Liberation Upon Hearing: An Explanation of the

Phenomena of the Intermediate State

by Minling Terchen Gyurme Dorje

Oṃ svasti.
In devotion I bow to the one whose compassionate sunlight
Dispels the darkness of fear and who guides beings
Along the great pathway that leads to liberation.
Here I shall briefly explain the phenomena of the bardo.

Here, you can practise on the basis of any maṇḍala ritual that protects those beings
caught in the noose of the Lord of Death from the terrors of the lower realms. When
extending such practices with a related explanation of the phenomena of the bardos,
do so with a motivation of boundless great compassion for all beings in general and
especially for all beings of this world headed by your particular objects of focus.
Make the necessary time available and recite the following words of the text slowly:

Kye! Son or daughter of noble family, you, the one named [insert name], who have
died, do not be distracted! Listen and keep this in mind. It is the general nature of all
conditioned phenomena to be impermanent and subject to change. And it is taught
that the nature of beings’ lives in particular is that they lack even so much as a
moment’s permanence. For you, the time has now come: your life is spent. You are
in the intermediate state. Hold to these key points of profound instruction, and until
this ritual introduction is complete maintain a natural state of awareness and, with
the support of this name-card (ming byang), be at ease.

It is vitally important that you recognise the bardo as the bardo and set your
intention towards the genuine path.

There now follows 1) a general teaching on the intermediate state and 2) an

explanation of particular phases.

1. General Teaching
This has four parts: 1) The essence of the bardo; 2) the literal meaning of the term; 3)
its divisions; and 4) specific practices for each.

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1. Essence
All experiences other than the primordially pure space of the ground are
intermediate states. The experience in which ground-appearances dawn as wisdom is
the pure bardo of dharmatā, while all the phenomena of delusory appearance that
comprise the six realms of beings constitute the impure bardo of delusion. Thus,
bardo refers to the mental states together with their seeds that have arisen from the
primordially pure space and continue until they are exhausted within that space that
is the basis for their arising.

2. Literal Meaning
The term bardo refers to an interim between what comes before and what follows. In
the case of the first two bardos, this means the interim that has been initiated by an
earlier life and precedes the formation of the next life. In the case of the latter two, it
is as said in the Treasury [of Abhidharma]:

Here, between death and birth

There arises intermediate existence
Since the destination is not yet reached,
It is the interim phase of becoming.

As this indicates, the period when someone has died before they take up their
subsequent rebirth is the intermediate state of existence.

3. Divisions
The Unimpeded Sound says:

When divided, there are four, of which…

Thus, there are four: 1) the bardo of birth and death or natural bardo; 2) the bardo of
dying; 3) the dharmatā bardo; and 4) the bardo of becoming. The first begins with
birth from the mother’s womb and continues until succumbing to a fatal condition
or injury. The second begins with the approach of death and continues until
breathing ceases. The third begins with the cessation of inner respiration and
continues until the dissolution of the visions of spontaneous presence. The fourth
begins with the dissolution of the visions of spontaneous presence and continues
until the occurrence of a subsequent birth.

4. Specific Practices
Each of the following explanations consists of an analogy and its meaning.

The analogy for eliminating misconceptions in the bardo of this life is a falcon1
entering its nest. The meaning is that one must eliminate misconceptions by
following a noble guru and applying oneself assiduously to studying, reflecting upon

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and meditating upon the instructions that he or she gives.

Similarly, the analogy for clear recollection (gsal gdab pa) in the bardo of dying is a
beautiful girl staring into a mirror. As this suggests, one must clearly bring to mind
instructions that are familiar from the past.

Trusting that appearances are mind’s own manifestation during the bardo of
dharmatā is likened to a child entering its mother’s lap. By mastering the meaning of
the instructions, no matter what appearances of dharmatā may arise, one must not
react to them with fear but maintain confidence that they are the naturally
manifesting display of one’s own wisdom.

Extending one’s karmic fortune in the bardo of becoming is likened to mending a

broken irrigation channel by adding a spout. No matter how terrifying the deluded
appearances might be, one sets out on the path to a pure rebirth based on the key
points of the instructions with which one is already familiar, or which are explained
at the time (such as is happening now).

It is taught that according to varying levels of capacity, there are thus three possible
stages of liberation.

2. Particular Phases
What follows refers primarily to the three later bardos.

1. The Bardo of Dying

At the time of transferring from life at death, the body’s water, fire and wind
elements are disturbed and it can no longer support heat or consciousness. This
marks the severing of one’s vital force. The aggregates, elements and sense-sources,
together with their objects, all gradually fade. But, to emphasize what is most
important, this is spoken of as the dissolution of the elements, because whenever a
support dissolves whatever relies upon it will certainly dissolve as well.

Wisdom Display says:

First earth dissolves into water,

Water then dissolves into fire.
Fire dissolves into wind,
And wind then dissolves into consciousness.
That very consciousness then
Enters into clear light.

Thus, when earth dissolves into water the body’s strength deteriorates. (Note: this
does not mean that physical strength deteriorates once earth has finished dissolving into
water, but that the process begins from the initial moment of dissolution and the arising

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of outer, inner and secret signs.)2 As water dissolves into fire, the mouth and nostrils
dry up. As fire dissolves into wind, the body loses heat beginning from the
extremities. As wind dissolves into consciousness, the flow of coarse breathing is cut.
As consciousness dissolves into space, all the coming and goings of energy-mind
cease. As space dissolves into luminosity, the consciousnesses of the five sense doors
and all processes of thought fade into absolute space. Then all the subtle essences of
the left and right channels dissolve into the A and HAṂ at the upper and lower ends
of the central channel.

The white essences at the upper end of the channel descend. When they reach the
heart centre the whole of one’s experience becomes totally white like the risen
moon. This is known as the experience of appearance because the natural glow of
cognizance is clearly apparent. The thirty-three thought-states that derive from
anger, such as freedom from passion, and coarse percept-thoughts (gzung rtog) cease.
This is the first moment, known as empty luminosity.

Red essences at the lower ends of the channel ascend, and the whole of one’s
experience becomes totally red like the risen sun. Mind appears extremely clear, so
this is known as the experience of increased luminescence. The forty thought-states
that derive from desire, such as attachment, and coarse perceiver-thoughts ('dzin
rtog) cease. This is the second moment, known as extremely empty luminosity.

As the white and red essences meet at the heart the wind-energies in the vital
channel cease, and the whole of one’s experiences becomes totally black like dense
darkness. This is known as the experience of the attainment of experience at the
approach to mind's cessation. The seven thought-states that derive from vacuity,
such as lack of clarity, and extremely subtle conceptualization cease. This is the third
moment, known as the luminosity of great emptiness.

Then, as the A HAṂ at the heart dissolves completely, the whole of one’s experience
arises as luminosity without centre or periphery, like a cloudless sky. This is known
as the experience of full attainment wherein mind is free from any stain. The three
experiences cease. This is the fourth moment, known as the luminosity of universal
emptiness.

At that time, what manifests is the great indestructible nature that beings have
always possessed from the very beginning, the dharmakāya of primordial purity,
referred to as primordially pure original liberation. On top of this ground luminosity
which beings have always had as their nature, that clear light which the sublime
guru introduced in the past and with which one has become familiar also manifests,
so that mother and child meet. By remaining in that non-conceptual state of clear
light, which is the profound and crucial point, there can be what is called ‘awakening
as clear light dharmakāya at death,’ just as in the saying, “In an instant complete
enlightenment.” This is the attainment of liberation in the bardo of primordially pure

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dharmakāya.

The sequence in which all this arises is as follows. The clear light of the supporting
aggregates, elements and sensory sources, together with the supported, merges with
the clear light of the support and supported for the three of appearance, increase and
attainment. At full attainment the all-ground, too, enters the space of the great
luminosity of union. Then there manifests the level of the great bliss dharmakāya in
which absolute space and pure awareness are indivisible. This very luminosity arises
for everyone at the time of death, but for those who lack the instructions on prior
familiarisation it arises for no longer than a single instant, and they therefore fail to
recognise it.

[Note: In the context of the stages of dissolution explained above, the reference to earth
dissolving into water does not mean that the earth areas of the body become devoid of
earth element or that they switch places and a coarse earth-element dissolves into the
water-element. Rather, it means that through the strength of wind-energy in the central
channel the karmic wind associated with the earth element is overcome. Then, as there
is no longer any support, the supported cannot continue, so the subtly appearing
consciousness, which, remains in the central channel according to one’s habitual
tendencies, ceases. Then the body’s elements of solidity such as the bones lose their
supporting wind-energy and consciousness. Thus, the subtle essence of earth dissolves
into the subtle essence of water. A similar principle applies to the dissolution of water
into fire and fire into wind. Wind dissolving into consciousness does not mean that it
leaves the domain of the physical body or that it transfers and enters the path of
consciousness. Nor does it mean that the habitual tendencies of wind’s subtle essence
settle in consciousness and then wind ceases. Rather, the subtle essence of wind
disappears from everywhere in the body, including the coarse vital channel, and merges
indivisibly — as a single taste — with the bindu that combines the five pure essences
inside the vital channel. Consciousness dissolving into space does not mean that it ceases
to be an entity, but that since it is clear and unobstructed like space, it enters the central
channel in a way that is difficult to illustrate.]3

2. The Bardo of Dharmatā

This is the time when luminosity dissolves into union. As explained above, there is
an experience of luminosity and emptiness at the end of the fourth moment. Within
this there is full attainment of experience. Then, out of that comes the increase of
experience and out of that, appearance. Then, in an instant, from this threefold
experience and its accompanying wind-energy, through the proximate cause of the
appearance of clear light there arises an extremely subtle form, clear and
unobstructed, like a reflection in a mirror or rainbow light in the sky. This is the
dawning of saṃbhogakāya.

Here, the five original and indestructible aggregates are what is pervaded, and that
which pervades them is the maṇḍala of the five buddha families, based on the crucial

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fact that these buddha families, their forms and pure realms are innately present.
These maṇḍala gatherings fill the whole of space. On the first day, the maṇḍala of
Vairocana arises out of blue light, which is like a cloudless autumn sky. Similiarly, on
the following four days, the other sets of maṇḍala gathering arise on a boundless
scale — Akṣobhya from white light, Ratnasambhava from yellow light, Amitābha
from red light and Amoghasiddhi from green light, all of them together with male
and female bodhisattvas and gatekeepers — making five sets in total.

All arise spontaneously out of the radiance in one’s own heart, so they are maṇḍalas
of the vajra space of Akaniṣṭha appearing at this time. The instruction related to this
phase is called the crucial point of understanding engagement.

The crucial point of awareness engaging with light is to direct subtle clear rays of
five-coloured light from your heart to strike the hearts of the maṇḍala gathering and
then to rest in an experience of clarity and emptiness.

Then, when the gatherings are drawn back and dissolved into your heart centre, to
settle in an experience of awareness and emptiness in which whatever naturally
arises is naturally liberated is the crucial point of light engaging with awareness.

If you lack confidence in this, then union will dissolve into wisdom. From your heart
emerges the light of fourfold wisdom — blankets of blue, white, yellow and red light
— into the space above. On top of each are clear light-spheres (thig le) of matching
colours, all of them ornamented with five lesser spheres of light. Above, a dome of
light appears like a peacock’s tail fan.

At this time, the crucial point of the body is that the aggregates are freed from self-
clinging, so the body remains in the actual face of luminous dharmatā, and, since it is
without elements and subtle afflictions, to recognise this as one's own projection.

Following this, there is the stage of wisdom dissolving into spontaneous presence.
The wisdom visions are absorbed into the dome of light above. Then, out of
primordially pure appearance, which is like a cloudless sky, all the infinite
appearances of the pure peaceful and wrathful realms and the impure six classes of
beings, arise in a moment. At this stage, to attain liberation through eliminating
misconceptions concerning self-manifestation is the crucial point of recognising the
ultimate.

On this occasion, awakening in primordial absolute space occurs on the basis of the
eight modes of arising of the visions, the six sets of six of higher perceptions, such as
the faculties, the three sets of three higher perceptions of the three kāyas and the six
recollections, and by means of the eight modes of dissolution with confidence in
spontaneous presence.

Regarding the determinacy of days in the dharmatā bardo, one meditation day is the

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time one can remain in an experience of clear light. For someone who has previously
trained in meditation such days will therefore arise for a long while, and liberation
will come through recognition at that time. For someone without familiarity,
however, this will be unstable and only last a moment. There will be no recognition,
only continuing to the next bardo.

3. The Bardo of Becoming

For beginners the earlier visions of luminous dharmatā fade away unrecognised.
Then, in the next moment, habitual tendencies for the following stage are triggered
by various activating conditions. Wind-energy, mind and the four subtle elements
serve as causes and conditions through which the subtle and unobstructed bardo
form is created. The duration of this bardo is seven days, where one day is
equivalent to a human day. Then, if one has still not found the support of another
body, one dies again and lives for another seven days. This process of repeated birth
and death every seven days continues for a maximum of forty-nine days in total,
within which one will find the conditions for rebirth.

For the first half of the seven weeks you retain your appearance from the previous
life and then from the halfway point onwards you take on an appearance based on
your next life. You might think that during the bardo you would certainly have the
appearance of the next life alone. This is possibly how it is in reality, but that would
not involve a contradiction, because the clinging to an earlier appearance would be
based on habitual tendencies familiar from the past. All relative appearances are
determined by the deluded mind.

Therefore, to be shaken by some terrifying experience can inspire a recognition of

your future appearance. Moreover, all six sensory powers are complete here, so you
can experience the sensory objects of common karmic perception. You also have
miraculous powers that enable you to travel anywhere — except the site of your
future rebirth — unimpededly, meaning that you can even pass through solid objects
like mountains or walls.4 Your faculties are sharp and your presence of mind clear.
All those are of the same type within the bardo can see one other with divine sight
but are invisible to others.

Generally, it is said that once the bardo connected to a future birth has been
determined there is no turning back. Still, in certain special circumstances, it is as the
Abhidharmasamuccaya says: “… in which case this is avoided.”5 Thus, it is possible to
transform the situation through the power of virtue. Furthermore, although it is said
that scents, which could be good or bad, provide basic sustenance, you can also
receive whatever is dedicated through special rituals.

The bardo that possesses these characteristics also features various signs: the four
paths of beings, three terrifying abysses, four dreadful sounds, five definite signs, six
uncertainties, and so on:

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Four Paths of Beings
An area may feature a path of white light that leads to the realms of devas and
asuras; a black path that leads to the hells; a red path that leads to the preta realm; or
a yellow path that leads to the human and animal realms. Moreover, to move along
with the head turned down is a feature of the bardo leading to lower realms; moving
along with the head turned up is a feature of the bardo leading to the deva realms;
and moving straight ahead is a feature of the bardo leading to the human realm.

Three Terrifying Abysses

Similarly, there are three vast abysses — deep red, ashen grey and dark black, all
unbearable to behold — which appear through karmic vision based on the three
poisons, and which, when seen, indicate impending descent into the three lower
realms.

Four Dreadful Sounds

As the wind-energies6 of the four elements and thoughts slip into ordinary patterns,
the wind-energies of the four subtle elements re-emerge producing four dreadful
sounds that cause unbearable pain: sounds of earthquakes and avalanches; of
torrential rivers and crashing waves; of blazing forest fires; and of fierce hurricane
winds.

Five Definite Signs

The definite signs are as follows: 1) whereas in the past you would be obstructed by
even the slightest physical barrier, now you are able to pass unhindered through
mountains and walls; 2) whereas in the past others would see your physical gestures
and hear your utterances, now these go unseen and unheard; 3) in the past you
would leave footprints and cast a shadow but not any longer; 4) in the past you had
no heightened powers of perception, but now various subtle forms of higher
perception arise. These are all signs of having no tangible body. 5) Internally, since
you lack the white and red elements, you no longer see the sun, moon, planets or
stars, but instead behold darkness.

Six Uncertainties
As for the uncertainties, 1) your dwelling place, which could be an empty house, or a
cavern and the like, is uncertain; 2) your companions could be devas, pretas, or
spirits and demons and so on, and are thus uncertain; 3) your food and clothing,
which could manifest as the various forms of food and clothing of the six realms, all
difficult to obtain, are uncertain; 4) your resting place, which could be a bed of
straw7 or the corner of a bridge,8 is uncertain; 5) your behaviour, which could take
on any form in an instant, is uncertain; and 6) feelings of pleasure and pain, which
are varied and liable to fluctuate without reason, are uncertain as well.

Thus, you are flung across chasms repeatedly like a feather cast about in the wind.
Or else your surroundings are entirely shrouded in heavy darkness; you are

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tormented by wild and vicious beasts; and led along by the servants of Yama, lord of
death, while pursued by terrible sounds of violence and slaughter. Your virtues and
misdeeds are judged with an array of white and black pebbles. You are beset by
fierce blizzards of sleet and snow or assailed by showers of assorted weapons. You
might see your past home and close family as if in a dream and wander off in search
of them. When approaching and calling out, they neither see nor hear you, and
therefore do not reply.9 When seeing their mourning and cries of distress, you
understand that you have died. With nowhere left to go, you feel unbearable sorrow.
Seeing others carelessly abuse your possessions you feel intense attachment and
anger. Such confused, terrifying experiences will arise on an unfathomable scale, but
since they are but the delusory appearances of the bardo you must recognise them as
such.

Moreover, any initiative based on your former place of residence is now finished;
your connection to close family and friends has been cut; the karma to use
accumulated belongings is exhausted; and all your past experiences are now no more
than the basis for habitual traces. As these inconceivable bardo appearances dawn
they arise only due to the deluded perceptions of your own mind. Aside from this,
they lack even the slightest speck of true reality. As the Bodhicaryāvatāra says:

Who created this burning iron ground?

From where have all these fires come?10
These and all such similar torments
Are born of a wicked mind, the Sage has said.11

Understand that it is just so. Avoid attachment and aversion towards the appearances
of friends and enemies, sensual delights that produce pleasure or unpleasant things
that cause suffering. Without evaluating them as to what should be taken up or
avoided, develop a single-pointed focus and confident trust in the illusory, unreal
nature of all phenomena.

It is easy to change support within the bardo. Consciousness is clear, so if you

accumulate karma based on attachment or aversion this can stimulate negative
karma from your past and cast you down into the lower realms; whereas if you
generate a virtuous mind of faith, compassion and so on this can reinvigorate any
virtuous karma from the past. To put it simply, to be deluded can have serious
consequences, and even a minor thought of attachment or aversion can cast you into
the lower realms, while training in the path is also highly consequential. Here your
training can progress more in a single moment than it did in the course of months
and years while you were alive. So, avoid falling prey to afflictive emotions and
meditate on the profound path. Through this, in the best case, you will be liberated
in that very moment, and at the very least, you will proceed to the higher realms —
of this there is no doubt.

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Should you fail to seize this opportunity, you will have to be reborn. In which case,
seeing an image of your parents having intercourse is a sign of impending womb-
birth or birth from an egg. An attraction to scents is a sign of birth through heat and
moisture, while attraction to place is a sign of miraculous birth. More particularly,
avoid becoming attached to warmth when trying to avoid the cold of the rain and
wind, and avoid a desire for cold when afflicted by the heat of fires and so on,
because these would only lead you to the hot and cold hells. Similarly, should you
appear as a woman avoid feeling passionate attachment toward men, or if appearing
as a man avoid feeling passionate attachment toward women — and, in both cases,
avoid hostility toward their counterparts. Unite all potential objects of attachment
and aversion, such as delusory perceptions and terrifying appearances, with
illusoriness and emptiness. Allow awareness to hold its place and relax deeply
without grasping. Through this, all deluded perception will be naturally liberated
upon arising.

In short, allow all visual forms to arise naturally as the infinitely pure maṇḍala of the
guru and yidam deities. Allow all sounds to reverberate naturally as the dharmatā’s
own natural resonance, indestructible sound and emptiness. And recognise all
thoughts as the display of primordially pure dharmakāya. No matter what occurs —
be it happiness or sorrow, good or bad — generate fervent, one-pointed devotion for
the sources of refuge by thinking, “Precious Three Jewels, know and care for me!”

Concentrate as well, with singular focus, on generating an excellent motivation.

Think: “I shall take on a pure body complete with all freedoms and opportunities, so
that I may accomplish vast waves of beneficial activity for the teachings and all
sentient beings!” Visualize the parents to whom you will be reborn as the guru
inseparable from the yidam deity, together with the consort. Enter their forms with
powerful focus. Rest evenly in emptiness beyond conceptual elaboration and train as
much as you can with pure perception.

In short, those you have left behind will make offerings to the Three Jewels on your
behalf. They will give charity to people in need, recite profound sūtras, and perform
offering practices connected to the maṇḍalas of various texts from the tantra
collections. They will thus carry out powerful virtuous acts on a vast scale that will
benefit you enormously, so do not worry. We now, in particular, are carrying out
this offering practice in relation to the great maṇḍala of [insert name here]. Since this
special ritual practice for purifying the lower realms will serve you greatly, consider
that that the maṇḍala of the transcendent, accomplished lord [insert name of deity] is
actually present here. And taking your place before it, generate faith in the guru and
Three Jewels, compassion for sentient beings who are infinite in number, and regret
for your past misdeeds, as well as a commitment not to repeat them. Motivated by
the intense wish that you and all others may attain enlightenment, perform
prostrations as a physical act; verbally recite prayers and the verses for taking
refuge; and mentally carry out the stages of the practice, without error, by receiving

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empowerment and so on, as you allow your mind to follow the words of the text.
Doing so will be enormously beneficial for you.

This is the clear reminder.

For those whose lives and merit, engendered by past virtues, have ended, And who are
led by terrifying Yama to the citadel of the other side, All those who are worn out and
who lack protection, Here is an entry to the method of guidance through loving
kindness. Based on what the protector, embodiment of boundless compassion, Taught in
all the sūtras and tantras, and especially Those simple supplements to rituals for
guiding the deceased —
From all such presentations of the bardo states, Pure works that gather together the
essential details, This is a quintessential summary — may it guide all beings!

This essential introduction to the bardos entitled ‘Liberation Upon Hearing’ was
requested by Lama Shakya Özer from Ngenlung Sang-ngak Chöling in the Mön district
and composed in the palace of secret mantra next to the great temple of glorious
Tradruk by the upāsaka follower of Śākyamuni, the awareness-holder Gyurme Dorje,
who combined without contradiction the intent of general works and those specifically
dedicated to the bardos. May virtue and goodness abound!

| Translated by Adam Pearcey, 2019. With many thanks to Sean Price for his suggestions.

Bibliography

Tibetan Editions

SB 'Gyur med rdo rje. "Bar do'i chos bshad thos pas rnam grol." In gTer
bdag gling pa ’gyur med rdo rje’i gsung ’bum. TBRC W22096. Dehra Dun:
Khochhen Tulku, 1998. Vol. 8: 347a–357b.

RTD 'Gyur med rdo rje. "Bar do'i chos bshad thos pas rnam grol." In 'Jam
mgon kong sprul blo gros mtha' yas. Rin chen gter mdzod chen mo. TBRC
W20578. 111 vols. Paro: Ngodrup and Sherab Drimay, 1976–1980. Vol. 66:
501–521

Secondary Sources

Kangyur Rinpoche, Treasury of Precious Qualities, Translated by

Padmakara Translation Group. Boston and London: Shambhala
Publications, 2001.
Shantideva. The Way of the Bodhisattva. Translated by Padmakara
Translation Group. Boston: Shambhala Publications, 1997 (revised 2006)

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 Tsele Natsok Rangdrol, The Mirror of Mindfulness: the Cycle of the Four
Bardos. Translated by Erik Pema Kunsang. Hong Kong: Rangjung Yeshe
Publications. 1987.

1. rgya khra ↩

2. This note appears in SB but not in RTD. ↩

3. This note appears in both SB and RTD. ↩

4. Following SB: ri ra ba sogs. RTD: ri rab sogs. ↩

5. SB appears to be corrupted here and omits this quotation from

Abhidharmasamuccaya. ↩

6. SB: rlung; RTD: glud? ↩

7. RTD: rtsa brgyad; SB: rtsa skyil (for rtswa spyil?) ↩

8. RTD, SB: zam tur, the meaning of which is unclear. Other lists have zam zur,
corner of a bridge. ↩

9. Following SB: lan med pa; RTD: phan med pa. ↩

10. Both RTD and SB have me tshogs here. This is generally considered a common
mistake for mo tshogs, hence Padmakara’s translation: “Whence have all these
demon-women sprung?” ↩

11. Bodhicaryāvatāra V, 7cd–8ab. ↩

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