Obtain a small wooden box, preferably rectangular in shape. It may be a jewelry box, cigar box, or something purchased at a craft store. Inside place a photograph of yourself, a lock of your hair and a small personal item. Along with this you will need a white tea light candle and a small bell, singing bowl, or tingshaw, a garden spade or small shovel, sage or amber incense, and a lighter or matches.
Journey to a remote outdoor location where you will be undisturbed. A beach is ideal, but any other place outside will do.
When you arrive, dig a hole deep enough for the box. Light the incense and open the box so that you may look upon the contents. Say aloud, "May this effort be for the benefit of all beings everywhere." Light the candle and ring the bell three times. Now say , "This reading is addressed to the being of …", and insert your own name.
Read the following Obligatory Reader's Invocation. Understand every word as you utter it. Take your time and read slower than slowly.
"To the divine silence of unreachable endlessness;
To the divine silence of perfected knowledge;
To the divine silence of the soundless voice;
To the divine silence of the Heart of the Labyrinth;
To the divine silence of the ancient mind;
To the divine silence of the unborn guide;
To the divine silence of the unseen guide, protector of all sentient life;
To the divine silence of those of perfected knowledge;
To the divine silence of human primate incarnation;
To the divine silence of the labyrinth guides who sacrifice their liberation for those who have not yet awakened to the truth;
To the divine silence of the Lord of Death, the eternal unborn resident of the labyrinth who has sacrificed his own redemption for the redemption of all voyagers everywhere;
To the divine silence of the primordial being;
To the divine silence of the great sacrifice;
We offer homage, love and hope;
But above all, we give our gratitude. "
Ring the bell once more, then read the following Confronting the Clear Light. Again, read slowly and clearly, understanding each word as it is spoken. Allow every word and every space between words to be a universe unto itself. Read it three times, ringing the bell once before each reading.
"Now I am experiencing the Clear Light of objective reality. Nothing is happening, nothing ever has happened or ever will happen. My present sense of self, the voyager, is in reality the void itself, having no qualities or characteristics. I remember myself as the voyager, whose deepest nature is the Clear Light itself; I am one; there is no other. I am the voidness of the void, the eternal unborn, the uncreated, neither real nor unreal. All that I have been conscious of is my own play of consciousness, a dance of light, the swirling patterns of light in infinite extension, endless endlessness, the Absolute beyond change, existence, reality. I, the voyager, am inseparable from the Clear Light; I cannot be born, die, exist, or change. I know now that this is my true nature."
Close the box and ring the bell three times. Lower the box into the hole you prepared and cover it.
Say, "This concludes the reading addressed to the being of…", and insert your own name. Snuff the candle.
The Obligatory Reader's Invocation and Confronting the Clear Light are taken from the American Book of the Dead, written by EJ Gold. If you’re need is great, purchase the book beforehand and follow this experiment by reading the appropriate passage each day for the next 49 days. You may also repeat the above readings every day for forty nine days following the burial.
Labels: bardo, death, guide, invocation