What Bardos of Existence Are

From “Mind Beyond Death” – Dzogchen Ponlop
 

History of “The Book of the Dead”

The Bardo Thodol ('Liberation through hearing during the intermediate state'), commonly known in the West as The Tibetan Book of the Dead, is a spiritual text from a larger collection of teachings called: "the Profound Dharma of Self-Liberation through the Intention of the Peaceful and Wrathful Ones".  It was discovered by a Buddhist magical mystic named Karma Lingpa (1326–1386) in the year 1341 when he was only 15 years old 

According to Tibetan tradition, the collection was composed in the 8th century by Padmasambhava, a magically powerful Indian Buddhist Master that started the first Buddhist monastery in Tibet.  The collection was written down by his primary student, Yeshe Tsogyal, buried in the Gampo hills in central Tibet and subsequently discovered by Karma Lingpa 600 years later in the 14th century.

Explanation of “Bardo”

Bardo in a literal sense means “interval”; it can also be translated as an “intermediate” or “in-between” state. Thus, we can say that whenever we are in between two moments, we are in a bardo state.

The 6 Bardos of Existence

In the original text, there are six bardos. The first bardo is called “the natural bardo of this life.” The second is called the “bardo of dream.” The third is called the “bardo of meditation.” These first three are mainly related to the appearances and practices of this life. The fourth bardo is called the “painful bardo of dying.” The fifth is called the “luminous bardo of dharmata.” The sixth is called the “karmic bardo of becoming.” These last three relate to the appearances and practices for the after-death states.

When the six bardos are viewed in full, we see that they encompass the entire spectrum of our experience as conscious beings, both in life and in death. As well, death is seen as merely a process of change. Ending itself is neither positive nor negative; it is just reality.

1)    The natural bardo of this life is the interval between the moment of our birth and the moment that we meet with the condition that will cause our death. It contains all our experiences of joy and suffering and is the basis of our practice of the spiritual path.

2)    The bardo of dream relates to the interval between falling asleep and waking: the appearances of the waking state dissolve, there is a gap in which the illusory dream appearances arise, and then the appearances of the waking state become perceptible again.

3)    The bardo of meditation refers to the interval in which our minds are resting in a state of meditative absorption. At this time, our minds are not subject to the full power of confusion of the normal day-to-day state.

4)    The painful bardo of dying is the interval between the moment we meet with the condition that will cause our death and the actual moment of our death. During this period, all the physical and nonphysical elements of our bodies (called course and subtle bodies) and our consciousness dissolve gradually into space, and the pure awareness of existence becomes manifest as us.

5)    The luminous bardo of “dharmata” (“the experience of the true nature of reality”) is the interval that begins immediately following the moment of death and ends when we enter the bardo of becoming. Also commonly called “Near Death Experiences”, it is at this time the inner qualities of ourselves are released into the primordial vacuum of pure existence. Our minds create the appearances and shapes of reality in a state of perfect understanding and wisdom.  It is a joining of our consciousness with the unconceivably unknowable living nature that is existence.

6)    The bardo of becoming is the interval that begins after the luminous bardo of dharmata and ends when we enter the womb of our future parents.

The 6 Bardos Were Later Condensed to Only 4 for Easier Understanding

A later teacher named Tselr Natsok Rangdrol, later simplified the 6 bardos into 4. Since the first three all concern the natural bardo of birth and life, they were thematically condensed into one bardo. This is followed by the bardo of dying (bardo two), then the bardo of the afterlife (bardo three), and finally the return to the next earthly life, unless one has no need of it (bardo four).

These four are how they will be presented in this course.