The Tibetan Book of the Dead

by Dorje, Gyurme

  O, Child of Buddha Nature, as for the phrase ‘visible to those similar in kind and through pure clairvoyance’,10 the words ‘similar in kind’ mean that in the intermediate state, those of a similar kind of birth will come to perceive one another. Thus, in the case of those ‘similar in kind’ who are to be born as gods, the gods [to be] perceive one another. Similarly, those that are ‘similar in kind’ to any of the six classes [of beings], will come to perceive one another. Do not become attached [at the sight of these beings]! Meditate on [the meditational deity] Mahākāruṇika. The words ‘visible through pure clairvoyance’ do not refer to the [clairvoyance] which results from the meritorious qualities of the gods and so forth, but they do refer to the pure clairvoyance with which those of genuine meditative concentration perceive.11 However, this is not [a clairvoyance] that can perceive [the beings of the intermediate state] at all times. If you are intent on seeing [beings of like nature in this intermediate state] then they will be perceived. If you are not so intent, they will not be perceived. This [clairvoyance] will dissolve, as soon as your concentration is distracted.

  O, Child of Buddha Nature, with a body having qualities such as these just described, you will [once again] see your homeland and your relatives, as if in a dream. Yet, even though you call out to your relatives, they will not reply. You will see your family and relatives crying and realise: ‘I am dead. What should I do now?’ Thinking this, you will be overwhelmed by intense suffering - you will feel like a fish [expelled from the water], writhing on hot sand. Although you will suffer [on realising that you are dead], this is not helpful [to you now]. If you have a spiritual teacher, pray to your spiritual teacher! Pray to the meditational deity, Mahākāruṇika! Although you will feel attached to your relatives, this is not helpful [to you now]. Do not be attached! Pray to Mahākāruṇika, and be free of suffering, awe and fear.

  O, Child of Buddha Nature, your [present] awareness, freed from its [physical] support, [is being blown] by the coursing vital energy of past actions. Choicelessly, riding the horse of breath, it drifts directionless, like a feather on the wind. To all those who are crying, you will call out: ‘I am here! Do not cry!’ But they will not hear you. Yet again, you will realise ‘I am dead’ and experience a very profound despair. Do not be absorbed by this suffering!

  Continuously, there will be greyness, like autumn twilight, with neither day nor night. The intermediate states [between death and birth] will last for one week, or two, or three, or four, or five, or six or seven weeks - up to forty-nine days in all. It is said that suffering in the intermediate state of rebirth will last, generally speaking, for twenty-one days. However, since the duration [of this state] is based on past actions, a specific number of days is not certain.

  O, Child of Buddha Nature, at this time the fierce, turbulent, utterly unbearable hurricane of past actions will be [swirling] behind you, driving you on. Do not be afraid! This is your own bewildered perception. Before you, there will be a terrifying, dense and unfathomable darkness, echoing with cries of ‘Strike!’ and ‘Kill!’ Do not be afraid! Moreover, in the case of very negative beings, a swarm of carnivorous ogres will arise, executors of the unfailing law of cause and effect,12 brandishing an array of weapons, and screaming out aggressively: ‘Strike!’ and ‘Kill!’ You will imagine that you are being pursued by terrifying wild animals. You will imagine that you are being pursued by hordes of people, and [that you are struggling] through snow, through rain, through blizzards and through darkness. There will be the sound of mountains crumbling, of lakes flooding, of fire spreading and the roar of fierce winds springing up. Terrified, you will try to flee wherever you can, but your path ahead will [suddenly] be cut off by three precipices: one white, one red and one black, all three awesomely frightening; you will feel as if on the verge of falling.

  O, Child of Buddha Nature, these are not truly precipices. They are aversion, attachment and delusion, respectively.13 Know now that this is the intermediate state of rebirth, and call to [the meditational deity] Mahākāruṇika, by name, and pray: ‘O, lord Mahākāruṇika, Spiritual Teacher and Precious Jewel, save me (say your name) from falling into lower existences’ [Pray with deep commitment in this way]; do not forget!

  At this stage, in the case of those individuals who have gathered the accumulations [of merit and pristine cognition] and have sincerely practised the teachings, one will be welcomed by [visions of] abundant riches and one will experience manifold blissful and happy states. [In the case of those individuals who are indifferent or deluded, who have been neither virtuous nor negative, one will experience neither pleasure nor pain, but only an apathetic delusion.]14 Whichever of these happens, O, Child of Buddha Nature, whatever objects of desire or blissful or happy states appear before you, do not be attached to them. Do not cling to them! Be free from attachment and clinging and mentally offer these [experiences] to your spiritual teacher and to the [Three] Precious Jewels. Particularly, if these visions are of indifference, devoid of happiness or pain, abide in the experience of the Great Seal, where awareness is [naturally present], without meditation and without distraction. This is very important.

  O, Child of Buddha Nature, at this time, you will try to find shelter [from the hurricane of past actions] below bridges, in mansions, in temples or grass-huts or beside stūpas and so forth, but this [shelter] will be momentary, it will not last. Your awareness, now separated from your body, will not rest and you will feel reckless, angry and afraid. Your consciousness will be faltering, superficial, and nebulous. Again you will realise: ‘Alas! I am dead, what should I do now?’ Reflecting on this, your consciousness will grow sad, your heart will be chilled and you will feel intense and boundless misery. Your mind is being compelled to move on, without settling in one place. Do not indulge in all kinds of memories! Let your awareness rest in an undistracted state!

  [The time will come when you will realise that] you have no food, except that which has been dedicated to you. As for companionship, [here], similarly, there will be no certainty. These are both indications that the mental body is wandering in the intermediate state of rebirth. Your present feelings of happiness and sorrow are [now] driven by your past actions.

  [Once again], seeing your homeland, circle of friends, relatives and even your own corpse, you will realise: ‘I am dead! What should I do now?’ You will feel deeply saddened [by your existence] in a mental body, and wish, ‘O that I might obtain a physical body!’ Consequently, you will experience roaming here and there in search of a body. You might even attempt, many times, to re-enter your own body, but a long time has already elapsed in the [previous] intermediate state of reality. In winter your body will have frozen, in summer it will have decayed. Alternatively, your relatives will have cremated it, buried it in a grave, or offered it to the birds and wild animals. Not finding a way back, you will feel utterly distressed, and you will certainly feel yourself [trying to] squeeze [into the crevices] between stones and rocks. Torments such as these will enfold you. This being the intermediate state of rebirth, so long as you search for a body, you will experience nothing but suffering. Therefore give up your clinging to a body and rest in a state of non-activity, [undistractedly].

  Liberation can be obtained in the intermediate state, as a result of the above introduction. However, even though this introduction is given, due to negative past actions, recognition may not occur. So again, you should call to the deceased by name and say the following words:

  O, Child of Buddha Nature, (call to the deceased by name), listen [to me]. It is due to your own past actions that you are now suffering in this way. No one else is responsible - this is solely the result of your own past actions. Pray ardently now to the Three Precious Jewels. They will protect you. If you do not pray intensely now, especially if you do not know how to meditate on the Great Seal, or if you cannot meditate on a meditational deity, the ‘innate good conscience’ within you15 will now gather together all your virtuous actions, counting them out with white pebbles
, and the ‘innate bad conscience’ within you will gather together all your non-virtuous actions, counting them out with black pebbles. At this moment you will tremble with extreme fear, awe and terror. You will tell lies, saying, ‘I have not committed non-virtuous actions!’ But at this, Yama will say: ‘I shall consult the mirror of past actions.’16 In the mirror of past actions, [all your virtues and non-virtues] will be reflected vividly and precisely. Your attempts at deceit will be of no use. Tying a rope around your neck, Yama will drag you forward. He will sever [your head] at the neck, extract your heart, pull out your entrails, lick your brains, drink your blood, eat your flesh and suck your bones. Despite this, you will not die. Even as your body is [repeatedly] cut into pieces, it will be continuously revived. Experiencing being cut into pieces in this way, time after time, will cause enormous suffering. From the moment the counting of the pebbles begins, do not be afraid! Do not be terrified! Do not lie, and do not be afraid of Yama. The body which you now have is a mental body; therefore, even though you experience being slain and cut into pieces, you cannot die. [Recognise now, that] in reality, you need have no fear, because, [in truth], your [body] is a natural form of emptiness. The acolytes of Yama are also, [in reality], natural forms of emptiness - these are your own bewildered perceptions. Your body, formed of mental propensities, is [a natural form of] emptiness. Emptiness cannot harm emptiness. Signlessness cannot harm signlessness. Outside, and distinct from your own bewildering perceptions, Yama, gods, malevolent forces, the bull-headed Rakṣa and so on, do not substantially exist.17 Recognise this! Recognise, now, that this is the intermediate state! Place your mind in the meditative stability of the Great Seal! If you do not know how to meditate, directly examine the essence of that which is producing your fear and terror. This [essence] is a stark emptiness, completely with out inherent existence in any respect whatsoever! This [stark emptiness] is the Buddha-body of Reality. Yet, this emptiness is not a vacuous or nihilistic emptiness. The essential nature of this emptiness is an awesome, direct and radiant awareness, which is the enlightened intention of [the Buddha-body of] Perfect Resource. Indeed, emptiness and radiance are not separate: the essential nature of emptiness is radiance and the essential nature of radiance is emptiness. This indivisible, naked, unclouded and exposed awareness, present as it is right now in a natural uncontrived state, is the Buddha-body of Essentiality.18 Furthermore, the natural expressive power [of this Buddha-body of Essentiality] is the compassionate Buddha-body of Emanation, which arises everywhere without obstruction.

  O, Child of Buddha Nature, listen [to me] now, and do not be distracted. By merely recognising [the essential nature of your experience] in the above way, you will attain perfect buddhahood, endowed with these four buddha-bodies. Do not be distracted! The division between buddhas and sentient beings is determined by this [recognition]. If you are distracted at this critical moment, the opportunity to escape from the swamp of suffering will be lost. It is said of this very moment:

  In an instant, penetrating analysis is made.

  In an instant, perfect buddhahood is attained.

  Until yesterday, because you were distracted, even though so many aspects of the intermediate states have arisen, you did not attain recognition. [Up to this time], you have experienced so much fear and terror. Now, if you continue to be distracted, the lifeline of compassion, suspended to you, will be cut off and you will move on to a place where there is no [immediate] prospect of liberation. So be careful.

  Through this introduction, even though [the deceased] may have failed to attain recognition previously, he or she will be able to do so at this stage and consequently attain liberation.

  If, however, [the deceased] is a lay person, who does not know how to meditate, you should say the following words:

  O, Child of Buddha Nature, if you do know how to meditate you should call to mind the Buddha, the [sacred] teachings, the [sublime] assembly of monks and nuns, and [the meditational deity] Mahākāruṇika and pray to them. Meditate on all the fearful and terrifying appearances as being [forms] of Mahākāruṇika, or your meditational deity. Remember your spiritual teacher and remember the name which you received during empowerment ceremonies in the human world.19 [Say this name to] Yama Dharmarāja and do not be afraid of him. [Know now, that] even if you were to plunge down over the precipices, you would not be harmed. So, abandon your fear and your terror.

  Even though liberation may not have been achieved previously, if the above introduction is accepted, [the deceased] will attain liberation at this juncture.

  Yet, since there is the possibility that [the deceased] will not achieve recognition, even though the introduction has been given, it is very important to persevere. Therefore, once again, one should call to the deceased by name and say the following words:

  O, Child of Buddha Nature, your present perceptions can, like a catapult, in a instant, cast you into the most awesome states; either blissful or full of suffering. Therefore, now, [it is critical that] your perceptions are not coloured by either attachment or aversion.

  It may be that you are about to take birth in the higher realms, yet at the time when the perceptions of the higher realms occur, your living relatives, now left behind, are sacrificing and offering many animals on your behalf, dedicating [this activity] to you, the deceased. Corrupted perceptions will thus arise and consequently an intense aversion may well up [within you], and this will form a connecting link to a birth in the hell realms. Therefore, whatever activities occur in the place that you have left behind, meditate on loving kindness, and ensure that aversion does not arise!

  Alternatively, your mind may grow attached to your wealth and possessions, now left behind, or else, knowing that your wealth and possessions are being enjoyed and owned by others, you may become both attached to those worldly goods and also hateful towards those left behind [who are using your possessions]. As a result of this, a connecting link will certainly be formed to a birth amongst the hell beings or amongst the anguished spirits, even though you may have been at the point of attaining birth in [one of] the higher realms. However attached you may be to the wealth now left behind, you do not have the ability to enjoy it. Since it is absolutely of no use to you, abandon your attachment and yearning for the wealth that you have left behind. Let it go! Be decisive! Regardless of who is enjoying your wealth, do not be possessive! Let it go! Cultivate devotion, and imagine that you are offering these [worldly possessions] to your spiritual teacher and to the [Three] Precious Jewels. Rest in a state free from attachment and free from clinging.

  Once again, even when the Kaṅkaṇῑdhāraṇῑ incantation for the dead is being recited for you and the Purification of the Lower Realms (Sarvadurgatipariśodhanatantra) is being recited on your behalf, you may perceive, with your present subtle cognitive ability, that these [rites] are being performed impurely and distractedly, and that those [who are performing these rituals] are impure in both their commitments and vows and are careless in their conduct. As a result, you may have no confidence in them, you may form a bad opinion of them, and you may become fearfully and horribly aware of their negative past actions, etc., as well as of their impure practice of the [sacred] teachings and the rituals. Feeling this, you will experience the utmost sadness, and think: ‘Alas, they have betrayed me! They have truly betrayed me!’ As a consequence of your profound disenchantment, instead of maintaining purity of perception and [feelings of] respect, negative opinions and loss of confidence will arise within you. Thus, [these perceptions and feelings] will form a connecting link that will certainly propel you into the lower existences, and, in this way, [your subtle cognitive ability and the rituals recited on your behalf] will not have been of benefit, but rather of great harm.

  However impure may be the practice of the [sacred] teachings by your friends now left behind, you must maintain respect and purity of perception from the depths of your heart. Think to yourself: ‘My own perception is so polluted! How could the speech of the buddhas be impure! T
hese [impure perspectives] have arisen as a consequence of my own impure perception, and [will appear to me] just as the flaws on my face will be reflected in a mirror. As for these [individuals performing the rituals, in reality] their bodies are the [sublime] community of monks and nuns, their speech is the genuine [sacred] teaching, and their minds are the essence of the buddhas. Therefore, I take refuge in them.’ Thinking thus, whatever activities occur in the place that you have left behind, they will certainly be beneficial to you. It is extremely important to maintain this purity of perception. Do not forget this!

  Even if you are about to be born into the lower existences, [yet you do maintain purity of perception], and you perceive the relatives that you have left behind practising the virtuous teachings, unstained by negativity, and you see your spiritual teachers and masters purely practising the rituals with virtuous body, speech and mind, you will feel great joy. Simply through this [experience of great joy], even though you were about to fall into lower existences, this [joy] will form a connecting link, which will certainly turn you back towards the higher realms. Since there is such manifold benefit, do not now lapse into impure perception. It is extremely important to maintain purity of perception and to be unbiasedly devoted. So, be careful!

  O, Child of Buddha Nature, in short, since your awareness during this intermediate state lacks any [material] support, it is light and volatile, and therefore, whatever virtuous or non-virtuous perceptions arise, these are very powerful. Do not be absorbed by non-virtuous thoughts! Call to mind the virtuous practices of your past! Even if you did not engage in virtuous practices [during your life], maintain purity of perception and deep devotion! Pray to your meditational deity or to Mahākaruṇika, and with a powerful longing repeat the following aspirational prayer:20