of the Bardo Thodol have a specific connection with the centers of psychic energy or chakras. While the peaceful divinities are associated with the heart chakra and the following wrathful divinities with the brow chakra, the Knowledge-Holders represent the link between them mediated by speech and are thus connected with the throat chakra. Similarly, they are not quite peaceful and not quite wrathful, but intermediary; they are majestic, impressive, and overwhelming. At the time of their appearance, the green light of the animal realm (tiryakaloka) manifests symbolizing ignorance.

The Vidyadharas are all dancing, while making mudras of fascination and holding crescent knives and a skulls filled with blood; the esoteric meaning of the skull full of blood is renunciation of human life and of the world of samsara. In the center of their circle is the Lotus Lord of Dance, the Supreme Knowledge-Holder Who Ripens the Karmic Fruit, in a halo of radiant rainbow colors, embraced by the Red Dakini. In the east is the deity called the Earth-Abiding Knowledge-Holder, white in color and embraced by the White Dakini. To the south is the smiling and radiant Knowledge-Holding Deity named He Who Has Power Over Duration of Life, yellow in color and with the Yellow Dakini. The deity in the west is the Knowledge-Holder of the Great Symbol, red, smiling and radiant, and in the embrace of the Red Dakini. And finally to the north is the Self-Evolved Knowledge-Holder, green in color, with a half-angry and half-smiling countenance, and embraced by the Green Dakini.

The Knowledge-Holders are surrounded by innumerable dakinis of various kinds, heroes, heroines, celestial warriors, and faith-protecting deities. Using drums, thigh bone trumpets, skull timbrels, human hide banners and canopies, they produce awsome music that causes entire world systems to vibrate, quake, and tremble. Awe-inspiring mantras alternate with terrifying screams:"Slay! Slay!"


The Wrathful Deities of the Chonyid Bardo

From the eighth to the twelfth day, the Tathagatas appear in their horrifying and awe-inspiring demonic aspects, as herukas and their consorts. They have three heads, six arms, and four feet and represent the unbounded, unrestricted quality of the energy of the Buddha families. All the basic energy of all the Wrathful Herukas is concentrated in the dark brown Great Glorious Heruka; he is the terrifying aspect of Vairochana. Vajra-Heruka is dark blue and is the wrathful form of Vajra-Sattva (Akshobhya). The horrific aspect of Ratnasambhava is the yellow Ratna-Heruka, while Amitabha Buddha's dark counterpart is the reddish black Padma-Heruka, and that of Amogha-Siddhi's the dark green Karma-Heruka.

On the thirteenth day manifest the Kerimas, the Eight Wrathful Ones, and Htamenmas, terrifying zoomorphic deities; they have the heads of various animals - of a lion, tiger, black fox, wolf, vulture, dark red cemetery bird, crow, and an owl. On the fourteenth day, the visions of the Chonyid Bardo end with a rich array of deities, among them Four Female Door Keepers with animal heads and other powerful zoomorphic deities and Yoginis. If all the opportunities for liberation in the first two Bardos were missed, the process moves to the Sidpa Bardo, or the Bardo of Seeking Rebirth, with its specific challenges.


Sidpa Bardo: The Judgment and the Six Realms of Existence

A central theme in the process of seeking rebirth in the Sidpa Bardo is the scene of judgment that leads to assignment to one of the six realms of existence or lokas. The King and the Judge of the Dead is a deity called Dharma Raja (King of Law) or Yama Raja (King of Death); he is the wrathful aspect of Chenrazee, the National Protector of Tibet. His head and body, as well as his pavillion and his court are adorned with human skulls, heads, and hides. Under his foot, he is treading a mara figure, symbolic of maya, the illusory nature of human existence. He judges the dead holding in his right hand a sword, a symbol of spiritual power, and in his left hand the Mirror of Karma, in which are reflected all the good and evil deeds of the judged.

By the balance, attended by Shinje, a monkey-headed deity, stand two figures- the Little White God with a sack of white pebbles and the Little Black God with a sack of black pebbles. Following the instructions of Yama Raja, they place on the scale white or black pebbles according to the karmic merits or debits of the judged. A council of deities sitting in the Court of Judgment, many of whom are animal-headed, ensure impartial justice and the regularity of the procedure. According to the result of the weighing, the dead are assigned to one of the six realms of existence. In Tibetan Buddhist psychology, this entire process is not limited to the time of biological death, but applies equally to deep transformations occurring in the course of spiritual practice. It is this part of the Bardo Thodol, which most strikingly parallels the events in the Egyptian Book of the Dead, as well as eschatological texts of other cultures.

The Realm of Hell (narakaloka) is a domain where one is exposed to extreme tortures, each of which represents in the last analysis the forces operating in our own psyche. There are the Eight Hot Hells where fields and mountains are made of red-hot metal, rivers are turned into melted iron, and claustrophobic space is permeated with fire. The situation is opposite in the Eight Cold Hells, regions of extreme cold where everything is frozen and covered with ice and snow. In the hot hells are those who committed impious acts motivated by violent anger, while the acts resulting from selfish motives and pride lead one to the cold hells. Some additional tortures involve being hacked or sawed to pieces, strangled with nooses, pierced by spikes, and exposed to crushing pressures. And there is the horrible Avitchi Hell, where those who used sorcery to destroy their enemies or those who deliberately neglected to fulfill Tantric vows endure tortures for ages which are almost immeasurable.

The Realm of the Hungry Ghosts (pretaloka) is inhabited by the pretas, pitiful creatures who possess insatiable appetite. They have large extended bellies demanding satiation, but their mouths are the size of pinholes, so that they can never get enough. In this realm, there is a tremendous longing of richness, for gathering possessions. However, even as we gather the fruits of our desire and we possess them, we are unable to enjoy them. This leaves us feeling more hungry and more deprived. As in addiction, our satisfaction does not last and after a fleeting experience of pleasure leads to further endless searching. This is the suffering that is associated with greed.

The Animal Realm (tiryakaloka) is characterized by a dull way of life; it is mere surviving on a simple and uncomplicated level, where a sense of security alternates with episodes of fear. Whenever something is irregular or unpredictable, it is threatening and becomes a source of confusion and paranoia. Among others, the animal realm is characterized by the absence of humor. The animals can experience pleasure and pain, but the sense of humor or irony is missing in their life.

All Rights reserved to Stanislav Grof.