5.2 THE BARDO OF LIFE
First, if we fail to recognize the appearances of this life as they emerge from the
ground of being as our own primal awareness, it is the fault of “innate ignorance.”
When we fail to recognize those appearances as our own envisionment due to the
perception of them as “other,” it is the fault of “conditioned ignorance,” “the
ignorance of imputation.” Conditioned by the objective fields of form, sound,
smell, taste, and touch, we are lost in gross concepts. Through attachment to the
five aggregates (name and form, feeling, thoughts, karmic tendencies, and
consciousness), we are conditioned by the verbal forms “I” and “mine,” and the
notions of “my son,” “my parents,” “my country,” and so on, arise. This produces
attachment to one’s own side, hatred toward the other side, and a neutral feeling
toward those in the middle. Such gross delusion cascades like a waterfall over a
cliff face, and from beginningless samsara until now, we wander in the six realms
of being. If we do not now follow the profound Dzogchen path, it is certain that we
will wander continuously in this samsara. So we need to understand this bardo of
life, search for a rigzin-lama as a spiritual friend, and excel in the common
creative and fulfillment stages of vajrayana tantra and in the view of uncommon
Dzogchen. Just as it is foolish to venture onto the island of gold without returning
with gold, so having met a rigzin-lama, a rare occurrence, it would be foolish to
leave him without first securing the real message of Dzogchen that can give us
buddha in a single lifetime. Likewise, having attained this so-difficult-to-obtain
human body with its six fortunate qualities, it is foolish not to cultivate the
aspiration to use it in some meaningful way.
Furthermore, to eradicate skepticism, cynicism, or conditioned prejudice against
the Dzogchen view, meditation, and conduct in this bardo of life, consider the
swallow: among birds she is the most excellent nestmaker, building in the most
sheltered spot where no danger from people or other animals threatens. Only
when she is free of all uncertainty and doubt does the bird nestle down. Take this
instruction to heart and resolve any skepticism you may feel regarding the lama’s
advice.
We should have the conviction of a Shenga Rinpoche as narrated in the story of
his encounter with Guru Rinpoche in the section on view. Here is a similar story.
There was once a yogin called “Khangkhung Lama Sampa” who, three years into
his retreat, contracted a serious disease. It gave him no pain, but one day, because
of his weak health, he could not move. He sent his wife to fetch his dharma friend
Lama Pema. When his old friend arrived, Lama Sampa told his wife to go outside
the house and asked Lama Pema to recite the prayer known as “Calling to the
Lama from Afar,” adding that there was no way that he could stay in his body any
longer. Lama Pema began to recite the prayer melodiously and Lama Sampa raised
himself a little off the pillow. Halfway through the prayer, he had his spine
straight, and his hands placed in the gesture of samadhi. When the prayer was
finished, Lama Sampa was dead, but his body had begun to shine, and by his
expression, it seemed that he was about to speak. Lama Pema went outside to tell
the wife that her husband had passed on, but she did not believe it until, at just