The Tibetan Book of the Dead

«Herein is contained the Natural Liberation of the Nature of Mind: The Four-session Yoga which is a Spiritual Practice of the Vehicle of Indestructible Reality, the Way of Secret Mantras,1 an extract from the Peaceful and Wrathful Deities: A Profound Sacred Teaching, [entitled] Natural Liberation through [Recognition of] Enlightened Intention.» — el encabezado del capítulo 1 declara qué es el texto y de dónde sale: un extracto del ciclo de las Deidades Pacíficas y Airadas, práctica del Vehículo de la Realidad Indestructible; los numerales voladitos son llamadas de nota del impreso

«O, Alas! Alas! Fortunate Child of Buddha Nature, Do not be oppressed by the forces of ignorance and delusion! But rise up now with resolve and courage! Entranced by ignorance, from beginningless time until now, You have had [more than] enough time to sleep. So do not slumber any longer, but strive after virtue with body, speech and mind! Are you oblivious to the sufferings of birth, old age, sickness and death? There is no guarantee that you will survive, even past this very day!» — el capítulo 1 abre interpelando al oyente como hijo afortunado de la naturaleza búdica y lo apremia: lleva durmiendo desde tiempo sin comienzo y no hay garantía de sobrevivir ni este día

«All phenomena are [ultimately] selfless, empty, and free from conceptual elaboration. In their dynamic they resemble an illusion, mirage, dream, or reflected image, A celestial city, an echo, a reflection of the moon in water, a bubble, an optical illusion, or an intangible emanation. You should know that all things of cyclic existence and nirvāṇa Accord [in nature] with these ten similes of illusory phenomena.» — el capítulo 1 enuncia los diez símiles de lo ilusorio —espejismo, sueño, ciudad celeste, eco, luna en el agua, burbuja— y los aplica por igual a la existencia cíclica y al nirvāṇa

«How needing of compassion are the ignorant and the deluded, [Bound] in this confining dungeon of egotistical attachment and the subject-object dichotomy, Who, like wild game, are trapped in this snare, time after time! Grant your blessing, so that cyclic existence may be stirred to its depths!» — la serie de plegarias del capítulo 1 pide la bendición para los ignorantes atrapados, como animales de caza, en la mazmorra del apego egoico y la dicotomía sujeto-objeto

«Last year, this year, the waxing and waning moons, The days, nights, and indivisible time moments are all impermanent. If we reflect carefully, we too are face to face with death.» — el capítulo 1 lleva la impermanencia a la escala del instante —años, fases de la luna, días, noches, momentos indivisibles— y concluye que uno mismo está frente a la muerte

«I bow down to and take refuge in the spiritual teachers Whose enlightened intention, throughout the past, present and future, Is uninterruptedly directed towards living beings, The infinite sentient beings of the three world systems and six classes.» — el refugio externo del capítulo 1 se toma primero en los maestros espirituales, cuya intención iluminada se dirige sin interrupción a los seres de los tres sistemas de mundos

«I bow down to and take refuge in the sacred teachings, Including the doctrines of the ultimate truth, quiescent and desireless, The irreversible path9 of the three vehicles, And the transmissions, esoteric instructions, and treatises Of the transmitted precepts and treasures.» — el refugio externo incluye en las enseñanzas sagradas tanto los preceptos transmitidos como los tesoros, que es la doble vía de la escuela a la que el ciclo pertenece

«I bow down to and take refuge in the meditational deities, Who, even though [they remain unmoving as] the Buddha-body of Reality, Uncreated and free from the limits of conceptual elaboration, Emanate in peaceful and wrathful forms for the sake of living beings, And confer the supreme and common accomplishments.» — el refugio interno del capítulo 1 define a las deidades meditacionales: aunque permanecen como Cuerpo de la Realidad, emanan en formas pacíficas y airadas por los seres

«From within [a state which is] non-conceptual, naturally radiant and stark, I take refuge in the primordial embodiment of the five buddha-bodies, Spontaneously and naturally present, [Abiding] in the maṇḍala of the [unique] seminal point, Which is [the union of] expanse and awareness, and of radiance and emptiness, The indestructible chain of inner radiance, that is intrinsic awareness.» — el mismo refugio secreto se toma en los cinco cuerpos del buda, presentes de modo espontáneo y natural en el mandala del punto seminal

«Even though all phenomena are empty and selfless, Sentient beings fail to realise this. Alas! How needing of compassion are they! So that all those who are the focus of our compassion may attain enlightenment, I must rouse my body, speech and mind to [the practice of] virtue! For the benefit of all sentient beings of the six classes, From now until enlightenment is attained, Not just for my own sake but for the benefit of all, I must generate the mind [aspiring] to supreme enlightenment!» — la generación de la intención altruista del capítulo 1 parte de que los seres no realizan la vacuidad y de ahí deriva el voto de despertar por todos y no solo por uno

«I myself and all infinite sentient beings Are primordially of the nature of buddhahood. So that we may [all] become supreme embodiments, who know this to be so, I must generate the mind [aspiring] to supreme enlightenment!» — el capítulo 1 declara que uno mismo y todos los seres son desde el origen de la naturaleza de la budeidad, y hace de eso la razón del voto

«May all sentient beings be endowed with happiness! May they all be separated from suffering and its causes! May they be endowed with joy, free from suffering! May they abide in equanimity, free from attachment or aversion!» — las cuatro aspiraciones inconmensurables del capítulo 1: felicidad, separación del sufrimiento y de sus causas, gozo y ecuanimidad libre de apego y de aversión

«At the crown of my head, on a lotus moon cushion, Is my spiritual teacher, [resplendent] in the form of Vajrasattva. His body is translucent, like crystal, and at his heart, [Resting] on a moon-disc, is a syllable HŪṂ, surrounded by the Hundred-syllable Mantra.» — la visualización del capítulo 1 coloca al maestro espiritual en la forma de Vajrasattva sobre la coronilla, con cuerpo translúcido como el cristal y la sílaba HŪṂ en el corazón

«All phenomena are naturally uncreated. They neither abide nor cease, neither come nor go. They are without objective referent, signless, ineffable, and free from thought» — el capítulo 1 niega de los fenómenos el nacer, el permanecer, el cesar, el ir y el venir, y los declara sin referente objetivo, sin signo e inefables; la cita corta antes de la llamada de nota que el impreso pega a la palabra

«The impermanent sentient beings within it will endure the severing of body and mind. The seasons of the year: summer, winter, autumn and spring, themselves [exemplify] impermanence. Grant your blessing, so that disillusionment [with conditioned existence] may arise from the depths [of our hearts]!» — el capítulo 1 deriva el desencanto de la impermanencia visible: la separación de cuerpo y mente y las estaciones del año; la frase entera empieza antes, con el entorno destruido por fuego y agua

«From within a state free from grasping and beyond intellect, I take refuge in the nature of the great expanse of sameness and perfection» — el refugio secreto del capítulo 1 no se toma en persona alguna sino en la naturaleza de la gran extensión de igualdad y perfección; la cita corta antes de la llamada de nota

«Atemporal emptiness, free from conceptual elaboration, Primordially pure in essence, natural expression and compassionate energy.» — la continuación de ese refugio secreto nombra los tres términos en que se toma: esencia pura desde el origen, expresión natural y energía compasiva

«The ocean of mundane cyclic existence is like an illusion. All compounded things lack permanence. Their essence is empty and selfless, But these naive beings [right here] who do not realise this to be so Roam through cyclic existence, [driven on] by the twelve links of dependent origination.» — el capítulo 1 adjudica el vagar por la existencia cíclica a los doce eslabones del origen dependiente, y declara vacía y sin yo la esencia de todo lo compuesto

«May Vajrasattva, glorious transcendent one, Anoint me at this very moment With the nectar stream of pristine cognition, So that the negativities and obscurations Of myself and all sentient beings, without exception, are purified.» — la plegaria de purificación del capítulo 1 pide a Vajrasattva la unción con el flujo de néctar de la cognición prístina, para uno mismo y para todos los seres

«Encircled by seven [concentric] golden mountain ranges, And seven [intervening] emanational oceans. To the east is the continent Viratdeha, And to the south is Jambudvῑpa, The west is adorned by Aparagodanῑya, And to the north is Uttarakuru. [To either side of these continents are] the eight subcontinents: Deha and Videha [to the east], Cāmara and Aparacāmara [to the south], Sāṭhā and Uttaramantriṇa [to the west], And Kurava and Kaurava [to the north].» — el mismo mandala reparte los cuatro continentes y los ocho subcontinentes por los puntos cardinales en torno al Sumeru; el troceo imprime *Jambudvῑpa* con iota griega

«To my precious spiritual teachers and the fields of the Buddha-body of Perfect Resource, I offer this perfect purity of the sensory spectra and sensory activity fields, Adorned by the five sense-faculties, radiant and brilliant, Within the immeasurable palace of the pure energy channels of my body. Please accept [these offerings], with compassion and love! May all beings be born into the fields of the Buddha-body of Perfect Resource!» — la ofrenda al Cuerpo de Recurso Perfecto no entrega bienes sino la pureza de los espectros y campos sensoriales dentro del palacio inconmensurable de los canales de energía del propio cuerpo

«I pray to the [direct] intentional lineage of the conquerors: To Samantabhadra, primordial lord, Buddha-body of Reality, To the Conqueror Vajradhara, embodiment of the sixth [enlightened family], And to Vajrasattva, foremost of guides, the supreme buddha-mind.» — la plegaria del capítulo 1 abre el linaje por su primer tramo, el intencional directo: Samantabhadra, Vajradhara y Vajrasattva

«I pray to the [symbolic] lineage of the awareness holders: To the awareness holder Prahevajra, supreme among emanations, To the spiritual teacher Srῑ Simha, supreme son of the conquerors, To the undying Padmākara, established in the Buddha-body of Indestructible Reality, And to the ḍākinῑ [Yeshe] Tshogyalma, worthy recipient of the secret mantras.» — el segundo tramo del linaje, el simbólico de los sostenedores de la consciencia, nombra a Prahevajra, Srῑ Simha, Padmākara y la ḍākinῑ Yeshe Tshogyalma

«I pray to the aural lineage of [authoritative] personages: To Karma Lingpa, master of the profound treasures, To the one named [Nyinda] Choje, supreme son of his buddha-mind, And to the one named Sūryacandra [Nyinda Ozer], lord of living beings during this degenerate age.» — el tercer tramo, el linaje aural, nombra a Karma Lingpa, a su hijo Nyinda Choje y a Nyinda Ozer: es la cadena que el propio texto se adjudica

«If your teaching were to enter into decline, The yogins of this era would be [utterly] disheartened. Please, therefore, continue to guide all beings from this swamp of cyclic existence!» — la súplica del capítulo 1 nombra la consecuencia que teme —el desaliento de los yoguines si la enseñanza decae— y pide la guía continuada

«From the crown of the spiritual teacher in union with consort, A white syllable OṂ, [radiating] rays of light, Descends into the mid-point between my eyebrows, The vase empowerment is thus received and the obscurations of the body are purified. Please confer [upon me] the accomplishments of buddha-body!» — el primero de los cuatro empoderamientos del capítulo 1: la sílaba OṂ desciende de la coronilla del maestro al entrecejo y purifica las obscuraciones del cuerpo

«From the navel of the spiritual teacher in union with consort, A red syllable HRĪḤ, [radiating] rays of light, Descends into the centre of my navel, The obscurations which [mundanely] differentiate between body, speech and mind are purified, And the fourth empowerment of indivisible coemergence is received.» — el cuarto empoderamiento purifica la diferenciación mundana entre cuerpo, habla y mente, y se recibe como coemergencia indivisible

«These verses forming the preliminary practice of the Peaceful and Wrathful Deities: A Profound Sacred Teaching, [entitled] Natural Liberation through [Recognition of] Enlightened Intention may be applied as a supplementary method in the context of mental purification.» — el colofón del capítulo 1 declara para qué puede aplicarse el texto: como método suplementario de purificación mental

«This spiritual practice of the unsurpassed Greater Vehicle (Mahāyāna) is an oral teaching of [Nyinda] Choje Lingpa, the eldest son of the treasure-finder Karma Lingpa; and it was committed to writing by Guru Sūryacandraraśmi [i.e. Nyinda Ozer].» — el mismo colofón reparte la autoría del capítulo 1 en dos manos: enseñanza oral de Nyinda Choje Lingpa, hijo mayor de Karma Lingpa, puesta por escrito por Nyinda Ozer

«Owing to my ignorance, delusion, and confusion, I have transgressed the boundaries of the commitments, which I should have guarded. O my protector and spiritual teacher, be my refuge! You who are the supreme and glorious Vajra-holder» — la confesión del capítulo 1 adjudica a la ignorancia y la confusión el haber traspasado los límites de los compromisos, y pide refugio al maestro; la cita corta antes de la llamada de nota

«Embodying great compassion and love, O Foremost of beings, be our refuge. Assist us to purify and cleanse, without exception, this mass of flaws — Our negativities, obscurations, transgressions, and downfalls.» — la continuación de esa confesión pide la limpieza sin excepción de la masa de faltas: negatividades, obscuraciones, transgresiones y caídas

«The outer periphery becomes a jewelled fence of iron mountains, And at the centre is Mount Sumeru, king of mountains, Majestic and formed from the five precious substances, Exquisitely beautiful in shape, and delightful to behold» — la ofrenda del mandala del capítulo 1 construye el mundo por etapas: cerca enjoyada de montañas de hierro y el monte Sumeru al centro, hecho de las cinco sustancias preciosas

«I offer this primordially pure and innate pristine cognition That abides within the immeasurable palace of the pure Buddha-body of Reality, which is mind’s actual nature» — la ofrenda al Cuerpo de la Realidad no entrega bienes sino la cognición prístina innata y pura desde el origen, que mora en la naturaleza real de la mente; la cita corta antes de la llamada de nota

«By offering this exquisite and pleasing maṇḍala, May no obstacles arise on the path to enlightenment! May the enlightened intention of Those Gone to Bliss, past, present and future, be realised, May I neither be bewildered in migratory existence, Nor lulled by the solitary quiescence [of nirvāṇa]! But may I liberate beings throughout the expanse of space!» — el voto que cierra la ofrenda del mandala pide no quedar ni extraviado en la existencia migratoria ni adormecido en la quiescencia solitaria del nirvāṇa

«Herein is contained A Prayer for Union with the Spiritual Teacher, [Embodiment of] the Three Buddha-bodies, [entitled] Natural Liberation, without Renunciation of the Three Poisons,1 [which is an extract] from the Peaceful and Wrathful Deities: A Profound Sacred Teaching, [entitled] Natural Liberation through [Recognition of] Enlightened Intention.» — el encabezado del capítulo 2 nombra el texto y lo declara extracto del mismo ciclo de las Deidades Pacíficas y Airadas

«How needing of compassion are suffering sentient beings, right here, Who are driven on through cyclic existence by delusion and confusion — Because they do not understand that their own mind Is the Buddha-body of Reality, free from extremes! May they all actualise the Buddha-body of Reality!» — el capítulo 2 adjudica el andar por la existencia cíclica a no entender que la propia mente es el Cuerpo de la Realidad, libre de extremos

«How needing of compassion are all unenlightened living beings, right here, Who, as a result of grasping, are obscured by dissonant mental states and [subtle obstructions to] knowledge — Because they do not understand [that their own mind] Is indivisible from the three buddha-bodies! May they all actualise the three buddha-bodies!» — el cierre del capítulo 2 reúne las tres estrofas: el obstáculo es no entender que la propia mente es indivisible de los tres cuerpos del buda

«This prayer was brought forth from Mount Gampodar, which resembles a dancing god, by the accomplished master Karma Lingpa.» — el mismo colofón adjudica la extracción de la plegaria del monte Gampodar al maestro realizado Karma Lingpa: la obra declara en su propio cierre la doble atribución

«Alas, now as the intermediate state of living2 arises before me, Renouncing laziness, for which there is no time in this life, I must enter the undistracted path of study, reflection and meditation. Taking perceptual experience and [the nature of] mind as the path, I must cultivate actualisation of the three buddha-bodies. Now, having obtained a precious human body, this one time, I do not have the luxury of remaining on a distracted path.» — los versos raíz del capítulo 3 abren por el estado intermedio del vivir y le asignan su tarea: estudio, reflexión y meditación sin distracción, tomando la experiencia perceptual y la mente como camino

«Alas, now as the intermediate state of dreams arises before me, Renouncing the corpse-like, insensitive sleep of delusion, I must enter, free from distracting memories, the state of the abiding nature of reality. Cultivating [the experience of] inner radiance, Through the recognition, emanation, and transformation of dreams, I must not sleep like a beast, But cherish the experiential cultivation which mingles sleep with actual [realisation].» — el segundo verso raíz pide no dormir como bestia sino cultivar la radiancia interior por el reconocimiento, la emanación y la transformación de los sueños

«The translation of The Tibetan Book of the Dead was carried out with the support of His Holiness the Dalai Lama and with the commentarial guidance of revered contemporary Tibetan masters including the late Head of the Nyingma School of Tibetan Buddhism HH Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, Zenkar Rinpoche and Garje Khamtrul Rinpoche.» — la solapa editorial declara el respaldo con que se hizo la traducción y nombra a los maestros que dieron la guía comentarial, entre ellos el difunto cabeza de la escuela Nyingma

«GYURME DORJE (PhD) is a leading scholar of the Nyingma tradition of Tibetan Buddhism. His seven major publications include works on Tibetan lexicography, medicine, divination and pilgrimage guides to Tibet and Bhutan, as well as the translations of HH Dudjom Rinpoche’s The Nyingma School of Tibetan Buddhism. His forthcoming titles include The Guhyagarbha Tantra: Dispelling the Darkness of the Ten Directions.» — la solapa presenta al traductor como estudioso de la tradición Nyingma y enumera sus publicaciones, entre ellas la traducción de The Nyingma School of Tibetan Buddhism de Dudjom Rinpoche

«GRAHAM COLEMAN is President of the Orient Foundation (UK), a major Tibetan cultural conservancy organization. Writer/director of the acclaimed feature documentary Tibet: A Buddhist Trilogy and editor of the Handbook of Tibetan Culture, he has been editing Tibetan Buddhist poetry and prose texts in cooperation with various distinguished translators since the mid -1970s.» — la solapa presenta al editor como presidente de la Orient Foundation (UK) y director del documental Tibet: A Buddhist Trilogy; el espacio de *mid -1970s* es del troceo

«THUPTEN JINPA (PhD) is the senior translator to His Holiness the Dalai Lama and President of the Institute of Tibetan Classics. His works include the translation of twelve books by the Dalai Lama, including the New York Times bestseller Ethics for the New Millennium and the forthcoming The Universe in a Single Atom, the Dalai Lama’s perspective on the meeting of Buddhism and modern science.» — la solapa presenta al coeditor como traductor principal del Dalai Lama y presidente del Institute of Tibetan Classics

«May all sentient beings, children of buddha nature, realise the ultimate nature of mind: insight and compassion, in blissful union.» — la dedicatoria del volumen, sin firma, formula el voto en favor de todos los seres: que realicen la naturaleza última de la mente, entendida como unión dichosa de discernimiento y compasión

«Our project began in 1988 when HH the Dalai Lama kindly offered to request HH Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, the late head of the Nyingma school, to give an oral commentary to me on key sections of the Tibetan Book of the Dead. The Dalai Lama knew that various translations had been made of ‘The Great Liberation by Hearing’, our Chapter 11, but that so far no one had translated the entire Tibetan Book of the Dead.» — Graham Coleman fecha el proyecto en 1988 y dice qué lo motivó: existían traducciones de la Gran Liberación por la Audición, el capítulo 11, pero nadie había traducido el Libro Tibetano de los Muertos entero

«HH Dilgo Khyentse graciously agreed to the Dalai Lama’s request and over a period of four weeks gave the empowerments and an incisive and illuminating oral commentary to the core elements of the text, which was eloquently translated each day by Sogyal Rinpoche.» — Coleman relata que Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche dio durante cuatro semanas los empoderamientos y el comentario oral a los elementos centrales del texto, con Sogyal Rinpoche traduciendo cada día

«I had the good fortune to meet Dr Gyurme Dorje, who had previously translated Longchen Rabjampa’s commentary to the Guhygarbha Tantra, the root text on which the Tibetan Book of the Dead is based.» — Coleman declara cuál es el texto raíz en que se funda el ciclo: el Guhyagarbha Tantra, cuyo comentario de Longchen Rabjampa ya había traducido Gyurme Dorje; el troceo imprime *Guhygarbha*

«During this time, Gyurme worked closely with the highly regarded Nyingma master Zenkar Rinpoche, who is one of the foremost contemporary lineage holders of the Tibetan Book of the Dead. Zenkar Rinpoche kindly advised Gyurme throughout the translation of our text and also gave an extensive oral commentary to us on Chapter 4, ‘The Introduction to Awareness’.» — Coleman nombra a Zenkar Rinpoche como uno de los principales sostenedores contemporáneos del linaje del Libro Tibetano de los Muertos y le adjudica el comentario oral al capítulo 4

«At various stages of the project, the Dalai Lama answered my questions about difficult points, and he also dictated to me the lucid and succinct Introductory Commentary. At the Dalai Lama’s request, Khamtrul Rinpoche, an adviser to the Dalai Lama on Nyingma studies, also gave a beautiful oral commentary to key sections of Chapter 8 and dictated the introduction to Chapter 11.» — Coleman precisa cómo se produjo el aparato: el Dalai Lama le dictó el comentario introductorio, y Khamtrul Rinpoche dio comentario oral a partes del capítulo 8 y dictó la introducción del capítulo 11

«Jinpa translated the Dalai Lama’s Introductory Commentary and reviewed every line and word of all fourteen chapters of the edited translation with me twice, in the course of which he made countless important and inspiring suggestions.» — Coleman adjudica a Thupten Jinpa la traducción del comentario introductorio del Dalai Lama y una doble revisión línea por línea de los catorce capítulos

«Our insights and skills as writers would not even register on the most sensitive of detectors compared to those of the composers of the original cycle of teachings or the lineage holders who gave the commentarial explanation that guided us. Throughout this endeavour therefore we have tried to substitute hard work and attention to detail for our lack of ability and to let the original magnificence of the text shine through the clouds of our shortcomings as much as we were able.» — Coleman formula la posición de los traductores frente a los compositores del ciclo original: sustituir con trabajo y atención al detalle lo que les falta de capacidad, y dejar pasar la magnificencia del texto

«At Gyurme Dorje’s request, Gene Smith of the Tibetan Buddhist Resource Center in New York generously made available a digital version of the three-volume manuscript from the library of the late Kyabje Dudjom Rinpoche, on which our translation is largely based. HH Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche had previously provided copies of the text reprinted under his supervision in Delhi.» — Coleman declara la base textual de la traducción: el manuscrito en tres volúmenes de la biblioteca de Kyabje Dudjom Rinpoche, en versión digital del Tibetan Buddhist Resource Center

«Other versions of the text which we consulted, including the Varanasi reprint and other versions of Bhutanese and Chinese origin, are all from Gyurme Dorje’s private collection. Some source materials were also kindly provided by Zenkar Rinpoche, Tulku Jigme Khyentse, Dr Burkhard Quessel of the British Library, and Dr Fernand Meyer of CNRS in Paris.» — Coleman enumera las demás versiones cotejadas: el reimpreso de Varanasi y versiones de origen butanés y chino de la colección privada de Gyurme Dorje

«The colour illustrations that appear in our text have never previously been published. The two painted scrolls depicting the Hundred Peaceful and Wrathful Deities in Repkong style, which were commissioned by Gyurme Dorje in 2002, are from the studio of the late master artist Shawu Tsering of Sengeshong Yagotsang in Amdo.» — la nota sobre las ilustraciones declara que las láminas en color son inéditas y que los dos rollos pintados de las Cien Deidades Pacíficas y Airadas en estilo Repkong los encargó Gyurme Dorje en 2002

«The line drawings of Guru Padmasambhava (p. iv) and Karma Lingpa (p. xlvi) are the work of Robert Beer. The circular chart of mantras (btags-grol) (p. 346) is reproduced from Fremantle and Trungpa, The Tibetan Book of the Dead (Shambhala Classics, 2000), p. 32.» — la misma nota adjudica a Robert Beer los dibujos de Padmasambhava y de Karma Lingpa y remite la tabla circular de mantras a la edición de Fremantle y Trungpa

«Finally, the individual introductions to each of the chapters, except Chapter 11, were written by Dasho Sangay Dorji, a Bhutanese scholar» — Coleman adjudica las introducciones de cada capítulo, salvo la del 11, al estudioso butanés Dasho Sangay Dorji; el pasaje sigue en la plana siguiente diciendo que viene de una familia cuya línea paterna sostiene el linaje del texto desde hace generaciones

«whose paternal line has been lineage holders of the Tibetan Book of the Dead for several generations and who throughout his childhood accompanied his father every time he was called to a household to carry out these practices.» — la continuación de esa frase, ya en la plana siguiente, dice que el padre de Sangay Dorji era llamado a las casas para ejecutar estas prácticas y que el hijo lo acompañaba

«When considering these matters from a Buddhist point of view, however, we have to bear in mind that the understanding of the nature of continuity of consciousness and the understanding of the nature of the ‘I’ or ‘self’ are closely interlinked.» — el Dalai Lama liga las dos cuestiones desde el arranque: entender la continuidad de la consciencia y entender la naturaleza del yo son una sola indagación

«According to Buddhist classical literature, a person can be seen as possessing five interrelated aggregates, technically known as the five psycho-physical aggregates.a These are the aggregate of consciousness, the aggregate of form (which includes our physical body and senses), the aggregate of feeling, the aggregate of discrimination, and the aggregate of motivational tendencies» — el comentario introductorio del Dalai Lama enumera los cinco agregados psicofísicos con que la literatura budista clásica describe a la persona; la *a* volada es la llamada a una nota del editor

«Among the ancient schools of thought, which accepted the notion of continuity of consciousness, there were several non-Buddhist philosophical schools which regarded the entity, the ‘I’ or ‘self’, which migrated from existence to existence as being unitary and permanent. They also suggested that this ‘self’ was autonomous in its relationship to the psycho-physical components that constitute a person. In other words they believed or posited that there is an essence or ‘soul’ of the person, which exists independently from the body and the mind of the person.» — el Dalai Lama consigna la posición contraria: escuelas no budistas antiguas postulaban un yo unitario, permanente y autónomo, una esencia o alma independiente del cuerpo y de la mente

«However, Buddhist philosophy does not accept the existence of such an independent, autonomous entity. In the Buddhist view, the self or the person is understood in terms of a dynamic interdependent relationship of both mental and physical attributes, that is to say the psycho-physical components which constitute a person. In other words our sense of self can, upon examination, be seen as a complex flow of mental and physical events, clustered in clearly identifiable patterns» — el Dalai Lama opone a esa posición la budista: el yo se entiende como relación dinámica e interdependiente de atributos mentales y físicos, un flujo de eventos agrupado en patrones identificables

«according to Prāsaṅgika-Madhyamaka philosophy, which has become the prevailing philosophical view of Tibetan Buddhism today, this sense of self is simply a mental construct, a mere label given to this cluster of dependently arising mental and physical events in dependence on their continuity.» — el Dalai Lama nombra la escuela filosófica hoy prevaleciente en el budismo tibetano y su tesis sobre el yo: un constructo mental, una etiqueta puesta a ese cúmulo de eventos surgidos en dependencia

«One is the temporary person or self, that is as we exist at the moment, and this is labelled on the basis of our coarse or gross physical body and conditioned mind, and, at the same time, there is a subtle person or self which is designated in dependence on the subtle body and subtle mind.» — desde el Tantra del Yoga Supremo el Dalai Lama distingue dos personas: la temporal, designada sobre el cuerpo y la mente burdos, y la sutil, designada sobre el cuerpo y la mente sutiles

«This subtle body and subtle mind are seen as a single entity that has two facets. The aspect which has the quality of awareness, which can reflect and has the power of cognition, is the subtle mind. Simultaneously, there is its energy, the force that activates the mind towards its object - this is the subtle body or subtle wind. These two inextricably conjoined qualities are regarded, in Highest Yoga Tantra, as the ultimate nature of a person and are identified as buddha nature, the essential or actual nature of mind.» — el Dalai Lama identifica cuerpo sutil y mente sutil como una sola entidad de dos facetas —la que conoce y la energía que la mueve hacia su objeto— y declara que esa conjunción es la naturaleza búdica

«The principle of dependent origination asserts that nothing exists in its own right independent of other factors. Things and events come into being only in dependence on the aggregation of multiple causes and conditions.» — el Dalai Lama enuncia el origen dependiente: nada existe por derecho propio con independencia de otros factores, y las cosas llegan a ser solo por agregación de causas y condiciones múltiples

«On the other hand, in the case of someone who dies a sudden death, when the mind-body relationship at the gross level is still very firm, it is thought that there is a greater chance of carrying forward the acquired characteristics and memories, etc.» — el mismo pasaje da el caso inverso: en la muerte súbita, con la relación cuerpo-mente aún firme en lo burdo, hay más posibilidad de llevar adelante los rasgos adquiridos y los recuerdos

«In the Buddhist view, therefore, it is the nature of our habitual tendencies that generates our future existence, driven by the natural law of cause and effect.» — el Dalai Lama adjudica a la naturaleza de las tendencias habituales la generación de la existencia futura, movida por la ley natural de causa y efecto

«But, although we know that the human body serves as a condition for human consciousness, the question still remains: what is the nature of the underlying factor or essence that accounts for our experience of consciousness as having the natural quality of luminosity and awareness?» — el Dalai Lama deja abierta la pregunta que su propio argumento no cierra: qué es el factor subyacente que da cuenta de la consciencia como luminosidad y conocimiento

«Material things come into being based on other material entities such as particles, atoms and cells and the mind comes into being based on a previous moment of mind, which is something that is luminous and has the capacity to be aware. Each moment of awareness therefore depends on a previous moment of awareness as its cause.» — el Dalai Lama distingue las causas sustanciales de materia y mente: la mente surge de un momento anterior de mente, luminoso y con capacidad de conocer

«This is the reasoning upon which Buddhist logic asserts that there is at the level of subtle mind and subtle wind a beginningless continuum of mind and matter.» — de ese razonamiento el Dalai Lama deriva la tesis de un continuo sin comienzo de mente y materia en el nivel de la mente sutil y del viento sutil

«For example, if an individual is simply seeking a favourable rebirth as a human being, there is no need to engage in a sophisticated meditative path related to the processes of death and rebirth. Simply to live a virtuous life is seen as sufficient.» — el Dalai Lama gradúa la preparación por la aspiración de cada quien: al que solo busca renacimiento humano favorable le basta vivir virtuosamente, sin camino meditativo sobre la muerte

«It is exclusively in tantra, however, and particularly in Highest Yoga Tantra, that the methods for utilising the processes of death, the intermediate state and rebirth are specifically taught as the basis for achieving liberation from cyclic existence.» — el Dalai Lama restringe al tantra, y en particular al Tantra del Yoga Supremo, la enseñanza de los métodos que usan muerte, estado intermedio y renacimiento como base de la liberación

«The point at which the gross levels of energy are completely dissolved and only the subtle energies remain is death. The stage at which these energies unfold into a more manifest form is the intermediate state, and the stage at which they eventually manifest substantially is called rebirth.» — el Dalai Lama define los tres estados como modalidades de energía: muerte es la disolución de lo burdo, estado intermedio su despliegue más manifiesto, renacimiento su manifestación sustancial

«since death is the state when all the gross levels of energy and consciousness have been dissolved, and only the subtle energies and consciousnesses remain, it is possible for an advanced yogin to meditatively induce a state which is almost identical to the actual experience of death.» — de esa definición el Dalai Lama saca la consecuencia operativa: un yogin avanzado puede inducir meditativamente un estado casi idéntico a la experiencia de la muerte

«Each cycle of the process begins with a misapprehension of the nature of actual reality. This fundamental ignorance acts as a condition for the arising of the propensities created by our past actions, mental, verbal and physical, which condition our dualising consciousness.» — el Dalai Lama arranca cada ciclo de los doce eslabones en la ignorancia fundamental, que condiciona las propensiones de las acciones pasadas y estas la consciencia dualizante

«Our dualising consciousness, in turn, conditions the qualities and mode of interaction of our psycho-physical aggregates, which condition our sensory fields, which generate contact, which generates sensations, and then in turn attachment, grasping, and maturation towards rebirth. At this point there is an interaction with the genetic constituents of the parents and subsequent interaction with the environment, and then finally we have birth, ageing and death.» — el resto de la serie, en el mismo pasaje: de los agregados a los campos sensoriales, al contacto, a las sensaciones, al apego, a la aprehensión y a la maduración hacia el renacimiento

«The Buddhist view is that the continuity of personal experience is primarily founded on the capacity for retention, which can be further developed during one’s meditative practice» — el Dalai Lama funda la continuidad de la experiencia personal en la capacidad de retención, desarrollable en la práctica meditativa; la frase sigue en la plana siguiente

«However, generally speaking, it is thought that if a person dies after a prolonged period of illness that has led to a prolonged degeneration of both physical and mental capacities, there will be a greater chance of many of the personal characteristics, including memories etc., being lost.» — la continuación de esa frase señala que una muerte tras larga degeneración física y mental hace más probable perder muchos de los rasgos personales, recuerdos incluidos

«From the Buddhist perspective, rebirth in conditioned existence can take place in one of three realms: the formless realm, the form realm or the desire realm. The form and formless realms are fruits of subtle states of consciousness, attained upon the realisation of certain meditative concentrations. Our realm, the desire realm, is the most gross of these three.» — el Dalai Lama nombra los tres reinos de la existencia condicionada y sitúa el nuestro, el del deseo, como el más burdo de los tres