P. 143-164
Tibetan Sacred Art The Heritage of Tantra
by Detlef Ingo Lauf
Shambhala 1976
The Visionary World of the Tibetan Book of the Dead
Tibetan block-print of the Mandala of the peaceful and wrathful deities according to the doctrines of the Tibetan Book of the Dead. At the heart centre of the Adibuddha Samantabhadra is the syllabic Mandala of the five Dhydnibuddhas. Mandalas of 163 this type belong to the large group of mantric diagrams in which the deities appear only in the form of syllables or Mantras.
The teachings of the Tibetan Book of the Dead, as handed down to us in certain Tibetan traditions, embody a comprehensive world of spiritual experience. These teachings represent the unity of the most essential doctrines of Mahayana Buddhism and of the experiences of ancient Tibetan masters, a self-contained doctrine which represented an independent category in Tibetan literature. Only a few examples survive of Tibetan representations of the world of Bardo visions. The luminous and visionary character is readily perceived in these works of art—especially in the paintings—since the manifestations of this after-death world are most commonly represented in the form of a sequence of different Mandalas (see Plates 61-63). In a sequence ordered down to individual groups, the 100 (or peaceful and wrathful deities appear, grouped together in ordered sequences of separate Mandalas which are bounded by five coloured rays of light.
We lack sufficient information on the precise origin of the tradition of the Tibetan Book of the Dead. What seems certain is that Guru Padmasambhava, who is venerated as the author of the Book of the Dead by the rNying-ma-pa sect, did have a hand in the creation of the most ancient texts. Others that must be named from the same school are Vimalamitra (born 740) and the gTerston (“treasure-finder”) Karma-gling-pa. In addition, there is another doctrinal system, substantially different from the one named above, which dates back to the great Indian scholar Naropa. His teachings have come down to us in the “Six Doctrines of Naropa” (Tib.: Na-ro chos-drug).
The Tibetan Book of the Dead proceeds from the concept that after death the deceased wanders through the world of the intermediate state between the two lives (Tib. : Bar-do) for a period of forty-nine days before appearing as an incarnation in one of the six worlds of Samsara. During this period the consciousness of the deceased experiences, in a special (fine-substance) after-death body, the karmic effects of his former spiritual deeds which now manifest themselves as light, sounds or deities. The strivings of his intellect, burdened with the effects of the karmic inheritance from his former life, now result in his seeing peaceful and ferocious deities which menace him as he tries to avoid them. This is why it is the duty of the Tibetan lama, at least for the period of a fortnight, to read the Book of the Dead as a reminder and spiritual signpost for the deceased, to enlighten the deceased about the processes and meanings of ensuing visions. In this connection it is most important that all visions of deities, which appear first in peaceful form and then increasingly in terrifying shapes, be recognized by the deceased as unreal reflections of his own spirit. A clear-sighted comprehension of the imaginary deities means that the deceased may find the path towards liberation or into the paradisaical worlds. However, fearful escape from the menacing deities and lights of the six realms of incarnation drives the straying wanderer deeper and deeper towards one of the six worlds which corresponds to his karma. Thus the Tibetan Book of the Dead, read by the mediating voice of Buddhist monks, becomes for the deceased a guide to possible insights into the Bardo world. Time and again the reader tries to make contact with the deceased in the other world in order to explain to him the nature of his fears and help him find a good rebirth. More than any other work of world literature, the Book of the Dead abundantly describes and actively influences the subtle hidden processes of life after death, and it does so with an assurance that fills us with admiration for these experiences from the ancient knowledge of Asia.
This is not the place to plumb the full depth or content of the tradition of wisdom of the Book of the Dead. We shall therefore consider the individual Mandalas each in its specific meaning in order to gain, in an abridged form, a general idea of the significance of all visionary deities. At the beginning of all Mandalas of deities in the Tibetan Book of the Dead, one invariably finds the enduring Adibuddha. The first reverence is addressed to him, for it is out of him that all Dharmas, the pure laws of the world, have spontaneously originated since “infinite time”, and it is through his ceaseless meditation that all Buddhas arise. That is why the texts of the various Books of the Dead open with the following incantation :
I pay respect to the Adibuddha,
the ever-enduring body of light,
enthroned on the diamond seat and coloured as
the heaven;
the Lord of all wisdoms and Buddhas,
the Samantabhadra in Dharmakaya.
In nearly all representations of the Tibetan Book of the Dead (and in tantric paintings) the Buddhas appear in mystic union with their female counterparts. This is true also of Samantabhadra, who is usually found at the very top in the centre of the paintings in mystic union with the white Prajna Samantabhadra. The white Samantabhadra is, in the words of the texts the “mother producing all Buddhas of the three ages”. Then follows the Mandala of the five Dhyanibuddhas whose significance in Buddhist mysticism we have already mentioned. They are the bearers of the five wisdoms, and their female partners (the Buddhamudras) personify the structure of the cosmos. In the death ritual the deceased is given the initiations of the five Buddhas, with consecrated water which is used for the Abhiseka rites. This is what the reciting lama says of the vessel (Tib. : Bum-pa) used for this consecration: “Hum, in this hallowed sphere of this precious vessel resides the divine assembly of all victorious, peaceful and wrathful deities.” He then imparts to the deceased the five initiations for the attainment of the five superior bodies and the five Buddha wisdoms. In the name of the Buddha Aksobhya he administers the consecration of holy water (Tib.: Chu’i-dbang), in the name of Ratnasambhava he administers the consecration of the Buddha crown (Tib.: dBurgyan- gyi-dbang), in the name of the Buddha Amitabha the consecration of the Vajra (Tib. : rDo-rjeM-dbang), in the name of Amoghasiddhi the consecration of the Ghanta (Tib. : Dril-bu’idbang) and in the name of the Buddha Vairocana he administers the consecration of the diamond name (tib. : rDo-rje ming-gi-dbang). These Buddhas are peaceful aspects in the realm of the intermediate world; we shall encounter them later under a different name, since all deities of the Book of the Dead appear not only under the tantric polarity of the male-female aspect but also in the juxtaposition of peaceful and wrathful nature (Tib.: Zhi-khro).
The lama next introduces the deceased to the nature of the eight Bodhisattvas who appear in union with their Yoginis inside the Mandalas of the five Dhyanibuddhas. Among the many Bodhisattvas the most important are the eight great Bodhisattvas (Skr. : Mahabodhisattvas). They and their Yoginis stand in a specific relationship to the symbolism of human qualities whose planes of action are to be purified through the initiation of the Bodhisattvas. The Bodhisattvas are assigned to the eight forms of consciousness and the Yoginis to their appropriate functional areas, as shown in the table below (note the caption to the table). Through the consecration ritual of these deities all obstacles (karmic impurities) preventing progress towards liberation through the Bardo world are removed from the eight spheres. All Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, and their female counterparts, appear as visions in the intermediate state during the first five days after death. On the sixth day they are joined by the six Buddhas from the six realms of incarnation as emanations of Avalokitesvara and the four door-keepers of the Mandalas with their Dakinis. We have already discussed in some detail the six Buddhas as emanations of the all-compassionate Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara. They recommend to the various beings the appropriate path of inner transformation, helping them to renounce their principal vices in order to practise the six great virtues of a Bodhisattva. Knowledge of the six worlds and their sufferings must be seen as worlds or forms of action of the human character. These worlds and the path of purification through the six great virtues (Skr.: Paramitas) occupy a key position in the Book of the Dead as aids to redemption. That is why the lama reminds the deceased in the Bardo not to let himself be attracted by the various impure rays of light from the six realms (Skr.: Lokas), since these are deceptive lights shining from the very spheres of existence which he has only just escaped. It is the more important to urge the dead to strive continually to make his way upward, to follow the true path of enlightenment of the Buddhas whose rays of pure light shine down upon him as a redeeming vision. We shall illustrate this by quoting an excerpt from the translation of one of the most important prayers in the Tibetan Book of the Dead. This prayer is read repeatedly during the ritual in order constantly to direct the pilgrim between the two worlds towards the path of light which leads to liberation from the confinement of Bardo (Tibetan text : Bar-do ‘phrang-sgrol-gyi smon-lam):
Reverence to you, assembled gurus and Dakinis ! Out of your great love lead us on the path ! When wandering through delusion in Samsara May the heroic Knowledge-Holders lead us On the bright light-path of the Simultaneously born Wisdom; May the bands of Supreme Mothers, the Dakinis, be our rear-guard; May we be led safely through the dreadful ambush of Bardo, May we be transported To the realm of perfect Buddhahood.
When wandering through Samsara because of intense hatred, May we be led on the bright light-path of Mirror- like Wisdom By the Bhagavan Vajrasattva ; May the Supreme Mother Locana be our rearguard; May we be led safely through the dreadful ambush of Bardo, May we be transported To the realm of perfect Buddhahood.
When wandering through Samsara because of intense ignorance, May we be led on the bright light-path of Dharma- sphere Wisdom By the Bhagavan Vairocana; May the Supreme Mother Akasadhatvisvari be our rear-guard ; May we be led safely through the dreadful ambush of Bardo, May we be transported To the realm of perfect Buddhahood.
When wandering through Samsara because of intense pride, May we be led on the bright light-path of the Wisdom of Equality By the Bhagavan Ratnasambhava ; May the Supreme Mother Mamaki be our rearguard; May we be led safely through the dreadful ambush of Bardo, May we be transported To the realm of perfect Buddhahood.
When wandering through Samsara because of intense craving. May we be led on the bright light-path of Discriminating Wisdom By the Bhagavan Amitabha : May the Supreme Mother Pandara be our rearguard ; May we be led safely through the dreadful ambush of Bardo, May we be transported To the realm of perfect Buddhahood.
When wandering through Samsara because of intense envy, May we be led on the bright light-path of All- Performing Wisdom By the Bhagavan Amoghasiddhi ; May the Supreme Mother Samayatara be our rear-guard ; May we be led safely through the dreadful ambush of Bardo. May we be transported To the realm of perfect Buddhahood.
The procession of deities of the peaceful Mandala is concluded on the sixth and seventh days of sojourn in the Bardo by the four doorkeepers and the five knowledge-holding deities (Tib. : Rig-‘dzin) and their Dakinis. The symbolism of the small group of the four door-keepers of the Mandala reveals to us how, very purposefully, all deities are meaningfully harmonized with various events of life or spiritual activities. The four door-keepers are assigned to the realms of the four ways of contemplating the frontiers (of human thought) which must all be crossed if the boundless state of Nirvana is to be experienced. The four Dakinis of the door-keepers guard the doors to the four birthplaces where rebirth may take place (see table p. 158).
On the seventh day the manifestations of the peaceful visions come to an end. On that day the lights of all forty-two pacific deities shine down together upon the deceased. There are still paths open to him to strive upwards, because from the eighth to the fourteenth day he will see the manifestations of the ferocious deities which arouse terror and fear, so that escape into the realms of rebirth seems unavoidable. And yet the lama reciting the Book of the Dead, with his constant urgent reminders to the deceased, intervenes in his progress through the Bardo. He keeps reminding the deceased that all visions of the after-death world, the peaceful and the wrathful deities, are nothing other than emanations (projections) of his own intellect, that all deities are merely transitory states of a seeming reality whose intensity and aggressive character the deceased must experience in accordance with his own karma. If he comprehends these visions as forms of his own intellect and if he understands his terrifying passage as the experience of manifestations from his own consciousness, then the path of purification is still open to him. All visions are in reality void, devoid of all existence of their own, once one has stepped from the darkness of ignorance into the light of knowledge. The terror aroused by the fifty-eight wrathful deities is in fact only a transitional stage through the experience or suffering of part of one’s own nature.
That is why the symbolic manifestations and meanings of the fifty-eight wrathful deities correspond to those of the peaceful forms. The five Dhyanibuddhas now appear as the five horrific blood-drinking deities of the Heruka type (Tib. : Khrag-‘thung khro-bo), and the Dakinis of the Herukas are nothing else but the tantric exponents of the five female counterparts of the Dhyanibuddhas. They are followed by the eight Kerimas (Tib. : Ke’u-ri-ma) of human shape, by the eight Tamenmas (Tib. : Phra-men-ma, Plate 64), and by the twenty-eight powerful deities (Tib.: rNal-‘byor dbang-phyug) as animalheaded creatures crowding the large outer circle of the Mandalas of the wrathful deities (Plate 63). The eight Kerimas and the eight Tamenmas assume the functions of the eight peaceful Bodhisattvas and their Yoginis. The twenty-eight animal- headed powerful deities appear in order to purify all thought relationships and karmic burdens. So long as these manifestations continue to be regarded as real and existing, the consciousness in the intermediate state of the Bardo declines into the cycle of rebirths. This is why the Tibetan Book of the Dead keeps emphasizing that all visions must be clearly understood as no more than passing states of one’s own consciousness and therefore need not be feared. This insight gained by the conquest of fear, the resultant penetration of the empty manifestations, and the complete overcoming of opposing aspects lead to the path of liberation. As soon as the stage of the void without visions and without images is attained the liberated being has arrived beyond the need for returning to the realm of six-fold rebirth. Comparison with Western analytical psychology, as represented by C.G. Jung, shows that the deities of the Tibetan Book of the Dead and their described attributes resemble the archetypal images which emerge from the unconscious. These primal images also have profound and often unfathomable meanings in the processes of psychic perception and their self-portrayal in dreams—meanings with which the conscious mind must become familiar. While these primal images, the positive or negative unknown factors, remain unclarified to the conscious mind, or unable to be creatively integrated, they represent a factor of insecurity and a threat to a person’s psychic equilibrium. Thus ancient Asian experience and that of modern Western psychology reveal a large measure of agreement and help us correctly to assess the meaning of the Tibetan Book of the Dead.
The Book of the Dead, therefore, teaches that stepping out from the cycle of existences, or unending rebirths, is the only true goal of redemption. Each reincarnation is the result of an as yet unachieved detachment from the transitory world of phenomena and its power of opposing forces. As an effective emanation of divine forces, a polarity in the interplay of internal strivings within man’s nature, these manifestations of the great Bardo Mandala are structured in accordance with a philosophical and psychological system designed to make visible through a dynamic and inseparable union of opposites the harmony of a seemingly dualistic universe. The main task consists in continually extending one’s conscious insight into one’s unconscious, thus liberating oneself of the power of the unconscious and its action which, like the power of ignorance, attempt to block the path to enlightenment.