Tibetan Book of the Dead

From the Lesson

In 1919, the scholar-translator W.Y. Evans-Wentz acquired an unusual Tibetan manuscript from an elderly lama in Darjeeling. Published in 1927 as "The Tibetan Book of the Dead," it became one of the most influential Buddhist texts in the West—praised by Carl Jung, read by millions, yet frequently misunderstood.

The text's actual Tibetan title is Bardo Thodol Chenmo—"The Great Liberation Through Hearing in the Between-State." It is not primarily a book about death but a manual for liberation, equally applicable to the living. Its central teaching: whatever arises—in death, in dreams, in daily life—is a projection of mind. Recognize this, and you are free.

The Bardo Thodol belongs to the terma (treasure) tradition of Tibetan Buddhism. According to tradition, it was composed by Padmasambhava, the 8th-century tantric master who established Buddhism in Tibet, and hidden for future generations. It was discovered as a gter (hidden treasure) by Karma Lingpa in the 14th century.

Whether one accepts this origin story literally, the text carries the accumulated wisdom of centuries of Tibetan meditation on death, consciousness, and liberation.

What Is the Bardo?

Bardo means "between-state" or "intermediate state." Tibetan tradition identifies six bardos:

Three bardos of life: 1. Birth-to-death bardo (ordinary waking life) 2. Dream bardo (the sleeping and dreaming state) 3. Meditation bardo (deep meditative absorption)

Three bardos of death: 4. Chikhai bardo (moment of death) 5. Chonyid bardo (experiencing reality/dharmata) 6. Sidpa bardo (becoming/seeking rebirth)

The Bardo Thodol focuses on the three death bardos but emphasizes that the same principles apply to all between-states. Every moment of life is, in a sense, a bardo—a transition between what was and what will be.

The Chikhai Bardo: The Moment of Death

As the physical body dies, a precise sequence of dissolutions occurs. The four elements withdraw into each other:

- Earth into water: Body becomes heavy, sense of sinking - Water into fire: Bodily fluids dry up, consciousness becomes hazy - Fire into air: Body heat withdraws, vision dims - Air into space: Breathing ceases, external consciousness ends

Then the inner dissolution begins: three stages involving white, red, and black experiences, corresponding to the father's essence descending, mother's essence ascending, and their meeting at the heart.

At this moment, the "clear light of death" (chikhai bardo) dawns—the luminous nature of mind itself, unveiled without obscuration:

"O nobly born, now the time has come when your mind and body are separating. Pure Reality is shining before you, clear and bright, awesome and glorious. Recognize it! This is the radiant nature of your own mind. It is beyond birth and death, and is the Buddha Amitabha himself."

For the prepared practitioner, recognition of this clear light is immediate liberation—complete Buddhahood at the moment of death. For most, the light seems too intense, too unfamiliar, and consciousness recoils.

The Chonyid Bardo: Visions of Reality

If liberation has not occurred at the first moment, the consciousness enters the chonyid bardo, experiencing a sequence of visionary encounters. Over approximately fourteen days, figures emerge from the unconscious:

Days 1-7: Peaceful Deities First appear the five Dhyani Buddhas with their consorts, each emanating brilliant colored lights. Each Buddha represents a purified aspect of consciousness:

- Vairochana (white): Wisdom of all-encompassing space - Akshobhya (blue): Mirror-like wisdom - Ratnasambhava (yellow): Wisdom of equality - Amitabha (red): Discriminating wisdom - Amoghasiddhi (green): All-accomplishing wisdom

Alongside these brilliant lights appear dim, seductive lights of the six realms (gods, jealous gods, humans, animals, hungry ghosts, hell beings). The untrained consciousness flees the intense Buddha lights and gravitates toward the soft lights leading to rebirth.

The instruction is crucial: recognize these as your own mind's radiance. The Buddhas are not external beings but projections of your Buddha-nature. The lights are not to be feared but recognized.

Days 8-14: Wrathful Deities Now arise terrifying forms: the fifty-eight wrathful deities with flaming bodies, skull garlands, drinking blood from skull cups. These figures are horrifying to unprepared consciousness.