Delok means
returned from death, and traditionally deloks are usually woman who seemingly
"die" as a result of an illness, and find themselves traveling in the
bardo.
They visit the hell
realms, where they witness the judgment of the dead and the suffering of hell.
They can be accompanied by a deity, who protects them and explains what is
happening.
They come back to
earth to tell people what they have witnessed and bring messages from the dead
to the living.
They also bring
message from the Lord of Death for the living, urging them toward spiritual
practice and a beneficial way of life.
Delok's role
authentics the existing of hell, where one has to go through depending of one's
action while breathing on the earth.
Their experience
becomes a healing narrative, helping many people to be mindful of what they do
as DELOK brings message from people that suffer in hell.
DELOK at regular
intervals visit hell realms during sรฉances (meeting at which people attempt to
make contact with the dead, especially through the agency of a DELOK) which
occured on auspicious days of the month.
After an initial
crisis or sudden illness, which causes their first “death” and travel to the
netherworld, the delok “dies” for several hours or even week on auspicious days
of the Buddhist calendar.
Once they return
back to life many people will come and ask her about news from their deceased
relatives, and accordingly perform pujas and rituals for the deceased in order
to speed their release from hells.
A decade back DELOK
do exist in Bhutan. One in Khamdang, one in Gongthong, and the other one in
Paro. However I am not sure of its existence today. My blog friends can help me
to locate one.
Delok is the person
who can deal with the world of the dead, which ordinary people cannot reach
other than after ceasing life.
Since the delok
blurrs the boundaries between the worlds of the dead and the living, she is
seen as a potential threat to ordinary people and therefore her presence was
not permitted during births and funeral rites.
There is also a
fear of herself becoming polluted by these lifecycle events if she tend to
visit such places or event.
The function of the
delok goes beyond being a messenger between the living and the dead.
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(Chonyi Wangmo (chos nyid
dbang mo) was born in the nineteenth century. She trained in the Taklung Kagyu
tradition and spent many years in meditation retreats. She is said to have been
a successful healer, treating various physical and mental conditions caused by
supernatural beings. She was also known as a delok ('das
log), a person who has died and
returned to the living to teach ethics. She primarily resided at the hermitage
of Taklung Drilung (stag lung dril lung), eventually earning the title of
Taklung Khandro (stag lung mkha' 'gro). She is known as one of the "Three
Jetsunma" (rje btsun ma rnam gsum), together with Choying Zangmo (chos dbyings bzang mo, 1853-1951) and Choden Zangmo (chos ldan bzang mo, 1877-1958).
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As a woman, she is
seen as being closer to everyday life worries of ordinary people.
Through her trance
and contact with dead relatives and ancestors as well as the Lord of Death she
advises the living on problems affecting them personally, in their family or
the community.
She exhorts her
clients to behave in morally right and appropriate ways and thus restores the
socio-religious order of the Buddhist communities.
However, deloks
under normal circumstances refuse to die as they are frightened that their body
would be cremated before she returns to earth.
Lingza Chokyi was a
famous delok who lived in the sixteenth century. In her biography she tells how
she failed to realize she was dead, how she found herself out of her body, and
saw a pig's corpse lying on her bed, wearing her clothes.
Frantically she
tried in vain to communicate with her family as they set about the business of
the practices for her death. She grew furious with them when they took no
notice of her and did not give her a plate of food.
When her children
wept, she felt a "hail of pus and blood" fall, which caused her
intense pain. She tells us she felt joy each time the practices were done, and
immeasurable happiness when finally she came before the master who was
practicing for her and who was resting in the nature of mind, and her mind and
his became one.
After a while she
heard someone whom she thought was her father calling to her, and she followed
him. She arrived in the bardo realm, which appeared to her like a country.
From there, she
tells us, there was a bridge that led to the hell realms, and to where the Lord
of Death was counting the good or evil actions of the dead. In this realm she
met various people who recounted their stories, and she saw a great yogin who
had come into the hell realms in order to liberate beings.
Finally Lingza
Chokyi was sent back to the world, as there had been an error concerning her
name and family, and it was not yet her time to die.
With the message
from the Lord of Death to the living, she returned to her body and recovered,
and spent the rest of her life telling of what she had learned. The phenomenon
of the delok was not simply a historical one; it continued up until very
recently in Tibet.
Hope everybody
watched a film on DELOK KARMA WANGZIN, which depicts deloks visit in hell with
her deity. My brother Kelzong Dorji Kazi played the main character in hell and
his word ahtsa ahtsa, alala, kuchey sumchey in hell was a reminder to everyone
to be good when living on earth.
Reference:
1. DELOK women of fringes of Buddhism.
2. Tibetan Buddhist Lingza Chokiyi's near death experience
3. Empowering Religious women practitioners in contemporary Bhutan by F. Pommaret
1. DELOK women of fringes of Buddhism.
2. Tibetan Buddhist Lingza Chokiyi's near death experience
3. Empowering Religious women practitioners in contemporary Bhutan by F. Pommaret
To learn more of Delok read check the following link
https://inspire.redlands.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1007&context=alura
