Chö nyi

Chö nyi is Tibetan for the Sanskrit 'dharmata', which means the essence of things as they are, the true nature of phenomenal existence. In the four bardos of living and dying, the bardo of dharmata represents the dissolution of the painful bardo of dying, and the beginning of the dawning, like the grey-to-brilliant-colour of morning, of the Ground Luminosity, Mother Consciousness.

A natural radiance that clothes all being as energy and light, primordial purity, fully revealed, before the involution process that begins to clothe our Child Consciousness as we begin to incarnate.

'What is actually taking place here is a process of unfoldment, in which mind and its fundamental nature are gradually becoming more and more manifest. The bardo of dharmata is one stage in that process. For it is through this dimension of light and energy that mind unfolds from its purest state, the Ground Luminosity, toward its manifestation as form in the next bardo, the bardo of becoming.' ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying

From the Dzogchen Tantras, we are graced to understand that there are four levels to the bardo of dharmata - each may, through the slightly less well known practice of Tögal, result in liberation, no rebirth. As in all tantric practice, these words give conceptual glimmerings, but no real understanding, of the emergent property not well classified as 'experience' that grounds the actual practice, that reveals the phenomena.


1. Luminosity — The Landscape of Light
"like a mirage on a plain in the heat of summer." ~ Bardo Thodol

Here, you take on a body of light. The first phase of this bardo is when "space dissolves into luminosity": All pervasive is a flowing vibrant world of sound, light, and color. This is brilliantly clear and radiant, transparent and multicolored, unlimited by any kind of dimension or direction, shimmering and constantly in motion.

Without mastery of Tögal practice, the bardo of dharmata simply flashes by, like a bolt of lightning.


2. Union—The Deities
"where the luminosity manifests in the form of buddhas or deities of various size, color, and form, holding different attributes" ~ Bardo Thodol

After the lightning bolt, where we are unable to recognize this as the spontaneous display  of Rigpa, the simple rays and colors then begin to integrate and coalesce into points or balls of light of different sizes, called tiklé. Within them the "mandalas of the 42 peaceful and 58 wrathful deities" of the Bardo Thodol appear, as enormous spherical concentrations of light seeming to occupy the whole of space.

The brilliant light they emanate is blinding and dazzling, the sound is tremendous, like the roaring of a
thousand thunderclaps, and the rays and beams of light are like lasers, piercing everything. The peaceful and wrathful deities unfold over a certain period of "days," taking on their own characteristic mandala pattern of five-fold clusters. This is a vision that fills the whole of your perception with such intensity that if you are unable to recognize it for what it is, it appears terrifying and threatening, where sheer fear and blind panic can consume.

From yourself and from the deities, very fine shafts of light stream out, joining your heart with theirs. Countless luminous spheres appear in their rays, which increase and then "roll up," as the deities all dissolve into you.


3. Wisdom

If again you fail to recognize and gain stability, the next phase unfolds, called "union dissolving into wisdom."
Another fine shaft of light springs out from your heart and an enormous vision unfolds from it; however, every detail remains distinct and precise. This is the display of the various aspects of wisdom, which appear together in a show of unfurled carpets of light and resplendent spherical luminous tiklés:

First, on a carpet of deep blue light appear shimmering tiklés of sapphire blue, in patterns of five. Above that, on a carpet of white light, appear radiant tiklés, white like crystal. Above, on a carpet of yellow light, appear golden tiklés, and upon that a carpet of red light supports ruby red tiklés. They are crowned by a radiant sphere like an outspread canopy made of peacock feathers.

This brilliant display of light is the manifestation of the five
wisdoms:
wisdom of all-encompassing space,
mirror-like wisdom,
equalizing wisdom,
wisdom of discernment, and
all accomplishing wisdom.

If you do not attain liberation here through resting undistracted in the nature of mind, the carpets of light and their tiklés, along with your Rigpa, all dissolve into the radiant sphere of light, which is like the canopy of peacock feathers.


4. Spontaneous Presence

This heralds the final phase of the bardo of dharmata, "wisdom dissolving into spontaneous presence." Now the whole of reality presents itself in one tremendous display. First the state of primordial purity dawns like an open, cloudless sky. Then the peaceful and wrathful deities appear, followed by the pure realms of the buddhas, and below them the six realms of samsaric existence.

The limitlessness of this vision is utterly beyond our ordinary imagination. Every possibility is presented: from wisdom and liberation to confusion and rebirth. At this point you will find yourself endowed with powers of clairvoyant perception and recollection. For example, with total clairvoyance and your senses unobstructed, you will know your past and future lives, see into others' minds, and have knowledge of all six realms of existence. In an instant you will vividly recall whatever teachings you have heard, and even teachings you have never heard will awaken in your mind.

The entire vision then dissolves back into its original essence, like a tent collapsing once its ropes are cut. If you have the stability to recognize these manifestations as the "self-radiance" of your own Rigpa, you will be liberated.

In the Bardo Thodol, periods of days are allotted to the experiences of the bardo of dharmata. These are not
solar days of twenty-four hours, because in the sphere of dharmata we have gone completely beyond all limits such as time and space. These days are "meditation days," and refer to the length of time we have been able to rest undistracted in the nature of mind, or in one single state of mind. With no stability in meditation practice, these days could be minutely short, and the appearance of the peaceful and wrathful deities so fleeting that we cannot even register they have arisen.

The key to understanding this bardo is that all the experiences that take place in it are the natural radiance of the nature of our mind. What is happening is that different aspects of its enlightened energy are being released. Just as the dancing rainbows of light scattered by a crystal are its natural display, so too the dazzling appearances of dharmata cannot be separated from the nature of mind. They are its spontaneous expression. So however terrifying the appearances may be, sthey have no more claim on your fear than a stuffed lion.

Strictly speaking, however, it would be wrong to call these appearances "visions" or even "experiences," because vision and experience depend upon a dualistic relationship between a perceiver and something perceived. If we can recognize the appearances of the bardo of dharmata as the wisdom energy of our very own mind, there is no difference between perceiver and perceived, and this is an experience of non-duality.

To enter into that experience completely is to attain liberation.

For, as Kalu Rinpoche says,

"Liberation arises at that moment in the after-death state when consciousness can realize its experiences to be nothing other than mind itself."

Rinpoche, S. (1992). The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying. New York: HarperOne.