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In some schools of
Buddhism Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...
, ''bardo'' ( xct, བར་དོ་ Wylie: ''bar do'') or ''antarābhava'' (
Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural diffusion ...
, Chinese and Japanese: 中有, romanized in Chinese as ''zhōng yǒu'' and in Japanese as ''chū'u'') is an intermediate, transitional, or liminal state between
death Death is the irreversible cessation of all biological functions that sustain an organism. For organisms with a brain, death can also be defined as the irreversible cessation of functioning of the whole brain, including brainstem, and brain ...
and rebirth. The concept arose soon after
Gautama Buddha Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha, was a wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism. According to Buddhist tradition, he was born in L ...
's death, with a number of earlier Buddhist schools accepting the existence of such an intermediate state, while other schools rejected it. The concept of ''antarābhava'', an intervening state between death and rebirth, was brought into Buddhism from the
Vedic upright=1.2, The Vedas are ancient Sanskrit texts of Hinduism. Above: A page from the '' Atharvaveda''. The Vedas (, , ) are a large body of religious texts originating in ancient India. Composed in Vedic Sanskrit, the texts constitute th ...
- Upanishadic (later
Hindu Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...
) philosophical tradition. Later Buddhism expanded the bardo concept to six or more states of consciousness covering every stage of life and death. In
Tibetan Buddhism Tibetan Buddhism (also referred to as Indo-Tibetan Buddhism, Lamaism, Lamaistic Buddhism, Himalayan Buddhism, and Northern Buddhism) is the form of Buddhism practiced in Tibet and Bhutan, where it is the dominant religion. It is also in majo ...
, ''bardo'' is the central theme of the ''
Bardo Thodol The ''Bardo Thodol'' (, "Liberation Through Hearing During the Intermediate State"), commonly known in the West as ''The Tibetan Book of the Dead'', is a terma text from a larger corpus of teachings, the ''Profound Dharma of Self-Liberation ...
'' (literally ''Liberation Through Hearing During the Intermediate State''), the ''Tibetan Book of the Dead'', a text intended to both guide the recently deceased person through the death bardo to gain a better rebirth and also to help their loved ones with the grieving process. Used without qualification, "bardo" is the state of existence intermediate between two lives on earth. According to
Tibet Tibet (; ''Böd''; ) is a region in East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are some other ethnic groups such as Monpa people, ...
an tradition, after death and before one's next birth, when one's consciousness is not connected with a physical body, one experiences a variety of phenomena. These usually follow a particular sequence of degeneration from, just after death, the clearest experiences of reality of which one is spiritually capable, and then proceeding to terrifying hallucinations that arise from the impulses of one's previous unskillful actions. For the prepared and appropriately trained individuals, the bardo offers a state of great opportunity for liberation, since transcendental insight may arise with the direct experience of reality; for others, it can become a place of danger as the karmically created hallucinations can impel one into a less than desirable rebirth. Metaphorically, ''bardo'' can be used to describe times when the usual way of life becomes suspended, as, for example, during a period of illness or during a meditation retreat. Such times can prove fruitful for spiritual progress because external constraints diminish. However, they can also present challenges because our less skillful impulses may come to the foreground, just as in the ''sidpa bardo''.


Intermediate state in Indian Buddhism

From the records of early Buddhist schools, it appears that at least six different groups accepted the notion of an intermediate existence (''antarabhāva''), namely, the
Sarvāstivāda The ''Sarvāstivāda'' (Sanskrit and Pali: 𑀲𑀩𑁆𑀩𑀢𑁆𑀣𑀺𑀯𑀸𑀤, ) was one of the early Buddhist schools established around the reign of Ashoka (3rd century BCE).Westerhoff, The Golden Age of Indian Buddhist Philosop ...
, Darṣṭāntika, Vātsīputrīyas,
Saṃmitīya The Pudgalavāda (Sanskrit; English: "Personalism"; Pali: Puggalavāda; ) was a Buddhist philosophical view and also refers to a group of Nikaya Buddhist schools (mainly known as Vātsīputrīyas) that arose from the Sthavira nikāya.Williams, P ...
, Pūrvaśaila and late
Mahīśāsaka Mahīśāsaka ( sa, महीशासक; ) is one of the early Buddhist schools according to some records. Its origins may go back to the dispute in the Second Buddhist council. The Dharmaguptaka sect is thought to have branched out from Mahī ...
. The first four of these are closely related schools. Opposing them were the
Mahāsāṃghika The Mahāsāṃghika (Brahmi: 𑀫𑀳𑀸𑀲𑀸𑀁𑀖𑀺𑀓, "of the Great Sangha", ) was one of the early Buddhist schools. Interest in the origins of the Mahāsāṃghika school lies in the fact that their Vinaya recension appears in ...
, early
Mahīśāsaka Mahīśāsaka ( sa, महीशासक; ) is one of the early Buddhist schools according to some records. Its origins may go back to the dispute in the Second Buddhist council. The Dharmaguptaka sect is thought to have branched out from Mahī ...
,
Theravāda ''Theravāda'' () ( si, ථේරවාදය, my, ထေရဝါဒ, th, เถรวาท, km, ថេរវាទ, lo, ເຖຣະວາດ, pi, , ) is the most commonly accepted name of Buddhism's oldest existing school. The school' ...
,
Vibhajyavāda Vibhajyavāda (Sanskrit; Pāli: ''Vibhajjavāda''; ) is a term applied generally to groups of early Buddhists belonging to the Sthavira Nikaya. These various groups are known to have rejected Sarvāstivāda doctrines (especially the doctrine of ...
and the ''
Śāriputrābhidharma The ''Śāriputrābhidharma-śāstra'' (Ch. ''Shèlìfú Āpítán Lùn'', 舍利弗阿毘曇論, Taisho: 28, No. 1548, pp. 525c-719a) is a Buddhist Abhidharma text of the Sthāvirāḥ Dharmaguptaka school, the only surviving Abhidharma from that ...
'' (possibly Dharmagupta). Some of the earliest references to an "intermediate existence" are to be found in the Sarvāstivādin text the Mahāvibhāṣa (阿毘達磨大毘婆沙論). For instance, the Mahāvibhāṣa indicates a "basic existence" (本有), an "intermediate existence" (中有), a "birth existence" (生有) and a "death existence" (死有) (CBETA, T27, no. 1545, p. 959, etc.). André Bareau's ''Les sectes bouddhiques du Petit Véhicule'' provides the arguments of the Sarvāstivāda schools as follows:
The intermediate being who makes the passage in this way from one existence to the next is formed, like every living being, of the five aggregates (skandha). His existence is demonstrated by the fact that it cannot have any discontinuity in time and space between the place and moment of death and those of rebirth, and therefore it must be that the two existences belonging to the same series are linked in time and space by an intermediate stage. The intermediate being is the
Gandharva A gandharva () is a member of a class of celestial beings in Dharmic religions, such as Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism, whose males are divine performers such as musicians and singers, and the females are divine dancers. In Hinduism, they are ...
, the presence of which is as necessary at conception as the fecundity and union of the parents. Furthermore, the Antarāparinirvāyin is an Anāgamin who obtains parinirvāṇa during the intermediary existence. As for the heinous criminal guilty of one of the five crimes without interval (ānantarya), he passes in quite the same way by an intermediate existence at the end of which he is reborn necessarily in hell.
Deriving from a later period of the same school, though with some differences,
Vasubandhu Vasubandhu (; Tibetan: དབྱིག་གཉེན་ ; fl. 4th to 5th century CE) was an influential Buddhist monk and scholar from ''Puruṣapura'' in ancient India, modern day Peshawar, Pakistan. He was a philosopher who wrote commentary ...
’s '' Abhidharmakośa'' explains (English trs. p. 383ff):
What is an intermediate being, and an intermediate existence? Intermediate existence, which inserts itself between existence at death and existence at birth, not having arrived at the location where it should go, cannot be said to be born. Between death—that is, the five skandhas of the moment of death—and arising—that is, the five skandhas of the moment of rebirth—there is found an existence—a "body" of five skandhas—that goes to the place of rebirth. This existence between two realms of rebirth (gatī) is called intermediate existence.
He cites a number of texts and examples to defend the notion against other schools which reject it and claim that death in one life is immediately followed by rebirth in the next, without any intermediate state in between the two. Both the '' Mahāvibhāṣa'' and the ''Abhidharmakośa'' have the notion of the intermediate state lasting "seven times seven days" (i.e.
49 days ''49 Days'' () is a 2011 South Korean television series starring Lee Yo-won, Nam Gyu-ri, Jo Hyun-jae, Bae Soo-bin, Jung Il-woo, and Seo Ji-hye. It aired on SBS from March 16 to May 19, 2011 on Wednesdays and Thursdays at 21:55 ( KST) for 20 ep ...
) at most. This is one view, though, and there were also others. Similar arguments were also used in Harivarman’s *''Satyasiddhi Śāstra'', and the Upadeśa commentary on the ''
Prajñāpāramitā A Tibetan painting with a Prajñāpāramitā sūtra at the center of the mandala Prajñāpāramitā ( sa, प्रज्ञापारमिता) means "the Perfection of Wisdom" or "Transcendental Knowledge" in Mahāyāna and Theravāda ...
'' Sūtras, both of which have strong influence from the Sarvāstivāda school. Both of these texts had powerful influence in Chinese Buddhism, which also accepts this idea as a rule. The ''Saddharma-smṛty-upasthāna Sūtra'' (正法念處經) classifies 17 intermediate states with different experiences.


Six bardos in Tibetan Buddhism

Fremantle (2001) states that there are six traditional bardo states known as the Six Bardos: the Bardo of This Life (p. 55); the Bardo of Meditation (p. 58); the Bardo of Dream (p. 62); the Bardo of Dying (p. 64); the Bardo of Dharmata (p. 65); and the Bardo of Existence (p. 66). Shugchang, ''et al.'' (2000: p. 5) discuss the Zhitro (Tibetan: Zhi-khro) cycle of teachings of
Karma Lingpa Karma Lingpa (1326–1386) was the tertön (revealer) of the Bardo Thodol, the so-called ''Tibetan Book of the Dead''. Tradition holds that he was a reincarnation of Chokro Lü Gyeltsen, a disciple of Padmasambhava. History Karma Lingpa was ...
which includes the ''
Bardo Thodol The ''Bardo Thodol'' (, "Liberation Through Hearing During the Intermediate State"), commonly known in the West as ''The Tibetan Book of the Dead'', is a terma text from a larger corpus of teachings, the ''Profound Dharma of Self-Liberation ...
'' and list the Six Bardo: "The first bardo begins when we take birth and endures as long as we live. The second is the bardo of dreams. The third is the bardo of concentration or meditation. The fourth occurs at the moment of death. The fifth is known as the bardo of the luminosity of the true nature. The sixth is called the bardo of transmigration or karmic becoming. # Kyenay bardo (''skye gnas bar do'') is the first bardo of birth and life. This bardo commences from conception until the last breath, when the
mindstream Mindstream (''citta-santāna'') in Buddhist philosophy is the moment-to-moment continuum (Sanskrit: ''saṃtāna'') of sense impressions and mental phenomena, which is also described as continuing from one life to another. Definition ' (Sanskr ...
withdraws from the body. # Milam bardo (''rmi lam bar do'') is the second bardo of the dream state. The Milam Bardo is a subset of the first Bardo. Dream Yoga develops practices to integrate the dream state into Buddhist sadhana. # Samten bardo (''bsam gtan bar do'') is the third bardo of
meditation Meditation is a practice in which an individual uses a technique – such as mindfulness, or focusing the mind on a particular object, thought, or activity – to train attention and awareness, and achieve a mentally clear and emotionally calm ...
. This bardo is generally only experienced by meditators, though individuals may have spontaneous experience of it. Samten Bardo is a subset of the Shinay Bardo. # Chikhai bardo (chi kha'i bar do'') is the fourth bardo of the moment of death. According to tradition, this bardo is held to commence when the outer and inner signs presage that the onset of death is nigh, and continues through the dissolution or transmutation of the Mahabhuta until the external and internal breath has completed. # Chönyi bardo (''chos nyid bar do'') is the fifth bardo of the luminosity of the true nature which commences after the final 'inner breath' (Sanskrit: ''
prana In yoga, Indian medicine and Indian martial arts, prana ( sa2, प्राण, ; the Sanskrit word for breath, "life force", or "vital principle") permeates reality on all levels including inanimate objects. In Hindu literature, prāṇa is so ...
'',
vayu Vayu (, sa, वायु, ), also known as Vata and Pavana, is the Hindu god of the winds as well as the divine massenger of the gods. In the '' Vedic scriptures'', Vayu is an important deity and is closely associated with Indra, the king of ...
; Tibetan: ''
rlung Lung ( ''rlung'') means wind or breath. It is a key concept in the Vajrayana traditions of Tibetan Buddhism and has a variety of meanings. ''Lung'' is a concept that is particularly important to understandings of the subtle body and the trikaya ( ...
''). It is within this Bardo that visions and auditory phenomena occur. In the Dzogchen teachings, these are known as the spontaneously manifesting
Tögal In Dzogchen, ''tögal'' () literally means "crossing the peak." It is sometimes translated as 'leapover,' 'direct crossing,' or 'direct transcendence.' ''Tögal'' is also called "the practice of vision," or "the practice of the Clear Light" ('' od ...
(Tibetan: ''thod-rgyal'') visions. Concomitant to these visions, there is a welling of profound peace and pristine awareness. Sentient beings who have not practiced during their lived experience and/or who do not recognize the clear light (Tibetan: '' od gsal'') at the moment of death are usually deluded throughout the fifth bardo of luminosity. # Sidpa bardo (''srid pa bar do'') is the sixth bardo of becoming or transmigration. This bardo endures until the inner-breath commences in the new transmigrating form determined by the "karmic seeds" within the storehouse consciousness.


History

Since the
Bardo Thodol The ''Bardo Thodol'' (, "Liberation Through Hearing During the Intermediate State"), commonly known in the West as ''The Tibetan Book of the Dead'', is a terma text from a larger corpus of teachings, the ''Profound Dharma of Self-Liberation ...
was translated into English, different conceptions of the bardo have emerged over the years (Lopez, 1998: p. 43 and 83). In the translation of Walter Y. Evans-Wentz in 1927, the description of the bardo was an “esoteric” view of rebirth as an evolutionary system in which regression to the brutish realms was impossible. Almost four decades later, in 1964, Timothy Leary, Ralph Metzner and Richard Alpert saw the intermediate states as being really about life, profitable as an account of an eight-hour acid trip. Chögyam Trungpa portrays the realms of rebirth as psychological states in 1975, and Sogyal Rinpoche uses his discussion of the six realms as an opportunity to lampoon California surfers and New York bankers, in the translation that was published in 1992. Two years later Robert Thurman (1994) interpreted the bardo, which is described originally as a Nyingma text, from a Geluk frame. Fremantle (2001: p. 53–54) charts the development of the bardo concept through the Himalayan tradition:
Originally bardo referred only to the period between one life and the next, and this is still its normal meaning when it is mentioned without any qualification. There was considerable dispute over this theory during the early centuries of Buddhism, with one side arguing that rebirth (or conception) follows immediately after death, and the other saying that there must be an interval between the two. With the rise of mahayana, belief in a transitional period prevailed. Later Buddhism expanded the whole concept to distinguish six or more similar states, covering the whole cycle of life, death, and rebirth. But it can also be interpreted as any transitional experience, any state that lies between two other states. Its original meaning, the experience of being between death and rebirth, is the prototype of the bardo experience, while the six traditional bardos show how the essential qualities of that experience are also present in other transitional periods. By refining even further the understanding of the essence of bardo, it can then be applied to every moment of existence. The present moment, the now, is a continual bardo, always suspended between the past and the future.
Yongey Mingur Rinpoche (2011, p. 66) adds another modern view and emphasises on the bardo of becoming: “When we move past the convenience of language and categories, every second manifests the bardo of becoming. Becoming and becoming. All phenomena always just become ..When we sensitize ourselves to the subtle transitions of emotions, or of bodily change, or shifts in social circumstances, or environmental transformations such as differences in landscape and light, or developments in language, art, or politics-we see that it’s all always changing, dying, and becoming.”


Intermediate state in Theravāda

Theravāda Abhidhamma texts like the ''Kathavatthu'' traditionally reject the view that there is an intermediate or transitional state (''antarabhāva'') between rebirths, they hold that rebirth happens instantaneously (in one mind moment) through the re-linking consciousness (''patisandhi citta''). However, as has been noted by various modern scholars like
Bhikkhu Sujato Bhante Sujato, known as Ajahn Sujato or Bhikkhu Sujato (born Anthony Best), is an Australian Theravada Buddhist monk ordained into the Thai forest lineage of Ajahn Chah. Life Bhante Sujato identifies as an anarchist. A former musician with ...
, there are passages in the Theravāda
Pali Canon The Pāli Canon is the standard collection of scriptures in the Theravada Buddhist tradition, as preserved in the Pāli language. It is the most complete extant early Buddhist canon. It derives mainly from the Tamrashatiya school. During ...
which support the idea of an intermediate state, the most explicit of which is the ''Kutuhalasāla Sutta''.Bhikkhu Sujato (2008).
Rebirth and the in-between state in early Buddhism.
'
This sutta states:
he Buddha:"Vaccha, I declare that there is rebirth for one with fuel ith grasping not for one without fuel. Vaccha, just as fire burns with fuel, not without fuel, even so, Vaccha, I declare that there is rebirth for one with fuel ith grasping not for one without fuel." accha replies:"But, master Gotama, when a flame is tossed by the wind and goes a long way, what does master Gotama declare to be its fuel?" uddha:"Vaccha, when a flame is tossed by the wind and goes a long way, I declare that it is fueled by the air. For, Vaccha, at that time, the air is the fuel." accha:"Master Gotama, when a being has laid down this body, but has not yet been reborn in another body, what does the master Gotama declare to be the fuel?" uddha:"Vaccha, when a being has laid down this body, but has not yet been reborn in another body, it is fuelled by craving, I say. For, Vaccha, at that time, craving is the fuel."
Furthermore, some Theravāda scholars (such as
Balangoda Ananda Maitreya Balangoda Ananda Maitreya Thero ( si, අග්ග මහා පණ්ඩිත බලංගොඩ ආනන්ද මෛත්‍රෙය මහා නා හිමි;23 August 1896 – 18 July 1998; was a Sri Lankan Buddhist monk who was one ...
) have defended the idea of an intermediate state and it is also a very common belief among some monks and laypersons in the Theravāda world (where it is commonly referred to as the '' gandhabba'' or ''antarabhāva''). According to Sujato, it is also widely accepted among
Thai forest tradition The Kammaṭṭhāna Forest Tradition of Thailand (from pi, kammaṭṭhāna meaning Kammaṭṭhāna, "place of work"), commonly known in the West as the Thai Forest Tradition, is a Parampara, lineage of Theravada Buddhist monasticism. The ...
teachers.


In East Asian Buddhism

East Asian Buddhism East Asian Buddhism or East Asian Mahayana is a collective term for the schools of Mahāyāna Buddhism that developed across East Asia which follow the Chinese Buddhist canon. These include the various forms of Chinese, Japanese, Korean, an ...
generally accepts the main doctrines of the Yogacara tradition as taught by
Vasubandhu Vasubandhu (; Tibetan: དབྱིག་གཉེན་ ; fl. 4th to 5th century CE) was an influential Buddhist monk and scholar from ''Puruṣapura'' in ancient India, modern day Peshawar, Pakistan. He was a philosopher who wrote commentary ...
and
Asanga Asaṅga (, ; Romaji: ''Mujaku'') (fl. 4th century C.E.) was "one of the most important spiritual figures" of Mahayana Buddhism and the "founder of the Yogachara school".Engle, Artemus (translator), Asanga, ''The Bodhisattva Path to Unsurpasse ...
. This includes the acceptance of the intermediate existence (中有, Chinese romanization: ''zhōng yǒu'', Japanese: ''chūu''). The doctrine of the intermediate existence is mentioned in various Chinese Buddhist scholastic works, such as Xuanzang's '' Cheng Weishi Lun'' (''Discourse on the Perfection of Consciousness-only).'' The Chinese Buddhist Canon contains a text called the ''Antarabhava sutra,'' which is used in funerary rituals.Poulton, Mark Cody. ''The language of flowers in the Nō theatre.'' Japan Review No. 8 (1997), pp. 39-55 (17 pages) Published By: International Research Centre for Japanese Studies, National Institute for the Humanities. The founder of Soto Zen, Dogen, wrote the following regarding how to navigate the intermediate state:
“When you leave this life, and before you enter the next life, there is a place called an intermediary realm. You stay there for seven days. You should resolve to keep chanting the names of the three treasures without ceasing while you are there. After seven days you die in the intermediary realm and remain there for no more than seven days. At this time you can see and hear without hindrance, like having a celestial eye. Resolve to encourage yourself to keep chanting the names of the three treasures without ceasing: ‘I take refuge in the Buddha. I take refuge in the Dharma. I take refuge in the Sangha.’ After passing through the intermediary realm, when you approach your parents to be conceived, resolve to maintain authentic wisdom. Keep chanting refuge in the three treasures in your mother’s womb. Do not neglect chanting while you are given birth. Resolve deeply to dedicate yourself to chant and take refuge in the three treasures through the six sense roots. When your life ends, your eye sight will suddenly become dark. Know that this is the end of your life and be determined to chant, ‘I take refuge in the buddha.’ Then, all buddhas in the ten directions will show compassion to you. Even if due to conditions you are bound to an unwholesome realm, you will be able to be born in the deva realm or in the presence of the Buddha. Bow and listen to the Buddha.” --- '' Shobogenzo,'' section 94, "Mind of the Way”, translated by Peter Levitt & Kazuaki Tanahashi (2013):


See also

* Aether *
Bardo Thodol The ''Bardo Thodol'' (, "Liberation Through Hearing During the Intermediate State"), commonly known in the West as ''The Tibetan Book of the Dead'', is a terma text from a larger corpus of teachings, the ''Profound Dharma of Self-Liberation ...
* Barzakh, a somewhat related concept in
Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God (or '' Allah'') as it was revealed to Muhammad, the ...
*
Desire realm The desire realm ( Sanskrit: कामधातु, ''kāmadhātu'') is one of the trailokya or three realms ( Sanskrit: धातु, ''dhātu'', Tibetan: ''khams'') in Buddhist cosmology into which a being wandering in '' '' may be reborn. ...
*
Dzogchen Dzogchen (, "Great Perfection" or "Great Completion"), also known as ''atiyoga'' ( utmost yoga), is a tradition of teachings in Indo-Tibetan Buddhism and Yungdrung Bon aimed at discovering and continuing in the ultimate ground of existence. ...
* Intermediate state, a somewhat related concept in
Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global popula ...
*
Limbo In Catholic theology, Limbo (Latin '' limbus'', edge or boundary, referring to the edge of Hell) is the afterlife condition of those who die in original sin without being assigned to the Hell of the Damned. Medieval theologians of Western Euro ...
*
Liminality In anthropology, liminality () is the quality of ambiguity or disorientation that occurs in the middle stage of a rite of passage, when participants no longer hold their pre-ritual status but have not yet begun the transition to the status they w ...
* Lucid dreaming * '' Lincoln in the Bardo'', a 2017 novel by George Saunders. * Matarta in Mandaeism * Sanzu River * Six Yogas of Naropa * Zhitro


References


Further reading

*''American Book of the Dead''. 1987. E.J. Gold. Nevada City: IDHHB. *''Bardo Teachings: The Way of Death and Rebirth''. 1987. By Venerable Lama Lodo. Ithaca, NY: Snow Lion Publications *''The Bardo Thodol: A Golden Opportunity''. 2008. Mark Griffin. Los Angeles: HardLight Publishing. *''Death, Intermediate State, and Rebirth''. 1981.
Lati Rinpoche Kyabje Lati Rinpoche (1922 – 12 April 2010) Born in the Kham region of Eastern Tibet in 1922, Lati Rinpoche was identified as the reincarnation of a great practitioner by Gongkar Rinpoche and entered monastic life at the age of 10. At the age ...
. Snow Lion Publications. *''The Hidden History of the Tibetan Book of the Dead''. 2003.
Bryan J. Cuevas Bryan J. Cuevas (born 1967) is an American Tibetologist and historian of religion. He is John F. Priest Professor of Religion and Director of Buddhist and Tibetan Studies at Florida State University, where he specializes in Tibetan Buddhist history, ...
. New York: Oxford University Press. *''Mirror of Mindfulness: The Cycle of the Four Bardos'', Tsele Natsok Rangdrol, translated by
Erik Pema Kunsang Erik Pema Kunsang (born Erik Hein Schmidt) is a Danish translator and was, along with Marcia Binder Schmidt, director of Rangjung Yeshe Translations and Publications in Kathmandu. He has translated over fifty volumes of Tibetan texts and oral ...
(Rangjung Yeshe Publications). *''Natural Liberation''. 1998.
Padmasambhava Padmasambhava ("Born from a Lotus"), also known as Guru Rinpoche (Precious Guru) and the Lotus from Oḍḍiyāna, was a tantric Buddhist Vajra master from India who may have taught Vajrayana in Tibet (circa 8th – 9th centuries)... According ...
. The text is translated by B. Alan Wallace, with a commentary by Gyatrul Rinpoche. Somerville, Wisdom Publications. *''The Tibetan Book of the Dead: Awakening Upon Dying''. 2013. by Padmasambhava (Author),
Chögyal Namkhai Norbu Namkhai Norbu (; 8 December 1938 – 27 September 2018) was a Tibetan Buddhist master of Dzogchen and a professor of Tibetan and Mongolian language and literature at Naples Eastern University. He was a leading authority on Tibetan culture, p ...
(Commentary), Karma Lingpa (Author), Elio Guarisco (Translator). Shang Shung Publications & North Atlantic Books. *''The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying''. 1993.
Sogyal Rinpoche Sogyal Rinpoche (; 1947 – 28 August 2019) was a Tibetan Dzogchen lama. He was recognized as the incarnation of a Tibetan master and visionary saint of the 19th century, Tertön Sogyal Lerab Lingpa. Sogyal Rinpoche was the founder and fo ...
. New York: HarperCollins


External links


Public domain PDF and audio versions of the Tibetan Book of the Dead

The Eight Bardos
Khenchen Konchog Gyaltshen, Lion’s Roar magazine * Soto Zen preparations for dying
A modern commentary on Karma Lingpa’s Zhi-khro teachings on the peaceful and wrathful deities

The Psychedelic Experience: A manual based on the Tibetan Book of the Dead
1967. By
Timothy Leary Timothy Francis Leary (October 22, 1920 – May 31, 1996) was an American psychologist and author known for his strong advocacy of psychedelic drugs. Evaluations of Leary are polarized, ranging from bold oracle to publicity hound. He was "a her ...
, Ph.D.; Ralph Metzner, Ph.D.; & Richard Alpert, Ph.D. (later known as Ram Das)
Tibetan Buddhism and the resolution of grief: The Bardo-Thodol for the dying and the grieving
by Robert Goss, Death Studies, Vol. 21 Issue 4 Jul/Aug.1997, Pp.377-395 {{Hell Buddhist philosophical concepts Tibetan Buddhist philosophical concepts Buddhist belief and doctrine Sarvāstivāda Buddhism and death Tibetan words and phrases