Table of Contents
ReligionForBreakfast explains the Tibetan Book of the Dead as a funeral rite read in the intermediate state. A lama reads it to someone dying or just dead. The opening calls that person a fortunate child of Buddha nature and says not to be crushed by ignorance. Bardo, from words for movement and for an island, is a mental interval between lives. Of six intervals, he walks through the last three. At death, consciousness meets an inner radiance. Recognize it as reality and rebirth ends. Most do not. Next come peaceful deities and then wrathful blood drinkers, including imagery of Yama. Sounds and lights cannot harm someone already past death, and the figures are one’s own mind in mandala form. Womb doors then open on six realms, from gods and humans to animals, hungry ghosts, and hells. The book is one piece of a treasure Padmasambhava hid. Western fame runs through Evans Wentz, who met translator Kazi Dawa Samdup in India, and through Carl Jung’s introductions. Lopez, as cited here, says the popular book drifts from Tibetan Buddhist concerns.
Key points
- The Tibetan Book of the Dead is a funeral reading for a person who is dying or newly dead, traditionally spoken by a lama.
- Bardo is explained as an interval like a mental island, not a physical country.
- At death, recognizing the inner radiance as reality itself is said to end rebirth, and most fail to do so.
- Peaceful and wrathful deities in the next interval are taught as one’s own mind, and fear blocks liberation.
- Missed liberation leads toward rebirth in one of six realms.
- The text is presented as a treasure teaching of Padmasambhava, later famous in the West through Evans Wentz, Kazi Dawa Samdup, and Carl Jung.
- Donald Lopez is cited to say the popular Western book drifts from the concerns of Tibetan Buddhism.
Short quotes
it's intended to be read aloud to someone who's dying or recently dead
ReligionForBreakfast, Bardo Thodol as a guide for the dying
The book, in this explainer, is a funeral reading for someone dying or just dead. Watch at 1:03
if the Bardo being recognizes this state as absolute reality they become enlightened and are liberated from rebirth
ReligionForBreakfast, Bardo Thodol as a guide for the dying
If the clear light is recognized as reality itself, rebirth is said to stop. Watch at 3:27
you will dissolve inseparably within the lights and Buddha bodies and buddhahood will be attained
ReligionForBreakfast, Bardo Thodol as a guide for the dying
A second chance in the text is to merge with those figures and leave the cycle. Watch at 6:15
these hidden teachings of Padma sambhava are called terma translated as treasure
ReligionForBreakfast, Bardo Thodol as a guide for the dying
Hidden teachings of Padmasambhava, he says, were stored away and later called treasure. Watch at 8:58
the Tibetan Book of the Dead is not really a book and it's not really about death
ReligionForBreakfast, Bardo Thodol as a guide for the dying
Lopez, as cited here, says the famous Western edition is about coming back rather than a simple Tibetan funeral book. Watch at 13:25
Video by ReligionForBreakfast. Watch on YouTube.