The Luminous Gap in
Bardo
Francesca Fremantle
tricycle
Relaxing into uncertainty, as Francesca Fremantle tells us, is to
open to hidden possibilities.
Bardo can have many implications, depending on how
one looks at it. It is an interval, a hiatus, a gap. It can act as
a boundary that divides and separates, marking the end of one thing
and the beginning of another; but it can also be a link between the
two: it can serve as a bridge or a meeting place, which brings
together and unites. It is a crossing, a stepping-stone, a
transition. It is a crossroads, where one must choose which path to
take, and it is a no-man's-land, belonging neither to one side nor
to the other. It is a highlight or peak point of experience, and at
the same time a situation of extreme tension, caught between two
opposites. It is an open space, filled with an atmosphere of
suspension and uncertainty, neither this nor that. In such a state
one may feel confused and frightened, or one may feel surprisingly
liberated and open to new possibilities where anything might
happen.
Such moments as these occur continuously in our life, unrecognized,
and this is the inner significance of the bardo states as Trungpa
Rinpoche taught. He spoke of them as periods of uncertainty between
sanity and insanity, or between the confusion of samsara and the
transformation of confusion into wisdom. "They are the heightened
qualities of different types of ego and the possibility of getting
off ego. That's where bardo starts—the peak experience in which
there is the possibility of losing the grip of ego and the
possibility of being swallowed up in it."
Wherever there is the death of one state of mind there is the birth
of another, and linking the two there is bardo. The past has gone
and the future has not yet come: we cannot catch that in-between
moment, yet it is really all there is. "In other words," Trungpa
Rinpoche said, "it is present experience, the immediate experience
of nowness—where you are, where you're at."
The six bardos are the bardo of this life (or birth), the bardo of
dream, the bardo of meditation, the bardo of dying, the bardo of
dharmata (or reality), and the bardo of existence (or becoming).
The bardos are distinguished from each other in this way because
they indicate different modes of consciousness, just as the waking
consciousness differs from the dreaming consciousness. These states
can last for a short or long period of time, as long as a whole
lifetime in the case of the first one, yet they all share the
mysterious and immensely powerful quality of "in-between-ness." Or
we could say that, by learning to see these stages of our life as
bardos, we can gain access to that power, which is always present,
unnoticed, in every moment of existence itself.
The experiences of the six bardos do not exist of themselves, they
arise from the open space of the primordial nature of mind.
Luminosity is the aspect of mind that gives rise to all these
appearances: it is the environment that surrounds them, out of
which they emerge and into which they dissolve. It is always
present, like the sun in the sky, hidden behind clouds. At the
moment, because of ignorance of our real nature, we experience
everything as the confused manifestations of samsara. The sense of
self creates a feeling of solidity, like the apparent solidity of
the clouds veiling the face of the sun, but at certain moments a
gap is opened up, through which we may receive a glimpse of the
light of reality.
This gap is brought about by the intensity of emotional experience,
which is always accompanied by an equal and opposite reaction, so
that we are thrown into a situation of conflict and uncertainty.
Two contrasting extremes are present simultaneously. Trungpa
Rinpoche described it as being drenched with boiling hot and
freezing cold water at the same time. At that very moment there is
nothing to do but let go: give up trying to hold on to one extreme
or the other, abandon the battle between life and death, good and
bad, hope and fear. Then, in that instant of relaxation, there
comes a sudden flash of realization. There is always the
possibility that, in the midst of an everyday situation or at the
height of some emotion, we may suddenly catch a glimpse of its
essential emptiness and luminosity: a moment of sacred
vision.
Entering the awakened state of mind, even for a moment, is always
preceded by an experience, however fleeting, of extreme contrast
and conflict. Even on the highest and most subtle levels of
attainment, negative and positive continue together side by side,
until one makes the leap beyond them both. Deliberately inducing
paradoxical siruations or being confronted by paradoxical
statements, which the rational mind is unable to reconcile, can
sometimes shock a person who is ready for it into a breakthrough.
Great teachers have been known to precipitate an awakening in their
students by a sudden outburst of anger or some other totally
unexpected action. There are many stories of this kind in tantric
literature, such as when the great siddha Tilopa hit his disciple
Naropa in the face with his shoe.
Even in ordinary life gaps of this kind can occur. It might happen
when we are in a state of complete exhaustion, feeling that we
cannot stand it any longer and are just about to tip over the edge
into madness. Or it might come at the height of extreme emotion,
when our emotional energy reaches its peak and we are suddenly no
longer sure what we are doing or what caused it. Suddenly time
seems to stop and we feel calm and detached, suspended in a state
of absolute stillness. For a moment we enter a different dimension
of being, but without training it is impossible to stabilize these
experiences and take advantage of the opportunity they represent.
To be able to recognize and use such moments of heightened
intensity requires the firm foundation of a calm and steady mind,
and confidence in the basic sanity and goodness of our own
nature.
All the instructions concerning the six bardos are basically to do
with allowing that gap to open, by undermining our belief in the
ordinary world that we take for granted, and then letting go into
the space beyond. The bardo experience is a doorway to awakening,
which is always present. In Trungpa Rinpoche's words, "bardo is a
very practical way of looking at our life."