Why should one learn about the bardo state? Usually, we talk about three aspects: the present life, the bardo, and the next life. In the next life, following the intermediate state, we either wander further through samsaric existence, going to one of the higher or lower realms, or attain liberation and enlightenment. Right now we find ourselves in the present life, and the intermediate state, the bardo state, is between the two.

Sometimes six kinds of bardo states are discussed, but they can be condensed into four basic states.

The first, the natural bardo of this life, continues from birth until the time of death.

The second, the bardo of dying, is the period that begins when we meet with a fatal illness or another cause of death and concludes when we finally expire.

The third, the bardo of dharmata, occurs when we have fully passed away.

Finally, the bardo of becoming is undergone if we have not recognized our nature in the bardo of dharmata.

In addition to these four bardos, two other bardos occur during this life: the bardo of meditation and the bardo of dreaming.

The bardo of meditation is the experience of the meditation state.

The bardo of dreaming is the dream state during sleep.

Literally, the Tibetan term for “bardo of this life” means “born and remaining.” We have been born from our mother and have not yet passed away. It is the period between birth and death.

Here the important point in the daytime is the bardo of meditation, which depends on receiving the oral instructions from a master and training oneself in them.

Then, during night time, one trains in the bardo of dreaming.

If in this way one remains in the bardo of meditation throughout day and night, need one worry about any of the other bardo states?

Being adept in the bardos of meditation and dreaming is sufficient. Nothing more remains to be done.

But without reaching some degree of stability in meditation and the ability to recognize dreams, I am sorry to say, one cannot avoid enduring the bardo of dying.

A good Dzogchen practitioner, on the other hand, is liberated into the expanse of primordial purity during the bardo of dying. He departs through the Secret Pathway of Vajrasattva before expiring.

If one is not stable at that point either, one will arrive at the bardo of dharmata. Here the natural sounds, colors, and lights manifest. Dharmata means nature, the unconditioned. The sounds, colors, and lights are unconditioned; they manifest yet they are devoid of self-nature.

If one also lacks stability in the bardo of dharmata, sadly enough, one will wander further down into the samsaric circle of seeking another rebirth within the six realms.

As I mentioned earlier, being liberated into the expanse of primordial purity at the moment of death is best. At this point one will go through the experiences of appearance, increase, and attainment.

The first of these three experiences, the whiteness of appearance, occurs with the descent of the white element obtained from one’s father.

The second experience, the redness of increase, occurs with the ascent of the red element obtained from one’s mother.

The third experience occurs when these two elements meet at one’s heart center. The third experience is the actual moment of death.

What follows the moment of this third experience is the fourth experience, the so-called ground luminosity of full attainment.

A scripture states: “Then dawns the unconditioned wakefulness of bliss and emptiness.”

The wakefulness is empty as well as blissful, and if one can recognize it, it is exactly the mahamudra of bliss and emptiness, the mahasandhi of awareness and emptiness, or the madhyamika of appearance and emptiness.

In most cases, however, following the three experiences of the whiteness of appearance, the redness of increase, and the blackness of attainment, one’s consciousness, also called prana-mind, faints in the black experience of the white and red elements meeting together in the heart center.

This moment of unconsciousness is for all ordinary people simply an oblivious state, lasting for the most part about three and a half days.

On the morning of the fourth day, manifestations suddenly unfold as if the sky and earth were rent asunder. One has been unconscious, totally oblivious, not noticing anything up to this point, so one will wonder, “What happened?”

Conventionally, this is of three days’ duration, but there is actually no fixed measure.

For those familiar with meditation, it lasts for as long as their meditation state, the duration of non-distraction from mind-essence.

For people without training in recognizing mind-essence, these “days” just flash past.

For those with virtue and evil in equal measure, the duration is approximately three days.

What actually happens at this point is that the fourth experience, the ground luminosity of full attainment, is not recognized and one falls unconscious. That happens for most beings. Quite a few people suffer at this moment because of their intense panic and fear of death. A cry of anguish follows, and then they lose consciousness.

After the passing of three and a half days, one awakens from this oblivious state wondering, “What has happened to me?”

The consciousness then leaves the body through one of the eight or nine apertures. It seems quite strange that the mind, which is without any concrete substance, must leave through an opening of the body.

If the mind departs through the top of the head, it is said that one goes to the higher realms or continues on the path of liberation. In fact, there are several openings on the top of the head. One leads to the Formless Realm, another to the Realm of Form, and yet another to the pure lands.

After the consciousness has separated from the body, it will, in the bardo of becoming, go to one of the six realms in keeping with one’s individual karma.

According to the system of Kading Shitro, everything happens within a time span of forty-nine days: the peaceful deities manifest in the first week, the wrathful ones in the second week, and so forth.

But actually, nothing is definite about those days. For some people everything just flickers by; for others it might happen slowly. Time and occurrence remain unfixed.

On the other hand, if one is a trained practitioner, one will recognize, “This is the experience of appearance!” when the whiteness appears, bright and vivid. And when the experience of redness occurs, one will know, “This is the redness!” Finally, when everything goes black, one will acknowledge, “This is the attainment, the blackness!”

After these three experiences, one will also recognize when the ground luminosity of full attainment manifests like a lamp within a vase. At first, there is an instant of fainting while the eighty inherent thought states cease.

Nothing accompanies the cessation of all thought states but nonconceptual wakefulness, awareness wisdom as bright as a lamp in a vase. It is cognizant, nonconceptual, and remains one-pointedly – the union of luminosity and emptiness. That is the ground luminosity, which is like a mother. This means that dharmata, self-existing wakefulness, the sugatagarbha, is like a mother. The recognition of it, which one’s master has pointed out, is like a child. At this moment the mother and child reunite. The traditional analogy is that it is “like a child jumping into its mother’s lap.”

People who are experienced in such practice understand this, and everything stands and falls with that understanding.

At present, the vital point in our practice is to recognize the nature of awareness. We hear statements such as “Recognize your awareness!” or “He has recognized rigpa, the awareness.”

Having recognized awareness during one’s lifetime, the key point here is to remain in it – to refrain from losing its continuity.

At the instant of the cessation of the eighty inherent thought states, self-existing wakefulness is vividly present – like pure and refined gold, the purity by itself. One can recognize it fully and completely. That is how it has been taught.

This moment has been spoken of thus: “One instant makes the difference. In one instant complete enlightenment.”

In the moment of recognition one can attain full enlightenment. That is the meaning of the statement “The best practitioner attains buddhahood in the dharmakaya at the moment of death.”

If one cannot recognize in that way, however, the next bardo, the bardo of dharmata, will manifest.

After the elements and the consciousness have dissolved into space, the stages of space dissolve into luminosity, luminosity dissolves into wisdom, and wisdom dissolves into unity. Unity here means the peaceful and wrathful deities.

Following that, unity dissolves into spontaneous presence. Spontaneous presence refers to that which is originally or inherently present within the ground of primordial purity.

Some people wonder, “Where do all these deities and lights come from?” They are manifestations of the wakefulness of spontaneous presence.

In the practice of Thogal, as well as in the bardo of dharmata, many deities appear. Those deities are dharmata. They are not conditioned entities but are of an unconditioned nature. Having neither flesh nor blood, they consist of rainbow lights.

The key point in the bardo of dharmata is simply to rest in awareness, no matter what happens, and to be able to embrace everything with the mindfulness of awareness wisdom, without losing the continuity of that awareness.

Without such ability, this bardo lasts no longer than a few flickering moments. …

Bardo teachings may sound very fascinating and colorful, but the vital point is one’s individual practice right now. Why have medicine when sick, if one doesn’t use it?

Without training, our studies become mere intellectual understanding. If study were sufficient, we could simply lean back and read a book about Dzogchen. In fact, there is no way around actual training.

The reading of The Liberation through Hearing in the Bardo aloud for a dead person, according to the system of Kading Shitro, is to remind a practitioner who already possesses prior training. It is definitely necessary. The most important point is that the reader be someone close to the dead person, one with shared samayas.

If the deceased becomes irritated with the reader, there will be no benefit. The two people should, at best, share the same teacher and be compatible. In that case there will be tremendous benefits.

On the other hand, without prior training in recognition of mind-essence, one will be unable to attain stability in the bardo state.

A person who never recognized his mind essence will, in the first place, fail to cut through the fear and misery of dying, and later, when the intense and overwhelming experiences of the sounds, colors, and lights occur, he will be paralyzed with fear. The sounds will roar like one hundred thousand thunderclaps and the lights will shine more brilliantly than one hundred thousand suns. It is not just a dim glimmering light. Those are the sounds, colors, and lights of the bardo of dharmata.

Accompanying this overwhelming display, some simple, cozy, and comforting sounds, colors, and lights also appear to lure one down into the realms of samsara. One will feel drawn to them.

One must therefore attain at least some degree of stability through practice right now. …

It is also important to have confidence in these teachings and to develop the determination to be clear-headed in the bardo, so that one will recognize what takes place. One must have confidence, otherwise all will be lost.

At best, one should receive the pointing-out instruction to recognize the nature of mind from a qualified master.

Success in the bardo comes from applying one’s present practice of mind-essence at the time of death. Only training dispels the confusion that arises during the bardo state. That is why one must practice the stages of development and completion right now.

Recognize this, and then one will experience at death what one is already familiar with through practice. …

The whole reason for receiving bardo teachings has been traditionally described as that of “connecting a broken water pipe.” By training right now, one will be able to continue the “flow” of practice through the bardo state to the following life.

In the Dzogchen system, bardo training is indispensable. If one has already reached perfection in the practice of Thogal, then there is no need for bardo teachings.

In this age, however, life is short, diseases are many, and diligence is feeble. Although one may have entered the path of the Great Perfection, without attaining stability in one’s practice and not being able to know whether the time of death will arrive suddenly, one definitely needs the instruction on how to “connect the broken water pipe.”

One will then be able to attain enlightenment in the bardo state, to proceed to a pure buddha field, or at least to gain a rebirth in one of the higher realms.

So these are necessary teachings, especially if one meets an untimely death.

When practicing these teachings one must have confidence and trust and be free from doubt.

This teaching is like a guide leading the blind in the right direction. To take the hand of such a guide, one needs trust. Without trust, one might lose one’s way. With trust, one will reach the destination.

Reference: Rangdrol, Tsele Natsok. The Mirror of Mindfulness: The Cycle of the Four Bardos. Translated by Erik Pema Kunsang. Rangjung Yeshe Publications, 1987. The above notes are taken from the Introductory Discourse by Ven. Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche.

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