Speech is a conjunction of the body and mind, and is the creation of sound to communicate with others. Body and the mechanisms for speech are created in the mother’s womb, greatly develop at birth and cease at death.

The mind however, is not created in the mother’s womb and does not disappear like the body after death. Throughout beginningless time the mind has been habituated to its karmic tendencies. Through the force of clinging to a self, the mind enters the physical form in the mothers womb at conception and this process is called ‘name and form’ in the twelve steps of interdependent origination. ‘Name’ refers to sensations, identification, mental events and the consciousnesses, which are the four mental aggregates. ‘Form’ refers to the first aggregate of form. So there is the combination of name and form.

The mind by clinging to a self adopts the ‘name and form’ link of interdependent origination in the mother’s womb. The consciousness of the foetus itself comes from the second link ‘karmic creation’ which is the accumulation of actions performed in the previous existence. Due to this accumulation, the consciousness takes on a new form in a specific new life. The consciousness of this specific life that begins in the womb comes from a previous lifetime based on the actions performed then.

From the first moment of life, until death, the mind and body are united and they are separated again at death. Then the body becomes a corpse and the mind begins to experience new sensations or appearances. The time between a previous life and the time of conception in a womb is called the bardo, or the ‘intermediate state’ in English.

What is the consciousness in the bardo like? It is said that if we were blind or deaf during our life, we will be able to see and hear during the bardo, i.e., all sensory faculties will be complete. There is no blindness, lameness, or sensory deficiency in the bardo. According to the abhidharma a being in the bardo has miraculous powers of activity, in that he or she can go anywhere, which causes a great problem for individuals. During our life the mind can be very distracted, it can think of various things going here and there while being in a solid body. We can think of anything we like while the body stays where it is. On the other hand, during the bardo we have no solid body and when the mind thinks of a certain place we are automatically there. When we arrive, we think of another place and then immediately we are at that place. In the bardo there is no stability whatsoever; it is impossible to find a place where one can definitely remain. We are in a state described as being like a feather blown about by the wind, which causes great confusion and suffering for us.

What will benefit the individual at the time of death? If a practitioner while alive has been able to gain some understanding of the nature of the mind by developing mindfulness and awareness and has been able to see how the mind works and is able to establish mental stability, it will be very beneficial during the bardo. In the bardo, mindfulness and awareness of the mind’s activities are important and what brings about stability of mind is very beneficial for the bardo. At death when the mind is separated from the body, it experiences a quality of naked awareness. Without meditation practice, we will not be able to recognize what is happening to us, nor understand the appearances that arise. With the development of stable shamatha meditation and the insight of vipashyana meditation, we will be able to recognize what is occurring through clarity of the mind. We can then enter into a state of meditation at death. When great practitioners die, they are able to enter the state called ‘thug-dam’ and consequently have control over death. In this state of meditation the body remains warm and the cells of the body don’t start to dissolve. These are signs that a great practitioner has entered a state of meditation at death and is able to voluntarily remain in that state.

If we recognize the nature of the mind at death, we will not be frightened when unknown appearances confront us, but we will know that death has set in and will be able to recognize all the manifestations that arise. Without recognition of death and the arising appearances, we will be frightened and have no control of the mind, which then runs wild and cannot be pacified. We therefore practice meditation in this life to be able to control the mind at that time.

Having cultivated meditation practice during our life, one can enter into the state of deep meditation or samadhi at the time of death. Without practice one falls into an unconscious state and awakes to the experience of various delusions, which are manifestations of the one hundred peaceful and wrathful deities within oneself. Forty-two peaceful deities are in the heart center, fifty wrathful deities in the crown center and eight semi-wrathful deities, called vidyadharas, in the throat center. These are all latent in the subtle channels and chakras during our life but aren’t seen. At death, when the mind has separated from the body, all these deities manifest. First the peaceful deities of the heart centre appear very brightly and clearly, remaining for a long time. After this then the wrathful deities manifest for a brief period. Without meditation practice we will not be able to recognize these deities for what they are. We will be annoyed by the bright lights of the peaceful deities and frightened by the appearances of the wrathful deities. With meditation practice we will recognize them and can merge with them without fear.

© Copyright Namo Buddha Publications & Zhyisil Chokyi Ghatsal Publications 2002.