from the house of death, what special rituals need to be read for the benefit of the spirit of the deceased, the precautions necessary to secure for the deceased a good rebirth, and the country and sort of family in which the rebirth will occur.
In Sikkim, on the space of ground levelled for the funeral-pyre, a mystic diagram, symbolical of the Happy Realm of Sukhavati, or the Red Western Realm of Happiness (see text, p. 113), is outlined with flour and divided into compartments, the central space (upon which the funeral-pyre is built) being dedicated to the Dhyānī Buddha Amitābha. At the beginning of the cremation ceremonies the chief lāma visualizes the funeral-pyre as being the maṇḍala of Amitābha, and the fire as being Amitābha, who, as in our text (see p. 113), personifies the element Fire. Then the corpse itself, when laid upon the pyre, is visualized as the maṇḍala of Amitābha and its heart as the dwelling-place of Amitābha. As the fire begins to grow in volume, sweet-smelling oils and spices and sandal-wood and incense-sticks are cast into it in sacrifice, as in the Hindu ritual of Homa, or sacrifice to fire. Finally, as the cremation ceremonies end, the priests and the mourners visualize the spirit of the departed as being purged of all karmic obscurations by the fire which is Amitābha, the Incomprehensible Light.
Such, in brief, is the mysticism underlying the beautiful rites performed for the dead at the place of cremation in Sikkim.
In all other forms of burial, throughout Tibet or territories under Tibetan influence, a parallel or corresponding funeral service, based on the same symbolical rituals, is performed, with variations according to sect and province.
VII. The Bardo[1] or After-Death State
From the moment of death and for three and one-half or sometimes four days afterwards, the Knower, or principle of
- ↑ Bar-do literally means ‘between (Bar) two (do)’, i.e. ‘between two [states]’—the state between death and rebirth—and, therefore, ‘Intermediate’ or ‘Transitional [State]’. The translator, in certain instances, favoured ‘Uncertain [State]’ as its English rendering. It might also be rendered as ‘Twilight [State]’.
