ture of the bardo visions, which will have to be further elabo-

rated in our discussion of fivefold orderings (chapter II, 4, E). The

most important mantric triad in all the holy scriptures and ritual
tets of !a"rayana #uddhism is the three seed-syllables, $m %h
&um. They are used in almost all mantric recitations and are also
mystical syllables which denote the unity of the tri'aya. They
occupy a central place in initiations and are the point of departure
for many meditations upon the buddhas and #uddhist virtues and
wisdom. They are much used in ritual practice, in the visuali(ation
of deities and in )oga, and they also occur in most mantras. They
are used at the consecration of Tibetan paintings* it is customary
to inscribe in red characters on the bac' of portrayals of the
#uddha the three centers of body, speech, and mind. $m then
stands for the sacred body of the #uddha, %h stands for pure
speech, and &um for the spirit of the enlightened one. This is the
prescribed tri'aya consecration of religious pictures.
The white mantric seed-syllable $m appears at the center of
+,
#asic Elements of -isdom
Tri'aya .admasambhava The Tri'aya The Tri'aya The Three /orres-
in his Tri- %ccording to $rdering of ponding levels
'aya %spect the Introduc- the !isions of the #ardo
tory !erse of the Tibe-
of the Tibe- tan #oo' of
tan #oo' of the 0ead
the 0ead
0harma'aya #uddha The Immeasur- The %di- 1/hi-'ha1i #ar-
%mitabha as able 2adiant buddha 3am- do, in the 0eath
the 0harma- #uddha %mi- antabhadra Eperience
'aya 4orm of tabha as a 3ymbol
Eperience
5uru .adma- of the 0har-
sambhava ma in itself
3ambhoga'aya The #odhi- The 6anifes- The .eaceful /hos-nyid #ar-
sattva %va- tations of and -rathful do of the E-
lo'itesvara the .eaceful 0eities of perience of
as the 3am- and -rathful the #ardo 2eality
bhoga'aya 0eities of 3tate
2eality
4orm of 5uru the #ardo
.admasambhava 3tate
The Earthly 5uru .adma- The si #ud- 3rid-pa1i #ar- 7irmana'aya
Incarnation sambhava as dhas of the do, on the path
of 5uru .ad- the Teacher #havaca'ra towards 2ebirth
masambhava of the Tibe- as Emanations
tan #oo' of of the #odhis-
the 0ead attva %valo'-
itesvara
T%#8E 4
the s'ull as the light of the #uddha !airocana and stands opposite
the nirmana'aya. The center of the brow is the location of the
active intellect and at the same time of desire (3. 'ama9 T. 10od-
chags), which proceeds from the mind and attaches itself to im-
permanent things. The first attachment, and thereby actuali(ation,
begins with a decision process of the intellect. 0esire belongs to the
three basic faults of human behavior (T. 0ug-gsum), which be-
come the causes of all other failings and thereby of all suffering.
The other two are hatred (3. 'rodha9 T. :he-sdang) and ignorance
(3. moha9 T. gTi-mug). &atred epresses itself in the speech center
and is therefore assigned the red radiant syllable %h, so that
through its light the symbolic purification of this center can be
achieved. The throat center as th