Friday, May 5, 2023

From Bardo Thodol, Book 1

 Be not attached [to this world]; be not weak. Remember the 

Precious Trinity. 




11 




O nobly-born, whatever fear and terror may come to thee in the Chonyid Bardo, forget not these 

words; and, bearing their meaning at heart, go forwards: in them lieth the vital secret of recognition. 


'Alas! when the Uncertain Experiencing of Reality is dawning upon me here, 


With every thought of fear or terror or awe for all [apparitional appearances] set aside, 


May I recognize whatever [visions] appear, as the reflections of mine own consciousness; 


May I know them to be of the nature of apparitions in the Bardo: 


When at this all-important moment [of opportunity] of achieving a great end, 


May I not fear the bands of Peaceful and Wrathful [Deities], mine own thought-forms.' 


Repeat thou these [verses] clearly, and remembering their significance as thou repeatest them, go 

forwards, [O nobly-born]. Thereby, whatever visions of awe or terror appear, recognition is certain; 

and forget not this vital secret art lying therein. 


O nobly-born, when thy body and mind were separating, thou must have experienced a glimpse of the 

Pure Truth, subtle, sparkling, bright, dazzling, glorious, and radiantly awesome, in appearance like a 

mirage moving across a landscape in spring-time in one continuous stream of vibrations. Be not 

daunted thereby, nor terrified, nor awed. That is the radiance of thine own true nature. 

Recognize it. 


From the midst of that radiance, the natural sound of Reality, reverberating like a thousand thunders 

simultaneously sounding, will come. That is the natural sound of thine own real self. Be not daunted 

thereby, nor terrified, nor awed. 


The body which thou hast now is called the thought-body of propensities. Since thou hast not a 

material body of flesh and blood, whatever may come — sounds, lights, or rays — are, all three, unable 

to harm thee: thou art incapable of dying. It is quite sufficient for thee to know that these apparitions 

are thine own thought-forms. Recognize this to be the Bardo. 


-

I was listening to book 1 of Bardo Thodol, and I loved this part:

O nobly-born, that which is called death being upon you now, resolve thus: 'By taking advantage of this death, I will so act, for the good of all sentient beings, peopling 
the illimitable expanse of the heavens, as to obtain the Perfect Buddhahood, by resolving on love and 
compassion towards [them, and by directing my entire effort to] the Sole Perfection.' 

Shaping the thoughts thus, especially at this time when the Dharma-Kaya of Clear Light [in the state] 
after death can be realized for the benefit of all sentient beings, know that thou art in that state; [and 
resolve] that thou wilt obtain the best boon of the State of the Great Symbol, in which thou art, 

'Even if I cannot realize it, yet will I know this Bardo, and, mastering the Great Body of Union in 
Bardo, will appear in whatever [shape] will benefit [all beings] whomsoever: I will serve all sentient 
beings, infinite in number as are the limits of the sky.' 

Keeping thyself unseparated from this resolution, thou shouldst try to remember whatever devotional 
practices thou were accustomed to perform during thy lifetime. 

In saying this, the reader shall put his lips close to the ear, and shall repeat it distinctly, clearly 
impressing it upon the dying person so as to prevent his mind from wandering even for a moment. 

...

Now thou art experiencing the Radiance of the Clear Light of Pure 
Reality. Recognize it. O nobly-born, thy present intellect, in real nature void, not formed into anything 
as regards characteristics or colour, naturally void, is the very Reality, the All-Good. 

Thine own intellect, which is now voidness, yet not to be regarded as of the voidness of nothingness, 
but as being the intellect itself, unobstructed, shining, thrilling, and blissful, is the very consciousness, 
the All-good Buddha. 

Thine own consciousness, not formed into anything, in reality void, and the intellect, shining and 
blissful, — these two, — are inseparable. The union of them is the Dharma-Kaya state of Perfect 
Enlightenment. 






Thine own consciousness, shining, void, and inseparable from the Great Body of Radiance, hath no 
birth, nor death, and is the Immutable Light — Buddha Amitabha. 

Knowing this is sufficient. Recognizing the voidness of thine own intellect to be Buddhahood, and 
looking upon it as being thine own consciousness, is to keep thyself in the [state of the] divine mind of 
the Buddha. 

-




(:

I discovered Redon at the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam. 



Aaa




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