Tibetan Book of the Dead

 

Death is not the end

Of pain and pleasure.

The Great Gristmill grinds fine

Pebble deeds and boulder.

 

When YOU, heaving beast,

Hear your last breath,

A change will come.

Reality may flash—there’s an instant

Of Clear Light.

Eternity’s silent thunder hums

The mighty Hymn of Paradise.

 

You float for a moment,

Calm ocean of sky,

Then drag Heaven down─

Karmic undertow!

 

Earth sinks into water,

Water into fire,

Fire into air.

 

O momentary swoons!

Slumber of ignorance,

You awaken

To crying friends and relatives.

Not having dawned on you,

Dearly dead,

That you have departed, you call

“I am here!”

But they don’t see.

So you go away, floating

Through walls, displeased.

 

And then the dreams come—

Terrifying and tantalizing phantasms.

Demons and deities dance down

Upon the mind stage of propensities.

Realize, Noble Dreamer,

Apparitions are aspects

Of temporal mind.

Recognize, and liberation is won!

 

But should you fail to recognize

Visions,

Mating couples will come,

And you will slip

Into another realm.

Go to your womb!

 

Nine months solitary,

birth and puberty—O God!

Four more years of high school.