Criticism is futile.  The only way to get people to do things is by making them want to do it.

Some wisdom I have taken from this:

Allowing yourself to be distracted by thoughts, fears, appetites, anger, etc... will drag you away from the correct path.

Most torments spring from yourself in one way or another. Fears, hatreds, monsters, demons, shackles, pain, all that... most comes from within.  Not counting things like physical illnesses/cancers etc.

The All-Determining Influence of Thought... cool chapter name!

Let not attraction or repulsion be the impetus for your actions.

Day 1:  Blue wisdom light of the creation/wisdom/universe shows itself, as well as white light from the devas (other supernatural beings/false buddhas).  Lack of wisdom or bad karma cause the soul to flee the light of creation and be attracted to the devas.  The setting face-to-face this day wards against this.

Day 2:  If the soul has fled from the Light, Hell will come for the soul.  The recitation wards against the soul fleeing from the Light and going to the smoke-colored light of Hell.

Day 3:  If soul has fled the Light still, because of lingering pride, the earth realm and human realm will come for the soul.  The chants try to turn the soul to the Light and away from the other realms.  If the soul goes for the human realm it will reincarnate and suffer the birth, life, death cycle again.

Day 4: Attempts to undo the bad karma from greed and attachment.  Failure to meld with the Light of Wisdom, the soul will be dragged down by attachment to sangsaric existence.

Day 5:  Wards against bad karma because of an evil/jealous nature.  Failure to meld with the Light, the soul will be forced to endure the realm of quarreling and warfare.

Day 6:  Failure still and all the Buddhas and Lokas come.  Failure to recognize the wisdom of the Buddhas will result in the soul entering one of the Lokas and re-entering sangsaric existence and all its miseries.

Day 7:  Knowledge deities and the brute realms of stupidity and obscuring passion.

Day 8 starts a new cycle... according to the book most people should have attained liberation at this point, however a few still might not have.  This is the beginning of the Bardo where the previous Peaceful deities reappear as blood-drinking Wrathful deities.  They aren't really, they just appear that way to the soul.

AKA: Tibetan Book of the Dead
Just for shits.  Let's see what this book is all about.

So a Bardo is like a phase of awareness.  Let's say you zone out and are day-dreaming.  That could be described as a Bardo... a state of awareness.  This book lists 6:  When you are in the Womb, When you are dreaming, When you are Meditating/Focused, The Bardo of the Moment of Death, The Bardo of experiencing reality, and the Bardo of experiencing the opposite of this realm of suffering, Enlightenment? I guess.

 First stage of this dying Bardo:  Near death, recite the reminders to the dying.  Remind the dying one of their practice in facing the light during life.  It will remind them that the naked mind is the light.  Remind them to recognize themselves when face-to-face.

IF THAT FAILS TO GUIDE THEM


Second Stage of this Bardo: After death the vitality/essence leaves the body and doesn't recognize that it is dead.  Depending on the level of enlightenment of the deceased, speak the proper words to remind them. Kind of a psychic bonk on the head.  The deceased will have attained a light-body but is confused.  With proper recitation of the reminding words and guidance, karma will not affect the deceased and he will recognize the clear light face-to-face.  Apparently karma, how you lived your life, affects how much time and effort is needed to bonk the person into recognizing enlightenment.

IF THAT FAILS TO GUIDE THEM

Third Stage of this Bardo: The deceased will be hanging around aware of what is going on but being unable to communicate with the mourners and will become displeased and try to leave, go beyond help.

Then begins the 49 days of ritual... at least that what I have gathered.  Each day is a step.  Looking forward to seeing what they have to say.  Of course I don't really think any of this happens BUT

BUT

I do like the view they have of coming face-to-face.  You die, your consciousness becomes void, but not empty void. The void they speak of is like the essence of reality.  The light.  The truth.  You have to realize this void, this light is YOU.  Your intellect is gone, but the essence is there.  You are an aspect of reality looking upon itself.  Face-to-face.  Any illusions, dreams, pleasures, torments, etc. that you encounter on the voyage are just aspects of yourself that you need to recognize, understand, and move through with understanding and growth.

I have to give it to these guys, the rituals aren't for "conjuring" spirits or some sort of arcane spell casting.  The rituals are really just reminders to the souls of the dead that "Look, this is what you learned or didn't learn during life, this is what is happening, don't be afraid it happens to everyone, this is what you need to keep in your mind while you face yourself and are given the opportunity to move on."

Beautiful and caring.  Kneeling over a corpse and reciting words of wisdom in the chance the dead can hear and be helped by it.  Most likely the dead can't hear the words, because they are dead, but the thought and respect afforded to the dead is staggering compared to our culture.


That's a lot better than digging a 6 foot hole and throwing a funeral and getting drunk.

I respect the hell out of this.

While you are doing something, always ask yourself how you will feel about the deed afterwards.

To rouse yourself in the morning for work, remember that men and beasts sleep, only men get up and do work which betters the world around them.

Nothing wrong with changing your mind, provided the reasons are solid.

Aurelius really seems to think that Nature provides purpose to things.  And that those things should not fight their designated purposes, but take comfort in them.  I don't know if I agree with that fully.

Receive blessings without ostentation and you will find it easier to part with them if they are taken away.

Past or future can't harm you, only the present. Just take a moment to reflect on the present and it will pass.

I'm done with it. Finally.  It got a little repetitive near the end, esp. when Aurelius kept saying things like (paraphrasing) "life is short, great men and small men all die and are reabsorbed by the earth"


There are some things I disagree with Aurelius on:  Namely his continued insistence that the universe subscribes a nature onto you and that what is mean to be will be.  "The rock doesn't care if it goes up or down or hits the ground"... well that is all well and good but... rocks are not men.  Easy for Aurelius to say, he was born into some rich families, given opportunities and education... I will reflect on this a while.

One thing I found interesting is that both As a Man Thinketh and Meditations stressed the importance of calmness of mind, rationality and well tended thought.




Sordes = debris, especially bodily crust