Tag Archives: Bardo of Dharmatā

At the outset it needs to be stressed that this is not a series debunking the phenomenon of what has come to be known as the Rainbow-Body. On the contrary, this phenomenon is highly researched and publicized and warranted as a true bodily-transformation into “Pure-Light”. This brings to mind the excellent research done by Father Francis V. Tiso, as chronicled in his recent publication, “Rainbow Body and Resurrection”, which is an exhaustive study on the life and death of Khenpo A-chos, a Gelugpa monk from Kham, Tibet, who died in 1998. At the time of his death it was reported by eye-witnesses that his body soon resembled a pinkish-hue and then began to shrink—a common manifestation of those Tibetans who have undergone a similar transfiguration. Soon afterwards, “rainbows” began appearing in the sky accompanied by music and the sweet scent of perfume—quite akin to the fragrance reported by Western-accounts of sundry saints throughout the millennia. This is just one account of countless others that have occurred, some recent, and others like the mythic-anecdotes of Padmasambhava, whom at the time of his death, dissolved his body completely “back to their natural elements leaving nothing behind.” For complete historical analyses of such accounts I refer the reader to the following excellent links: read more