100 Deities of Bardo State - The Four Male And Female Gate Keepers (Part 4)

Bardo, The Intermediate State:

Bardo is the Tibetan word for between, or an in-between, state. In a religious context the term is most referenced in regard to the state of existence that occurs between death and rebirth. Under the subject of bardo some of the topics of interest that are related to art are the sights and visions that a being is believed to experience during that time. In the West this subject is most commonly referred to as 'The Tibetan Book of The Dead.

Bardo is an abstract concept. There are no actual images of the bardo. Deity figures and mandala-like shapes are used to convey the ideas of the state between death and rebirth.

The 'Terton' Karma Lingpa (1326–1386), in the 14th century, is credited with the discovery of the 'treasure text' known as the Liberation Through Hearing in the Bardo (Tibetan Book of the Dead).

A text intended to be read to the deceased and to influence positively the subsequent rebirth. (There is evidence to suggest that the famous 'Treasure Finder' of the Bon Religion - Shenchen Luga (996-1035) - had discovered similar texts in the 11th century).

The assembly mandala of Bardo deities depicts a perfected state of beings and the central deities within, symbolizes the perfected states of the meditators' own awareness, psycho-physical aggregates, elemental properties and sensory and mental process.

The peaceful deities symbolize the natural purity of these fundamental components of beings while the wrathful deities are the transformative aspects of the energies. The outer deities of these mandalas are the mode of activities of an enlightened being.

100 Deities of Bardo (Intermediate State)

Bardo, The Intermediate State: The assembly of 100 deities: 1) The 42 peaceful deities 2) The 58 wrathful deities

The Four Male Gatekeepers

Who are counted among the forty-two peaceful deities, are:

1. Achala, guarding the East Gate (Vijaya or Mahabala)
2. Yamantaka, guarding the South Gate
3. Hayagriva, guarding the West Gate
4. Amritakundali, guarding the North Gate

1. Achala, guarding the East Gate (or Vijaya, or Mahabala) is one of the ten wrathful kings that are present in many Yoga Tantra and Anuttarayoga Tantra mandalas, and one of the four main meditational deities of the Kadampa school.

2. Yamantaka, guarding the South Gate. Yamantaka literally The Destroyer or Slayer of Yama, the Lord of Death, is a wrathful form of Manjushri.

3. Hayagriva, guarding the West Gate. Hayagriva is the wrathful manifestation of Avalokiteshvara who symbolizes enlightened speech, usually depicted as red in colour and with a horse's head protruding from his crown.

4. Amritakundali, guarding the North Gate. In Buddhist thought, Amritakundalin is seen as the dispenser of Amrita, the celestial nectar of immortality. Amritakundali (Buddhist Deity) one of the main and earliest Buddhist Yoginītantras.

He has three faces and six arms, is fierce and appears black like the newly split antimony; he is surrounded by a garland of flames, he is cruel, and he is endowed with reddish-brown eyes; He is crushing the Great Obstacle(s) under his feet; his fist is raised, holding a hatchet; with his left hands he holds a club, a Vajra and a noose. His forefinger is threatening all evil beings.

The practitioner should visualize a sword in his hand; afterwards, he should visualize the eight Wisdoms along with the door-guardians; eventually he should project the eight Wisdoms into the petals.

The Four Female Gate Keepers

Who are counted among the forty-two peaceful deities, are:

1. Ankusha also called 'Horse Face' or 'Iron Hook', guarding the east gate and in union with Vijaya or Achala.

2. Pasha also called 'Sow Face' or 'the Noose', guarding the south gate and in union with Yamantaka.

3. Shrinkhala also called 'Lion Face' or 'Iron Chain', guarding the west gate and in union with Hayagriva.

4. Ghanta also called 'Wolf Face' or 'the Bell', guarding the north gate and in union with Amritakundali.

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