Bardo

BARDO

Tibet has not contributed anything else. It is a poor country, far away from the world -- the roof of the world -- unapproachable. Even today it is very difficult to reach Tibet. 

Tibet developed meditation through Buddhist influence and finally became the only country in history where everybody was meditating, where meditation was a normal phenomenon. Every family had to give at least one of its members -- someone who was ready -- to a monastery, to meditate totally. So from every family at least one member went from each generation. 

Almost the whole country of Tibet became a monastery. Just as Russia has become a concentration camp, Tibet became a monastery. There were hundreds of monasteries in the mountains, in beautiful places. Every family had contributed someone who was truly interested in seeking. It was the only place where people were encouraged to go on the search; it had become part of the style of the whole country. 

And those who were not in the monasteries were also meditating as much as they could manage, so by the time of death, bardo was possible for everybody. There were many masters available, many evolved beings available who could repeat those instructions -- and everybody had a master of his own. It was a totally different world.

In this century many beautiful things have been destroyed but Tibet is at the top. Tibet has been destroyed by a communist invasion from China. Monasteries have been changed into schools, into hospitals, and monks have been forced to work in the fields. Even to mention the word "meditation" became a crime. And it was not hurting anybody: the country was so aloof, so cut off from the world. 

But it has been destroyed, and I don't think there is any possibility to recover its beauty, its grandeur. That is impossible because now there are roads joining it to Pakistan, to China. Now buses are moving, now airports are there and planes are coming and going. 

The army is there. It has become a military base for China. It has lost its golden age. Soon it will be difficult to find a person who is capable of listening to bardo instructions and almost impossible to find a person who can give those instructions. They will be in the books; they are available now in all the languages. They are simple instructions but they can be improved, and I have the idea to improve them because they are very ancient and very crude. They can be polished. Much can be added to them, more dimensions can be given to them. But the basic thing is that the people should be meditative. My people are meditative, and it will be part of our basic work to revive the bardo in a more refined form so we can use it for our people. 

Tibet is no longer the same Tibet. But we can create the situation, the psychology, where bardo -- or something like bardo but even far more evolved -- can help people. It is a beautiful process. Just as Japan has brought Zen from Buddhist sources of meditation, Tibet has brought, from the same Buddhist sources of meditation, bardo. These are their immortal contributions. 

When nuclear weapons are forgotten, still these discoveries will have the same  significance.

The Path of the Mystic 
Chapter #7 
Chapter title: Between these two dreams... 
7 May 1986 pm in Punta Del Este, Uruguay