The purpose of this website is to present an overview of the six bardos, as presented in Tibetan Buddhism.
The best-known explanation of the bardos is the Great Liberation Through Hearing in the Bardo, which provides a complete and precise explanation of what happens in the bardos, as well as what we can do to deal with it and what opportunities there are for liberation.
This most widely known set of teachings dealing with the bardos is commonly referred to in the West as the Tibetan Book of the Dead.
A treasure text composed in the eighth century by Padmasambhava of Oddiyana, and later discovered in the fourteenth century by the great treasure revealer Karma Lingpa, the Great Liberation Through Hearing in the Bardo is an extraordinary compendium of precise and detailed knowledge and instruction pertaining to the bardos – the intermediate states of existence between life and death. (Source: Based on Khenpo Karthar Rinpoche. Bardo: Interval of Possibility. Woodstock, New York: KTD Publications, 2007.)
“It has been said that the whole of the Buddha’s doctrine could be summarized in the teaching on the six bardos.
The Buddhadharma is vast and profound, and the many approaches of the various vehicles and cycles of teaching comprise an inconceivable wealth of instruction.
For those who wish to attain the primordial citadel of buddhahood in the course of a single human life, the practice of these teachings is presented within the framework of the six bardos.
What, therefore, is a bardo? A bardo is a state that is “neither here nor there”; by definition it is something that comes “in between,” an intermediate state. The six bardos are: (1) the natural bardo of the present life; (2) the hallucinatory bardo of dreaming; (3) the bardo of meditative absorption; (4) the painful bardo of dying; (5) the luminous bardo of ultimate reality; and (6) the karmic bardo of becoming.”
(Source: Based on Dudjom Rinpoche. Counsels from My Heart (Kindle Locations 692-698). Shambhala Publications. Kindle Edition.)
The seascapes – views of an expanse of sea – used on this website, as well as photos of the sky, are intended to convey the impression of spaciousness and openness. This indirectly ties in with how each of the six bardos are intervals of possibility. (All photos – unless otherwise credited – were personally taken and may be freely downloaded.)
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From Here to Enlightenment: Four Websites
This website forms one out of a series of four websites with overall themes in a sequence as follows:
Path: http://www.lamrimpath.org/ This website presents the stages of the Buddhist path to enlightenment or awakening, based on the lamrim genre.
The lamrim genre divides beings according to three levels of spiritual motivation in relation to the teachings on the Path:
(1) Those of lesser motivation, who aim to achieve rebirth in the higher states within samsara, as human beings or as gods.
(2) Those of a middle motivation, who seek liberation from samsara for themselves alone.
(3) Those of greater motivation, who are motivated by the desire to lead all beings to perfect buddhahood.
Practice: http://ngondro-practices.org/ This website presents an explanation of the preliminary practices in Tibetan Buddhism. There are two parts:
(1) The general foundation (preliminary) practices
(2) The special foundation (preliminary) practices
Preparation: https://dying-and-death-reflections.com/ This website features reflections, and other content, in the context of:
(1) Growing older
(2) Nearing the end of life
(3) Dying and death
Its purpose is to serve people in preparing for their own inevitable parting from life.
Parting: http://the-six-bardos.org/ This website describes the six bardos of Tibetan Buddhism to provide a guide for the present life, as well as a preparation for the hereafter:
(1) The natural bardo of the present life
(2) The bardo of dreaming
(3) The bardo of meditation
(4) The painful bardo of dying
(5) The luminous bardo of ultimate reality
(6) The karmic bardo of becoming
Path/Practice/Preparation/Parting Correlated with View/Meditation/Action
Note: If any of the material presented in the section “Preparation” (in the table below) does not resonate, then leave it for now. One does not need to master every practice or instruction to prepare for death. The main task is to find a practice (or practices) that you connect with and to develop familiarity with that.
| Overall Theme | Perspective |
|---|---|
| The overall themes of the four websites described above | Based on traditional framework of view, meditation, and action |
| Path (Based on The Jewel Ornament of Liberation) (1) The Primary Cause: Buddha-Nature (2) The Working Basis: The Precious Human Life (3) The Contributory Cause: The Spiritual Master (4) The Method: Topics (impermanence, the suffering of samsara, karma and its result, loving-kindness and compassion, refuge and precepts, cultivation of bodhicitta, the six paramitas, etc.) (5) The Result: Perfect Buddhahood (6) The Activities: Activities of the Buddha Source: Gampopa. The Jewel Ornament of Liberation | View |
| Practice (Ngondro) (1) Precious human existence (2) Death and impermanence (3) The law of karma (4) The shortcomings of samsara —ooo000ooo— (1) Taking Refuge and generating bodhichitta (2) The meditation and recitation of Vajrasattva (3) Mandala offering (4) Guru yoga | Meditation |
| Preparation (Practices) (1) Mindfulness, awareness (2) Four reminders practice (3) Pure Land practice (4) Sudden death preparation (5) Power of positive karma (6) Daily meditation on death (7) Understanding the dying process (8) Phowa: transference of consciousness (9) Living a good life (10) Learning to let go (11) Shamatha (calm abiding) meditation (12) Vipashyana (insight) meditation (13) Tonglen (“sending and taking”) meditation (14) Reverse meditations (15) Recognizing the bardos as danger/opportunity (16) Devotion (17) Understanding the bardos and the trikaya (18) Realizing how mind leads all things (19) “Insurance” Dharma (20) Reflecting on the six bardo root verses Parting (Bardos) (1) The natural bardo of the present life (2) The bardo of dreaming (3) The bardo of meditation (4) The painful bardo of dying (5) The luminous bardo of ultimate reality (6) The karmic bardo of becoming | Action |
Alternatively, the overall themes of the four websites described above may be loosely matched with another traditional framework — that of study, contemplation, meditation.
| Overall Theme | Perspective |
|---|---|
| The overall themes of the four websites described above | Based on the traditional framework of the study, contemplation, and meditation |
| Path | Study |
| Preparation Parting | Contemplation |
| Practice (Ngondro) | Meditation |
Alexander Peck (July 16, 2020)
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