The-Tibetan-Book-of-Living-and-Dying

THE BARDO OF BECOMING 301
Alas! the father and mother, the great storm, the whirlwind, the
thunder, the terrifying projections and all these apparent phenomena
are illusory in their real nature. However they appear, they are
not real. All substances are false and untrue. They are like a
mirage, they are not permanent, they are not changeless. What is
the use of desire? What is the use of fear? It is regarding the
nonexistent as existent...
The Tibetan Book of the Dead goes on to advise us:
"All substances are my own mind, and this mind is emptiness,
unarisen and unobstructed." Thinking this, keep your
mind natural and undiluted, self-contained in its own nature like
water poured into water, just as it is, loose, open and relaxed. By
letting it rest naturally and loosely, you can be sure that the wombentrance
to all the different kinds of birth will certainly be closed. 9
The next best method to prevent rebirth is to see your
potential parents as the buddha, or your master, or yidam
deity. And at the very least, you should try to generate a feeling
of renunciation against being drawn into feelings of desire,
and to think of the pure realms of the buddhas. This will prevent
rebirth and may cause you to be reborn in one of the
buddha realms.
If you are unable to stabilize the mind enough to do even
this kind of practice, then there remain the methods for choosing
a rebirth, which are linked to the landmarks and signs of
the different realms. If you must take rebirth, or you intentionally
wish to be reborn in order to pursue your spiritual path
and be of benefit to others, you should not enter any but the
human realm. It is only there that conditions are favorable for
spiritual progress. If you are going to be born in a fortunate
situation in the human realm, the teachings tell us, you will
feel you are arriving at a sumptuous and beautiful house, or in
a city, or among a crowd of people, or you will have a vision
of couples making love.
Otherwise, generally we have no choice. We are drawn
toward our birthplace "as inexorably as a bird lured into a
cage, dry grass catching fire, or an animal sinking into a
marsh." The Tibetan Book of the Dead says: "O son/daughter of
an enlightened family, even though you do not want to go,
you have no power of your own; you are helpless and compelled
to go."