For the subject of dying and death, the Tibetan Buddhist tradition offers a meaningful perspective through the bardo teachings. These teachings describe how death is experienced, what one can do, and what will be of help.

An understanding of all six bardos provides a guide for the present as well as for the hereafter.

Introductory Comments

Bardo in Tibetan means “intermediate state” or “transitional period.” In the context of teachings on the bardo, it mainly denotes the period between this life and the next.

According to Tibetan Buddhism, after one dies there will be a bardo, a transitional period, and then one will take rebirth in another life.

In reality, one is here for only a few days, months, or years, and then one will be in the bardo and future lives for ever and ever.

At this time, the most worthwhile thing for one to do is to learn how one will be traveling through the bardo to one’s future lives, and especially how one can turn those lives into everlasting joy and wisdom, for oneself and for others.

The following four points are important in relation to the bardo:

First, in Tibetan Buddhist scriptures there are many detailed descriptions and classifications of the bardo, but it is not necessarily the case that every being will experience the exact same processes unfolding in the bardo.

Second, it is helpful to understand that in many Tibetan Buddhist scriptures, the bardo is classified into six separate bardos, and in other texts four are given. The four bardo system is: (1) the bardo of life, meaning our present life, (2) the bardo of dying, (3) the bardo of ultimate nature, and (4) the bardo of becoming.

Third, although the actual bardo is the state between two lives, between this life and the next, the scriptures have also considered our present life itself to be a bardo.

For while bardo exists between two phases of life, it is illusory in nature and involves wandering without a reliable body and fixed place to stay—characteristics that apply to this life, too, in many ways. One may think, “I am so and so, and am living in my house with my family,” but in fact one is just spending some time in this guest-house-like body of ours, in a bubble-like place. One is gathered with family and friends, like seasonal travelers, because of the forces of one’s karma, which brought everyone together like dried leaves collected together in a corner by the autumn wind.

Yet soon everyone will depart to different directions and will never return to each other, and not even to these most cherished bodies of ours.

So, one’s present life is akin to a bardo, a dreamlike state, and that is why the scriptures have classified it as a bardo.

Finally, if one recognizes the true nature of the mind and appearances in any of the four bardos, one will not go on to the next stage of bardo, as one will be instantly liberated and attain Buddhahood.

Source: Adapted from Thondup, Tulku. Enlightened Journey: Buddhist Practice as Daily Life. Shambhala. Kindle Edition.

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