Certain aspects of bardo are more important than others. One of
the most crucial is our waking existence, from the moment of birth
to the time we die. This waking existence is the first great bardo
on our experience, the 'Bardo between Birth and Death' ('che shi
bar do').
The bardo of the dream state, which lasts from the
moment we go to sleep at night until the moment we wake in the
morning is another example. The state of consciousness that obtains
during that interval is termed the 'Dream Bardo' ('mi lam bar
do').
For an ordinary person, the trauma of death
produces a state of unconsciousness, which lasts for an indefinite
time: it may be very brief or quite long. Traditionally, this
period of blackout is considered to last three and a half days.
Afterwards, the consciousness of the individual begins to awaken
again and experience things in a new way. The interval of
unconsciousness into which the mind is plunged by the trauma of
death, and which lasts till the awakening of consciousness again,
is referred to in Tibetan as the 'chö nyi bardo', the interval of
the ultimate nature of phenomena; here the mind is plunged into its
own nature, though in a confused or ignorant way.
The next phase of the after-death experience is the
reawakening of consciousness, which includes the many days that can
be spent experiencing the fantastic projections of mind, the
hallucinations produced and experienced by the mind in the
after-death state. From the moment of this reawakening of
consciousness (the end of 'chö nyi bardo') to the moment we take
actual physical rebirth in one of the six realms of samsara, is
known as the 'si pa bardo', the 'Bardo of Becoming'. Another way of
interpreting the Tibetan is as the bardo of possibility, since at
this point we have not taken physical birth and there are numerous
possibilities for various kinds of existence.
These are the four major instances of the Bardo
principle. Another example is a state of meditation: when someone
who practices begins to meditate effectively, there is a certain
change in consciousness; when that person rises from the meditation
and goes about wordly activities again, there is a cessation of
that state of consciousness. The interval of actual formal
meditation is called the 'Bardo of Meditative Stability', 'sam ten
bar do'. The sixth bardo we distinguish is the 'Bardo of
Gestation', 'che nay bar do'. This interval begins at the end of
the 'Bardo of Becomig' when the consciousness of the being unites
with the sperm and egg in the womb of the mother and lasts until
the time of physical birth, the beginning of the 'Bardo between
Birth and Death'.
These six kinds of bardo that we experience as
human or sentient beings in samsara can be changed for the better,
but the power to do this lies in the waking state. It is in the
bardo of our present lives that we can make the most progress in
developing the ability to deal effectively with all the others.
What we usually mean by the word, bardo, however, is the 'Bardo of
Becoming', the phase of hallucinations before new physical
conception.
The Five Elements and the Nature of Mind
Our present unenlightened state is based on a
fundamental state of ignorance, a fundamental discursive
consciousness, 'kun shi nam she'. It is the fundamental
consciousness which is distorted and confused. There is, however, a
possibility of experiencing the true nature of mind, and when that
pure awareness is present we no longer have 'kun shi nam she' but
'kun shi yeshe' (wisdom consciousness). That change of a single
syllable from 'nam' to 'ye', makes a tremendous difference, because
now we are referring to fundamental Primordial Awareness rather
than fundamental ignorance.
In both cases we are talking about mind, which
essentially embodies what in our physical universe we term the five
elements. The potential for these elements exists in the mind and
always has - it is not something created at some particular time.
In its inheerent nature, mind always has the five elemental
qualities, and it is from this potential that the experiences of
the after-death state arise.
When we speak of mind, we speak of something that
is not a thing in itself. In its most fundamental sense, mind is
not something we can limit. We cannot say it has a particular
shape, size or location, color or form, or any other limiting
characteristic. The element we call space, which in our perceptual
situation also has no limiting characteristics, is this very
emptiness of mind; this is the elemental quality of space in the
mind.
But mind is not simply empty; it has the
illuminating potential to perceive anything whatsoever. This
unlimited ability of mind to perceive is its illuminating nature,
and corresponds to the element of fire.
This mind, essentially empty and illuminating,
gives rise to all experiences which, wether samsara or Nirvana, is
rooted in mind just as plants are rooted in soil. This function of
the mind as the origin of all experience corresponds to the
elemental quality of earth.
Another aspect of the mind is its dynamic quality.
Mind is never still: no single experience in it lasts, but quickly
passes to another. Wheter one is undergoing an emotional reaction,
an experience of pleasure or pain, or a sensory perception such as
seeing or hearing, the contents of the mind are always in a state
of flux. This continual activity of mind is the elemental quality
of wind (air).
Mind with these four elemental qualities has always
been so and always will be. This very continuity, and the fact that
mind adapts itself to different situations, corresponds to the
element of water*. Just as water sustains its continuity and adapts
itself to every contour as it flows, the mind too is fluent,
continuous, and adaptable.
(* p.s. Following various Tibetan tantras the colors of space, here
blackblue, and water, here white can change to the
opposite.)
The Five Elements and the Physical Body
The origin or basis of all experiences is mind,
characterized by the five elemental qualities. Our particular
situation at the moment is that of physical waking existence, in
which we experience what is termed the body of 'Completely Ripened
Karma' ('nam min ji lü'). The meaning here is that completely
ripened karmic tendencies have given rise to this seemingly solid,
concrete projection of mind that is our physical body.
The connection between the body we now experience
and the mind which produced it is as follows. The solid elements of
our body, such as flesh and bone, represent the element of earth,
just as the "solidity" of mind - its function as the basis and
origin of all experience - reflects the element of earth.
Similarly, the bodily fluids such as blood, saliva, urine, lymph
and so forth, represent the element of water. The biological warmth
of the body is the element of fire, while the element of space is
represented by the orifices of the body, and by the spatial
separation of the organs, which, instead of forming a homogeneous
mass, are distinct and separate from each other. Finally, there is
the element of wind (air) which is connected with the breath, and
maintains the organism by way of the respiratory process.
In short, it is from mind, which embodies the five
elemental qualities, that the physical body develops. The physical
body itself is imbued with these qualities, and it is because of
this mind/body complex that we perceive the outside world - which
in turn is composed of the five elemental qualities of earth,
water, fire, wind (air), and space.
The Five Elements in the Bardo
Right now we are at a pivotal point between impure,
unenlightened states of existence and the possibility of
enlightenment. For ordinary beings the 'chö nyi' bardo is
experienced as a period of deep unconsciousness following the
moment of death. There is no mental activity or perception, only a
blank state of fundamental unconsciousness. This bardo ends with
the first glimmer of awareness in the mind. In the interval between
the end of the 'chö nyi' bardo and before the beginning of the 'si
pa' bardo there arises what is called the 'Vision of the Five
Lights'. The appearance of these is connected with the five
elemental qualities.
The different colors which the mind in the bardo
state perceives are the natural expression, the radiance, of the
fundamental, intrinsic qualities of mind. The element of water is
perceived as white light; space as blue (blackblue); earth as
yellow; fire as red; and wind (air) as green. These colors are
simply the natural expression of the elemental qualities in the
mind when the first glimmer of consciousness begins to appear.
As consciousness begins to develop and perceive
more, the experience of the elemental qualities also becomes more
developed. What was formerly the simple impression of different
rays or colors of light now undergoes a change. The light begins to
integrate itself and cohere into 'tig le', points or balls of light
in varying sizes. It is within these spheres of concentrated light
that we experience the 'Mandalas of the Peaceful and Wrathful
Deities'.
In this context we speak of the five realms of
existence in any one of which we may be reborn, because of the
impure level of our experience. The usual description is of the six
*) realms of existence, the six principal emotions that lead to
them, and the six Buddhas who appear in them. In the context of the
five-fold mandala pattern, however, desire and avarice are
combined, because they share the same basic nature of clinging, and
so the realm of the 'Asuras' * is eliminated, the higher Asuras
being re-classified with desire gods in the god realm, and the
lower Asuras included in the animal realm.
.
(* p.s. The 3 upper realms are: endless and varying realms
of all kind of gods, human-like beings,
Demons (Asuras), the 3 lower realms are: endless and
varying realms of magical and physical animals, ghosts
(Pretas) and hell beings. Sometimes there is added a seventh realm,
inhabited by various magical snake-like beings (Nagas).
All those realms, also the gods realms, are seen by Buddhists as
samsaric (illusionary) places of rebirth. The beings
there are bound to the laws of cause and effect (karma), and,
due to ignorance (- not understanding the illusionary essence
of this mind projections and caught in dualistic
thinking) not fully enlightened places.
The Mandalas of the Peaceful and Wrathful Deities
From an absolute level, the mind that perceives a
deity and the deity itself are not two separate things, but are
essentially the same. As long as we have no direct realization,
however, the mind has the impression of being an "I" which
experiences and takes as "other" that which is experienced. During
the after-death experience, this split results in a tendency of the
mind to feel threatened when the first mandala of the peaceful
deities arises: the Mandala of the Five Buddha Families, their
consorts and attendant deities, and a sixth family, that of Dorje
Sempa, like a canopy over the whole mandala. At this time, we
perceive enormous spherical concentrations of light, in which we
see the Mandala of the Peaceful Deities emanating a most brilliant
radiance.
To the confused mind, this radiance is quite overpowering, and
to confront the peaceful deities is rather like trying to stare
into the sun. With the peaceful deities, we also simultaneously
perceive the six light rays connected with the six realms of
samsara. These are far less intensive, so the mind that is repelled
by the experience of the pure forms tends to be attracted by the
subdued light rays leading to the various states of rebirth in
samsara. In this way the confused mind is drawn towards samsaric
rebirth.
After the mandala of the peaceful deities comes the
'Mandala of the Wrathful Deities'. Ingnorance again causes the
brilliance and power of these forms, spontaneous expressions of the
mind's own nature, to be perceived as something external and
threatening. At this point the after-death experience becomes
terrifying and repellent, instead of an experience of the unity of
the perceiver and the perceived.
The Possibility of Enlightenment in the Bardo
The cycle of teachings known in Tibetan as the 'BARDO
TÖDRÜL' and the empowerments connected with it are designed to help
practitioners receive the blessing and develop the understanding
that will benefit them in the after-death experience. With this
support, when the pure forms are perceived, they will be seen for
what they are - projections of mind essentially identical with it
and neither external nor threatening. Liberation arises at that
moment in the after-death state when consciousness can realize its
experiences to be nothing other than mind itself. The teachings and
empowerments connected with the Bardo Tödrül cycle introduce us to
the deities and explanatory concepts and so prepare us for what
happens after death.
The possibility of enlightenment in the after-death
state rests upon three things. The first is the fundamentally
enlightened nature of mind, the seed of Buddhahood, without which
nothing would be possible. The second is the blessing inherent in
the pure forms of the deities. The third is the connection we have
established with those deities through empowerment, and the
understanding we have, both intellectually and intuitively, of what
is actually taking place. When all three elements come together,
the possibility exists of achieving liberation during the instant
of confronting the mandalas of the deities.
If this liberation does not happen in the interval
between the 'chö nyi' bardo and the 'Bardo of Becoming', the
benefits of receiving empowerment and understanding teachings about
the nature of the after-death experience, that of the 'Bardo of
Becoming'. This means that we can either experience a positive
rebirth in the cycle of samsara or, in some cases, achieve
existence in what we term the 'Buddha Realms', a great and sure
step towards ultimate Enlightenment.
The Bardo of Becoming
The experience of confronting the mandalas of the
deities takes place only briefly and if the opportunity is lost,
then the mind enters the 'Bardo of Becoming'. Here the situation
becomes roughly analogous to what we experience now - many varied
impressions continually arise in the mind and we cling to them,
taking them all to be ultimately real. This hallucinatory state is
traditionally said to last for a period of forty-nine days before
the consciousness takes physical form again as an embryo. At the
end of each week there is the trauma of realizing that we are dead
and our minds plunge into another state of unconsciousness like the
one immediately after death, but not quite as intense. After each
of these very short periods of unconsciousness, consciousness
returns, and once more the mandalas of the deities present
themselves, but now in a fragmentary and fleeting way. The
successive opportunities afforded by these appearances are not as
great as at the first stage, but the possibility of liberation does
recur throughout the after-death experience.
The Symbolism of the Mandala of Deities
The purity of enlightenment is embodied by the
mandala of deities. For example, what we normally experience as the
five Skandhas (the aggregates of the mind/body complex) we
recognize on the pure level as the Buddhas of the Five Families *
(earth, water...). The mind's elemental qualities, which we
experience as the elements in our physical body and the outer
universe, on the pure level are the five female consorts of the
five Buddhas. On the ordinary level we experience eight types of
confused consciousness, while on the pure level these are eight
male Bodhisattvas **. On the impure level we speak of the eight
objects of those different kinds of consciousness, and on the pure
level *** we speak of the eight female Bodhisattvas. Each one of
these pure forms expresses an enlightened perspective of a part of
our impure experience. It is not only possible to connect the
different aspects of our impure consciousness with the pure forms,
but also to connect these pure forms with the nature of mind
itself.
There has been and could still be much commentary
on the relationship between these different levels of expression
and our own experience. For our present purposes, it is sufficient
to understand that the six bardos we've discussed briefly are the
six major phases of experience for any being wandering in the cycle
of rebirth. In every one of them the practice of Dharma (= Buddhist
teachings) is of the greatest possible value, for through it we can
purify ourselves of confusion, obscurations, and negative emotions,
and further develop our awareness and merit.