Bardo teaching #2/3 by Drupon Kunsang April 15, 2024

Main ideas / lessons (Intermediate state / Bardo teaching)

• Life, death, and the after-death stages are the most crucial points of human existence for practitioners. Spiritual practice should prepare you for all three, not only for rituals at temples.
• The teaching emphasizes “planning” spiritually:
  • how you prepare your own mind/stream of consciousness
  • how you help family and friends, including offering practices for beings affected by death.
• The intermediate realm (bardo) is presented through two classifications (given earlier):
  • the common classification of the intermediate state
  • the Melpa lineage classification This session focuses more on practical doctrine: the “gates” and dissolution at death.

Consciousness and “the nine gates” (exit points after death)

Core concept

• Consciousness is not visible or touchable; it resides within the body while alive.
• After death, consciousness exits through specific anatomical/energy “gates.”
• In practice, meditators seal/close these gates by focusing on specific points and reinforcing intentions (often with “hung” and blue-light visualization).

Methodology: gate identification and “sealing” practice (highly structured)

1. General instruction

   • Visualize and reinforce the intention: “When I die, my consciousness will not leave through gate X.”
   • For practitioners, gate opening/closing is supported by tantric-style methods (vibrations/light/bindu references).

2. Gate 1: Crown gate (top of head area)

   • The “crown” is described as slightly toward the back, not exactly on the literal crown.
   • Locational method: from the hairline on the forehead, count eight finger-widths to find the first point.
   • Meaning: the most important gate in this doctrine—the gate through which consciousness can escape upward.
   • Practical implication: aim for liberation/beneficial rebirth directions, especially for Vajrayana practice.

3. Gate 2: Between the eyebrows / third eye

   • Location: between the eyebrows; sometimes felt as itch/vibration.
   • Effect if consciousness exits here: rebirth into the Form Realm (includes beings with physical bodies; in this classification it includes humans/animals as “form realm”).
   • Practice: seal this gate if you want to avoid exiting into this less-optimal direction for liberation (often with a “hung” practice for ordinary practitioners).

4. Gate 3: Eyes

   • Effect if consciousness exits here: rebirth as Yakshas / Rakshasas / harmful spirits/demons (connected to “nojin” terminology).
   • Practice: repeatedly seal the eyes with “hung” and deep blue visualization so consciousness does not escape through the eyes after death.

5. Gate 4: Nostrils / nose

   • Effect if consciousness exits here: ordinary beings may be reborn in ways associated with scent/food, including hungry-fragrance types; for advanced practitioners, nose-exit is described as part of advanced samadhi signs (white/red bodhicitta union).
   • Practice / compassion method: Offering through fragrance
     • Do a Dharma offering of food through fragrance.
     • Emphasize timing: lunchtime or dinnertime (when these beings are more likely to receive).
   • Reinforcement instruction: ensure your own consciousness does not exit through the nose.

6. Gate 5: Ears

   • Effect if consciousness exits here: possible rebirth as human or non-human beings (including dragons/spirits/nagas/“mo-mo” type formless beings).
   • Practice: seal ears so consciousness does not depart via ear canals; when someone dies, chanting/encouraging is mentioned as a practical response because consciousness might otherwise go to the ear canal via sound.

7. Gate 6: Mouth

   • Effect if consciousness exits here: rebirth as hungry ghosts (explicitly tied to the “hungry” result).
   • Practical “sealing” behavior: people often die with the mouth open; practitioners are instructed to keep/visualize a sealing “hung” at the mouth.
   • Emphasis: the mouth is linked to speech/emotions (anger, resentment, hateful thoughts), making it a major risk exit.

8. Gate 7: Navel / lower abdominal region

   • Effect if consciousness exits here: rebirth into the realm of desire, often into Lokapala guardian deities (or Four Heavenly Kings).
   • Caution: even if it sounds divine, the text warns it’s still not ideal for liberation because opportunities to study practice may be limited.

9. Gate 8 and 9: Lower gate(s)

   • Genitals / lower front area (called the Lower Door)
     • Regardless of male/female, exit here implies rebirth as animals (dogs, cows, insects, etc.).
     • The teaching stresses animal rebirth as a suffering condition and not a supportive basis for enlightenment.
     • Practice: do not allow consciousness to exit through the lower gate(s).
   • Back / “deepest” door (described as the place “where we defecate”)
     • Effect: rebirth into hell.
     • The doctrine frames hell as many levels, but the conclusion is: stay away through sealing and correct practice.

Overarching practical advice about gates

• Repeatedly emphasized:
  • Pick which gate(s) are most important for you to seal (based on where you tend to open/where fear/attention is strongest).
  • Build habits during life so gate behavior at death becomes more predictable.
• Key method: train now so that at death you can more reliably guide consciousness toward a liberation-supporting route.

Timing and the “three days” after clinical signs stop

• Doctors may say someone has “passed,” but for spiritual practice:
  • the three days after clinical life signs disappear are extremely important.
• During this time, the deceased may still see, hear, and feel surroundings more than living people realize.
• This supports why ritual, prayers, and practices for the deceased are valuable.

Dissolution process at death: “Five Great Dissolutions”

Core structure

• Death is described as a progressive dissolution process where senses and faculties cease.
• The teaching uses a numerical framework:
  • 5 aggregates
  • 5 great elements
  • 5 sense faculties + 5 objects
  • 5 poisons
  • total emphasized as 25 (because life and death operate through that structure in this explanation).

Stage ordering (explicit)

• The first element to dissolve at the start is the Earth element.
• Sequence given:
  1. Earth element → dissolves into Water
  2. Water → dissolves into Fire
  3. Fire → dissolves into Wind
  4. Wind → dissolves into Consciousness
  5. Once consciousness dissolves, hearing/seeing/sensation fade, and consciousness enters the central channel.

How to recognize Earth-element dissolution (practical signs)

• Typical signs described:
  • feeling no support, “sinking,” difficulty staying body upright
  • needing help to get up (“help me up”)
  • restless sleep, sensations of falling
  • dreams of falling / no ground
• The teaching notes that elders/parents/grandparents showing these tendencies can indicate the process has begun.

How to recognize later dissolutions (briefly described)

• Water dissolution: floating/drifting sensations; wave/river-like experiences; tearing even without crying.
• Fire dissolution: heat-related changes (outside cold but inside dryness/hot sensations are discussed).
• Wind dissolution: breathing becomes difficult (in/out may invert or feel impossible); long smooth breathing; outsiders may not tell inhalation/exhalation; the stage can be tiring.
• Final: sensory experience diminishes; consciousness lessens in power and movement.

Study/practice emphasis: “illusion” and integrating death into practice

• The teaching connects Intermediate Realm/Bardo practice with illusory perception:
  • life is like a dream
  • dreamlike life is illusion
  • intermediate realms are also illusion
• Goal: seeing things as illusory reduces greed/attachment, anger, and worry, leading to calm.
• The doctrine states that eloquent talkers are not enough; verified experience through practice is rare.
• Integrate death into practice now:
  • face impermanence gently
  • practice non-clinging (mind of non-action / letting go rather than grasping “I/my”)
  • cultivate calmness rather than panic at death.

Homework / instructions given at the end

• Learn and memorize for recognition in the bardo:
  • Five Family Buddhas (peaceful forms):
    • names
    • colors
    • directions
    • hand attributes
    • (mantras if possible)
    • seed syllables if possible
• Also learn:
  • Five Wisdom Buddhas:
    • sacred names
    • physical forms (if possible)
    • seed syllables
    • mantras
    • Dharma instruments (optional if too hard—names/colors/seed syllables/mantras are considered sufficient)
  • Optionally, learn the Five Buddha Mothers (consorts of the Five Wisdom Buddhas).
• Reason for homework: in the intermediate realm, deities may appear; recognition depends on prior familiarity.
• Administrative notice: next session content is changed/postponed (instruments/mudras delayed). Continue with remaining bardo/three Brahmas material, then add the instrument/mudra session later.

Speakers / sources featured (explicitly mentioned)

• Drupon Kunsang (lecturer/teacher)
• Master Z (mentioned as a source of teachings)
• Naropa (referenced multiple times; lineage source)
• Lord Buddha (general Buddhist authority referenced)
• Vajrayana masters/patriarchs (general source category)
• Nagarjuna (referenced as reverencing compassion / dependent origination as keys in another example)
• Venerable Naropa (same as Naropa, explicitly)
• Bardo teaching lineage / Sal Lung Thet / Naropa lineage (treated as sources of method/knowledge)