A person is either in this world or in the resurrection—or in the middle place. May I not be found there! In this world there is good and evil, but the good of the world is not really good and the evil of the world is not really evil. After this world there is evil that is really evil: this is called the middle. The middle is death. As long as we are in this world, we should acquire resurrection, so that when we take off the flesh we may be found in rest and not wander in the middle. For many go astray on the way.

(7) For as this World breaks and passes away, so also all Flesh (which is generated out of the Spirit of this World) must break and pass away. Therefore now when the poor Soul must depart out of this Body, wherein yet it is generated, if then it has not the new Garment of the Regeneration of the Holy Ghost in it, and is not clothed with the Mantle of Christ, with his Incarnation, Suffering, Death, and Resurrection, in him, then there begins great Sorrow and Unquietness, [viz.] in those only which at the Breaking of their Bodies are but in the Gate, and so swim between Heaven and Hell; and there then dis Need of Wrestling and Struggling, as is to be seen by very many when they are dying.

People who say they will first die and then arise are wrong. If they do not receive the resurrection first, while they are alive, they will receive nothing when they die. So it is said of baptism, “Great is baptism,” for if people receive it, they will live.

(61) That you cling so to present existence, O simpleton? Since the latter of your states were better than the former, You have already seen hundreds of resurrections Occur every moment from your origin till now; One from the inorganic state to the vegetive state, From the vegetive state to the animal state of trial; Thence again to rationality and good discernment; Ah! O crow, give up this life and live anew! In view of God's changes cast away your life! Choose the new, give up the old,

(4) "Watch and pray that you not come to be in the flesh, but rather that you come forth from the bondage of the bitterness of this life. And as you pray, you will find rest, for you have left behind the suffering and the disgrace. For when you come forth from the sufferings and passions of the body, you will receive rest from the good one, and you will reign with the king, you joined with him and he with you, from now on, for ever and ever, Amen."

(10) But there is yet a sure hope of resurrection, and then we shall get the angelical clarity or glory and purity again. Question.

(132) But the wisdom of God prevents this speedy end, He says, "O parts, the appointed time is not yet; It is useless for you to take wing before that day." But as each part desires reunion with its original, How is it with the soul who is a stranger in exile? It says, "O parts of my habitation here below, My absence is sadder than yours, as I am heaven-born. The body loves green pastures and running water, The love of the soul is for life and the living one, The love of the soul is for wisdom and knowledge,

(21) Verily, verily, I say unto you. The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live. For as the Father hath life in himself; so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself; and hath given him authority to execute judgment also because he is the Son of man. Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, and shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.

(29) There be some who affirm, that a man, while in this present time, may and ought to be above being touched by outward things, and in all respects as Christ was after His resurrection. This they try to prove and establish by Christ’s words: “I go before you into Galilee there; shall ye see Me.”36 And again, “A spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see Me have.”37 These sayings they interpret thus: “As ye have seen Me, and been followers of Me, in My mortal body and life, so also it behoveth you to see Me and follow Me, as I go before you into Galilee; that is to say, into a state in which nothing hath power to move or grieve the soul; on which state ye shall enter, and live and continue therein, before that ye have suffered and gone through your bodily death. And as ye see Me having flesh and bones, and not liable to suffer, so shall ye likewise, while yet in the body and having your mortal nature, cease to feel outward things, were it even the death of the body.” Now, I answer, in the first place, to this affirmation, that Christ did not mean that a man should or could attain unto this state, unless he have first gone through and suffered all that Christ did.

(24) Even though thou couldst enter thy dead body nine times over — owing to the long interval which thou hast passed in the Chonyid Bardo — it will have been frozen if in winter, been decomposed if in summer, or, otherwise, thy relatives will have cremated it, or interred it, or thrown it into the water, or given it to the birds and beasts of pray. Wherefore finding no place for thyself to enter into, thou wilt be dissatisfied and have the sensation of being squeezed into cracks and crevices amidst rocks and boulders. The experiencing of this sort of misery occurs in the Intermediate State when seeking rebirth. Even though thou seekest a body, thou wilt gain nothing but trouble. Put aside the desire for a body; and permit thy mind to abide in the state of resignation, and act so as to abide therein.

(9) Do not expect, therefore, the carnal resurrection, which is destruction; and they are not stripped of it (the flesh) who err in expecting a resurrection that is empty. They do not know the power of God, nor do they understand the interpretation of the scriptures, on account of their double-mindedness. The mystery which the Son of Man spoke about, [...], in order that [...] destroy ... ... (2 lines unrecoverable) ... man who [...] book, which is written [...] for they have ... ... (1 line unrecoverable) ... blessed [...] within them, and they dwell before God under the light yoke. Those who do not have the life-giving word in their heart will die; and in their thought they have become manifest to the Son of Man, according to the manner of their activity and their error [...] of this sort. They [...] as he divides the [...], and they do not understand that the Son of Man is coming from him.

(40) [Instructions to the Officiant]: Therefore, if unable to part with the attraction and repulsion, those of the least mentality and of evil karma will be liable to take refuge amongst brutes. The way to repel therefrom is to call the deceased by name again, thus: O nobly-born, if thou art not able to rid thyself of attraction and repulsion, and know not the [art of] selecting the womb-door, whichever of the above visions may appear, call up on the Precious Trinity and take refuge [therein]. Pray unto the Great Compassionate One. Walk with thy head erect. Know thyself in the Bardo. Cast away all weakness and attraction towards thy sons and daughters or any relations left behind thee; they can be of no use to thee. Enter upon the White Light-[Path] of the devas, or upon the Yellow Light-[Path] of human beings; enter into the great mansions of precious metals and into the delightful gardens.

(1) Know, O brother, that in the Koran God hath said, "We will set up a just balance on the Day of Resurrection, and no soul shall be wronged in anything. Whosoever has wrought a grain of good or ill shall then behold it." In the Koran it is also written, "Let every soul see what it sends on before it for the Day of Account." It was a saying of the Caliph Omar, "Call yourselves to account before ye be called to account"; and God says, "O ye believers, be patient and strive against your natural desires, and maintain the strife manfully." The saints have always understood that they have come into this world to carry on a spiritual traffic, the resulting gain or loss of which is heaven or hell. They have, therefore, always kept a jealous eye upon the flesh, which, like a treacherous partner in business, may cause them great loss. He, therefore, is a wise man who, after his morning prayer, spends a whole hour in making a spiritual reckoning, and says to his soul, "Oh my soul, thou hast only one life; no single moment that has passed can be recovered, for in the counsel of God the number of breaths allotted thee is fixed, and cannot be increased. When life is over no further spiritual traffic is possible for thee; therefore what thou dost, do now; treat this day as if thy life had been already spent, and this were an extra day granted thee by the special favour of the Almighty. What can be greater folly than to lose it?"

(321) Do not become guilty of your own death. Do not be angry at him who will take you out of (the) body and kill you.

(2) Now, amongst the profane, some illogically think to go to a non-existence; others that the bodily blending with their proper souls will be severed once for all, as unsuitable to them in a Divine life and blessed lots, not considering nor being sufficiently instructed in Divine science, that our most Godlike life in Christ has already begun. But others assign to souls union with other bodies, committing, as I think, this injustice to them, that, after (bodies) have laboured together with the godly souls, and have reached the goal of their most Divine course, they relentlessly deprive them of their righteous retributions. And others (I do not know how they have strayed to conceptions of such earthly tendency) say, that the most holy and blessed repose promised to the devout is similar to our life in this world, and unlawfully reject, for those who are equal to the Angels, nourishments appropriate to another kind of life. None of the most religious men, however, will ever fall into such errors as these; but, knowing that their whole selves will receive the Christ-like inheritance, when they have come to the goal of this present life, they see more clearly their road to incorruption already become nearer, and extol the gifts of the Godhead, and are filled with a Divine satisfaction, no longer fearing the fall to a worse condition, but knowing well that they will hold firmly and everlastingly the good things already acquired. Those, however, who are full of blemishes, and unholy stains, even though they have attained to some initiation, yet, of their own accord, have, to their own destruction, rejected this from their mind, and have rashly followed their destructive lusts, to them when they have come to the end of their life here, the Divine regulation of the Oracles will no longer appear as before, a subject of scorn, but, when they have looked with different eyes upon the pleasures of their passions destroyed, and when they have pronounced blessed the holy life from which they thoughtlessly fell away, they are, piteously and against their will, separated from this present life, conducted to no holy hope, by reason of their shameful life.

(3) And when the Saviour had said this, he said unto his disciples: "Understand ye in what manner I speak with you?" "If on the other hand those who shall receive mysteries of the mystery of the Ineffable and of the mysteries of the First Mystery, turn and sin and come out of the body without having repented, then they will be even as those will be who have transgressed and not repented. Their dwelling also is in the midst of the jaws of the dragon of the outer darkness and they will perish and be non-existent for ever. For this cause have I said unto you: All men who shall receive the mysteries, if they knew the time when they come out of the body, would watch themselves and not sin, in order that they may inherit the Light-kingdom for ever."

(88) Speaking then of the true Resurrection of Christ, we will also show [somewhat] concerning his Conversation (those forty Days) after his Resurrection, before his Ascension. Because we know that he is become a real Lord over Heaven, Earth, and Hell, therefore we show you how the Kingdom of this World, with all the Essences and Qualities thereof, has been subjected to him. And though he did not always converse visibly with his Disciples, yet many Times he showed himself to them visibly, palpably, and staying with them, according to the Kingdom of this World, according to his Body which he had here, which was swallowed up by the new Body, which he must present again, as God would have it to be presented; for God is Lord of every Thing, and every Thing must be changed (as he pleases) that he might thus show his Disciples his real Body, and the Print of his Nails, which stand in the Holy Christ, in his holy Body in Eternity, as

(2) Now, it is right that the soul be regenerated and be as she formerly was. The soul stirred. Her divine nature and her rejuvenation came from her father so she might return to where she was before. This is resurrection from the dead. This is ransom from captivity. This is the ascent to heaven. This is the ascent to the father. As the prophet said,

(8) And some say, "On the last day we will certainly arise in the resurrection." But they do not know what they are saying, for the last day is when those belonging to Christ [...] the earth, which is [...]. When the time was fulfilled, he destroyed their archon of darkness [...] soul(s) ... ... (10 lines unrecoverable) ... he stood [...] they asked what they have been bound with, and how they might properly release themselves. And they came to know themselves, who they are, or rather, where they are now, and what is the place in which they will rest from their senselessness, arriving at knowledge. These Christ will transfer to the heights, since they have renounced foolishness (and have) advanced to knowledge. And those who have knowledge ... ... (11 lines unrecoverable) ... the great [...] resurrection [...], he has to come to know the Son of Man, that is, he has come to know himself. This is the perfect life, that man know himself by means of the All.

(52) After this, do you think it will be easy to arrive at a knowledge of spiritual things? It means no less than to die to everything. What shall I say further, since there is nothing more to say, and there remains not a rose on the bush! O Wisdom! You are no more than a suckling child; and the reason of the old and experienced strays in this quest. How shall I, a fool, be able to arrive at this Essence; and if I should arrive, how shall I be able to enter in by the door? O Holy Creator! Vivify my spirit! Believers and unbelievers are equally plunged in blood, and my head turns as the heavens, I am not without hope but I am impatient.