"That which is in a man, not that which lies beyond his vision is the main factor in what is about to befall him: the operation upon him is the event." (George Macdonald, from "Lillith", chapter XVI, 1895). --| Tibetan Book of the Dead |----- O child of noble family, listen without distraction. Although the bardo of the peaceful dieties has already appeared, you did not recognize, so you have wandered further on to here. Now on the eight day the blood-drinking wrathful dieties will appear. Recognize them without being distracted. O child of noble family, he who is called Glorious Great Buddhi-Heruka will emerge from within your own brain and appear before you actually and clearly: his body is wine coloured, with three heads, six arms, and four legs spread wide apart; the right face is white, the left one red, and the centre one wine-coloured; his body blazes like a mass of light, his nine eyes gaze into yours with a wrathful expression, his eyebrows are like flashes of lightening, his teeth gleem like copper; he laughts aloud with shouts of 'a-la-la' and 'ha-ha!' and sends out loud whistling noises of 'shoo-oo!'. His red-gold hair flies upwards blazing, his heads are crowned with dried skulls and the sun and moon, his body is garlanded with black serpents and fresh skulls; his six hands hold a wheel in the first hand on the right, an axe in the middle, and a skull-cup in the last; his consort Buddha-Krodhisvari embraces his body, with her right hand clasped around his neck and her left hand clasped around his neck and her left hand holding a skull full of blood to his mouth; he sends out loud palatal sounds and roaring sounds like thunder; flames of wisdom shoot out from between the blazing vajra hairs on his body; he stands on a throne supported by garudas, with one pair of legs bent and the other stretched out. Do not be afraid of him, do not be terrified, do not be bewelidered. Recognize him as the form of your own mind. He is your yidam, so do not be afraid. He is really Blessed Vairocanna with his consort, so do not fear. Recognition and liberation are simultaneous. ~ O child of noble family, if you do not recognize in this way, you will be afraid of them and escape, and so go on to more suffering. If you do not recognize in this way, you will see all the blood-drinking dieties as Lords of Death, and you will fear them. You will feel terrified and bewildered and faint. Your own projections will turn into demons and you will wander in samsara. But if you are neither attracted nor afraid you will not wander in samsara. O child of noble family, the largest bodies of these peaceful and wrathful dieties are like the whole sky, the medium ones are like Mount Meru, and the smallest ones are like eighteen of our bodies one on top of the other, so do not be afraid of them. All phenomena appear as lights and images; by recognizing all these appearances as the natural radiance of your own mind, your own radiance will merge insperably with the lights and images, and you will become a buddha. O child, whatever you see, however terrifying it is, recognize it as your own projection; recognize it as the luminosity, the natural radiance of your own mind. If you recognize in this way, you will become a buddha at that very moment, there is no doubt. What is called perfect instantaneous enlightenment will arise on the spot. Remember! (From 'The Tibetan Book of the Dead', Translated by Chogyam Trungpa) -- Related Articles: - What Befalls Us SUBMIT AN ARTICLE posted: may 3, 2004