SIX BARDOs TEACHING (Part 4)

 (A brief teaching by H.E. Tai Situ Rinpoche, Nov.1982 at Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia)

4. Bardo at the Moment of Death

This is the fourth one. Here basically, before that moment comes, we have to prepare for that moment. When the moment comes, we have to prepare everything, it is too late. Before that moment comes, what we can prepare is; do whatever possible for us to do - something meaningful, and avoid whatever for us to avoid - everything meaningless, and this way the accumulation of merits as outside and accumulation of wisdom as inside.  Whatever we are able to develop and cultivate, we take the opportunity that is made ready for that and on this moment are, anyway, we all have to face this moment one day, definitely.  Anybody who are here, you know, today few people here I don't think out of this anybody is still alive after 100 years.  I don't think so. I don't think so. I will not really appreciate that but I don't think so. And we all must be gone. Even anybody in the whole world right now, even babies who is born today or babies who are inside the mother, they will not be here after one century, I don't think so. Even they are here, they are not in a good shape you know. Anyway, because of this, we all have to know this quite clearly.

During our death, that is the very important moment for us, because this is the moment of this life to the next life. The judgment there is our karma; no one else.  But in that moment if we have clear understanding and clear opportunity, we can make great accumulations and purification on that moment. Because, at that time, we mean it.  Right now, few of us can mean but everybody don't think so. Even they pray, they pray with some certain amount of faith and there is the degree of pureness and confidence and real kind of strength in it. But when we die, you know, in that moment if we have learn how to think and how to dedicate and how to take that opportunity, then the moment is very, very pure. That moment one minute thinking will be much stronger and powerful than years of thinking in one whole life when you are happy and you are alive because you are really facing the most serious event, serious moment. Because of this, we have to know which will disturb us. Our fame will disturb, our wealth will disturb; our relation will disturb. Those 3 things are which will disturb us most during our death. If we have attachment for our fame, if we have attachment for our wealth, if we have attachment for our relation, that is biggest obstacle. Therefore, when the moment comes we have to be ready to release everything. “Now no more of these I need. Even I attach and hold on my wealth but I can take nothing. My wealth will be in my cold hands. I am gone.” And fame is also the same. The relation is also the same. Because of that, that moment have to be clear.  “I have done everything my best. Now I have nothing to feel sorry about, feel regret about, and what I have done is my best.” We must have these simple feeling in the moment of death.

To be able to feel that, we must do everything from  now, our best. And with this feeling, then we do whatever meaningful we can do with our material belongings, our fame, and whatever meaningful things we can do to our good related person, family or friend or whatever. Then we dedicate all of our merit towards the all sentient beings and we pray and wish that all beings be free from samsara. And we pray that according to our capability, say “May I reborn again into human realm. “May I cultivate more and then able to achieve certain kind of realization” or “May I be reborn to the Dewachen, the Sukhavati Pure Land.” Or whatever we are capable of saying.  If you capable of saying “May I go to hell and help all the beings of hell, until they are free from hell, may I remain in the hell” - if you can mean it, that is the best. But anyway, according to your capability you do whatever you can pray.

And then, after the death of the person, then the people who live - who are alive, their responsibility is very great. Because, from this moment until 49 days, the being is not really entered into a next realm.  Somehow this is the between of this life to the next life. Therefore, the person has to do all sorts of accumulations and the dedications which are aimed on behalf of that person who passed away. That is very important. And this is the moment of the death and here one aspect of special meditation and puja and performance used to do, that is transference of consciousness. But I think you should learn this later from when another Rinpoche comes, you learn from them because it needs the some time you know. I cannot explain right now here in a short time. It need at least one whole evening on that. And this is the Moment of Death Bardo.

Briefly about H.E. Tai Situpa and Karma Kagyu Lineage

H.E.12^th Tai Situ Rinpoche (born on 15^th Feburualy1954) founded the Palpung – Sherabling Monastery in Northern India in the Himalayan Regions. He is the Root Guru of the present 17^th Gyalwa Karmapa.

The 11^th Tai Situ Rinpoche was the Root Guru of 16^th Gyalwa  Karmapa and the 16^th Gyalwa Karmapa was the Root Guru of 12^th Tai Situpa. By tracing back to the past, the two of them took turn to be Guru in one life and became the disciple in the next life. This is the way how the lineage is kept unbroken from Guru to disciple in the Karma Kagyu 

This lineage was founded by Vajra Dhara (Dorje Chang), sambhogakaya form of Buddha Sakyamuni, who taught Tilopa , an Indian Mahasidha. And this lineage from India continued to Tibet unbroken until the present 12^th Tai Situ Rinpoche who is the only holder of the Special Oral Transmission Lineage of the Karma Kagyu Tibetan Buddhism. When a person receives this Special Oral Transmission, he or she will get immediate good experience in his or her meditation practice. According to Rinpoche, to receive this Special Oral Transmission Blessings, the devotee’s Karma must be ripe at that time. This blessing is powerful because it comes from the whole Karma Kagyu Lineage.

SIX BARDOs TEACHING (Part 3)

(A brief teaching by H.E. Tai Situ Rinpoche, Nov.1982 at Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia)

 3. Bardo of Meditation.

And this explained into 3 basic principles - the body meditation, the speech meditation, the mind meditation.

Here when we say the body samten. In Tibetan we say samten means "Ting". This is proper way of sitting, proper way of situating the body. Naturally develops the "tingism" the samten, the meditative state. Example, when we go to a temple, the surrounding of temple is peaceful. Inside of the temple is clean. The Buddha's image is beautiful.  Kind of simplicity, kind of natural calmness, naturally develops - and this is the body, the physical aspect of "tingism".

The other opposite of that when we go to a disco, full of crazy music and all this funny thing, light etc. etc. everybody is jumping like monkeys. They make you also shaky and that is the reason you shake your own and that is the way how the body "tingism" is necessary. The right way of sitting, like cross-legged, straight body etc, it isn't just an eastern culture, it isn't only a kind of - I think here you all know, but in the West, America and Europe when Buddha-dharma came there first about 15 years ago, people don't really understand that because they only sit on the chair. Their legs are quite stiff and when they sit cross-leg you know there must be one feet between their knee and ground – and it hurts them. Then they say that this is eastern kind of culture. It doesn't suit with western kind of habit. We say 'No, no, it isn't. It is based on the human coordination of body, speech and mind. For the mind to be in peace, in calmness, in the "tingism" in the samten, body has to be situated properly. Then we can make it simple, we have so many simple examples that, when you eat you must sit straight and eat.  If you lie on bed and eat it will throw you up. This is the way. When you sleep you must lie down. If you stand and sleep, you fall down, may break your leg you know. Anyway that is the body "tingism".

And speech is saying right word. All the prayers, all the chanting, all the mantras they have many levels. Some are just basic words. Some are more kind of key word but anyway all of them are words, the speech "ting ism". It situates the body in a most profound posture and speech in a most profound word. And that is the right way of saying. Naturally you know, if we say to somebody "I respect you", the person feels good, naturally. If you say "I hate you", the person feels bad, naturally. It is the word power. A person sings good song with good voice.  It makes you feel good and calm down, yes? A person sing with bad voice; usually these days it is the fashion, sing with bad voice - like vomiting - like coughing - like crying, you know, and that this makes people feel unbalanced and crazy and feel bad, naturally. That is the way the effect of the sound that saying the right word is the speech "tingism".

And now the third, the mind tingism. This is thinking right. Mind rest in the peace.  Mind rest in the nature, thinking compassion, loving kindness towards the others.  Thinking devotion, faith, trust towards the ultimate truth and which is related with that Buddha, Dharma, Sangha, the right thing, the right path, the right guidance. This is the way of body, speech, mind “tingism”, the meditation, the samten. To be able to do this properly, not only when you sit down and meditate, even when you walk, when you work, when you eat, when you cook, when you talk, when you sleep - all the time. Always there is better, way to do it and doing it in a better way, having mindfulness and awareness.  That is the Samten Bardo, the Bardo of Meditation.

Briefly about H.E. Tai Situpa and Karma Kagyu Lineage

H.E.12^th Tai Situ Rinpoche (born on 15^th Feburualy1954) founded the Palpung – Sherabling Monastery in Northern India in the Himalayan Regions. He is the Root Guru of the present 17^th Gyalwa Karmapa.

The 11^th Tai Situ Rinpoche was the Root Guru of 16^th Gyalwa  Karmapa and the 16^th Gyalwa Karmapa was the Root Guru of 12^th Tai Situpa. By tracing back to the past, the two of them took turn to be Guru in one life and became the disciple in the next life. This is the way how the lineage is kept unbroken from Guru to disciple in the Karma Kagyu 

This lineage was founded by Vajra Dhara (Dorje Chang), sambhogakaya form of Buddha Sakyamuni, who taught Tilopa , an Indian Mahasidha. And this lineage from India continued to Tibet unbroken until the present 12^th Tai Situ Rinpoche who is the only holder of the Special Oral Transmission Lineage of the Karma Kagyu Tibetan Buddhism. When a person receives this Special Oral Transmission, he or she will get immediate good experience in his or her meditation practice. According to Rinpoche, to receive this Special Oral Transmission Blessings, the devotee’s Karma must be ripe at that time. This blessing is powerful because it comes from the whole Karma Kagyu Lineage.

SIX BARDOs TEACHING (Part 2)

(A brief teaching by H.E. Tai Situ Rinpoche, Nov.1982 at Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia)

2. Bardo of Dream

Here the principle of this bardo is explaining that which makes us able to understand whole universe, whole life, whole experience as a dream. The principle here is 3, the samsaric dream, the life dream, the sleeping dream, three of them. From beginningless time until the realization of ultimate, which is Buddhahood, this is the dream of samsara.

No matter which realm we belong to, no matter what kind of individual we are, anyway we are dreaming.  The all aspect of trips of ego even we are an animal still we have “I”.   Even if we are a human being, still we have "I". Even if we are a deva still we have "I". We can be rich one; we can be poor one; we can be people of different nation and different culture, always we have "I".  This “I”.... we wake up from it when we achieve the enlightenment. That is the only time when we are free from this "I" totally and that is the samsara dream.

The second dream is the life dream. Life dream is known as dream of Karma.  According to our individual we experience the dream of Karma. Even about the same thing, sometimes we are happy about it, sometimes we hate it; sometimes it helps us, sometimes it bothers us. Nothing is certain; nothing is real, always fixed, as true existence.... everything change. About the same thing, various people have various aspects of way of looking at it, affect by this. This is the life dream.  It starts when we are born.  It ends when we die, but another one will start. This is the life dream.

Now the sleeping dream. The sleeping dream is dream of sub-conscious.

According to what kind of sub-conscious we have, we will dream that.  Sometimes we dream about the future. Sometimes we dream about the past, but will not dream anything which has nothing to do with us. Whatever we dream has something to do with us. May be we imagine that way. May be we have this experience before. May be we have karma to experience that in future. Because of that sometimes dreams come true. This is the sleeping dream. We wake up from this when we wake up in the morning. And now in this teaching the practice is first to realize the unrealness and the illusion of the sleeping dream. You have awareness so that your dream cannot fool you anymore. You can control your dream instead of dream controls you - and since you have this freedom completely, then you will have certain amount of freedom in the life. This life dream cannot control you anymore. You can control your life dream. The miracles of great realized beings also come in this point.

Here I want to make a little comment under miracle and the magic. People, it is very simple, but still people make mistake between the miracle and the magic. The miracle is ultimate quality that is ultimate freedom. The magic is relative kind of performance.

You know how to do things by learning the material tricks, or the important powerful substance, or the special words or the strong imagination can make things happen, but that is not always happened when we do. That is involved with hope and fear. Hope that “I want to do it”; “I want to do it successfully”, and fear that “May be I will not succeed this time”, and this is always involved with the "I" the ego. That is why there is hope and fear. It is interesting - interesting things to watch, but there is not really a quality which benefits you ultimately. Even the magicians themselves have full of suffering, full of desire, anger, ignorance, everything but their greatness is that they know the trick. They know the key. But we can learn one thing from the magic. It proves us, all the samsara is illusion. Because of this illusion, magic can also be performed. If it isn't illusion, nothing can happen behind of what is there. 

And the miracle, miracle is freedom. It has nothing to do with hope, nothing to do with fear. It has nothing to do with ego. How less your ego is, that profound your miracle is. People see miracle. People experienced miracle but they don't recognize it.  The miracle, simple miracle of profound teaching of Buddha - this can change life of a being who is suffering one, who is evil one, into life of the most kind being, just by moment of right understanding. This miracle of the simple basic Dharma can change whole world into peace. Simply people know one of the very simple first step - understanding - the basic loving kindness and compassion to each other as a brother and sister. Then, how the violence, all kind of wars, and how those things can happen, not possible. And one simple basic point of Dharma, this miracle changes whole world into peace. If being are capable of learning this and accepting this, and more than that the performance of the miracle, you know, how the past great yogis -- have been done, those things are also freedom. For example, they are having the freedom of the life dream. Same as we can have the freedom of the sleeping dream quite easily.   In your dream you see a fire. You know you are dreaming. You know you are in your little room - there is no fire. You see your hands in your dream but your hand is dreaming hands; not really physical hands. You put your dream hand on your dream fire for 5 hours, it will not burn your finger. It will not burn your hand but this is not magic! This is miracle. The miracle of the great master of the past are performed that way. They have the freedom because they have realized the ultimate. Because of that, nothing makes any different for them. That is the way how the miracle is performed.  Miracles are not limited. All the time it is limitless - and then, since one have the freedom of the life dream, then that is the beginning of the freedom of the samsara dream. The total development of the freedom and the awakening of the samsara dream are known as realization of the Buddhahood. And this is the principle of the Bardo of dream.

Briefly about H.E. Tai Situpa and Karma Kagyu Lineage

H.E.12^th Tai Situ Rinpoche (born on 15^th Feburualy1954) founded the Palpung – Sherabling Monastery in Northern India in the Himalayan Regions. He is the Root Guru of the present 17^th Gyalwa Karmapa.

The 11^th Tai Situ Rinpoche was the Root Guru of 16^th Gyalwa  Karmapa and the 16^th Gyalwa Karmapa was the Root Guru of 12^th Tai Situpa. By tracing back to the past, the two of them took turn to be Guru in one life and became the disciple in the next life. This is the way how the lineage is kept unbroken from Guru to disciple in the Karma Kagyu 

This lineage was founded by Vajra Dhara (Dorje Chang), sambhogakaya form of Buddha Sakyamuni, who taught Tilopa , an Indian Mahasidha. And this lineage from India continued to Tibet unbroken until the present 12^th Tai Situ Rinpoche who is the only holder of the Special Oral Transmission Lineage of the Karma Kagyu Tibetan Buddhism. When a person receives this Special Oral Transmission, he or she will get immediate good experience in his or her meditation practice. According to Rinpoche, to receive this Special Oral Transmission Blessings, the devotee’s Karma must be ripe at that time. This blessing is powerful because it comes from the whole Karma Kagyu Lineage.

SIX BARDOs TEACHING (Part 1)

(A brief teaching by H.E. Tai Situ Rinpoche, Nov.1982 at Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia)

“Bardo” is a Tibetan word which means “In-between”. First all of your expectation when you say and hear about Bardo, you expect something after the death. Actually it isn't only about after the death. Bardo is a general teaching.  It is not a specific teaching.  The Lord Buddha Sakyamuni has given the teachings on the Bardo, and realized and learned masters have been continued this lineage.

Basically, the word, “Bardo” expresses the “in-between” of all aspect. In-between the Samsara and Nirvana, in-between impure and pure, in-between birth and death, in-between death and birth - but everybody expect is only one aspect of Bardo which is in-between the death and the birth. And here today, I will explain whole aspect of Bardo into basic simple principle. As traditional teaching here, I will explain six aspects of Bardo.

These 6 aspects of Bardo include and summarize the all aspect of samsaric and spiritual process. For these 6 Bardo, first I will go through just by the name. The Bardo, the birth. Second is Bardo, the dream. The third is Bardo the meditation or in the Chinese language you say “ting” sounds like a bell sound. And then 4th is Bardo of the moment of the death. The 5th is Bardo of the ultimate nature. The 6th one is known as universal Bardo or the possibility Bardo that is from this life's death until the beginning of the next life. These are the 6 aspects of Bardo.

1. Bardo of Birth  

When a being reborn in this universe as a sentient being naturally, actually it means is the coordination of the body, speech, and mind of that person, that being together. And here, I will explain this according to our human being.  Principally saying for all aspect of being, but there is special quality which we can learn through the human way of existence and coordination because we are human being. 

First, because of the karma which is accumulated by the ego, the consciousness of that being enters into a realm, example, human realm. That is the moment of the first connection between the body substance and the consciousness of that being. And since this time, the physical body and formless mind somehow coordinate and communicate. This way, this physical body develops according to the capability of the formless mind according to the desire of it, according to the ignorance of it, according to the anger of it, according to the stinginess of it, according to the pride and jealous of it.

What kind of consciousness that being has developed according to that this physical body will develop and some are healthier, some are unhealthy. Some are fully developed, some are less developed. Some are complete, some are deformed. That is the way how it becomes. This process develops by each moment until the. .(actually this is very complicated, but I will try to explain which is important)... until the 29 days of the physical substance inside the mother, this consciousness is all over - all over the substance. What it meant is when the consciousness enters, the consciousness doesn't have any substance, because of that it relates with the most subtle substance, the energy, the air. Because of that, this energy, the air quality can survive all over.   When it is 49 days old, it becomes hard and more solid already.  Therefore, it cannot survive everywhere. Because of this, it goes into the middle of this whole substance. We call this the central channel or the 'nyima nadi' the outer aspect.  And from this, all aspect of this quality of this air, even this is the little air, it has great power.  It has great quality, unimaginable, unbelievable quality.  For example, with ourselves we have it, because of that, we don't respect 'it, but if we check carefully how our hairs grow, how we can see, how we can talk, how we can walk, how our skin works, how our bone works, how we can see – unbelievable. Everything is just unbelievable. This is the quality of the karma which created this whole unbelievable quality.  As from the 29th day, then this central one radiates and manifests into all direction and this is known as all the chakras, etc. The inner one and secret one are different. I am talking about outer aspect of chakra and outer aspect of central channel. In this way, we have all the senses. We have all of these incredible things.  They are developed from this stage until the birth of the child.

The birth of the child is the complete development of all the important seat. After the birth, then it develops more, but it develops what is already there. Nothing new comes: just what is there will develop. Now, what we have understood in this level is, all the outer coordination of this mind and sense and the universe. Eye and form, nose and smell, tongue and taste, body and touch etc. etc. And inner coordination, mind - the Buddha-nature and ego "I" and desire, anger, ignorance, jealous etc. And this is the way how action is made. All of these are the intention. With this intention, we make the action. This is the way how the future karma is created and we have to learn them all as the basic - and since we learn this then we have to know the ultimate of that.

Now anyway if we go through the detail we can explain the Buddha Dharma, especially Vajrayana can explain each atom of a human being body and each moment of the human being's thought, expression, everything - but the basic of all this complicated thing, the overall point is body, speech and mind. Body is the solid appearance, speech is the expression, and the mind is the essence. Therefore, mind is Dharmakaya.  Speech - the expression is Sambhogakaya. The body - the appearance, the manifestation, is Nirmanakaya.  That is what we have to understand and this is the basic, the truth, 1st aspect of Bardo, the Bardo the birth. 

N.B.

Briefly about H.E. Tai Situpa and Karma Kagyu Lineage

H.E.12^th Tai Situ Rinpoche (born on 15^th Feburualy1954) founded the Palpung – Sherabling Monastery in Northern India in the Himalayan Regions. He is the Root Guru of the present 17^th Gyalwa Karmapa.

The 11^th Tai Situ Rinpoche was the Root Guru of 16^th Gyalwa  Karmapa and the 16^th Gyalwa Karmapa was the Root Guru of 12^th Tai Situpa. By tracing back to the past, the two of them took turn to be Guru in one life and became the disciple in the next life. This is the way how the lineage is kept unbroken from Guru to disciple in the Karma Kagyu 

This lineage was founded by Vajra Dhara (Dorje Chang), sambhogakaya form of Buddha Sakyamuni, who taught Tilopa , an Indian Mahasidha. And this lineage from India continued to Tibet unbroken until the present 12^th Tai Situ Rinpoche who is the only holder of the Special Oral Transmission Lineage of the Karma Kagyu Tibetan Buddhism. When a person receives this Special Oral Transmission, he or she will get immediate good experience in his or her meditation practice. According to Rinpoche, to receive this Special Oral Transmission Blessings, the devotee’s Karma must be ripe at that time. This blessing is powerful because it comes from the whole Karma Kagyu Lineage.