MANUAL FOR GUIDING A PERSON
THROUGH THE AFTER DEATH EXPERIENCE
A Modern Day Interpretation Based Upon
The Tibetan Book of the Dead
by
H. CHARLES BERNER
1958
This Guide is dedicated to all
persons
who have kept and copied the original so
accurately since 846 A.D.
Part One:
Confronting the Primary Clear Light
Part Two:
Experiencing the Reality of the Mind
Part Three:
Seeking Rebirth
INTRODUCTION
This interpretation is based upon the Bardo Thodol,
translated by Lama Kazi Dawa-Samdup, as edited by W. Y. Evans-Wentz.
The purpose of this book is to provide a manual for guiding newly deceased
persons through the after death experience in terms familiar to the
Western world. There has been no attempt made to carry over the beauty
of the original translation. Instead its beauty has been sacrificed
for clarity. Great liberty has been taken by the interpreter
based party on his own subjective reality on after death experiences.
The responsibility for this interpretation lies on the interpreter.
The attitude of the person who does the reading of this manual and guides the
just dead person should be one of dedication to helping the deceased. Persons
who are familiar with this Guide before dying will
experience self-liberation more easily than those not familiar with it. However,
persons of usual ability, even though unfamiliar with the work, will benefit
greatly even if they do not completely achieve the state of self-liberation.
When death has occurred, the reading of this Guide will contribute greatly
to the spiritual advancement of all those who have not already taken complete
responsibility for their minds.
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THE GUIDE
Instructions to the Reader
A person who is familiar with this Guide and who
is a friend of the deceased would be the best reader to help the newly
deceased. However, if there is no one familiar with this Guide
or no friend, any person willing to help the newly decease may do so
by reading the Guide with intention. If there is no body, then the
bed or an accustomed seat of the deceased
should be occupied by the reader. He should conceive of the spirit
of the deceased as present and listening. If the body is present, the
reader should sit to the right of it and read the Guide directly to
the spirit of the deceased via his body. During the reading of this
Guide no relative or interested person should be allowed to weep or
be highly concerned. The reading should
take place at least three times, preferably seven or as many times
as the reader can willingly tolerate
the duplication of the reading. The entire Guide is to be read, even
though it may be thought that the deceased has reached liberation during
an earlier part.
There are three parts to the Guide. First,
confronting the phenomena of death as they occur during the moments
of death; second, reminding the person to confront and be responsible
for the reality of the mind while in the intermediate state; and third,
methods of controlling desires when seeking rebirth.
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PART 1
The Confronting of the Primary Clear Light
Or the Willingness To Be Responsible for the State of Knowing
When the breathing has ceased the person will experience
a state of no location in time or space and will have no consciousness
as to his own identity. This state varies in length from one second
to about twenty minutes depending upon
the state of being of the person. The reader should read the following
when the breathing of the person is about to cease, calling him by
name and saying,
The time has arrived for
you to begin to understand
the reality of the universe. You are about to experience a
state wherein all things will be clear and certain. At this
moment you will know yourself. Continue in that state. |
The reader should read the following
with the intention of keeping
the deceased's attention from wandering even for a moment.
Listen to what I am saying (and call him by
name). You are now experiencing the state of being separate
from all things and knowing the reality of life. Recognize it
for what it is. Your ability is basically a void with the qualities
of creating and knowing, and is not made up of form, substance
or color, but is the basic truth of existence. Your own mind
is now voidness and is a voidness of limitless ability, unobstructed,
shining, and blissful in its very consciousness. What you are
experiencing is your own consciousness, not formed into anything.
This is the state of liberation and enlightenment. Knowing
this is sufficient. Recognize this unformed state of consciousness
to be your own potential mind. |
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Repeat the above distinctly at least three, preferably seven
or more, times. If the person understands the state he is experiencing
his liberation is certain.
The Confronting of the Secondary Clear Light
Or the Willingness To Be Responsible for the State
of Looking
Assuming that the person may not have recognized
his basic state of being, proceed as follows. The person will assume
a location exterior from the body and wonder whether he is dead or
not. He will view his surroundings as they are. During this period
the reader is to read the following to the newly deceased:
Conceive of the highest state of being you have ever known.
Keep your attention upon this state of being. Picture the person
whom you conceive to be the kindest of all persons you have known.
Keep your attention on this picture. |
Repeat this many times to the deceased
with the intention that he shall achieve the state of enlightenment.
During this period the person will assume different locations
in space in the vicinity of his body and the immediate
surroundings. The ability of the person while in the state of the primary
or secondary clear light is five to ten times as great as it is when he
is living in his body.Thus it is possible to achieve more easily the state
of enlightenment immediately after death and the reader can take advantage
of this ability.
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PART II
Experiencing the Reality of the Mind
Or the Willingness To Be Responsible for the States
of Emotion
Assuming that the person may not have achieved liberation
through Part I, then proceed as follows. This part of the Guide is
important and has much power, and should be read to the deceased carefully
and with intention.
While in the state of exteriorization from
the body, the person does not have a body to help him
confront the incoming light and sound. He becomes
awed, frightened and terrified from the impact of light and sound
and eventually becomes fatigued. Thus he begins to interpose
easier-to-confront mental images between himself and the incoming
light and sound. Not being sufficiently
inventive, he brings into play mental images from his
past experiences and therefore begins to re-experience his own past.
Calling the person by name, clearly and distinctly explain to him as
follows:
Listen
to what I am saying with full attention. There are six states
of life, three of which you experience after
death. The first of these three you experienced at the moment
of death. Now you are going to experience the other two
which are the reality of the mind and rebirth. Pay undistracted
attention to me as I read this to you. Death has now come
and you are departing from this world, but you are not the
only one, as death comes to all people on earth. Be willing
to release any connections with the life you have been living
and release the people with whom you have associated. No matter
what fear or terror might come during the experiencing
of the reality of the mind, keep the following in your consciousness
and go forward.
“Visions
may appear to my consciousness, may I recognize them as
creations of my own. May I know that these are natural apparitions
of the mind and come from my previous lack of responsibility
for my states of being. May I not fear the beingnesses
which appear in my consciousness, but recognize them
as thought forms of my own previous states of being."
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Repeat these instructions many times to the person and then further
explain to him as follows:
The body
which you now have is called the thought body of habit and
automatic desires. Since you do not have a material body of
flesh and blood, light and sound cannot harm you; and you are
incapable of dying. Recognize that any mental image
which occurs is of your own creation. Maintain that recognition
and you will achieve liberation. |
Assuming that the deceased may have
been unwilling to take responsibility for the mental images
of his past, he will, in his mind, superimpose a series of other mental
images from his earliest times in this universe moving forward
to the present; however, he will only be conscious of those pictures
of past experiences which he is able to confront. Generally speaking
the earlier the experience, the greater the intensity of the experience
and the more difficult it is to confront. Thus some people will be
in an unconsciousness state until pictures of
experiences they are capable of confronting appear in their minds.
To help give every
person at any level of ability the opportunity to better confront
pictures of past experiences and to ultimately achieve the state of
liberation, understand what follows. The order in which the person
will first experience his past is as follows: He will view the various
beingnesses which he has been.
First, the beingness of Wisdom which
will appear as a blue light which was lost through weakness. Second,
the beingness of Happiness, which will appear as a white light and
was lost through anger. Third, the beingness of Equality which appears
as a yellow light and was lost through covetousness and egotism.
Fourth, the beingness of Discrimination which appears as a red light
and was lost through jealousy. Fifth, the beingness of Performance
or Action which appears as a green light and was lost through fear. Click to see diagram.
Repeat each
of the following three to seven times, with a separation of time
between each repetition. Calling the person by name, read to him thus:
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Even though you
may have been in a state of unconsciousness for a period
of time, when you recover from this state you will think, "What
has happened?" Act
so that you will recognize that you are confronting the reality
of your past experiences. The phenomenon which you will see
will be a complete field
of deep blue in which will appear a blue light with a radiance
so bright that you will scarcely be able to look at it. Along
with it will also appear a dull white light. The blue light
is associated with your past beingness when you were wise.
However, associated with the tremendous radiance of the blue
light will be fear and terror so that you will desire
to look at the dull white light instead. The fear and terror
are caused by what you experienced in the past when you abandoned
the beingness of Wisdom. Do not be awed
by the blue light which appears shining, dazzling and glorious;
but hold firm and conceive that this light is of your own past
beingness, and the light will merge into you with a halo of
rainbow light and you will achieve liberation. |
If, through weakness, the person is unable to confront the beingness
of the blue light, then a white light will appear to him.
Calling the person by name, read to him thus:
Listen to me undistractedly.
The white light will begin to appear. This is the beingness
which you had when you were happy with the ability to create
life forms. This light will shine a bright radiant white
with such dazzling brilliance and transparency that you will
scarcely be able to look at it. It will strike against
you. Alongside the white light will be a gray-black light.
The emotion of anger will make you afraid and you will be
startled by the dazzling white light and wish to flee
from it. You will
desire the gray-black light. Confront the bright, dazzling,
transparent white light and know it to be a state of being
which you once had as the ability to create order. The attracting
beams which shine forth from this light were your own past
efforts in helping others. If you should experience the power
of violent anger, ignore it al1 and confront the brilliant
and dazzling white light. Thus the white
light will merge into you in a rainbow light and you will achieve
the state of happiness and liberation.
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If, through lack of responsibility for the emotion of anger, the
person is unable to confront the beingness of the white light, then
a yellow light will appear to him. Calling the person by name, read
to him thus:
A yellow light
will begin to appear. This is the beingness which you had
when you had a
tolerance of your fellow beings. This light will shine a bright,
radiant yellow with such dazzling brilliance and transparency
that you will scarcely be able to look at it. It will strike
against you. Along side the yellow light will appear a dull
greenish light which represents how a human being
acts. The power of egotism will make you afraid. You will be
startled by the dazzling yellow light. It will make you fearful
and you will desire to look at the dull greenish light.
Confront the dazzling
yellow transparent light and know it to be the wisdom of equality.
Know that your fears are the fears that you had when you lost
the ability of tolerance for your fellow
beings. Know that the radiance and the fears are of your own
creation. Thus, confront the beingness of the brilliant
yellow light. It will then merge into you in a rainbow of light;
and you will achieve the state of happiness and liberation. |
If, due to egotism and the inability to be tolerant of others, the
person is unable to confront the beingness of the yellow light,
he will flee from it. Then a red light will appear to him.
Calling the person by name, read to him thus:
Listen
to me undistractedly. Next a red
light of the all-discriminating beingness will appear to you.
It is glittering red, glorified with orbs, bright, transparent,
glorious and dazzling. It will strike against you so radiantly
that you will scarcely be able to confront it. Along with it
a dull red light will appear and, through the influence of
the desire to possess physical things, you will become
terrified by the dazzling red light and will fear it. You will
desire to look at the dull red light instead. Know that the
glorious, transparent and radiant red light is your former
beingness as a discriminating person. Recognize that your fear
of the red light is the fear you felt when you lost the ability
to discriminate clearly. Confront the bright red light and
know it to be a creation of your own. Thus, in a rainbow
of light, you will attain the ability to discriminate and liberation. |
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If, due to a desire for physical things, the person is unable to confront
the red light, he will be unable to maintain his separation from bodies
and will have to seek liberation through rebirth. Then a green light
will appear to the person. Calling the person by name, read to him
thus:
Listen to me with
full attention. A green light will now begin to appear. This
is the beingness you had when you were able to successfully
perform good actions. This light will shine bright radiant-green;
it will be glorious and terrifying, beautified with orbs
of green. It will strike against you so brilliantly that you will
scarcely be able to confront it. Know that the radiant power
from the green light is your ability to perform actions.
Along with the green light, a dull green colored light will
appear produced by the feeling of
jealousy. 1gnore the dull green light. Confront the dazzling,
glorious green light. The terror that you feel is from the
influence of the intense jealousy that you felt when you
lost the ability to perform good actions. The hook rays from
the glorious green light are from your past willingness to
work. Accept them and know that the brilliant green light
is your own past ability to act. Know that the brilliant
green light is your own creation. Confronting it and
the green light will merge into you in a rainbow of light;
and you will attain the state of willingness to work and
liberation. |
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If the person has been able
to confront any of the various stages of the beingnesses of the
mind successfully, he is freed from the rest of the mental phenomena
of the mind. However, even though he has been instructed repeatedly,
the hook rays of his own past good deeds may not have been sufficient
to help him through confronting the lights. This is due to his
long tendency to become attached to physical things, his lack of
familiarity with the spiritual aspects of life, and by the power
of his own irresponsibilities. He will now make all the states
appear simultaneously in his mind and the blue, white, yellow, red
and green lights will appear. Calling the person by name, read to
him thus:
Listen to me undistractedly.
Five dazzling bright lights have appeared in your mind one
by one. You have attempted to confront them but were terrified
by them and have remained here. This was owing to your
lack of willingness to be responsible for those states of being.
Now the lights of all five of these former beingnesses will
reach out for you simultaneously and strike against you. Accompanying
these beingnesses will be other former beingnesses that you
had when you looked after plants and animals, when you were
responsible for mankind, when you were a mediator of your fellow
beings, when you were a teacher and when you were a warrior.
In all,
many past beingnesses of yours will appear. You are now
creating these
beingnesses to help you confront the various
lights and to help you confront
the environment about you. You are bringing up past beingnesses
of your own. With these
you confronted the various lights and the environment
about you in the past when you were able to be them. Know
that you are now creating these beingnesses; Confront
them with all their radiance and power until they merge
into you; and you will re-attain these beingnesses.
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If' the person is unable to take
responsibility for his past beingnesses and has been unable to confront
the senior and junior beingnesses which were capable of knowing, he
will begin to make appear in his mind beingnesses of varying degrees
of knowledge proceeding from the more knowing to the less knowing beingnessess
resulting finally in mystery. Calling the
person by name, read to him thus:
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The
knowledge-holding
beingness will appear in front of the radiant lights.
The beingness of curiosity along with the desire to know
about human life and an intolerance of death mixed with a
refusal of help will appear in the forms you had when you
demonstrated those traits.
This beingness or these beingnesses
will generate confusion which will be very difficult to
tolerate. From behind that confusion will shine forth
the five radiant lights of wisdom and recognition. You will
feel a desire to look at the confusion rather than the brilliant
lights of recognition. You will be tempted to be stupid instead
of knowing. You
will be driven by a desire to kill rather than to understand.
Know that these confusions and these lights and these desires
are of your own creation and cannot injure you. Reach out
for the rays extending from the five lights. Holding
the thought that you are capable of knowing; and you will
draw the lights toward you. They will merge into you; and
you will regain the ability to know.
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This ends the appearance in the mind of the constructive
aspects of the past able beingnesses which the person has had. Most
persons of a spiritual or understanding nature will have attained
some degree of liberation by confronting the mind and taking responsibility
for its existence. However, the vast majority will remain unliberated
from the mind and will proceed to bring up further aspects of the mind
which they conceive to be easier to be responsible for and easier to
confront.
What takes place is a recapitulation of the foregoing
beingnesses in their reactionary aspects. The person goes through a
series of unconscious periods between the appearance of the various
beingnesses. Even though a person may have a great deal of religious
and metaphysical training, the experiences which he undergoes are usually
beyond his capacity to understand and he fails to successfully handle
them and guide himself through them. This is because it is not knowledge
or data which one needs to successfully handle these experiences. It
is to be willing and knowing cause over the phenomena which appear
in the mind.
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Persons who are practiced in mental visualization
and who have also become totally responsible for those visualizations
have little difficulty in obtaining liberation upon hearing these instructions
read to them. However, because of this
Guide's exact description of the phenomena of the
after death experience and the correct assigning of responsibility
to the person himself, the reading can bring about an instantaneous
enlightenment through the hearing of it alone. Calling the person by
name, read to him thus:
Listen to me undistractedly.
You have not been able to recognize the constructive
aspects of your former beingnesses, and have obscured them
through confusion.
The destructive aspects of your past beingnesses will
begin to appear in order to obscure your consciousness. These
beingnesses, while less powerful and therefore easier to confront,
have more repulsive and more disgusting aspects. Thus you
will wish to turn away from them. But recognize them as your
own past beingnesses and know that you are now creating them
in your mind. This recognition will cause them to merge into
you; and thus you will obtain the ability to tolerate irresponsibility.
Several of these beingnesses will appear.
Recognize that you may not be injured or
affected by the fearsomeness and repulsiveness of these beings
in any way. Recognizing them to be of your own creation, and
you will regain the abilities of the beingnesses contained
therein. You will experience many body forms made of light,
performing many acts which are frightening and disgusting.
Recognize that your fright and disgust was the fright
and disgust that you felt when, being such a being yourself,
you were opposed by another such being and were overwhelmed.
Know that
you are now creating the acts and emotions and thoughts
the same as when you were overwhelmed and lost your tolerance
for such beingnesses. Thus knowing, all fear and
disgust is dissipated; and you will regain your lost ability
to tolerate fear and fright.
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It is possible that any person, no matter how evil
or unknowing or stupid, may be able to obtain liberation if he
would but recognize the truth of the foregoing. However, those still
not recognizing the truth will bring upon themselves the third
phase of the after death experience.
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PART III
Seeking Rebirth
Or the Willingness
To Be Responsible for Effort
This part of the after death experience is concerned
with curiosity about, desire for, enforcement of, and inhibition
from bodies. The deceased, not having recognized, or having been unwilling
to be responsible for the mental phenomena that have appeared to him
in his mind, begins to undergo mental phenomena having directly to
do with human body forms.
First, explain the after death body to the deceased
as follows: Calling the person by name,
read to him thus:
Listen to me well. There
is the phenomenon of supernormal birth. Indeed, when you were
experiencing the radiances of the constructive and then destructive
aspects of your former beingnesses, you were unable to confront
them and so would pass into a state of unconsciousness. And
now, having recovered from that state, you find yourself with
a body made of light, resembling your former body and having
the same facilities of sense, but endowed with the ability
to move at will. You are visible to beings who are exterior
from their bodies but not to beings who are in bodies. This
body is originally the result of your curiosity about it, so
that you created a thought-form
image of it. From your desire to have it, you have caused it
to persist.
You will begin to have visions of your future place of
birth. Instead of being attracted to the vision of your
place of rebirth, rest your mind undistractedly in a nothing-to-do,
nothing-to-hold-on-to condition. Leave your mind in an unformed
void and you will be freed from having to have a body to which
your past experiences would attract you.
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Read this over many times, so as to keep the person
in a state of no-thought during the period of desiring a body. However,
since the person may not be able to maintain his mind so, call him
by name and read to him thus:
Listen
to me carefully. Even if while living, your body was blind,
or deaf, or lame, or impaired in some fashion, the body that
you have now will have all its sense organs unimpaired and
be very keen and complete. Take this as an indication that
you are deceased and wandering in the mental phenomena of the
mind. Keep this in mind: “You have
a body seemingly fleshy, resembling the former, endowed with
all sense faculties and the power of unimpeded motion, possessing
miraculous mental powers, visible to pure celestial
eyes of beings of like nature. This is a description
of your present state. "Unimpeded motion" implies
that your present body, being a desire body, is not a body
of gross matter and that you have the power to go through any
wall, hill, or any physical barrier without being impeded,
except a baby body about to be born or the brain of an unoccupied
body.
You are empowered with the
ability for miraculous actions.
You can in a moment travel to any spot on earth. You can
exercise the ability to make appear to you anything which you
may desire. "Visible
to pure celestial eyes of like nature" implies that
only beings who are in a similar state as yourself will be
able to see your body. Instead of being concerned with them,
ignore them and keep your attention upon the state of clear
thought. You will perceive many places which you may have
desired to see on Earth, and people, as if you were seeing
them in a dream. You will see your relatives and friends
and speak to them, but you will receive no reply. You will
think, "I
am dead. What shall I do?" and, having experienced this
loss, you will feel very miserable. But feeling miserable
will achieve nothing now. Be not attached to your relatives
and friends or your possessions; but fix your attention upon
the state of clear thought.
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There will be a gray, dim light both night and day. This
is the natural light of all things and is diffused everywhere.
You will continue in this
state for from one to seven weeks or more, depending upon your
past actions. You will experience during this time all of the
hard-to-endure, confusing mental phenomena. Do not be afraid
of what you see. It is your own attention wandering through
the mind. Great masses of blackness will appear in front of
you and tremendous shouts of "Kill!" and "Destroy!" will
come from the darkness.
People who have done many
evil things will re-experience all their evil acts coming back
at them. They will see wild animals attacking them, bitter
cold and fierce winds striking them, and visions of being pursued
by many people. Persons of this type will be terrified of these
awesome sights and sounds and will flee from them not caring
which direction they take.
There will be three awesome
precipices which will block their way. These are actually anger,
lust and stupidity, but appear as white, black and red precipices.
The feeling of falling over these precipices is actually
the feeling of falling into the womb to be reborn. If you
are one of these people, keep the thought in mind, “I
shall be born into a happy world." Act so as not to
forget this.
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Others who have done many good acts in their
past will experience delightful pleasures and happiness during
the experiencing of the mind. And those who have neither merits
nor evil deeds will experience neither pain nor pleasure, but
will experience a colorless state of boredom. No matter which state
you experience, fear not the terrors and desire not
the pleasures, but think, “I am responsible for all I see
and all I create." Keep this in mind without thinking that
you are thinking it.
You will find yourself having
short periods of rest and reprieve from the mind; but again
your mind will carry you off to more wanderings. Because of
your inability to maintain
control over your thoughts, you will often times feel perturbed
and even panic-stricken, and you will become incoherent at
times. In this state this thought will occur to you, “Alas,
I am dead. What shall I do?" Because of this thought,
that which is basically you, that which is conscious, will
be sad and experience a feeling of great loss and infinite
misery. Since you cannot rest in one place, you will feel impelled
to go on. But don't think of these things; instead allow
your mind to be in an unformed state.
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You will think of your home.
You will be there again and you will see your relatives
and your own dead body; and you will think:"Now I am dead.
What shall I do?" Being oppressed with intense sorrow,
the thought will occur to you, “Oh, what would I not
give to possess a body!" With
this thought in mind you will wander about seeking a body.
Even though you could re-enter
your own dead body many times over, it will be useless to you.
Finding no place to enter into, you will be dissatisfied
and have the sensation of being squeezed into cracks and crevices
amidst rocks and boulders. Even though you seek a body, you
will get nothing but trouble for your actions. Put aside the
desire for a body and maintain the mind in an unformed state;
and so maintaining, you will obtain liberation. |
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Even so, it may be possible that
because of the inability to confront his mind and control his attention,
the deceased will not have
recognized his state. Therefore, call the deceased by name and read
to him as follows:
What
you are suffering from comes from your own past deeds for which
you have not been willing to be responsible. It is not due
to anyone else. Keep in mind that your own basic goodness is
with you through what is about to transpire.
Now will begin the reviewing
of all of your good deeds and comparing of them to all of your
evil deeds. When your evil deeds are brought up you will attempt
to lie and say, "I have
not committed any evil deed." Then that past beingness
of yours which has been keeping track of all of your evil actions
will bring up your own memory and show you what you have done.
Lying will be of no use to you now. Then one of your past beingnesses
of evil actions will torture your present body in horrible,
excruciatingly painful ways. Your body will be eaten and hacked
to pieces; but you are incapable of dying. Your body will revive
and the tortures will be repeated over and over.
Fear these things not. Your body, being a mental body and
incapable of dying, is in reality a formed-up nothingness of
your own creation. Voidness cannot injure the voidness of your
body. Keep conscious of what is happening.
Now listen to me undistractedly.
In the state that you are now experiencing, the true state
of the mind is an empty state of willingness to know and of
knowingness uninterrupted by knowledge. Conceiving and understanding
this state is what separates enlightened beings from all others.
Be not distracted now; for in this moment of time
you can achieve enlightenment.
Up until now you may not
have recognized the true state of mind; but by doing so now,
you will obtain self-liberation.
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If the deceased is an uneducated person
and is apparently totally
unable to control his attention, read the following to him:
Although you have given previous instructions
to the deceased to confront and be responsible for his mind, it is
possible that he has not achieved liberation. It could be that
he has not recognized the truth from your instructions. Therefore,
yet again set about to liberate the deceased by calling him by name
and speaking to him as follows:
There will appear to
you six different colored lights: dull white, dull green, dull
yellow, dull blue, dull red, and black. These different lights
will attempt to attract you to different kinds of rebirths.
Ignore them all and conceive the highest level of beingness
that you can think of. Think of this for awhile and let
it melt away until nothing remains but the clearness of the
mind. And by maintaining the mind so, automatic rebirth
into a body will not occur and enlightenment will be attained. |
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The Process of Rebirth
Or the Willingness
To Be Responsible for Human Bodies
Herein follows several methods of keeping from being born into a
body which would be a member of an undesirable family. Therefore
the following instructions become very important. Call the deceased
by name and read:
If you have
not understood what has been happening
to you, at this moment, through the influence of your own past
deeds, you will have the impression that you are moving either
ascending, moving straight ahead, or descending. Those having
the feeling of ascending will have the impression of arriving
at a place of happiness. Those having the feeling of moving
straight ahead will have the impression of arriving at a place
of indifference; and those having the feeling of descending
will have the impression of arriving at a place of misery.
At this time, signs of your birthplace will appear. The
following are several methods of keeping from being born into
a body not of your choosing.
1. Be earnest and have pure affinity for
life. Hold this thought. If you succeed in this, you will
not be born into an unwanted body. If you should fail in holding
this thought you will see mental pictures of males and
females in sexual union.
2. When this occurs, withhold
yourself from going between the male and the female. Maintain
this withholding and you will not be born into an undesirable
body. If you should fail in withholding yourself, you will
feel yourself entering into a womb; and you will have feelings
of attachment and repulsion.
3. If you are about to
be born as a male, you will have an intense repulsion toward
the father and attraction toward the mother. If you are about
to be born a female, you will feel an intense repulsion toward
the mother and attraction toward the father. Be neither attracted
nor repelled toward either the mother or the father; but hold
in your mind the beingness of father-mother. If you succeed
in maintaining this thought, you will not be born in to an
undesirable body.
4. If you
should fail, you will experience hallucinations of crashing
sounds and frightening apparitions. Realize
that these are but phenomena of the mind and are as dreams.
Ignore them and they will dissipate. If you succeed in ignoring
them, you will not be born into an undesirable body. If you
fail to ignore these hallucinations, you have one last method
to use.
5. Think
this thought, “All things
are my
own mind." Holding this thought allow the mind
to rest in the uncreated state, like pouring water into water;
and you will succeed in being free of an undesirable body.
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The various methods given above for staying out
of undesirable bodies are powerful. Through use
of them, people of the most average or lowest abilities should
be liberated. You might ask why this is so. First, it
is because in the after death state the deceased possesses supernormal
powers of perception. Whatever is said to him is apprehended immediately.
Second, although the deceased may have been impaired in some of his
physical faculties, in the after death state all faculties are
perfect. Third, because of the tremendous necessity to be released
from the awesomeness of the mind, the deceased will
think, "What's
the best thing to do?" and
will be very attentive to what you have to say. And since he is unimpeded,
he will go immediately to whatever place that you direct him. Fourth,
the deceased is ten times more lucid than before. Even though
stupid before death, at this time his intellect is exceedingly clear
and he is capable of holding thoughts exceedingly well.
For these reasons many opportunities are given for
the deceased to take advantage of while in the after death state.
There are nevertheless many people who, even though reminded and instructed,
are not liberated by the foregoing. Once more, call the deceased by
name and read to him as follows:
When it becomes
certain to you that you are going to be born, choose the continent
and country of your place of birth. Desire to be born into
a country of spiritual advancement. In fleeing from the
mind, you will feel the driving
compulsion to enter into a body. However, ignore such compulsive
desires; and you will attain the power to select the body of
your choice.
There are two ways to choose:
One, hold in mind the thought of being with spiritually minded
people of wise understanding. Two, conceive of the type of
person you would like to be and hold this thought in mind.
Enter only into a
body for which you feel no repulsion or attraction and can
have a mood of complete impartiality.
Special Instruction
:
If it is not possible for you to rid yourself of attractions or repulsions,
or desires to be good or desires to be evil, conceive of the most able
being that you can imagine and hold your thought on this identity.
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Read this entire Guide carefully and with intention
at least three times. You will have helped your fellow being on
his road to self-liberation.
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