Mother and Child Reunion

But I would not give you false hope
On this strange and mournful day
When the mother and child reunion
Is only a motion away

Oh, oh, the mother and child reunion
Is only a motion away
Oh, the mother and child reunion
Is only a moment away         —Paul Simon

It is said that Paul Simon wrote this song in response to the death of a pet dog and he was trying to explain it to his children. I find it a fascinating mirror to the teachings about the dying process in Vajrayana Buddhism. In the Bardo of dharmata, the ‘in-between’ death and rebirth, we have the opportunity to reunite the mother luminosity with the child luminosity.

The mother luminosity is the ground, the basis of our enlightened mind. Child luminosity is our ability to recognize the mother. Simply put, mom is the light of the wisdom mind (jnana) and child is the path (upaya) to the light. In reality they are not separate, but our dualistic thinking gives the illusion of separateness. Our practice is to reunite that which has never been separate. When we do the visualization of an archetypal image like Green Tara, for instance, we recognize her as inseparable from us and experience non-dual awareness.

If we recognize the non-dual radiance of mother luminosity in the context of our practice, a miracle occurs—we begin to recognize the radiance of our wisdom mind in all experiences without limitation. Everything that occurs, the so-called good and bad moments, blend into the innermost one taste of the wisdom mind. Separating judgements drop away and we embrace life with great joy and appreciation.

It is important to remember that the mother and child reunion is only a moment away. Now is the moment.