September 11, 2001 – 10:52pm

“O nobly born, listen carefully without distraction. There are six bardo states: the bardo of birth, the bardo of dreams, the bardo of samadhi-meditation, the bardo of the moment before death, the bardo of dharmata and the bardo of becoming. O nobly born, you will experience three bardo states: the bardo of the moment before death, the bardo of dharmata and the bardo of becoming. Of these three, the luminosity of dharmata and the bardo of the moment before death shone until yesterday, but you did not recognise it, and so you had to wander here. Now you will recognize the bardo of dharmata and the bardo of becoming, so recognise what I will show you without distraction.

“O nobly born, now what is called death has arrived. You are not alone in leaving this world, it happens to everyone, so do not feel desire and yearning for this life. Even if you feel desire and yearning you cannot stay, you can only wander in samsara. Do not desire, do not yearn. Remember the Three Jewels. O nobly born, whatever terrifying projections appear in the bardo of dharmata, do not forget these words, but go forward remembering their meaning; the essential point is to recognise with them.

Now when the bardo of dharmata dawns upon me,
I will abandon all thoughts of fear and terror,
I will recognise whatever appears as my projection
and know it to be a vision of the bardo;
now that I have reached this crucial point
I will not fear the peaceful and wrathful ones, my own 
projections.

“Go forward, saying these words clearly and distinctly, and remembering their meaning. Do not forget them, for the essential point is to recognise with certainty that whatever appears, however terrifying, is your own projection.” 

-The Tibetan Book Of The Dead

Safe passage, to all who have departed the earth, today.