"clear light.

" In the last bardo the awareness-principle is

furnished with a perceiving awareness-body (T. Yid-kyi lus), it
eperiences the working out of its previous kar!ic deeds as peace-
ful and terrifying visions, and it co!es before the "udge of death,
#har!ara"a, where its actions are weighed in the balance (see the
further descriptions in chapter III, $). Therefore this inter!ediate
state is also called the bardo of kar!ically conditioned finding of
rebirth (T. %rid-pa&i las-kyi bar-do).
'e have now established that the (uddhist doctrine of the
three bodies is of great i!portance for continuing eistence and
the transfor!ations of awareness in the three-fold bardo of the
world after death. The significance of the bardo is thereby e-
tended to conscious life, and the world beyond beco!es a kar!i-
cally corresponding i!age of earthly life. If a person in his earthly
eistence has not sufficiently loosened his craving attach!ents to
the transitory world and thereby achieved a techni)ue or practice
of freedo! of awareness, he will not be able to undertake the
dangerous path through the bardo.
*+
%ecret #octrines of the Tibetan (ooks of the #ead
In one of the great Tibetan (ooks of the #ead
$ , it is written
that the soteriological !eaning of the bardo eperience is "the
!eaning of all beings, to recogni-e in the clear light of death the
radiant dhar!akaya," and "it&s significance for all beings is to
attain the highest perfection of the precious .aha!udra (the doc-
trine of the great sy!bol)." /nd "even if this has not been at-
tained, let one be aware, in the bardo, of the bardo state," in order
to perfect the body of the unity of the bardo and .aha!udra. The
opportunity is thereby given to reach the sa!bhogakaya, a tran-
scendent space.
'e spoke earlier of the e!anation of the %acred, in connec-
tion with the absoluteness of the dhar!a, which e!anates in the
three or four bodies in various grades of knowledge. The teachings
about the bardo show us that it is a dual process with one for! of
!anifestation on the side of life and another on the side of death.
0rdinary life is the inter!ediate state of the s1ye-gnas bar-do and
is incarnate eistence (%. nir!ana2 T. s3rul-sku) in the !aterial
world. There, everything is sub"ect to suffering (3. dukkha2 T.
s#ug-bsngal). In the drea! state one is no longer aware of the
body and eperiences the illusory bodies of the a!biguous
drea!-visions. To !aster these by !eans of yoga leads to knowl-
edge of the visionary sa!bhogakaya. 'hoever goes further and in
clear waking awareness dedicates hi!self to !editation upon the
great e!ptiness (%. !ahasunyata) and the unity of awareness, will
recogni-e the pure, i!ageless dhar!akaya as the radiance of the
clear light of enlighten!ent.
The eperience of the transfor!ations beyond in the three-
fold bardo are the reverse of the process towards renewed incarna-
tion. The dise!bodied spirit slowly finds its way through the sub-
tle for!s of the clear light back into the world of visions and
!anifest for!s. 4ust as, at the hour of death, the greatest concen-
tration and attention is necessary for an awareness free of suffering
to find the best and !ost lucid crossing into the critical part of the
bardo, so there then appears the dhar!akaya as the first light.
Thus the greatest spiritual eperience in the life of !an takes place
with the highest intensity on entering death. #uring earthly life
!an tries to raise hi!self fro! the lower plane of profane igno-
*5
(asic 6le!ents of 'isdo!
ranee to the level of the highest wisdo!, the dhar!akaya. 'e are
able fully to describe this significant process with words fro! our
'estern ter!inology. 7ife on earth is a process of constant
spirituali-ation, of the actuali-ation of the spiritual principle in
!an. If we now presuppose a bardo, then the transfor!ation in
the world of the dead is fro! the highest beginning a constant
!ateriali-ation of the spiritual, until a new earthly for! is
fashioned as the strong shell of the spirit. There then begins in the
child, slowly at first, a continuous beco!ing-conscious until
!aturity, the !astery of awareness over the bodily principle.
'e can sche!ati-e the Tibetan path through life into death
and again to a new life as shown in table 5, where each bardo stage
of life has a corresponding stage in death and also a corresponding
level in the three bodies.
6arthly 7ife
8or! of
the Trikaya The 7ife (eyond 6arthly 7ife
(ardo of the 9
3lace of (irth
(s1ye-gnas
bar-do)
i
i
:ir!anakaya ; -(ardo of <ebirth=>
(%rid-pa&i bar-do)
(ardo of the
3lace of (irth
?
(ardo of the
#rea! %tate
(r.i-la! bar-do) @
%a!bhogakayaA (ardo of <eality
(Bhos-nyid bar-do) @
(ardo of the
#rea! %tate
(ardo of .edi-
tation (b%a!-
gtan bar-do) "
#har!akaya
>
(ardo of the #eath "
6perience (&Bhi-
kha&i bar-do) @
(ardo of .edi-
tation
=and so forth
T/(76 5
B. (/<#0 /% TC6 I:#IDI%I(76 E:I0: 08 TC6 6%%6:TI/7
'e have now, through particular consideration of the three inter-
!ediate states of the Tibetan (ook of the #ead, beco!e ac-
)uainted with those kinds of bardo relating to the continued eist-
ence of the dead person in other-worldly spheres, as is generally
assu!ed in Tibet. They are of such great i!portance and treated in
such detail in the scriptures because the conditions through which
the awareness wanders in the bardo are considerably !ore dif-
*F
%ecret #octrines of the Tibetan (ooks of the #ead
ficult than those in this life. Bonsidered psychologically, it can be
foreseen what it !eans for !an to i!!erse hi!self, without rela-
tion to e!bodi!ent or world, in the depths of the conscious and
unconscious. 'e shall return to this )uestion in chapter DII.
Cere in the !anifest world of eistence it is possible con-
sciously to direct one&s life by co!ing to ter!s with the ob"ective
world, although only a few take advantage of these possibilities.
Therefore, the Tibetan (ook of the #ead continually instructs the
awareness-body wandering through the bardo to recall the teach-
ings it received during earthly life, which are said to be of con-
siderable assistance for the path beyond. Bonscious recall of wis-
do! previously learned and eperienced in life is the best !eans of
finding one&s way through the bardo. It is believed that the prac-
tice of yoga gives awareness the ability to find its way, even in the
difficult conditions of the bardo.
/s in all teachings of (uddhist philosophy, it is a )uestion of
!an&s learning not to get caught in dualistic definitions in his
seeking to grasp the /bsolute. 'orld and transcendence, con-
ceived in static concepts and taken in the!selves, lead only to
!an&s striving to attach hi!self to one or the other. (ut the truth
lies in between. Thereby even the highest concepts are relativi-ed
to such an etent that they are no longer alone capable of describ-
ing the totality. 'e are ac)uainted with the characteri-ation of the
/bsolute as "neither-nor" fro! the philosophical dialectic of
Taois! and fro! the Indian Tantras.
/lso, the great e!ptiness as a central concept of .ahayana
(uddhis! does not allow any evaluation, as is clear fro! the
co!prehensive& 3ra"napara!ita literature. 6!ptiness (%. sunyata)
can neither be described in words nor signified in concepts. If one
attains the highest eperience of indescribable e!ptiness, this can-
not even be ade)uately described by the e!otional !eaning of
bliss (T. b#e-ba). %uch occurrences re!ain, for the !ind, an ine-
pressible pheno!enon. The inter!ediate state between the polar
opposites re!ains, for eperience, a !ystery of the ineffable. Cere
also there is a bardo, as .i-la ras-pa says in his %ongsG $ H
In the bardo of all-e!bracing appearing and e!ptiness there is no
place for the play of the transitory and the eternal.
**
(asic 6le!ents of 'isdo!
In the bardo of bliss and e!ptiness there is no place for the appear-
ance of a conditional ob"ect.
In the bardo between the word and its !eaning there is no roo! for
practicing scholarship.
The inter!ediate state of inseparable co!!unities and con-
ditioned polar opposites clearly points to the indivisibility of the
whole. Inter!ediate states of !anifest for! and e!ptiness (T.
s:ang-stong gnyis-kyi bar-do), of bliss and e!ptiness (T. b#e-
stong gnyis-kyi bar-do), and of word and !eaning (T. Tshig-don
gnyis-kyi bar-do) point to inner duality and show the uncon-
ditioned e)uivalence of two essential for!s of epression, which
sy!bolically e!brace both the rational and the non-rational ele-
!ents. 7ife and the life to co!e for! an indivisible unity, since
they are bound by th"clear light." In the last bardo the awareness-principle is
furnished with a perceiving awareness-body (T. Yid-kyi lus), it
eperiences the working out of its previous kar!ic deeds as peace-
ful and terrifying visions, and it co!es before the "udge of death,
#har!ara"a, where its actions are weighed in the balance (see the
further descriptions in chapter III, $). Therefore this inter!ediate
state is also called the bardo of kar!ically conditioned finding of
rebirth (T. %rid-pa&i las-kyi bar-do).
'e have now established that the (uddhist doctrine of the
three bodies is of great i!portance for continuing eistence and
the transfor!ations of awareness in the three-fold bardo of the
world after death. The significance of the bardo is thereby e-
tended to conscious life, and the world beyond beco!es a kar!i-
cally corresponding i!age of earthly life. If a person in his earthly
eistence has not sufficiently loosened his craving attach!ents to
the transitory world and thereby achieved a techni)ue or practice
of freedo! of awareness, he will not be able to undertake the
dangerous path through the bardo.
*+
%ecret #octrines of the Tibetan (ooks of the #ead
In one of the great Tibetan (ooks of the #ead
$ , it is written
that the soteriological !eaning of the bardo eperience is "the
!eaning of all beings, to recogni-e in the clear light of death the
radiant dhar!akaya," and "it&s significance for all beings is to
attain the highest perfection of the precious .aha!udra (the doc-
trine of the great sy!bol)." /nd "even if this has not been at-
tained, let one be aware, in the bardo, of the bardo state," in order
to perfect the body of the unity of the bardo and .aha!udra. The
opportunity is thereby given to reach the sa!bhogakaya, a tran-
scendent space.
'e spoke earlier of the e!anation of the %acred, in connec-
tion with the absoluteness of the dhar!a, which e!anates in the
three or four bodies in various grades of knowledge. The teachings
about the bardo show us that it is a dual process with one for! of
!anifestation on the side of life and another on the side of death.
0rdinary life is the inter!ediate state of the s1ye-gnas bar-do and
is incarnate eistence (%. nir!ana2 T. s3rul-sku) in the !aterial
world. There, everything is sub"ect to suffering (3. dukkha2 T.
s#ug-bsngal). In the drea! state one is no longer aware of the
body and eperiences the illusory bodies of the a!biguous
drea!-visions. To !aster these by !eans of yoga leads to knowl-
edge of the visionary sa!bhogakaya. 'hoever goes further and in
clear waking awareness dedicates hi!self to !editation upon the
great e!ptiness (%. !ahasunyata) and the unity of awareness, will
recogni-e the pure, i!ageless dhar!akaya as the radiance of the
clear light of enlighten!ent.
The eperience of the transfor!ations beyond in the three-
fold bardo are the reverse of the process towards renewed incarna-
tion. The dise!bodied spirit slowly finds its way through the sub-
tle for!s of the clear light back into the world of visions and
!anifest for!s. 4ust as, at the hour of death, the greatest concen-
tration and attention is necessary for an awareness free of suffering
to find the best and !ost lucid crossing into the critical part of the
bardo, so there then appears the dhar!akaya as the first light.
Thus the greatest spiritual eperience in the life of !an takes place
with the highest intensity on entering death. #uring earthly life
!an tries to raise hi!self fro! the lower plane of profane igno-
*5
(asic 6le!ents of 'isdo!
ranee to the level of the highest wisdo!, the dhar!akaya. 'e are
able fully to describe this significant process with words fro! our
'estern ter!inology. 7ife on earth is a process of constant
spirituali-ation, of the actuali-ation of the spiritual principle in
!an. If we now presuppose a bardo, then the transfor!ation in
the world of the dead is fro! the highest beginning a constant
!ateriali-ation of the spiritual, until a new earthly for! is
fashioned as the strong shell of the spirit. There then begins in the
child, slowly at first, a continuous beco!ing-conscious until
!aturity, the !astery of awareness over the bodily principle.
'e can sche!ati-e the Tibetan path through life into death
and again to a new life as shown in table 5, where each bardo stage
of life has a corresponding stage in death and also a corresponding
level in the three bodies.
6arthly 7ife
8or! of
the Trikaya The 7ife (eyond 6arthly 7ife
(ardo of the 9
3lace of (irth
(s1ye-gnas
bar-do)
i
i
:ir!anakaya ; -(ardo of <ebirth=>
(%rid-pa&i bar-do)
(ardo of the
3lace of (irth
?
(ardo of the
#rea! %tate
(r.i-la! bar-do) @
%a!bhogakayaA (ardo of <eality
(Bhos-nyid bar-do) @
(ardo of the
#rea! %tate
(ardo of .edi-
tation (b%a!-
gtan bar-do) "
#har!akaya
>
(ardo of the #eath "
6perience (&Bhi-
kha&i bar-do) @
(ardo of .edi-
tation
=and so forth
T/(76 5
B. (/<#0 /% TC6 I:#IDI%I(76 E:I0: 08 TC6 6%%6:TI/7
'e have now, through particular consideration of the three inter-
!ediate states of the Tibetan (ook of the #ead, beco!e ac-
)uainted with those kinds of bardo relating to the continued eist-
ence of the dead person in other-worldly spheres, as is generally
assu!ed in Tibet. They are of such great i!portance and treated in
such detail in the scriptures because the conditions through which
the awareness wanders in the bardo are considerably !ore dif-
*F
%ecret #octrines of the Tibetan (ooks of the #ead
ficult than those in this life. Bonsidered psychologically, it can be
foreseen what it !eans for !an to i!!erse hi!self, without rela-
tion to e!bodi!ent or world, in the depths of the conscious and
unconscious. 'e shall return to this )uestion in chapter DII.
Cere in the !anifest world of eistence it is possible con-
sciously to direct one&s life by co!ing to ter!s with the ob"ective
world, although only a few take advantage of these possibilities.
Therefore, the Tibetan (ook of the #ead continually instructs the
awareness-body wandering through the bardo to recall the teach-
ings it received during earthly life, which are said to be of con-
siderable assistance for the path beyond. Bonscious recall of wis-
do! previously learned and eperienced in life is the best !eans of
finding one&s way through the bardo. It is believed that the prac-
tice of yoga gives awareness the ability to find its way, even in the
difficult conditions of the bardo.
/s in all teachings of (uddhist philosophy, it is a )uestion of
!an&s learning not to get caught in dualistic definitions in his
seeking to grasp the /bsolute. 'orld and transcendence, con-
ceived in static concepts and taken in the!selves, lead only to
!an&s striving to attach hi!self to one or the other. (ut the truth
lies in between. Thereby even the highest concepts are relativi-ed
to such an etent that they are no longer alone capable of describ-
ing the totality. 'e are ac)uainted with the characteri-ation of the
/bsolute as "neither-nor" fro! the philosophical dialectic of
Taois! and fro! the Indian Tantras.
/lso, the great e!ptiness as a central concept of .ahayana
(uddhis! does not allow any evaluation, as is clear fro! the
co!prehensive& 3ra"napara!ita literature. 6!ptiness (%. sunyata)
can neither be described in words nor signified in concepts. If one
attains the highest eperience of indescribable e!ptiness, this can-
not even be ade)uately described by the e!otional !eaning of
bliss (T. b#e-ba). %uch occurrences re!ain, for the !ind, an ine-
pressible pheno!enon. The inter!ediate state between the polar
opposites re!ains, for eperience, a !ystery of the ineffable. Cere
also there is a bardo, as .i-la ras-pa says in his %ongsG $ H
In the bardo of all-e!bracing appearing and e!ptiness there is no
place for the play of the transitory and the eternal.
**
(asic 6le!ents of 'isdo!
In the bardo of bliss and e!ptiness there is no place for the appear-
ance of a conditional ob"ect.
In the bardo between the word and its !eaning there is no roo! for
practicing scholarship.
The inter!ediate state of inseparable co!!unities and con-
ditioned polar opposites clearly points to the indivisibility of the
whole. Inter!ediate states of !anifest for! and e!ptiness (T.
s:ang-stong gnyis-kyi bar-do), of bliss and e!ptiness (T. b#e-
stong gnyis-kyi bar-do), and of word and !eaning (T. Tshig-don
gnyis-kyi bar-do) point to inner duality and show the uncon-
ditioned e)uivalence of two essential for!s of epression, which
sy!bolically e!brace both the rational and the non-rational ele-
!ents. 7ife and the life to co!e for! an indivisible unity, since
they are bound by th