our journey (haibun) Week #1 epsiode 2 The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying, Insight 1

She wondered where they all went. Some believe in heaven, purgatory and hell. Yet what if the first few moments after a death there is a limbo where spirits linger for their loved ones…stick around for as long as needed? What if there is a dimension invisible to the human eye except for those who have reached enlightenment?

Where will I be? Will I be in limbo a long time, passing through waiting in between?

passing through
floating in third dimensions
pending revival

Inspired by Carpe Theme Week #1 epsiode 2 The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying, Insight 1

We are travelers

Reincarnation is one of the central ideas of Tibetan Buddhism and The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying. I hope to explain this (with the help of Soygal of course).

Rinpoche makes a difference between our “ego”, our daily personality, our “I”, the form / shape our psyche has in our body in which we live our life, and the deeper, natural consciousness, which is our essence.

What happens when we die? In fact only our body dies, but our consciousness “rises” to another new state of being, another dimension maybe. That is our rigpa, the absolute nature of mind (spirit), the consciousness before thoughts and emotions occur / rise. Later it will be reborn in another body.

Death is not the absolute end. Our body doesn’t exist anymore, but our consciousness travels on. The idea of dying can be paralyzing, but in this vision death is just a moment of transition. That makes the idea of death lighter: we are travelers, continuous on our way from one world to another.

Our host’s response

Finally our consciousness will reach enlightenment, maybe not in this life, but maybe in another life.

ghostly nebulae
covers the old graveyard
cherry blossom blooms