Painting of the historical Buddha at his death

Crazy Uncle Brings in the Discussion On Death

དགོང་དྲོ་བདེ་ལེགས། (Good Evening) villagers,

Unfortunately, it is a time of sorrow and meditation in our little tibetan village. As I am sure many of you have heard from our village yak, the hermit known as Crazy Uncle, who lives in the cave by the Pemakochung monastery has recently passed away.

Even though I live in close proximity to the Tantric Buddhist practitioner, I, myself, do not know anything about him. As the years went by, he removed himself from his cave less and less, until the point where he never really resurfaced. The only reason why he was found recently is because some of the villagers, who were on route to the Pemakochung monastery for prayer, acknowledged an interesting odor coming from the cave.

The Wheel of Life, which demonstrates our way into samsara and how we can leave the cycle

It is times like these where we as Buddhist practitioners are abruptly confronted with the wheel of life, karmic formations, impermanence and the indestructible effects of samsara. It is incredibly easy to lose our paths along the way but we always ensure ourselves that we will have time to enact positive karma and change our course. Thus, when the time comes for us to take our last breaths and our consciousness to flow to another realm, we will be reborn even better. However, we cannot always wait for the right time to complete these positive karmic actions, or get on the right path, or follow the four noble truths, or acknowledge the ultimate reality from the relative one. That time may never come and like the God of death, Yama, which holds the wheel of life in his hands, our lives are impermanent and the moment we get attached to it, it can easily disappear. It is for this reason that we should always be the best Buddhist practitioners we can be. Live by the four noble truths and the noble eightfold path, live with bodhicitta and remove all defilements so we can finally see our buddhanature inherent to all sentient beings. Unfortunately, since many of us did not actually know Crazy Uncle, none of us can really attest to the kind of Buddhist practitioner he was. Despite this, I am writing to you all today with suggestions for how to treat his body and carry out rituals surrounding his death in our village before it becomes too late. Furthermore, I asked some of the monks at the Pemakochung monastery for a more in-depth explanation about Buddhist death for myself and in case some of you in our village are not entirely aware what this process entails and where it falls in the broader scheme of Buddhist cosmology. They pointed me to the Tibetan Book of the dead or Bardo Thodol, and with the aid of this newfound knowledge, I begin my explanation.

It is traditionally believed that the work known as Bardo Thodol was written by Padmasambhava in the 8th century, the leader who brought Buddhism to Tibet. The information provided in the book is aimed to guide the dead during the state that intervenes death and the next rebirth. Since everyone who dies in one life and is reborn in the next does not remember their previous life, this book gives them a chance to preemptively prepare for what is in store. According to the monks at the monastery, it is up to us, his neighbouring villagers, to read aloud the information provided in this book in order for the Crazy Uncle to recognize the nature of his mind and attain liberation from the cycle of rebirth known as samsara. Therefore, here is my first suggestion. We must keep in mind that no matter how this man lived, we must read this book in order to help him attain liberation as his consciousness searches for the next realm. I will go through the bardo realms that one travels through after death in detail, as I believe that they will help us be sensitive and knowledgeable about how to approach this situation correctly.

The first bardo occurs at the very moment of death. It is at this moment when the clear light of the ultimate reality is dawned. The goal of the soul at this point is to recognize it and act in a way that ensures it remains in that state. The instructions that we will read from the book will help Crazy Uncle achieve this. Moreover, if he is able to realize that his mind and self is identical with this clear light of ultimate reality, then he recognizes that he is the ultimate reality, transcending all and he can attain liberation. This achievement is known as the Dharmakaya, the supreme spiritual body of the Buddha. But, as expected, most individuals fail to do this and will be limited by their karma, bringing them to the second stage of the first bardo.

The second stage of the first bardo is called the secondary clear light. (Here is where the problems occur). According to the monks, it is at this point where there are separate instructions provided in the book that must be read according to the actual spiritual condition of the person while he was alive. Since none of us in the village really know Crazy Uncle, I am not sure if this is achievable. If any of you do, even if what you know is not positive, please speak up. You can reply to this letter or come visit me at the Pemakochung monastery.

If the soul can still not be liberated after these specific instructions, it will descend into the second bardo, where it will stay for at least two weeks. The second bardo, like the first, is split into parts; in the first, the soul of the Crazy Uncle will encounter the peaceful deities. The next step, which determines the destiny of his soul, rests on his reaction to the divine Father-Mother, the supreme deity of the universe. Yet, again, we will encounter a problem with the next step. If he lived a well life on earth then he will attain liberation with the help of this God but if he lived an impious life, then his bad karma will cause this God to strike fear and terror in his heart. Instead of liberation, he will be drawn to the Deva-Loka and the equivalent to the Christian heavens.

On the second day of the second bardo, the second highest God will appear with a smoky light from hell. If Crazy Uncle’s heart response purely to this light then he will be liberated but if he becomes angered by this God and light, he will be unwillingly pulled into the hells.

On the third day of the second bardo, this pattern we see above is repeated again. Except, if his reaction demonstrates egotism instead of anger, his soul will be drawn to the human world. Depending on his reactions to different beings, he will be reborn in the preta-loka, the asura-loka or the brute-loka.

The last part of the second bardo consists of Crazy Uncle meeting the Wrathful deities. The instructions we would read from the book will tell the soul to not be afraid and to recognize that these wrathful deities are really peaceful deities in disguise and the only reason why they are appearing as such is because of his own evil karma. We would further instruct the soul of the Crazy Uncle to visualize the deity as it truly is. If he is able to accomplish this task then he will attain the second degree of liberation, which is the best he can hope for in this second bardo. If he cannot, then his soul will continue to wander down to the third bardo.

In this last bardo, the soul finally encounters the worst possible being, the Lord of Death. (You can see him in the Wheel of Life image above). He appears to subject the soul to a judgment. He will ask the dead person if he has done evil in his lifetime and the dead person will answer with their response, whether it be truthful or not. After, he holds up before the dead person the Mirror of karma, which will reflect all evil and good acts. If he lied and actually did a lot of evil in his lifetime then the demons begin to torment him for these actions. As this is happening, we must continue to read the instructions laid out in the book, which tells the dead person that the entire scene is a projection of his own mind. If he acknowledges this, then he can still attain liberation, even after so many attempts to do so. If the soul is still not liberated after the Judgement though, then it will be forced toward rebirth. The lights of the six Lokas choose the realm for him. The light that shines on him the brightest represents the new realm that the deceased must be born into and the soul is given these instructions for the next incarnation.

This image of consciousness leaving this form to enter the bardo stages is helpful when thinking of the Tibetan Book of the Dead

I hope that after this lengthy description and explanation of the Tibetan Book of the dead, we will be able to come together as villagers and help the Crazy Uncle to the best of our abilities reach liberation, despite our lack of knowledge about his life in this realm.

After this reading of the book is completed in the village, I suggest like the early Buddhists in the Indian custom, that we burn his body. Since the Buddha’s body was cremated at his death, we should use this, as Buddhist practitioners, as an example for ourselves in our village. It also demonstrates the doctrine of impermanence. Just as we destroy the mandala after it is created to quench any attachment and show appreciation for impermanence, the body of a being should be treated no differently.

Lastly, the monks from the Pemakochung monastery mentioned to me that they will be chanting verses during the process and thereafter to comfort anyone who requires it. These verses will go as follows: “Even the gorgeous royal chariots wear out; and indeed this body too wears out. But the teaching of goodness does not age; and so Goodness makes that known to the good ones”.

As always, remember to keep a pure mind!

Dainin Daeshim