GENTLY WHISPERED
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consciousness which then falls into a kind of oblivion where there is no cognition. This state is like a very thick, heavy sleep, which usually lasts about three days, after which the consciousness re-arises and immediately projects a vast array of illusory images. These mental projections have a haunting similarity to the way one is in one's dream and waking states. Such projections are, however, very different in that the appearances occur instantaneously and will arise and disappear immediately and very rapidly. Additionally, there is the tendency of the disembodied being that is experiencing this display to believe that it is something real. This, of course, furthers the habitual clinging to a duality of self and other, which complicates the after-death experience. Because the mind is caught into a misbelief of self and other during these illusory, bewildering appearances, such nonrecognition causes the experience of a great deal of fear and suffering. All three bodies are continually manifesting in samsara because of this misconception; in the death bardo, or the interval (bardo) between dying and being reborn, this habitual misconception eventually compels one to experience rebirth again. However, bardo appearances, just like corporeal and dream appearances, are completely illusory. They have no foundation in absolute reality. It is this tendency of clinging to self and other that is inferred when the mental body is mentioned. To liberate themselves from these delusions of misguided projection that are the source of suffering, the Lord Buddha Shakyamuni and many other realized beings have recognized the true r:tature of mind as having the quality of empty, unimpeded clarity. All sentient beings, without exception, have this same mind. This itself is the seed of buddhahood, the actual buddha nature that is inherent in all sentient beings. However, the ignorance of clinging to a self has obscured this inherent nature, for by clinging to a self, one necessarily defines an other, and therefore one clings to duality. This duality results in the obscuration of emotional reactions and the obscuration of karmic accumulation. This clinging, and these resultant obscurations, is the difference between samsaric existence and enlightened awareness. According to the teachings of the Lord Buddha, the obscurations that keep us from true liberation are considered to be four in