First there is a buildup of energies, of emotions, to a crescendo, so that at some stage we find it very confusing whether the energies are controlling us or we are controlling them. Then suddenly we lose track of this whole race, and our mind is put into a blank state which is the luminosity. From that blank state an

Along with the six realms, we should have some understanding of the basic idea of bardo: bar means in between, and do means island or mark; a sort of landmark which stands between two things. The concept of bardo is based on the period between sanity and insanity, or the period between confusion and the confusion just about to be

It says in Tibetan Book of the Dead that having woken up, after four days of unconsciousness, into the luminosity there is a sudden understanding that this is the bardo state, and at that very moment the reverse of samsaric experience occurs. This is the perception of light and images. Then you get the dazzling light, which is a link

On the fifth day there is the karma family, which is the pure quality of air or wind. It is a green light; the colour of envy. From the Realm of Accumulated Actions the tathāgata Amoghasiddhi appears. He is holding a crossed vajra in his hand. The vajra is a symbol of fulfilling all actions, tough and indestructible, as we

Nobody tells us the final truth. It is such a terrible rejection, a fundamental rejection of love, that nobody is really willing to help a dying person’s state of mind. It seems necessary, unless the dying person is in a coma or cannot communicate, that he should be told he is dying. Actually relating with the dying person is very