About the Author

The twelfth Gangri Karma Rinpoche (born 1964) is an exceptional Buddhist scholar and Dharma practitioner and the present lineage holder of the Martsang Kagyu tradition of Tibetan Buddhism, having received the teachings in a direct unbroken line from the founder, Chöjé Marpa (1134- 1203). Rinpoche has extensively studied the four major traditions of Tibetan Buddhism and has established schools in Tibet, Taiwan and the UK, where he now resides.

Gangri Karma Rinpoche is an exceptional scholar of the Dharma, who has played a key role internationally, exploring the interface of Buddhism with modern science. In 1994 Gangri Karma Rinpoche established a Scientific Buddhist Institute in Markham, Tibet where he acted as a Professor of Buddhism. In addition he established a School for orphans and semi-orphans to train to be Tibetan medical practitioners.

On the 11th October 1987, H.H. Twelfth Gangri Karma Rinpoche was recognised by His Holiness Sakya Trizin and H.H. Forteenth Dalai Lama on the 15th December 1987 as the major Siddha, possessing merit of achievement in rainbow body and Dzogchen (Great Perfection). Dedication

The book is dedicated to all who wish to fulfil mental and psychological happiness. T h e 1 2 t h Gangri Karma Rinpoche

THE BRIGHT MIND BETWEEN DEATH AND BIRTH Copyright © The 12th Gangri Karma Rinpoche

The right of Gangri Karma Rinpoche to be identified as author of this work, has been asserted by him in accordance with section 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publishers.

Any person who commits any unauthorized act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.

A CIP catalogue record for this title is available from the British Library.

ISBN 978 184963 480 9 www.austinmacauley.com

First Published (2014) Austin Macauley Publishers Ltd. 25 Canada Square Canary Wharf London E14 5LB

Printed and bound in Great Britain Acknowledgements by the Twelfth Gangri Karma Rinpoche

This book would not have come together if it were not for the help and support of many people. I am enormously grateful to YI-CHEN LEE (Dolma), the director of the Martsang Kagyu Buddhist Centre in Taiwan, for she provided me with everything that I needed. I had the opportunity to write The Bright Mind Between Death and Birth, and write and edit many other Martsang Kagyu texts.

With good intentions and unchanging faith, Lee Fei-Lung, Chang K C, Chiou Mei-Li and Chen Tai-Hung who are great patrons of Martsang Kagyu and enthusiastically sponsored many translation contexts. Peter Alan Roberts, who studied the Tibetan text and did the translation. Tracey Bryson who made many careful corrections on the context of the translation.

I, Gangri Karma, on behalf of Martsang Kagyu express my sincere thanks to these people.

May this text prove beneficial to many beings. Recommend

This book addresses the subject of the ‘Bardo’, a Tibetan word meaning an intermediate state, and particularly refers to the time between death and rebirth. Shakyamuni Buddha introduced the concept of Bardo, when he taught the secret mantra, two thousand five hundred years ago. There are two main heritable lineage in Tibet, one is from Padmasambhava, who was the great Indian Acharya who first brought the tantric teaching to Tibet in the eighth century, gave most detailed description of the experiences of Bardo. A great number of these were within the Nyingma tradition and most of the practitioners succeeded through following these teaching, especial one of the foremost Mahasiddha Karma Lingpa. Our author Gangri Karma Rinpoche’s in his previous life was very successful in practicing the Karma Lingpa’s teaching.

Another one is Nāropa who addressed the meditation practices in the complete sense as preparation for the after-death experience as a method for attaining liberation and enlightenment. This involved the instructions for both the transference of consciousness at the point of death and the also for attaining the realization in the intermediate state. These six Dharma teachings of Nāropa which included in the Bardo’s teaching were brought into Tibet by Marpa Lotsawa (circa 1012-1097) and this formed the foundation for the Kagyu tradition with its many lineages. Our author's previous life was also very successful in the practice of six Dharmas of Nāropa.

Hence the ways of Nyingma and the six Dharmsas of Nāropa both are prominent features in this book making it the key book among all of the Bardo books.

This text, unlike traditional works on the subject avoids the detailed enumeration and descriptions of the successive deities of the bardo. It instead deals with more accessible accounts of memories of bardo experiences and our author personal true experience of practicing. It depicts an unalloyed expression of contemporary Tibetan religious thoughts, thereby making it more acceptable to the Western or scientific audience and may also provides a great opportunity for the world to deeply understand the traditional Tibetan lama. This means that the readers will come across many arcane statements, which they have not encountered normally in books directed at a Western audience. This book aims to be explicit to the western audience, avoiding the traditional format of a Tibetan text, and with a modern audience in mind, has a question and answer format, which is new for Tibetan literature.

Our Author Gangri Karma Rinpoche’s Dharma knowledge encompasses the four traditions of Tibetan Buddhism and includes the Kagyu, Nyingma, Gelug and Sakya.

This really is a unique opportunity to study and explore with an advanced Tibetan Buddhist practitioner and master so I really recommend this book to you.

Best wish,

Khensur Lobsang Dorjee Rinpoche The former Abbot of the Gyuto Tantric Monastery About Martsang Kagyu Tibetan Buddhism

The Martsang Kagyu tradition of Tibetan Buddhism was founded by His Holiness Chöjé Marpa Sherab Yeshe (1135- 1203) and is based on the authentic teachings of the Buddha’s sutras and tantras. Chöjé Marpa was born in Markham, East Tibet, and studied at Sangpu, the great monastic college of the Kadampa tradition. Subsequently, Chöjé Marpa studied with Phagmo Drupa Dorje Gyalpo (1110-1170), receiving and mastering the profound secret Kagyu teachings. In 1167, Chöjé Marpa returned to Markham, where he founded the Tashi Sho monastery and established the Martsang Kagyu tradition as a union of the Kadampa and Kagyu lineages.

Chöjé Marpa’s principal student was Drogön Rinchen (1170- 1249), who, in 1200 founded the Tsomdo monastery in Markham. Both Chöjé Marpa and Drogön Rinchen taught numerous students and thousands more studied the teachings at their monasteries. In 1274, Lochen Chogyal Phakpa (1235- 1280), who was then the ruler of Tibet, visited Tsomdo Monastery and became its benefactor. However, Drogön Rinchen predicted that the community would be destroyed and that he would be reincarnated at a later time to ensure the revival of the teachings. His prophecy was realized when in 1639, the Mongolian army demolished both monasteries.

Although they were rebuilt, the Dzungarian Mongols destroyed them again in 1718 and the tradition entered a period of decline. Fortunately, the teachings survived and were passed down in an unbroken lineage to the eleventh Gangri Karma Rinpoche, who was later recognized as the reincarnation of Drogön Rinchen. The twelfth Gangri Karma Rinpoche has the unique position of being the holder of the Martsang Kagyu lineage. Rinpoche held a commemoration of the founding of Martsang Kagyu 842 years previously in 2009.

For this ceremony Samdhong Rinpoche, the previous prime minister of the Tibetan government in exile sent the letter to the Gangri Karma Rinpoche and the office of the Martsang Kagyu organization.