Bardo

From Buddhist Encyclopedia

Sanskrit :  antarabhāva

The Tibetan word Bardo means literally "intermediate state" - also translated as "transitional state" or "in-between state".

Used somewhat loosely, the term "bardo" refers to the state of existence intermediate between two lives on earth. According to Tibetan 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, to, later on, terrifying hallucinations arising from the impulses of one's previous unskilful actions. For the spiritually advanced the bardo offers a state of great opportunity for liberation, since transcendental insight may arise with the direct experience of reality, while for others it can become a place of danger as the karmically created hallucinations can impel one into a less than desirable rebirth.

In the West, the term bardo may also refer to times when our usual way of life becomes suspended, as, for example, when we are on retreat. Such times can prove fruitful for spiritual progress, as external constraints diminish, although they offer challenges because our unskilful impulses can come to the fore, just as in the sidpa bardo.

See also

• Bardo Thodol, Liberation through Hearing in the Intermediate State (misleadingly translated under the title The Tibetan Book of the Dead) describes the experiences of bardo.
• Six realms
• Six Yogas of Naropa
• Reality vs Dreams in Dzogchen
• Tibetan Buddhism

Further reading

• The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying. 1993. Sogyal Rinpoche. New York: HarperCollins Publishers.
• Luminous Emptiness. 2001. Francesca Fremantle. Boston: Shambala Publications.
• American Book of the Dead. 1987. E.J. Gold. Nevada City: IDHHB.
• "Death, Intermediate State, and Rebirth." 1981. Lati Rinpoche. Snow Lion Publications.