Located primarily on a vast plateau in
the Himalayan mountain range overlooking most of South Asia, the Tibetan ethnic
and cultural region stretches from areas near the Volga River in Europe, through
much of Inner and Outer Mongolia to parts of several republics of the former
Soviet Union, and encompasses Ladakh, Bhutan, Sikkim, much of Nepal, and
portions of the present-day Chinese state, including all of Tibetan Autonomous
Region and Ch'ing-hai Province as well as parts of Gansu, Yunnan, and Sichuan
Provinces. This extensive Tibetan ethnic area stands as a reminder of Tibet's
once powerful dominion over much of Central Asia, including several parts of
China. For centuries, Tibet had also served as the spiritual and artistic center
for these regions. Tragically, since 1951 this powerful and influential culture
has been systematically destroyed by the Chinese Communists, who have forcibly
dominated the country and violently imposed their own cultural ideologies upon
the Tibetan people.
The invasion and subsequent occupation
of Tibet by China forced the flight into exile of approximately one hundred
thousand Tibetans. Ironically, due in large part to the diaspora of the Tibetan
people, the country's vibrant cultural and religious traditions have extended
far beyond their geographical boundaries, contributing to an ever-increasing
global appreciation of Tibet's sophisticated heritage. Largely as a result of
contact with the exile Tibetan communities, a growing number of people in Europe
and North America are turning to the principles of Tibetan religion for their
own personal growth, and adopting Tibetan perspectives on the nature of the
world and our place within it. This living Tibetan legacy has sustained the
continuity and vitality of more than one thousand years of intellectual and
spiritual exploration.
An Introduction to TheTibetan
Book of death
Tibetan Buddhism recognizes the
natural fact that human beings tend to avoid admitting death as an immediate
threat in their own lives. Indeed, this refusal to acknowledge the imminence of
death and impermanence is regarded in Buddhism as a fundamental cause of the
confusion and ignorance that prevents spiritual progress. Spiritual growth is
achieved not by cowering from death, but by confronting it head on. Therefore,
to facilitate confrontation with such raw reality, Buddhism offers several
detailed meditative strategies. These death meditations enable Buddhist
practitioners to engage seriously the truth of impermanence and, in turn, to
comprehend the true nature of human existence. Mindfulness of death engenders
both control and freedom; it brings about control in the sense of curbing the
desire for permanence and security, and it promotes freedom by offering the
meditator an enduring glimpse of the Buddha's liberating wisdom. The clear
advantages of regularly contemplating impermanence and death make such
meditations supreme among all the various types of Tibetan Buddhist mindfulness
training. Taking the practice seriously helps to inspire further spiritual
endeavor, overcome the delusions of permanence and immortality, and increase the
probability of a virtuous life?and death?experience.
In the religious traditions of
Tibet it is taught that the first moment of death is marked by a gradual process
of disintegration, in which both the mental and physical components of the dying
individual begin to collapse. Lacking a physical support, the person's
consciousness withdraws inward and gathers at the center of the heart before
finally departing the body. Corresponding to the gradual deterioration of
consciousness during death, the dying patient experiences a variety of
distinctive visions, each marking a stage in the dying process. Meditators study
these stages in order to gain intimate knowledge of them, since it is believed
that a person familiar with the death experience is less likely to be frightened
when death finally arrives. But more importantly, a detailed knowledge of the
dying process enables advanced practitioners to simulate the experience during
meditation, thereby gaining control over the actual process. Cultivation and
control of these subtle visionary states of consciousness function to transform
the meditator's mind and body into the divine form of a fully liberated awakened
being, a Buddha.
Before the ordinary dying
process is complete, relatives and friends are advised to quietly bid the dying
person farewell, without creating an overly dramatic situation. Tibetans believe
that it is crucial for both the dying person and those around him or her to
avoid causing excessive regret or longing in the patient, but instead to foster
virtuous states of mind. The state of mind at the time of death is believed to
influence directly the momentum of the departing consciousness. Any thoughts
that occur during this time are extremely potent; it is therefore significant
for the individual to generate and sustain a positive mental state thoughout all
the stages of dying. In other words, the quality of mind at the time of death is
a critical component in determining the dying person's future destiny. If
disruptive thoughts can be avoided while simultaneously directing the mind
toward pure and virtuous thoughts, the ordinary person may be capable of
positively controlling the outcome of the dying event. To help the patient
achieve this goal, a spiritual master, or lama (bla ma), may whisper
guiding instructions into the person's ear. Traditionally, these instructions
are read from a variety of ritual texts designed to help guide the deceased's
consciousness through the intermediate realm between lives, known in Tibetan as bardo.
Tibetan
Buddhism recognizes four stages in the life cycle of a sentient being: birth, the period between birth and death, death, and the period between death and the next birth, or bardo. The postmortem bardo journey is said to last no longer than seven weeks (49 days). By the end of the forty-ninth day the deceased is reborn into a worldly state influenced by his or her past actions, collectively referred to in Buddhism as karma. The principle of karma is essentially the simple law of cause and effect, whereby it is held that the moral quality of an individual's actions performed previously determines the quality of experience in the
future? in this case, the person's next life. The bardo state is recognized as an opportunity for change, a starting point of transformation. It is understood as a gap between familiar boundaries through which is gained a glimpse of the true nature of Reality. By fully recognizing this ultimate nature, the deceased is capable of breaking the afflictive cycle of rebirth (samsara) and achieving final liberation, Buddhahood. Much of an advanced practitioner's meditative training is designed to meet this transformative moment, but in most ordinary cases, the deceased is dependent upon the assistance of the lama, who recites the guiding instructions from the bardo literature in order to bring Reality into clear focus. The words of the lama communicate the essential truth underlying the postmortem experience, giving the deceased an ultimate point of reference to make sense of the often confusing and terrifying visions that are confronted during the bardo period. Moreover, recitation of the texts within a ceremonial setting offers practical wisdom to the participants in the ritual drama. The benefits of the texts can thus be understood at two levels: through recitation and explication of the texts' meaning, the deceased is reminded of knowledge previously learned and experienced in life, while at the same time, family members and friends receive spiritual teachings that will improve and enrich their present lives. In this way, the bardo literature offers not only a method of guidance, but also a varied program for an array of performance styles, involving liturgy, ritual offering, prayer, and scripture recitation, all operating as an integrated whole to insure a positive destiny for the living and the dead.
