The Tibetan Book of the Dead

The Tibetan
Book of the Dead

Oxford University Press

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Humphrey Milford Publisher to the University

THE TRANSLATOR (right) AND THE EDITOR
IN GANGTOK, SIKKIM

Described on page xvii

FOLIOS 35a AND 67a OF THE BARDO THÖDOL MS.

Described on page lxvii

The Tibetan
Book of the Dead

or

The After-Death Experiences
on the Bardo Plane, according
to Lāma Kazi Dawa-Samdup’s
English Rendering

 

By
W. Y. Evans-Wentz
M.A., D.Litt., B.Sc.
Jesus College, Oxford; Author of
‘The Fairy-Faith in Celtic
Countries’

 

With Foreword by Sir John Woofroffe

 

Oxford University Press

London: Humphrey Milford

1927

IN MEMORY OF
MY DECEASED FATHER AND MOTHER
I DEDICATE
THIS BOOK TO MY TEACHERS
BOTH SECULAR AND RELIGIOUS
IN EUROPE AND AMERICA
AND THROUGHOUT
THE ORIENT

‘Thou shalt understand that it is a science most profitable, and passing all other sciences, for to learn to die. For a man to know that he shall die, that is common to all men; as much as there is no man that may ever live or he hath hope or trust thereof; but thou shalt find full few that have this cunning to learn to die…. I shall give thee the mystery of this doctrine; the which shall profit thee greatly to the beginning of ghostly health, and to a stable fundament of all virtues.’—Orologium Sapientiae.

‘Against his will he dieth that hath not learned to die. Learn to die and thou shalt learn to live, for there shall none learn to live that hath not learned to die.’—Toure of all Toures: and Teacheth a Man for to Die.

The Book of the Craft of Dying (Comper’s Edition).

‘Whatever is here, that is there; what is there, the same is here. He who seeth here as different, meeteth death after death.

‘By mind alone this is to be realized, and [then] there is no difference here. From death to death he goeth, who seeth as if there is difference here.’—Katha Upanishad, iv. 10–11 (Swami Sharvananda’s Translation).

Preface

In this book I am seeking—so far as possible—to suppress my own views and to act simply as the mouthpicce of a Tibetan sage, of whom I was a recognized disciple.

He was quite willing that I should make known his interpretation of the higher lāmaic teachings and of the subtle esotericism underlying the Bardo Thödol, following the private and orally transmitted instructions which he as a young man had received when living the life of an ascetic with his late hermit-guru in Bhutan. Being himself a man who possessed a considerable amount of Western learning, he took great trouble to enable me to reproduce Oriental ideas in a form which would be intelligible to the European mind. If, in amplification, I have frequently referred to Occidental parallels of various mystic or occult doctrines current in the Orient, I have done so largely because in my wanderings there, chiefly in the high Himalayas and on the Tibetan frontiers of Kashmir, Garhwal, and Sikkim, I had come across learned philosophers and holy men who have found or thought they had found beliefs and religious practices—some recorded in books, some preserved by oral tradition alone—not only analogous to their own, but so closely akin to those of the Occident as to imply some historical connexion therewith. Whether the supposed influence passed from East to West or from West to East, was not so clear to their minds. A certain similarity does, however, seem to attach to the culture of these geographically divided provinces.

I have spent more than five years in such research, wandering from the palm-wreathed shores of Ceylon, and thence through the wonder-land of the Hindus, to the glacier-clad heights of the Himalayan Ranges, seeking out the Wise Men of the East. Sometimes I lived among city dwellers, sometimes in jungle and mountain solitudes among yogīs, sometimes in monasteries with monks; sometimes I went on pilgrimages, as one of the salvation-seeking multitude. The Introduction—which in its unusual lengthiness is intended to serve as a very necessary commentary to the translation—and the annotations to the text record the more important results of this research, more especially in relation to Northern or Mahāyāna Buddhism.

Nevertheless, I have been really little more than a compiler and editor of ‘The Tibetan Book of the Dead’. To the deceased translator—who combined in himself a greater knowledge of the Occult Sciences of Tibet and of Western Science than any Tibetan scholar of this epoch—the chief credit for its production very naturally belongs.

In addition to that greatest of all debts which the student ever owes to his preceptor, I acknowledge my indebtedness to each of my many good friends and helpers who have personally aided me herewith. Some of them are of one Faith, some of another; some are far away in Japan and in China, some in the land of my birth, America; many are in Ceylon and in India; a few are in Tibet.

Here in England I think first of all of Dr. R. R. Marett, Reader in Social Anthropology in the University of Oxford, and Fellow of Exeter College, who ever since I first came up to Oxford, in the year 1907, has faithfully guided my anthropological research. Sir John Woodroffe, late a Judge of the High Court, Calcutta, now Reader in Indian Law in the University of Oxford, and the foremost authority in the West on the Tantras, has read through our translation, chiefly in relation to the character of the work as a ritual more or less Tantric, and offered important advice. I am also very grateful to him for the Foreword.

To Sj. Atal Bihari Ghosh, of Calcutta, Joint Honorary Secretary with Sir John Woodroffe of the Āgamānusandhāna Samiti, as to Sir E. Denison Ross, Director of the School of Oriental Studies, London Institution, and to Dr. F. W. Thomas, Librarian of the India Office, London, I am under a special obligation for important constructive criticism on the book as a whole. To Major W. L. Campbell, British Political Representative in Tibet, Bhutan, and Sikkim during my sojourn in Gangtok, I am indebted for much encouragement and scholarly aid, and for the gift of two valuable paintings prepared by his orders in the chief monastery of Gyantse, Tibet, to illustrate the symbolism of the Bardo Thödol text, and herein reproduced. To his predecessor and successor in the same post, Sir Charles Bell, I am also a debtor for important advice at the outset of my Tibetan research, when in Darjeeling. To Mr. E. S. Bouchier, M.A. (Oxon.), F. R. Hist. S., author of Syria as a Roman Province, A Short History of Antioch, &c., my heartiest thanks are due for the assistance which he has so kindly rendered in reading the whole of this book when in proof.

Sardar Bahadur S.W. Laden La, Chief of Police, Darjeeling, who sent me to Gangtok with a letter of introduction to the late Lāma Kazi Dawa-Samdup, the translator of the Bardo Thödol; Dr. Johan Van Manen, Secretary of the Asiatic Society, Calcutta, who lent me Tibetan books which proved very helpful while the translation was taking shape, and who afterwards contributed advice concerning translations; and Dr. Cassius A. Pereira, of Colombo, Ceylon, who criticized parts of the Introduction in the light of Theravāda Buddhism, are among many others to whom my thanks are due.

Thus, under the best of auspices, this book is sent forth to the world, in the hope that it may contribute something to the sum total of Right Knowledge, and serve as one more spiritual strand in an unbreakable bond of good will and universal peace, binding East and West together in mutual respect and understanding, and in love such as overleaps every barrier of creed and caste and race.

W. Y. E-W.

Jesus College, Oxford,
Easter, 1927.

I. RENUNCIATION

‘Get thee away from life-lust, from conceit,
From ignorance, and from distraction’s craze;
Sunder the bonds; so only shalt thou come
To utter end of Ill. Throw off the Chain
Of birth and death—thou knowest what they mean.
So, free from craving, in this life on earth,
Thou shalt go on thy way calm and serene.’—The Buddha.

Psalms of the Early Buddhists, I. lvi
(Mrs. Rhys Davids’ Translation).

II. VICTORY

‘But anguish crept upon me, even me,
Whenas I pondered in my little cell:
Ah me! how have I come into this evil road.
Into the power of Craving have I strayed!
Brief is the span of life yet left to me;
Old age, disease, hang imminent to crush.
Now ere this body perish and dissolve,
Swift let me be; no time have I for sloth.
And contemplating, as they really are,
The Aggregates of Life that come and go,
I rose and stood with mind emancipate!
For me the Buddha’s words had come to pass’.—

Mittakalī, a Brāhmin Bhikkhunī.
Psalms of the Early Buddhists, I. xliii
(Mrs. Rhys Davids’ Translation).

Contents

Preface .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .

ix

Illustrations .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .

xvii

Foreword: The Science of Death, by Sir John Woodroffe .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .

xxv

Introduction .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .

1

I.

The Importance of the Bardo Thödol .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .

1

II.

The Symbolism .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .

2

III.

The Esoteric Significance of the Forty-Nine Days of the Bardo .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .

6

IV.

The Esoteric Significance of the Five Elements .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .

8

V.

The Wisdom Teachings .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .

10

VI.

The Death Ceremonies .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .

18

VII.

The Bardo, or After-Death State .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .

28

VIII.

The Psychology of the Bardo Visions .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .

31

IX.

The Judgement .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .

35

X.

The Rebirth Doctrine .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .

39

XI.

The Cosmography .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .

61

XII.

The Fundamental Teachings Summarized .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .

66

XIII.

The Manuscript .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .

68

XIV.

The Origin of the Bardo Thödol .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .

73

XV.

The Translating and the Editing .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .

78

 

Book I

The Chikhai Bardo and the
Chönyid Bardo

The Obeisances .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .

85

The Introduction .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .

85

The Transference of the Consciousness-Principle .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .

85

The Reading of this Thödol .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .

87

The Practical Application of this Thödol by the Officiant .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .

88

 

Part I
The Bardo of the Moments of Death

Instructions on the Symptoms of Death, or the First Stage of the Chikhai Bardo: The Primary Clear Light Seen at the Moment of Death .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .

89

Instructions Concerning the Second Stage of the Chikhai Bardo: The Secondary Clear Light Seen Immediately After Death .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .

97

 

Part II

The Bardo of the Experiencing
of Reality

Introductory Instructions Concerning the Experiencing of Reality During the Third Stage of the Bardo, Called the Chönyid Bardo, When the Karmic Apparitions Appear .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .

101

The Dawning of the Peaceful Deities, from the First to the Seventh Day .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .

104

The First Day .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .

105

The Second Day .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .

108

The Third Day .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .

110

The Fourth Day .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .

112

The Fifth Day .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .

115

The Sixth Day .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .

118

The Seventh Day .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .

126

The Dawning of the Wrathful Deities, from the Eighth to the Fourteenth Day .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .

131

Introduction .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .

131

The Eighth Day .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .

136

The Ninth Day .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .

138

The Tenth Day .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .

138

The Eleventh Day .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .

139

The Twelfth Day .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .

140

The Thirteenth Day .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .

141

The Fourteenth Day .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .

143

The Conclusion, Showing the Fundamental Importance of the Bardo Teachings .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .

151

 

Book II
The Sidpa Bardo

The Obeisances .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .

155

Introductory Verses .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .

155

 

Part I
The After-Death World

The Bardo Body: Its Birth and Its Supernormal Faculties .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .

155

Characteristics of Existence in the Intermediate State .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .

160

The Judgement .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .

165

The All-Determining Influence of Thought .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .

169

The Dawning of the Lights of the Six Lokas .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .

173

 

Part II
The Process of Rebirth

The Closing of the Door of the Womb .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .

175

Method of Preventing Entry into a Womb .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .

176

The First Method of Closing the Womb-Door .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .

176

The Second Method of Closing the Womb-Door .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .

177

The Third Method of Closing the Womb-Door .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .

178

The Fourth Method of Closing the Womb-Door .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .

180

The Fifth Method of Closing the Womb-Door .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .

181

The Choosing of the Womb-Door .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .

183

The Premonitory Visions of the Place of Rebirth .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .

183

The Protection against the Tormenting Furies .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .

185

The Alternative Choosing: Supernormal Birth; or Womb-Birth .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .

188

Supernormal Birth by Transference to a Paradise Realm .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .

189

Womb-Birth: the Return to the Human World .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .

190

The General Conclusion .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .

193

 

The Appendix

I.

The Invocation of the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .

197

II.

‘The Path of Good Wishes for Saving from the Dangerous Narrow Passage-Way of the Bardo’ .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .

199

III.

‘The Root Verses of the Six Bardos’ .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .

202

IV.

‘The Path of Good Wishes which Protecteth from Fear in the Bardo’ .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .

205

V.

The Colophon .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .

209

 

Addenda

I.

Yoga .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .

211

II.

Tantricism .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .

213

III.

Mantras, or Words of Power .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .

220

IV.

The Guru and Shiṣḥya (or Chela) and Initiations .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .

222

V.

Reality .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .

224

VI.

Northern and Southern Buddhism and Christianity .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .

232

VII.

The Medieval Christian Judgement .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .

238

 

Index .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .

241

Illustrations

I. The Translator and the Editor .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .

preceding Plate II

From a photograph of the Translator and the Editor in Tibetan dress, taken in Gangtok, Sikkim, during the year 1919.

II. Folios 35a and 67a of the Bardo Thödol MS. .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .

Frontispiece

A photographic reproduction (about two-thirds of the original size). In the original the illuminations are in colour (now much faded) painted on the folios (cf. p. 68).

The painting on the upper folio illustrates, with the colours, emblems, and orientation in strict accord with the traditions of Tibetan monastic art, the description in the text of the united maṇḍalas, or divine conclaves, of the Peaceful Deities of the First to the Sixth Day of the Bardo that dawn thus in one complete conclave on the Sixth Day (cf. pp. 118–26). In the central circle (Centre) is the Dhyānī Buddha Vairochana, embraced by his shakti, or divine spouse, the Mother of Infinite Space. In the next circle, each likewise embraced by his shakti, are the four Dhyānī Buddhas, who, with Vairochana, constitute the maṇḍala of the Five Dhyānī Buddhas. In the outermost circle are typical Bodhisattvas and other deities who accompany the Five Dhyānī Buddhas (cf. pp. 118–20); and in the four small outer circles the four female Door-Keepers of the complete conclave (cf. p. 120).

The painting on the lower folio similarly illustrates, in colours, emblems, and orientation, the united maṇḍalas of the Wrathful Deities of the Eighth to the Fourteenth Day that dawn thus in one complete conclave on the Fourteenth Day (cf. pp. 143–6). In the cruciform design at the centre are the three-headed Herukas of the Buddha, Vajra, Ratna, Padma, and Karma Order, each with his shakti, that dawn, maṇḍala by maṇḍala, from the Eighth to the Twelfth Day (cf. pp. 136–41). The outer circle contains representations of the various animal-headed deities that dawn on the Thirteenth and the Fourteenth Day (cf. pp. 141–6). In the four small outer circles are the Four Yoginis of the Door (cf. pp. 145–6).

The translation of the text on the two folios is indicated by special markings on pages 120 and 144.

III. Effigy of the Dead Person .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .

p. 21

A reproduction (slightly reduced) of a copy of a Tibetan printed Chang-ku paper.

IV. The Great Maṇḍala of the Peaceful Deities .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .

facing p. 118

This and the companion illustration, number V, following, are photographic reproductions (about one-fourth of the original size) of two paintings in colour, on heavy cotton cloth, made in the chief monastery of Gyantse, Tibet, on the instructions of Major W. L. Campbell, to illustrate our Bardo Thödol translation (see Preface, p. xi). The colours, emblems, and orientations, as in the two manuscript illuminations described above, are in accord with the strict conventions of the religious art of Tibet. The correlations, too, between the text and the deities depicted, as brought out in the description of the two manuscript illuminations, also apply to these two more elaborate paintings.

Innermost circle (representing the Centre of the orientation): at the centre, Vairochana (white) and shakti, on lion throne (cf. pp. 105–6); at the top, Samanta-Bhadra (blue) and shakti; in subordinate circle on the left, Chenrazee (above), Mañjushrī (below, on left), Vajra-Pāni (below, on right); in subordinate circle on the right, Tsoṅ Khapa, a famous Tibetan guru (above), and his two chief shiṣḥyas (or disciples), Gendundub (below, on left), and Gyltshabje (below, on right).

Lower circle (East): at the centre, Vajra-Sattva (blue), the reflex of Akṣḥobhya, and shakti, on elephant throne; Pushpā (above); Lāsyā (below); and Bodhisattvas (on left and right). Cf. pp. 108–9.

Left circle (South): at the centre, Ratna-Sambhava (yellow) and shakti, on horse throne; Dhūpa (above); Mālā (below); and Bodhisattvas (on left and right). Cf. pp. 110–11.

Upper circle (West): at the centre, Amitābha (red) and shakti, on peacock throne; Āloka (above); Gīta (below); and Bodhisattvas (on left and right). Cf. p. 113.

Right circle (North): at the centre, Amogha-Siddhi (green) and shakti, on harpy throne; Naivedya (above); Gandha (below); and Bodhisattvas (on left and right). Cf. pp. 115–6.

Occupying the four corners of the great circle are the four chief Door-Keepers (cf. p. 120) of the Maṇḍala, each pair on a fire-enhaloed lotus throne: upper left, Yamāntaka (yellow) and shakti, the Door-Keepers of the South; upper right, Hayagrīva (red) and shahti, the Door-Keepers of the West; lower right, Amṛitā-Dhāra (white) and shakti, the Door-Keepers of the North; lower left, Vijaya (green) and shakti, the Door-Keepers of the East. At the bottom, in the centre, Padma Sambhava, the Great Human Guru of the Bardo Thödol Doctrine, in royal robes and pandit head-dress, holding a skull filled with blood, symbolical of renunciation of life, in his left hand, and a dorje, symbolical of mastery over life, in his right. At his feet lie offerings: (1) the Tri-Ratna or Three Jewels of the Buddhist Faith, (2) a pair of elephant tusks, and (3) a branch of red coral. To the right of the Guru stands the Buddha of the Human Loka (yellow), Shakya Muni, holding a bhikkhu-staff and a begging-bowl; to the right, the Buddha of the Brute Loka (blue) holding a book, symbolizing language and expression, or divine wisdom, which brute creatures lack.

In the four corners are the four other Buddhas of the Six Lokas (cf. p. 121): upper left, the Buddha of the Deva Loka (white), holding a guitar, symbolizing excellence in arts and sciences and the harmony of existence in the world of the devas; upper right, the Buddha of the Asura Loka (green), holding a sword symbolizing the warlike nature of asuras; lower left, the Buddha of the Preta Loka (red), holding a box filled with all desirable objects to satisfy the cravings of the pretas; lower right, the Buddha of Hell (smoke-coloured), holding fire for consuming and water for purifying.

Among other embellishments added by the artist are a sacred mirror (symbolizing form or body, which it reflects) near the trees on the left, and a sacred conch-shell trumpet of victory over the Sangsāra (symbolizing sound) near the tree on the right; and, between the two Buddhas at the bottom, in two caves, yogīs, or holy men, in the Tibetan wilderness.

At the top, in the centre, presiding over the whole maṇḍala, Buddha Amitābha (red), on an enhaloed lotus and lunar throne holding a begging-bowl, with lotuses and the moon (white) on the left and lotuses and the sun (gold) on the right.

V. The Great Maṇḍala of the Knowledge-Holding and Wrathful Deities .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .

facing p. 136

Innermost circle: upper centre, Samanta-Bhadra (blue) and shakti, in wrathful aspect; lower centre (Centre), the Buddha Heruka (dark brown) and shakti (cf. p. 137); lower left (East), the Vajra Heruka (dark blue) and shakti (cf. p. 138); upper left (South), the Ratna Heruka (yellow) and shakti (cf. pp. 138–9); upper right (West), the Padma Heruka (reddish-brown) and shakti (cf. pp. 139–40); lower right (North), the Karma Heruka (dark green) and shakti (cf. pp. 140–1). Each pair of these deities are on a lotus and solar throne, enhaloed by flames of wisdom, and treading under foot mārā beings (i.e. human beings, whose existence, being purely phenomenal, or karmic, is illusion, or māyā), symbolizing the treading under foot of sangsāric (i.e. worldly) existence. At the bottom are offerings of the five sangsāric senses, symbolized by (1) two eyes, (2) two ears, (3) a tongue, (4) a heart (in the centre), and (5) a nose (above the heart); also of three blood-filled human skull-cups, held in position by small human skulls, all of which symbolize renunciation of the world.

Second circle: the Eight Kerimas (cf. pp. 142–3).

Third circle: the Eight Htamenmas (cf. p. 143) and the Four Female Door-Keepers (cf. pp. 143–4).

Outermost circle: the Twenty-Eight Various-Headed Mighty Goddesses (cf. pp. 144–5), four of whom are the Four Yoginīs of the Door (cf. pp. 145–6).

At the bottom, in the centre (Centre) the supreme Knowledge-Holding Deity, the Lotus Lord of Dance (red, for the five colours of text) and shakti. In the four corners, his four companion deities: lower left (East), the Earth-Abiding Knowledge-Holder (white) and shakti; upper left (South), the Knowledge-Holder Having Power Over Duration of Life (yellow) and shakti; upper right (West), the Knowledge-Holding Deity of the Great Symbol (red) and shakti; lower right (North), the Self-Evolved Knowledge-Holder (green) and shakti. Each pair of deities of this maṇḍala, that dawns intermediately (i.e. between the maṇḍalas of the Peaceful Deities and the maṇḍalas of the Wrathful Deities) on the Seventh Day (cf. pp. 126–8), are in peaceful aspect, on an enhaloed lotus and lunar throne, performing a mystic dance which is Tantric.

At the top, in the centre, presiding over the whole greater maṇḍala, is Samanta-Bhadra (dark blue), the Ādi-Buddha, and shakti (white), in peaceful aspect, on a lotus and lunar throne, enhaloed in rainbow colours, with lotuses and the moon (white) on his right and lotuses and the sun (gold) on his left.

VI. The Tibetan Judgement .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .

facing p. 166

A photographic reproduction (about one-fourth of the original size) of a monastic painting in colour, on heavy cotton cloth, made on the instructions of the editor, in Gangtok, Sikkim, by a Tibetan artist named Lharipa-Pempa-Tendup-La, to illustrate the Judgement (see p. 37).

Occupying the central position is Dharma-Rāja, the King of Truth, or Administrator of Truth and Justice, otherwise called Yama-Rāja, the King and Judge of the Dead. He is the wrathful aspect of Chenrazee, the National Divine Protector of Tibet. The third eye of spiritual insight is in his forehead. He stands enhaloed in flames of wisdom, on a solar throne supported by a lotus throne, treading under foot a mārā form, symbolic of the māyā (i.e. illusionary) nature of human existence. His head-dress is adorned with human skulls, and a serpent forms his necklace. His necklet is a human hide, the head of which protrudes from behind his right side, and a hand and foot hang down over the centre of his breast. A girdle of human heads surrounds his waist. His pavilion and the walls of his Court are adorned with the skull-symbols of death. His sword is the sword of spiritual power. The mirror in his left hand is the Mirror of Karma, in which are reflected every good and evil act (cf. p. 166) of each of the dead who are being judged, one by one. There is written on the mirror, in Tibetan, ‘Hri,’ the bij, or chief, mantra of Chenrazee.

Directly in front of Dharma-Rāja is the Monkey-Headed One, Sprehu-gochan (Tib. Sfre-hu-mgo-chan), otherwise called Shinje (cf. pp. 36–7), holding the scales, on one side of which are heaped-up black pebbles, the evil deeds, and, on the other, heaped-up white pebbles, the good deeds. On the right of Shinje stands the Little White God, emptying a sack of white pebbles; on the other side, the Little Black God, emptying a sack of black pebbles (cf. p. 166).

Guarding the weighing are the Bull-Headed One, Wang-gochan (Tib. Glang-mgo-chan), holding another mirror of karma, and the Serpent-Headed One, Dul-gochan (Tib. Sbrul-mgo-chan), holding a scourge and a noose.

A yellow deity, on the right of Dharma-Rāja, holding a writing-tablet and a stilus, and a brown deity, on the left, holding a sword and a noose, are the two Advocates. The yellow advocate is the defender, the brown advocate is the accuser. The six deities, five of whom are animal-headed, sitting in the Court of Judgement, three on either side, like a jury of subordinate judges, supervise the proceedings in order to ensure regularity of procedure and impartial justice (cf. pp. 35–7). The first above on the right holds a mirror of karma and a skull-cup of blood, the second a battle-axe and a skull-cup of blood, the third a noose. The first above on the left holds a battle-axe and skull-cup of blood, the second a small vase of blossoms in his right hand, the third a dorje and a skull-cup of blood.

Near the gate on the left and the gate on the right stands one of the avenging furies who act as warders. There are ten Tibetans in the foreground of the Court awaiting judgement. The one with a conical head-dress (in red) is a red-cap lāma; the one with a round head-dress (in yellow) is a government official. The others are ordinary people. The three gates, through which the condemned enter the Hells below, are guarded by three animal-headed porters, each holding a noose.

Issuing from the Court, at either side of the Judge, are the Six Karmic Pathways, leading to the Six Buddhas of the Six Lokas, in whom the Pathways end, each Pathway and Buddha in appropriate colour (cf. p. 124 and Illustration IV). Traversing the Pathways are twelve of the dead who have recently been judged. The highest one, upon the left, on the white light-path approaching the Buddha of the Deva Loka, is a yellow-cap lāma; next to him is a government official on the yellow light-path approaching the Buddha of the Human Loka; the highest upon the right, on the green light-path approaching the Buddha of the Asura Loka, is a red-cap lāma.

In the Lower World, at the bottom of the painting, typical punishments in various Hells are depicted, none of which, however, are everlasting. On the left, in the upper corner, where two sinners are immersed in a glacial region, the Eight Cold Hells are suggested. Near the edge of the painting, on the opposite side, a sinner amidst flames suggests the Eight Hot Hells. The commission of any of the ten impious acts, deliberately and from selfish motives, leads to purgation in the Cold Hells; any of the same acts done through anger lead to purgation in the Hot Hells.

Just below the Cold Hells is the Hell of the ‘Spiked Tree’ or ‘Hill of Spikes’ (Tib. Shal-ma-li), in which an evil-doer has been quartered and affixed to the spikes. Beside it, in charge of a hell-fury, is ‘The Doorless Iron House’ (Tib. Lchags-khang-sgo-med). Next to this there are four lāmas held under the mountainous weight of an enormous Tibetan sacred book; they are being punished thus for having in their earth-life hurried through and skipped passages when reading religious texts. The triangle, in which an evil-doer is fixed, symbolizes the terrible Avitchi Hell, wherein one guilty of a heinous sin, such as using sorcery to destroy enemies or deliberate failure to fulfil Tantric vows, endures punishment for ages which are almost immeasurable. Close to the triangle, a hell-fury is pouring spoonfuls of molten metal into a woman condemned for prostitution. The person next to her, bowed under the weight of a heavy rock tied to his back, is being punished in that manner for having killed small living creatures like vermin or other insects. The sinner whom a hell-fury is holding stretched out on a floor of spiked iron while another hell-fury is preparing to hack him to pieces (cf. p. 166) has been found guilty of another of the ten impious acts. So also has been the woman who is about to be sawn in two lengthwise; her sin has been murder. As in Dante’s Inferno, other evil-doers, incapable, as our text explains, of succumbing to the process (cf. p. 166), are being cooked in the iron cauldron at the lower right-hand corner. Three hell-furies (one brown, one yellow, one blue in the original) are to be seen holding by the end of nooses and leading and dragging along (cf. p. 166) to appropriate punishments three of the dead who have just been cast into Hell.

At the top of the picture, in the centre, on an enhaloed lotus and lunar throne, with the moon (white) at his right and the sun (gold) at his left, presiding over all, is Dorje Chang (blue), the Divine Guru of the Red-Hat School of Padma Sambhava; for he is held to be the Ever-living and Spiritual Source whence continue to emanate, as in the days of the Buddha Shakya Muni, all the Esoteric Doctrines underlying the Bardo Thödol, which are referred to on pages 133 to 134 of our translation.^[1]

 

Emblems

1. The Indian Wheel of the Law (Dharma-Chakra) .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .

on back of book

From designs sculptured on the Sanchi Topes, dating from about 500 B.C. to 100 A. D.

2. The Lāmaic Crossed Dorje .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .

on front cover of book

Symbolical of equilibrium, immutability, and almighty power. (Cf. pp. 63, 116¹.)

3. The Tibetan Wheel of the Law (Ch’os-’k’or-bskor) .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .

facing p. 119

The Eight-Spoked Wheel (cf. p. 106), on a lotus throne and enhaloed by Flames of Wisdom, is representative of the Thousand-Spoked Wheel of the Good Law of the Buddha, symbol of the symmetry and completeness of the Sacred Law of the Dharma, or Scriptures. The design at the centre, called in Tibetan rgyan-’k’yil, composed of three whirling segments, symbolizes—as does the svastika at the centre of the Indian Wheel of the Law—the Sangsāra, or ceaseless change or ‘becoming’.

4. The Dorje, the Lāmaic Sceptre .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .

facing p. 137

A type of the Thunderbolt of Indra, the Indian Jupiter, used in most lāmaic rituals (cf. pp. 10, 108², 137–8, 142–5), symbolical of dominion over sangsāric (or worldly) existence.

5. The Mantra of Chenrazee (Avalokiteshvara) .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .

facing p. 167

In Ranja or Lantsa Indian characters of about the seventh century A.D. Lantsa characters, slightly modified, are used in Tibetan manuscripts, commonly on title-pages. In Tibetan characters the sacred Mantra is ཨོཾམཎིཔདྨེཧཱུྃ, which means literally: ‘Ōm! The Jewel in the Lotus! Hūṃ!’ (Cf. pp. 134², 149¹, 206.)

1. It should be noted that each of the dead possesses a body suited to the paradise realm or hell-world in which karma brings about birth; and that when any of the after-human-death states of existence ends there is again a death process and a casting off of a body (cf. pp. 155–8, and Book II passim). The Bardo is the intermediate state whence one may be reborn in this world in a human body, or in the ghost-world in a ghost body, or in one of the paradise realms, such as the deva-loka, in a god body, or in the asura-loka in an asura body, or in one of the hells in a body capable of enduring suffering and incapable of dying there until the purgation is complete. Following death in a hell, or in any other of the after-human-death states, the normal process is to be reborn on earth as a human being. The True Goal, as the Bardo Thödol repeatedly explains, is beyond all states of embodiment, beyond all hells, worlds, and heavens, beyond the Sangsāra, beyond Nature; it is called Nirvāṇa (Tib. Myang-hdas). See Addenda, V, pp. 224–32.