Fred Steeves
5th March 2017, 19:13
Anyone who has ever studied Buddhist philosophy, will surely be aware of the idea of bardos. A basic quick read here if you are not:
http://www.spiritualtravel.org/OBE/afterdeath.html
The idea of a "Chapel Perilous" also strikes me as just another way of looking at bardos. If you're never come across CP, check it out it's quite interesting.
Chapel Perilous, like the mysterious entity called "I," cannot be located in the space-time continuum; it is weightless, odorless, tasteless and undetectable by ordinary instruments. Indeed, like the Ego, it is even possible to deny that it is there. And yet, even more like the Ego, once you are inside it, there doesn't seem to be any way to ever get out again, until you suddenly discover that it has been brought into existence by thought and does not exist outside thought. Everything you fear is waiting with slavering jaws in Chapel Perilous, but if you are armed with the wand of intuition, the cup of sympathy, the sword of reason, and the pentacle of valor, you will find there (the legends say) the Medicine of Metals, the Elixir of Life, the Philosopher's Stone, True Wisdom and Perfect Happiness.
That's what the legends always say, and the language of myth is poetically precise. For instance, if you go into that realm without the sword of reason, you will lose your mind, but at the same time, if you take only the sword of reason without the cup of sympathy, you will lose your heart. Even more remarkably, if you approach without the wand of intuition, you can stand at the door for decades never realizing you have arrived. You might think you are just waiting for a bus, or wandering from room to room looking for your cigarettes, watching a TV show, or reading a cryptic and ambiguous book. Chapel Perilous is tricky that way."
http://www.tekgnostics.com/CHAPEL.HTM
So anyway, back to bardos. Normally, the states of bardo one experiences are thought of as occurring in the period between physical death, and being re-born, with the future of our very being riding on decisions (or lack thereof) made moment by moment therein. What I wish to spotlight in this thread, is what I consider to be not only the missing bardo, but the most painful, challenging, and yes compelling of them all. "The Bardo", the granddaddy of them all, the period of time experienced between physical birth and death.
Just as in the bardo of Chapel Perilous, minus the wand of intuition, one may never even have a clue as to where they are, or what's really happening around them. We may as well think we're "waiting for a bus" etc., when actually, the most important opportunity we could ever dream of is floating on past like Santa's sleigh in a Christmas parade. Buh bye, see you next year...
And thus it goes. It's like a test, and tests must be studied for. In the case of traditional post death bardos, a lifetime of spiritual practice and meditation is a prerequisite to successful navigation through the many challenges and distractions, otherwise, one is hopelessly lost like driftwood on the high seas. Tossed to and fro with every next wave, the four winds, and at the mercy of whatever lifetime is thrown at them next. Lather, rinse, repeat.
The Bardo of this physical realm is no different, and our attention and reactions to it's many lures and distractions determines whether friend or foe. Embedded are cycles of increased intensity, great roving storms of emotion, and one of those cycles has recently rolled back around again. Have you noticed? If you are unaware of this storm then you have already been sucked up into it's vortex, if you *are* aware, then it's down to a test of your will and training as to whether you can withstand it, remain intact, and be all the stronger for it.
Pink Floyd told us "Welcome to the Machine", and I bid you "Welcome to The Bardo". From here on out every thought, every decision, every move, becomes more important than the last. Just as the true meaning of karma says, what happens next is your doing.
After thought: It doesn't really matter whether bardos actually exist or not, but it certainly is a good mental and spiritual exercise in how to look at our role here from a more introspective point of view. How much does that matter? As much as we want it to I reckon.
Cheers
http://www.spiritualtravel.org/OBE/afterdeath.html
The idea of a "Chapel Perilous" also strikes me as just another way of looking at bardos. If you're never come across CP, check it out it's quite interesting.
Chapel Perilous, like the mysterious entity called "I," cannot be located in the space-time continuum; it is weightless, odorless, tasteless and undetectable by ordinary instruments. Indeed, like the Ego, it is even possible to deny that it is there. And yet, even more like the Ego, once you are inside it, there doesn't seem to be any way to ever get out again, until you suddenly discover that it has been brought into existence by thought and does not exist outside thought. Everything you fear is waiting with slavering jaws in Chapel Perilous, but if you are armed with the wand of intuition, the cup of sympathy, the sword of reason, and the pentacle of valor, you will find there (the legends say) the Medicine of Metals, the Elixir of Life, the Philosopher's Stone, True Wisdom and Perfect Happiness.
That's what the legends always say, and the language of myth is poetically precise. For instance, if you go into that realm without the sword of reason, you will lose your mind, but at the same time, if you take only the sword of reason without the cup of sympathy, you will lose your heart. Even more remarkably, if you approach without the wand of intuition, you can stand at the door for decades never realizing you have arrived. You might think you are just waiting for a bus, or wandering from room to room looking for your cigarettes, watching a TV show, or reading a cryptic and ambiguous book. Chapel Perilous is tricky that way."
http://www.tekgnostics.com/CHAPEL.HTM
So anyway, back to bardos. Normally, the states of bardo one experiences are thought of as occurring in the period between physical death, and being re-born, with the future of our very being riding on decisions (or lack thereof) made moment by moment therein. What I wish to spotlight in this thread, is what I consider to be not only the missing bardo, but the most painful, challenging, and yes compelling of them all. "The Bardo", the granddaddy of them all, the period of time experienced between physical birth and death.
Just as in the bardo of Chapel Perilous, minus the wand of intuition, one may never even have a clue as to where they are, or what's really happening around them. We may as well think we're "waiting for a bus" etc., when actually, the most important opportunity we could ever dream of is floating on past like Santa's sleigh in a Christmas parade. Buh bye, see you next year...
And thus it goes. It's like a test, and tests must be studied for. In the case of traditional post death bardos, a lifetime of spiritual practice and meditation is a prerequisite to successful navigation through the many challenges and distractions, otherwise, one is hopelessly lost like driftwood on the high seas. Tossed to and fro with every next wave, the four winds, and at the mercy of whatever lifetime is thrown at them next. Lather, rinse, repeat.
The Bardo of this physical realm is no different, and our attention and reactions to it's many lures and distractions determines whether friend or foe. Embedded are cycles of increased intensity, great roving storms of emotion, and one of those cycles has recently rolled back around again. Have you noticed? If you are unaware of this storm then you have already been sucked up into it's vortex, if you *are* aware, then it's down to a test of your will and training as to whether you can withstand it, remain intact, and be all the stronger for it.
Pink Floyd told us "Welcome to the Machine", and I bid you "Welcome to The Bardo". From here on out every thought, every decision, every move, becomes more important than the last. Just as the true meaning of karma says, what happens next is your doing.
After thought: It doesn't really matter whether bardos actually exist or not, but it certainly is a good mental and spiritual exercise in how to look at our role here from a more introspective point of view. How much does that matter? As much as we want it to I reckon.
Cheers