Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche on the moment of death

[joedirt]

This is a short passage from the book "Quintessential Dzogchen

The first experiences we will have at the moment of death are the sounds, colors, and lights, but these will not be vague, feeble, or limited, as they are now, but intense and overwhelming. The colors then are iridescent hues, while the lights are sharp like needle points, similar to looking directly into the sun. The colors are indications of enlightened body, the sounds indicate enlightened speech, and the lights indicate enlightened mind. That is why the Tibetan Book of the Dead reminds the dying person, "Do not be afraid of these lights. Do not fear the sounds. Do not be terrified by the colors."

In the bardo, yogis who grew somewhat familiar with Togal practice during their lives can remain unafraid, free of terror or dread, because they know that the colors, sounds, and lights, are their own manifestation--the natural displays of their buddha nature's body, s speech, and mind.

These initial manifestations are a prelude for the rest of the bardo. Ordinary people, however, become totally overwhelmed by the immensity of the displays. The sounds in the bardo are not small noises--they roar like 100,000 simultaneous thunder claps--and the lights and colors shine with the brilliance 100,000 suns. Later, when the deities begin to appear, the largest are the size of Mount Sumeru, while the smallest are no bigger than a mustard seed. These deities are vibrantly alive and dance about. Faced with the spectacle you have two options: either you panic with fright or you recognize them as your natural displays. This is why it is of incredible benefit to practice in this life so that your grow familiar with you natural displays. Otherwise, facing them in the bardo will results in deep confusion and bewilderment.

Even if you are an accomplished Buddhist scholar who knows a lot of Dharma, can debate, and all the rest, without this familiarity you will still become terrified and panic at the awesome display in the bardo. You can't debate with these deities; you can't explain them away. But if you follow the Vajrayana path and grow familiar with the unified path of development and completion, you can ensure that you recognize all this to be your own manifestation--which will be of real importance.

Sound familiar?

Peace

 

[endlessness]

It does ring a bell 8)

 

[lyserge]

What happens if you are killed instantly, such as being hit by a meteorite or lightning strike?

 

[tele]

I wonder how these yogis reach the "bardo":? Based on that talk someone's been there

 

[daedaloops]

Interesting passage.. Maybe this is all just training on how to die properly.. and when you're in the death state it's about training how to live properly. And slowly your core-self gets progress towards a state of nirvana, a release from the cycle. Hmm I wonder what that would feel like... And what's the point of getting released, is it just for some divine highscore of a galactic pinball?

What happens if you are killed instantly, such as being hit by a meteorite or lightning strike?

I've been thinking about this alot, like from a non-spiritual viewpoint, assuming that dmt or another chemical is released at the time of death, and that it's the only thing responsible for the states after it.. Then someone whose head explodes into little pieces within a fraction of a second won't have this privilege? They'll just cease to exist instead of being able to experience the infinitely time-dilated bliss? Sounds a bit unfair to me...

 

[joedirt]

I wonder how these yogis reach the "bardo":? Based on that talk someone's been there

As I understand it Tibetan yoga merged with and was influenced by the Bon shamanic tradition.

I sometimes wonder if meditation was the tool used to reach these states are the tool used to manage these states. For me it seems meditation works quite well for managing these states and releasing into them but I have yet to merge with the Godhead via meditation alone. Though without a doubt my meditation practice has deepened significantly over the years.


As for the "What if he dies quickly"

Well the Buddhists don't believe the brain is the mind. To them there is no reason to not assume that he mind once separated from the body would be nothing but raw mind and this is were the sights and sounds of the bardo come from. They do however put a lot of emphasis on the state of mind just before death... I equate this to mind set before taking a psych. Good mind == good bardo. Bad mind = Hell World.

Admittedly I'm still diving into Tibetan Buddhism so don't hold me as an expert on advanced theory and what not.

Peace.

 

[○]

Thanks for sharing joedirt!

I've read and re-read the Bardo Thodol several times. That passage you posted though.. does sound veryyy familiar.

There's alot of interesting similarities though between the Thodol and mystical/psychedelic experiences.

Not to veer off topic.. but on a similar note. The Bhagavad Gita and The Upanishads are so amazingly similar to peak psychedelic experiences and even the breakthrough DMT experiences moreso.

If your not familiar with the Gitas dialogue..it's between Arjuana (a mythical warrior) and Krishna which is a metaphorical representation of Arjuans "Higher Self"...but the entire dialogue throughout the book is between them. But anywho...what I was getting at is..near the end of the book there's a chapter where Arjuana asks to be granted the ultimate mystical vision of life/death/himself in turn to see Krishnas (Arjunas higher self) true self...so in a sense..arjuana is asking his higher self to reveal itself.

Here..i'll quote specific excerpts from the book which I feel speak strongly in line with some of what the Bardo Thodol presents:

"Behold, Arjuna, a million divine forms, with an infinite variety of color and shape. Behold the Gods of the natural world and many more wonders never revealed before. Behold the entire cosmos turning within your body. But these things cannot be seen with your physical eyes; therefore your granted spiritual vision to perceive your majestic power."

"If a thousand suns were to rise in the heavens at the same time, the blaze of their light would resemble the splendor of the supreme spirit."

"You are the supreme, changeless Reality, the one thing to be known. You are the refuge of all creation, the immortal spirit, the eternal guardian of eternal dharma."

"Arjuna, through my grace you have been united with me and have received this vision of my radiant, universal form, without beginning or end, which not many have seen."


Once again I apologize if this is slightly off topic but I felt these ancient writings have alot of common denominators and are speaking from these supra-states of being/consciousness and go in line with some of what the Thodol presents.

 

[dharmadhatu]

This is a short passage from the book "Quintessential Dzogchen

That is why the Tibetan Book of the Dead reminds the dying person, "Do not be afraid of these lights. Do not fear the sounds. Do not be terrified by the colors."

In brief: do not give in to astonishment!