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Meditation Text for Bardo Entry and Dream Yoga Training

--adapted by Catherine Jetsun Yeshe
for the course "Death and Rebirth" (May-June 2001)

This text has been adapted from various sources, including Stephen Hodge's "Illustrated Tibetan Book of the Dead", with modernized wording for the Western audience by Catherine Jetsun Yeshe. It may be studied and used in preparation for dream yoga during the August 2001 Summer Retreat.

May many beings find comfort and benefit from these words.

Listen, (name)!
You have now reached the moment when you should seek a path
Just as breathing stops, you will begin to experience the primal radiant light
That is the first phase of the death process,
as shown to you by your teacher
during your lifetime.
It is reality itself, empty and unadorned like space.

This is your primordial mind,
Unsullied and unadorned,
Devoid of centre and devoid of boundaries,
Empty and radiant.

When this happens, recognize it for what it is!
Go into that state
When it happens, I shall help you recognize it.

THE FIRST DISSOLUTION
The earth element now begins to dissolve into the water element.
You have a sense of sinking into the earth and your limbs will feel loose
Your sight is becoming unclear and your ordinary consciousness of the world around you is dissolving
You can neither open nor close your eyes
The mind is beginning to experience mirages,
Perhaps a guide or a your teacher is appearing to you
Do not be afraid

Listen (name)!
Now that the process of so-called dying is upon you,
Frame your mind thus:
Though the time of dying has descended upon me,
I shall be confidently involved in this, the process of dying
I will generate a spirit filled completely
With the aspiration for Enlightenment:
May love and compassion fill my being, for
I must achieve Awakening for the sake of all beings.

I must recognize the radiant light of dying as the embodiment of reality
Within that state I shall achieve the supreme accomplishment,
The knowledge of the spiritual structure of being.
I shall then act for the benefit of all beings.

Though I may not achieve this,
I shall at least recognize the dying phase for what it is
And understand that the embodiment of the spiritual structure of being
Is intertwined with the dying phase.
Then, I shall work for the benefit of all sentient beings,
Who are as numerous as boundless space,
I shall appear in whatever form is needed to train any being."

THE SECOND DISSOLUTION
The water element now begins to dissolve into the fire element.
Your mouth begins to dry and your bodily fluids dry up.
A fever may seem to sweep your body.
Yet you have no sense of pleasure, no sense of pain.
No feeling at all.
No longer can you hear external or internal sounds
Not even the 'ur' in your ear.
A dark blue Smokiness surrounds you.

THE THIRD DISSOLUTION
Now the fire element begins to dissolve into the wind element.
No longer do you pay attention to those around you.
Their names and faces disappear from your mind.
There is no sense of smell.
Your inhalation is weak and your exhalation is strong and lengthy.
Fireflies or sparks appear in the mind.

THE FOURTH DISSOLUTION
Now the wind element begins to dissolve into space.
All breath stops
(continue to breathe quietly if doing dream yoga preparation).
The tongue becomes thick and there is no taste.
All activity ceases.
The mind appears like a sputtering candle flame
About to go out.

Listen (Name):
The pure radiance of reality has dawned and is now present for you.
Recognize it!
This present aspect of your awareness is pure and unformed.

This very unformed purity
Devoid of any substance, devoid of attributes or colours,
Is Reality, the All Good Mother.

Yet this unformed awareness is not just a blank emptiness,
For your awareness is also free from all limitations.
It is sparkling, radiant and vibrant.
This is the Primordial Mind, the All-good Father.

These two aspects of your awareness:
unformed emptiness and radiant vibrancy
are indivisible in their presence.
They form the embodiment of Reality as Enlightenment.
This undivided radiance and emptiness of your awareness
Is present as a mass of luminosity.
Herein there is no birth or death,
For this is the awakened state of unchanging light.
To know this is just enough.

Knowing this pure aspect of your awareness is to know yourself as an enlightened being.
For you to thus behold your own awareness is to establish yourself
in the realized mind state of enlightenment.

THE FIFTH DISSOLUTION
Now begins the subtle dissolution of consciousness.
Energy no longer circulates but moves into the central channel
Through the crown of your head.
A white drop descends from the forehead to the heart.
The mind perceives a vast space of white moonlight
The mind of Radiant White Appearance.

THE SIXTH DISSOLUTION
The subtle consciousness enters the central channel at the root centre.
A red drop ascends from the root to the heart.
The mind is filled with red light like a vast sunset.
This is the Red Light of Increase

THE SEVENTH DISSOLUTION
Now the being begins to swoon into unconsciousness
The 2 drops meet at the heart and the mind is filled with the black velvet night
Of total darkness
Do not be afraid
This is the mind near to attainment, called The Great Empty.

THE EIGHTH DISSOLUTION
Now appears a transparent light like the clear light of the pre-dawn sky.
Empty and yet non-dual
This is the mind of Clear Light

NOW THE EIGHT DISSOLUTIONS ARE REVERSED

Into the clear light comes a trembling, and
The black light of near attainment arises.
Next comes the red light of increase, and the red drop descends to the root.
Next comes the space of white moonlight, and the white drop ascends to the forehead and the energy channels are re-established.
The mind sputters like a candle flame,
and fireflies or sparks appear.
Now a dark blue smokiness seems to surround you
and mirages appear as you wake into the Bardo Body of the Between stage.

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