Hubbry Logo
Bardo ThodolBardo ThodolMain
Open search
Bardo Thodol
Community hub
Bardo Thodol
logo
8 pages, 0 posts
0 subscribers
Be the first to start a discussion here.
Be the first to start a discussion here.
Contribute something
Bardo Thodol
Bardo Thodol
Bardo Thodol
View on Wikipedia
from Wikipedia

For the opera by Ricky Ian Gordon, see The Tibetan Book of the Dead (opera).
This article contains Tibetan script. Without proper rendering support, you may see very small fonts, misplaced vowels or missing conjuncts instead of Tibetan characters.
Manuscript of the Bardo Thodol.
Bardo Thodol
Tibetan name
Tibetan བར་དོ་ཐོས་གྲོལ་
Transcriptions
Wyliebar do thos grol
THLBardo Thödröl
Lhasa IPATibetan pronunciation: [pʰaː˩˨.ˌtʰo.tʰø˥˥.ˈʈʰ~ʈʂʰøː]
Part of a series on
Tibetan Buddhism
Tibetan Dharma Wheel
Schools
Key personalities
First dissemination
Second dissemination
Nyingma
Kagyu
Jonang
Sakya
Bodongpa

Samding Dorje Phagmo

Gelugpa
Teachings
General Buddhist
Tibetan
Nyingma
Practices and attainment
Major monasteries
Institutional roles
Festivals
Texts
Art
History and overview

The Bardo Thodol (Tibetan: བར་དོ་ཐོས་གྲོལ, Wylie: bar do thos grol, '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 through the Intention of the Peaceful and Wrathful Ones,[1][note 1] revealed by Karma Lingpa (1326–1386). It is the best-known work of Nyingma literature.[3] In 1927, the text was one of the first examples of both Tibetan and Vajrayana literature to be translated into a European language and arguably continues to this day to be the best known.[4][5]

The Tibetan text describes, and is intended to guide one through, the experiences that the consciousness has after death, in the bardo, the interval between death and the next rebirth. The text also includes chapters on the signs of death and rituals to undertake when death is closing in or has taken place. The text can be used as either an advanced practice for trained meditators or to support the uninitiated during the death experience.

Etymology

[edit]

Bar do thos grol (Tibetan: བར་དོ་ཐོས་གྲོལ, Wylie: bar do thos grol, THL: bardo thödrol) translates as: “Liberation (grol) through Hearing (thos) in the Intermediate State (bardo)”

  • The Tibetan bar and its Sanskrit equivalent antarā mean ‘between.’ The Sanskrit bhava means a place of existence. Thus antarābhava means ‘an existence between,’ translated into Tibetan as bardo.
  • thos grol: thos means hearing.[6] Grol means ‘liberation,’ which may be understood in this context as being synonymous with the Sanskrit bodhi, "awakening", "understanding", "enlightenment", as well as with the term nirvāṇa, "blowing out", "extinction", "the extinction of illusion".[7] Grol has connotations of freeing, liberating, unravelling, becoming undone.[8]

Original text

[edit]

Origins and dating

[edit]
Centuries old Zhi-Khro mandala, a part of the Bardo Thodol's collection, a text known in the West as The Tibetan Book of the Dead, which comprises part of a group of bardo teachings held in the Nyingma (Tibetan tradition) originated with guru Padmasambhava in the 8th century.

According to Tibetan tradition, the Liberation Through Hearing During the Intermediate State was composed in the 8th century by Padmasambhava, written down by his primary student, Yeshe Tsogyal, buried in the Gampo hills in central Tibet and subsequently discovered by a Tibetan terton, Karma Lingpa, in the 14th century.[9][10][11]

bar do thos grol

[edit]

The Tibetan title is bar do thos grol,[12] Liberation Through Hearing During the Intermediate State.[1] It consists of two comparatively long texts:[1]

  • "Great Liberation through Hearing: The Supplication of the Bardo of Dharmata" (chos nyid bar do'i gsol 'debs thos grol chen mo), the bardo of dharmata (including the bardo of dying);
  • "Great Liberation through Hearing: The Supplication Pointing Out the Bardo of Existence" (strid pa'i bar do ngo sprod gsol 'debs thos grol chen mo), the bardo of existence.

Within the texts themselves, the two combined are referred to as Liberation through Hearing in the Bardo, Great Liberation through Hearing, or just Liberation through Hearing.[note 2]

kar-gling zhi-khro

[edit]
Main article: Zhitro

It is part of a larger terma cycle, Profound Dharma of Self-Liberation through the Intention of the Peaceful and Wrathful Ones[1] (zab-chos zhi khro dgongs pa rang grol, also known as kar-gling zhi-khro),[2] popularly known as "Karma Lingpa's Peaceful and Wrathful Ones."[1]

The Profound Dharma of Self-Liberation is known in several versions, containing varying numbers of sections and subsections, and arranged in different orders, ranging from around ten to thirty-eight titles.[1] The individual texts cover a wide range of subjects, including meditation instructions, visualizations of deities, liturgies and prayers, lists of mantras, descriptions of the signs of death, indications of future rebirth, and texts such as the bar do thos grol that are concerned with the bardo-state.[1]

Three bardos

[edit]
Main article: Bardo

The Bardo Thodol differentiates the intermediate state between lives into three bardos:

  1. The chikhai bardo or "bardo of the moment of death", which features the experience of the "clear light of reality", or at least the nearest approximation of which one is spiritually capable;
  2. The chonyid bardo or "bardo of the experiencing of reality", which features the experience of visions of various Buddha forms, or the nearest approximations of which one is capable;
  3. The sidpa bardo or "bardo of rebirth", which features karmically impelled hallucinations which eventually result in rebirth, typically yab-yum imagery of men and women passionately entwined.

The Liberation Through Hearing During the Intermediate State also mentions three other bardos:[note 3]

  1. "Life", or ordinary waking consciousness;
  2. "Dhyana" (meditation);
  3. "Dream", the dream state during normal sleep.

Together these "six bardos" form a classification of states of consciousness into six broad types. Any state of consciousness can form a type of "intermediate state", intermediate between other states of consciousness. Indeed, one can consider any momentary state of consciousness a bardo, since it lies between our past and future existences; it provides us with the opportunity to experience reality, which is always present but obscured by the projections and confusions that are due to our previous unskillful actions.

English translations

[edit]

Evans-Wentz's The Tibetan Book of the Dead

[edit]
Tibetan Thanka of Bardo. Vision of Serene Deities, 19th century, Guimet Museum

The bar do thos grol has become known in the English speaking world as The Tibetan Book of the Dead, a title popularized by Walter Evans-Wentz's edition, after the Egyptian Book of the Dead, though the English title bears no relationship with the Tibetan's, as outlined above.[12][13] The Evans-Wentz edition was first published in 1927 by Oxford University Press.

According to John Myrdhin Reynolds, Evans-Wentz's edition of the Tibetan Book of the Dead introduced a number of misunderstandings about Dzogchen.[14] In fact, Evans-Wentz collected seven texts about visualization of the after-death experiences and he introduced this work collection as "The Tibetan Book of Death." Evans-Wentz was well acquainted with Theosophy and used this framework to interpret the translation of The Tibetan Book of the Dead, which was largely provided by two Tibetan lamas who spoke English, Lama Sumdhon Paul and Lama Lobzang Mingnur Dorje.[15] Evans-Wentz was not familiar with Tibetan Buddhism,[14] and his view of Tibetan Buddhism was "fundamentally neither Tibetan nor Buddhist, but Theosophical and Vedantist."[16] He introduced a terminology into the translation which was largely derived from Hinduism, as well as from his Theosophical beliefs.[14]

The third revised and expanded Evans-Wentz edition of The Tibetan Book of the Dead contains a psychological commentary by Carl Jung in an English translation by R. F. C. Hull.[17] The commentary also appears in the Collected Works.[18] Jung applied his extensive knowledge of eastern religion to craft a commentary specifically aimed at a western audience unfamiliar with eastern religious tradition in general and Tibetan Buddhism specifically.[19] He does not attempt to directly correlate the content of the Bardo Thodol with rituals or dogma found in occidental religion but rather highlights karmic phenomena described on the Bardo plane and shows how they parallel unconscious contents (both personal and collective) encountered in the west, particularly in the context of analytical psychology. Jung's comments should be taken strictly within the realm of psychology, and not that of theology or metaphysics. Indeed, he warns repeatedly of the dangers for western man in the wholesale adoption of eastern religious traditions such as yoga.[20]

Other translations and summaries

[edit]
  • Conze, Edward (1959) Buddhist Scriptures. Harmondsworth: Penguin (includes a précis)
  • MacHovec, Frank (1972) The Tibetan Book of the Dead. Mount Vernon: Peter Pauper Press ISBN 978-0880885249
  • Fremantle, Francesca & Chögyam Trungpa (1975) The Tibetan Book of the Dead: The Great Liberation through Hearing in the Bardo by Guru Rinpoche according to Karma Lingpa. Boulder: Shambhala ISBN 0-394-73064-X, ISBN 1-59030-059-9 (reissued 2003)
  • Thurman, Robert (1994) The Tibetan Book of the Dead, as popularly known in the West; known in Tibet as "The Great Book of Natural Liberation Through Understanding in the Between"; composed by Padma Sambhava; discovered by Karma Lingpa; foreword by the Dalai Lama London: HarperCollins ISBN 1-85538-412-4
  • Hodge, Stephen & Martin Boord (1999) The Illustrated Tibetan Book of the Dead: A New Translation and Commentary. New York: Sterling ISBN 978-0806970776
  • Dorje, Gyurme (trans.); Graham Coleman and Thupten Jinpa (eds.) (2005) The Tibetan Book of the Dead [English title]: The Great Liberation by Hearing in the Intermediate States [Tibetan title]; composed by Padma Sambhava: revealed by Karma Lingpa. London: Penguin Books ISBN 978-0-14-045529-8 Also: New York: Viking Penguin, NY, 2006. ISBN 0-670-85886-2 (hc); ISBN 978-0-14-310494-0 (pbk) Reprinted in Penguin Classics; London: Penguin Books (2005) ISBN 0-7139-9414-2 (As of 2022, this remains the only translation of the complete cycle of texts of which the Tibetan Book of the Dead is part. Here it comprises chapter 11.)
  • Related (from the same terma cycle)
    • Natural Liberation. 1998. Padmasambhava. B. Alan Wallace (translator), with commentary by Gyatrul Rinpoche. Wisdom Publications. Natural Liberation is from the same terma cycle and gives detailed instructions for practice within the six bardos.[4]
[edit]

The Psychedelic Experience

[edit]
See also: Ego death

The Psychedelic Experience, published in 1964, is a guide for LSD trips, written by Timothy Leary, Ralph Metzner and Richard Alpert (later known as Ram Dass), loosely based on Evan-Wentz's translation of the Tibetan Book of the Dead.[21][22] Aldous Huxley introduced the Tibetan Book of the Dead to Timothy Leary.[22] According to Leary, Metzner and Alpert, the Tibetan Book of the Dead is

... a key to the innermost recesses of the human mind, and a guide for initiates, and for those who are seeking the spiritual path of liberation.[23]

They construed the effect of LSD as a "stripping away" of ego-defenses, finding parallels between the stages of death and rebirth in the Tibetan Book of the Dead, and the stages of psychological "death" and "rebirth" which Leary had identified during his research.[24] According to Leary, Metzner and Alpert it is:

... one of the oldest and most universal practices for the initiate to go through the experience of death before he can be spiritually reborn. Symbolically he must die to his past, and to his old ego, before he can take his place in the new spiritual life into which he has been initiated.[25]

Musical, cinematic, and literary works

[edit]
  • French composer Pierre Henry based his pioneering 1963 electroacoustic ballet work Le Voyage on the narrative of the text. A recording of the work was released by Philips in 1967.[26]
  • The song ‘Tomorrow Never Knows’ on the 1966 Beatles album Revolver was inspired by a version of the text – ‘When writing the song, Lennon drew inspiration from his experiences with the hallucinogenic drug LSD and from the 1964 book The Psychedelic Experience: A Manual Based on the Tibetan Book of the Dead by Timothy Leary, Richard Alpert and Ralph Metzner.’ [27]
  • In 1974 Finnish composer Erik Bergman composed a work titled Bardo Thödol for a speaker, mezzo-soprano, baritone, mixed choir and orchestra; the text was based on a German translation of the Book of the Dead.[28]
  • 1985 2-part documentary filmed in Ladakh and the States, first part entitled "The Tibetan Book of the Dead: A Way of Life"; the second part "The Tibetan Book of the Dead: The Great Liberation" was a co-production between NHK (Japan), Mistral (France) and FBC (Canada). Narration in the English version is by Leonard Cohen.[29]
  • Between 1983 and 1993 French composer Éliane Radigue created her three-hour work of electronic music, Trilogie de la Mort. Her Tibetan Buddhist meditation practise, including engagement with the Bardo Thodol after the deaths of her son and her meditation teacher, are central to this piece, in particular the first section entitled "Kyema (Intermediate States)".[30]
  • Screenwriter and film producer Bruce Joel Rubin, who once lived in a Tibetan Buddhist monastery, considers his 1990 film Jacob's Ladder a modern interpretation of the Bardo Thodol.[31][32]
  • Space rock band Bardo Pond, formed in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1991, take their name in part from the Bardo Thodol.[33]
  • In 1991 The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying by Sogyal Rinpoche was published as a spiritual and practical development based on the Bardo Thodol.[34]
  • The song, "T.B.D" on the 1994 "Throwing Copper" album by the band Live, is about the Tibetan Book of the Dead.
  • The Canadian band Mystery released the song "Queen of Vajra Space" on their 1998 album Destiny?.
  • Enter the Void, a 2009 French film written and directed by Gaspar Noé, features the death of a young man, and his subsequent journey through the bardo.[35]
  • In 2019, avant-garde composer and performer Laurie Anderson, Tibetan musician Tenzin Choegyal and activist and composer Jesse Paris Smith recorded Songs from the Bardo: Illuminations on the Tibetan Book.[36]
  • The 2023 film Samsara contains a several-minutes-long scene of experimental audio-visual stimuli, during which the viewer is invited to imagine themselves in a bardo state.[37]

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]

Further reading

[edit]
[edit]
Revisions and contributorsEdit on WikipediaRead on Wikipedia

Bardo Thodol

View on Grokipedia
from Grokipedia
The Bardo Thodol (Tibetan: བར་དོ་ཐོས་གྲོལ་, Wylie: bar do thos grol), commonly known in the West as The Tibetan Book of the Dead, is a foundational Tibetan Buddhist funerary text that offers detailed instructions to guide the of a dying or deceased person through the intermediate states (bardos) between death and rebirth, with the ultimate aim of achieving enlightenment and liberation from samsara (the cycle of rebirth). Traditionally attributed to the 8th-century tantric master (also known as Guru Rinpoche), who is credited with establishing Buddhism in , the text is said to have been composed around 750 CE in collaboration with his consort and then concealed as a terma (spiritual treasure) for future revelation. It was later discovered and disseminated in the 14th century by the treasure revealer (terton) Karma Lingpa (1326–1386), who extracted it from its hiding place, making it part of a larger cycle of teachings on peaceful and wrathful deities. The Bardo Thodol was further compiled and standardized within Tibetan Buddhist literature during the as a cohesive ritual manual. The text's core content focuses on three primary bardos: the bardo of the moment of (where one confronts the dissolution of the elements of the body), the bardo of dharmata (the natural of reality, featuring visions of peaceful deities), and the bardo of existence (where karmic visions of wrathful deities arise, leading toward rebirth if liberation is not attained). Designed to be recited aloud by a or spiritual guide over a period of up to following , it emphasizes recognizing these visionary experiences as projections of one's own mind and innate , thereby enabling instantaneous awakening rather than . This auditory guidance underscores the text's literal meaning: "liberation through hearing" during transitional states. Beyond its ritual use in Tibetan Buddhist funerals to support both the deceased and grieving survivors in confronting impermanence, the Bardo Thodol holds profound philosophical significance as an exposition of Buddhist psychology, , and the potential for enlightenment at any moment, including the dying process. Its introduction to the West via the English translation by —titled The Tibetan Book of the Dead—sparked widespread interest, influencing fields from (e.g., Carl Jung's commentary) to 20th-century and psychedelic exploration, though this popularized version often diverges from the original's esoteric tantric context. Over 21 English translations exist today, reflecting its enduring global impact.

Etymology and Terminology

Etymology

The title Bardo Thodol derives from Tibetan, literally translating to "Liberation Through Hearing During the Intermediate State." It breaks down into two primary components: bar do (བར་དོ་), denoting the intermediate or transitional state, and thos grol (ཐོས་གྲོལ་), meaning liberation achieved through hearing or auditory guidance. The term bar do originates from classical Tibetan, where bar signifies "between" or "in the midst," and do implies an interval, suspension, or gap between two events or phases of existence. This etymology reflects a conceptual emphasis on liminal periods, such as those between death and rebirth, though the term encompasses broader transitions in Tibetan Buddhist thought. In contrast, thos grol combines thos, from the verb "to hear" or "to listen," with grol, meaning "to liberate" or "to release," underscoring the text's role in providing oral instructions for spiritual freedom during transitional phases. The Tibetan corresponds to the Sanskrit antarābhava, where antara means "intermediate" or "in-between," and denotes "existence" or "becoming," highlighting a shared Indo-Tibetan linguistic heritage for describing states of interim being. The term entered Tibetan literature through the translation of Indian starting in the , evolving from early discussions of post-death intervals to a more expansive framework in Vajrayāna traditions by the , where it denoted multiple transitional states. Transliteration of the full title varies by system; in the Wylie scheme, it is rendered as bar do thos grol, preserving Tibetan orthography for scholarly precision, while phonetic approximations include Bardo Thödol to approximate Central Tibetan pronunciation, with the ö indicating a rounded vowel sound.

Key Concepts (Bardos)

In Tibetan Buddhism, the term bardo refers to an intermediate or transitional state of existence, literally meaning "interval" or "in-between," denoting periods of uncertainty and flux between two more stable conditions, such as birth and death or waking and sleeping. This concept underscores the impermanent nature of all phenomena, where consciousness navigates gaps that reveal the mind's innate luminosity and potential for awakening. The broader Tibetan Buddhist tradition delineates six s, encompassing the entire cycle of and providing a framework for understanding life's continuous transitions. These include: the of birth and life (skye gnas bar do), which spans ordinary waking experience; the of dreaming (rmi lam bar do), involving the illusory nature of sleep; the of (samādhi bar do), focused on contemplative states; the of the moment of ('chi kha bar do), marked by the dissolution of the physical body; the of supreme reality (chos nyid bar do), where visions of ultimate truth arise; and the of (srid pa'i bar do), leading toward karmic rebirth. While all six offer pathways to insight, the Bardo Thodol particularly emphasizes the three bardos associated with —the painful bardo of dying, the luminous bardo of dharmata, and the karmic bardo of becoming—as critical junctures for liberation from cyclic . Within the context of samsara, the unending cycle of birth, death, and rebirth driven by karma and , bardos represent heightened moments of vulnerability and opportunity. During these intervals, the mind is unencumbered by gross physical form, allowing karmic imprints to manifest vividly and the potential for recognizing the empty, luminous nature of reality to emerge, thereby enabling practitioners to attain enlightenment and escape samsara's repetitive suffering. This recognition is facilitated through prior spiritual training, transforming what could be a disorienting passage into a gateway for nirvana. A specific example is the chikhai bardo, the initial phase of dying, where the clear light of ultimate reality dawns at the moment of death, offering an immediate chance for liberation if the deceased's consciousness merges with it, as described in teachings on the dissolution of the elements. Failure to recognize this luminosity leads to progression through subsequent s, perpetuating rebirth unless further opportunities are seized.

Historical Origins and Composition

Authorship and Dating

The Bardo Thodol is traditionally attributed to , the 8th-century Indian tantric master credited with establishing Buddhism in Tibet, who is said to have composed the core teachings during his time there. According to tradition, dictated the text to his consort , who concealed it as a terma (hidden treasure) to preserve it for future generations when societal conditions would allow its revelation. The text was purportedly revealed and redacted in the late by Karma Lingpa (c. 1326–1386 CE), a prominent terton (treasure revealer) of the school, who discovered it among a cycle of instructions on the peaceful and wrathful deities (zhi khro). Karma Lingpa, considered by tradition to be a of one of Padmasambhava's disciples, compiled the Bardo Thodol around the 1380s from these concealed materials, integrating them into a cohesive funerary manual. The discovery narrative emphasizes the terma tradition's role in ensuring the teachings' authenticity and timeliness within . Scholars generally date the compilation of the Bardo Thodol to the under Karma Lingpa's guidance, while acknowledging that its conceptual foundations—such as the states and visionary deity cycles—likely draw from earlier tantric developments between the 8th and 12th centuries, reflecting broader influences in esotericism. Although the terma attribution underscores the text's legitimacy within the lineage, some academic analyses question the of Padmasambhava's direct authorship, viewing the work as a synthetic product of medieval Tibetan Buddhist synthesis rather than a singular 8th-century composition. These debates highlight the school's distinctive revelatory framework, which has occasionally faced skepticism from other Tibetan Buddhist traditions regarding the provenance of terma texts.

Textual Sources and Manuscripts

The Bardo Thodol forms part of a broader terma cycle titled Zab chos zhi khro dgongs pa rang grol (Profound of Self-Liberation through the Intention of the Peaceful and Wrathful Ones), revealed by the Nyingma tertön Karma Lingpa in the 14th century and transmitted through specialized terma lineages emphasizing both scriptural and oral instructions within the school. These lineages trace the text's dissemination from Karma Lingpa's original disclosures to subsequent holders, including monastic communities that safeguarded copies amid historical upheavals in . Primary Tibetan manuscripts of the cycle include a notable 19th-century compilation from Katok Monastery in eastern , consisting of 64 individual texts spanning 764 folios and considered the most comprehensive and faithful reproduction of Karma Lingpa's terma revelations. Other significant exemplars originate from sub-Himalayan regions, such as those preserved in Bhutanese xylographic blocks and handwritten volumes that reflect regional scribal adaptations. Variants among the Peaceful and (zhi khro) cycles primarily involve structural differences in the sequencing of visionary sequences, the enumeration of the 42 peaceful and 58 , and the inclusion of ancillary rituals; for example, some editions emphasize meditative visualizations of the peaceful deities in the initial phase, while others integrate extended mandalas with variant iconographic details drawn from related termas. Scholarly cataloging identifies several distinct manuscript and block-printed versions, differing in colophons, protective prayers, and liturgical appendices, such as additional supplications to lineage gurus found in Bhutanese imprints but absent in certain Katok-derived copies. These discrepancies arise from the text's terma nature, allowing for interpretive expansions during transmission while preserving core liberative instructions. Preservation initiatives by institutions involve curating physical collections of ancient Tibetan manuscripts, including zhi khro cycle exemplars, through monastic libraries that support scriptural study and replication. Complementing these efforts, the Buddhist Digital Resource Center (BDRC) has digitized numerous Tibetan as of 2025, providing open-access scans of endangered manuscripts from Tibetan exile archives and enabling non-destructive research worldwide.

Core Content and Teachings

The Three Bardos

The Bardo Thodol delineates the postmortem journey through three successive intermediate states, or , that the traverses following physical , providing a structured framework for potential liberation from cyclic existence. These stages—the chikhai bardo, chönyid bardo, and sidpa bardo—unfold in linear progression, offering progressive opportunities for the deceased to recognize the innate and empty nature of the mind, thereby dissolving delusions and attaining enlightenment. This recognition is central to the text's teachings, as misidentification at any stage propels the deeper into karmic conditioning and eventual rebirth. The chikhai bardo, or the intermediate state of the moment of , marks the initial dissolution of the four elements constituting the gross body, culminating in the primary of dawning upon the . Lasting briefly at the precise instant of , this stage presents the purest manifestation of the mind's ground , unmodified by dualistic perceptions. The text's instructions urge immediate identification of this as one's own primordial awareness, free from subject-object dichotomy, to secure instantaneous ; failure to do so results in unconscious fainting-like oblivion, transitioning to the subsequent . Upon emergence from this stupor, the chönyid bardo, or the intermediate state of (dharmata), commences, spanning fourteen days (two weeks) and characterized by the sequential appearance of one hundred peaceful and as spontaneous radiances of the five wisdoms. These visionary displays, occurring in sets over the period, represent the mind's own dynamic energies unfolding without external cause. Navigational guidance in the text emphasizes dissolving fear and attachment by realizing these forms as illusory projections of one's own (intrinsic awareness), akin to a , enabling liberation through non-dual recognition at the point of their vivid manifestation. Should liberation evade recognition here, the sidpa bardo, or the intermediate state of karmic becoming, ensues, lasting up to forty-nine days during which the , now propelled by unresolved karma, wanders in a subtle susceptible to sensory illusions and propelled toward rebirth in samsaric realms. This phase intensifies karmic visions, such as alluring lights drawing toward specific existences, with the textual directives focusing on sustaining to discern the dreamlike quality of all phenomena and invoking the anew. By directing aspirations toward pure realms or averting unfavorable births through ethical reflection, the individual may yet achieve , though the momentum of often culminates in conception and a new life cycle.

Bar do thos grol (Liberation by Hearing)

The Bar do thos grol, or Liberation by Hearing, constitutes the primary ritual practice of the Bardo Thodol, involving the aloud of specific instructions to the of the deceased to prompt recognition of the mind's innate and achieve enlightenment during the intermediate states. This method relies on the belief that auditory perception persists in the even when other senses are diminished, allowing the teachings to penetrate and awaken prior spiritual imprints. By hearing these recitations, the deceased is guided to identify the as their own true nature, thereby attaining liberation without further cyclic existence. The ritual commences immediately upon death and continues for , divided into seven weekly cycles that correspond to the unfolding phases of the intermediate states, with recitations performed daily—often in the evenings or during liminal hours—to maximize receptivity. During this period, a qualified practitioner or family member reads the full text or key sections, emphasizing introductory and concluding prayers that invoke attentiveness and non-distraction. For instance, an opening exhortation summarizes: "It is called the Great Liberation by Hearing, because even those who have committed the five boundless sins are sure to be liberated if they hear it by the path of ears." These structured readings ensure ongoing support, adapting to the consciousness's potential confusion by repeatedly reinforcing the path to realization. Central to the text are prayers designed for auditory transmission, such as those elucidating the intermediate state of reality, which urge: "O [deceased], now is the moment of hearing; attend with undistracted mind to the profound ." These summaries distill instructions on resting in the natural state, free from conceptual elaboration, to foster immediate . The practice's stems from its integration of meditative preliminaries, where the reciter visualizes transferring merit to the deceased while intoning the verses. Doctrinally, the Bar do thos grol is rooted in the tradition of the school, where it functions as a terma by Karma Lingpa, drawing on Padmasambhava's instructions for direct introduction to —the primordial awareness—through sound as a expedient means for post-mortem realization. This aligns with Dzogchen's emphasis on non-gradual enlightenment, viewing hearing as a direct pointer to the ground of being, akin to living practices of oral transmission. Complementarily, it shares affinities with teachings in the tradition, which similarly prioritize the inseparability of mind's emptiness and clarity, enabling instantaneous liberation via uncontrived recognition prompted by auditory cues. These lineages underscore the text's role in actualizing the as an opportunity for profound awakening, paralleling the three bardos navigated through such guidance.

Kar gling zhi khro (Peaceful and Wrathful Deities)

In the chönyid bardo of dharmata, the second of the three bardos described in the Bardo Thodol, the consciousness encounters a structured sequence of visionary manifestations known as the peaceful and wrathful deities (kar gling zhi khro). These begin with the appearance of the 42 peaceful deities (zhi ba'i lha), which unfold progressively over days four through eleven following death, grouped in sets associated with the five families and their consorts, bodhisattvas, and female deities. This is followed by the manifestation of the 58 (khro bo'i lha), emerging in the second week from days twelve through fourteen, organized into eight legions led by fierce herukas such as Mahottara and their retinues, including gatekeepers and animal-headed dakinis. The overall sequence totals 100 primary deities, though some traditions incorporate additional figures like the five jñanasattvas, reaching 108 in configurations. Symbolically, these deities represent projections of the deceased's own mind, embodying the innate clarity and of enlightened in their peaceful forms, while the wrathful aspects symbolize the confused and obscured energies arising from unresolved karma and dualistic perceptions. The peaceful deities, radiant with soft lights and serene expressions, manifest the pure dharmakaya nature, inviting recognition of non-dual reality; in contrast, the wrathful ones, with their fiery auras, multiple heads, and weapons, arise as transformations of the same essences when not recognized, illustrating the mind's potential for both liberation and entrapment. The text provides explicit instructions for navigating these visions: the deceased is urged to maintain , recognizing the deities as empty illusions of one's own mind rather than external threats, and to avoid recoiling in fear or grasping in desire, which would perpetuate samsaric rebirth. By dissolving into the (od gsal) underlying these appearances—often visualized as a vast, empty radiance—the practitioner achieves union with primordial awareness, leading to liberation; failure to do so results in the visions intensifying into terrifying forms that propel the toward the sidpa bardo. Manuscript traditions exhibit variations in deity counts and depictions, influenced by regional lineages and integrations with tantric sources like the . For instance, some versions alter iconographic details such as the colors, attributes, and sequential order to align with specific sadhana practices, reflecting adaptive interpretations across Tibetan treasure (terma) cycles. These differences underscore the fluid nature of the zhi khro in esoteric , where the core emphasis remains on the deities as mirrors of the practitioner's psychic continuum.

Translations and Interpretations

Evans-Wentz's Translation

The first major English translation of the Bardo Thodol was published in 1927 under the title The Tibetan Book of the Dead: Or The After-Death Experiences on the Bardo Plane, according to Lāma Kazi Dawa-Samdup's English Rendering, edited by Walter Y. Evans-Wentz and issued by Oxford University Press. Evans-Wentz, an American anthropologist and spiritual seeker who did not speak Tibetan, collaborated with the Tibetan lama Kazi Dawa Samdup for the translation, incorporating commentaries from Samdup and an introduction by Sir John Woodroffe. This edition presented a selected compilation of Tibetan texts rather than a complete rendering of the full Bardo Thodol cycle, drawing from manuscripts obtained in Sikkim. A distinctive feature of Evans-Wentz's edition was its integration of non-Buddhist elements, heavily influenced by Theosophy, the esoteric movement co-founded by Helena Blavatsky, which Evans-Wentz had encountered during his studies. He framed the text through a Theosophical lens, interpreting Tibetan concepts like the bardos in terms of universal spiritual evolution and drawing parallels to Western occult traditions, such as Egyptian mysticism, which inspired the title "Book of the Dead"—a misnomer not reflective of the original Tibetan. This approach included extensive editorial glosses and prefaces that emphasized perennial philosophy over strict Tibetan Buddhist doctrine, blending the translation with Evans-Wentz's personal quest for a synthesized global spirituality. The translation faced significant scholarly criticisms for inaccuracies and cultural misinterpretations, as Evans-Wentz's lack of linguistic proficiency led to reliance on intermediaries, resulting in liberties taken with the source material. Scholars like have noted that the edition distorts the text by imposing Theosophical ideas, such as equating Tibetan deities with abstract psychological states, and by selecting passages out of their ritual context, making it more a product of than authentic Tibetan tradition. Additionally, the title and framing obscured the Bardo Thodol's specific roots, leading to misunderstandings of its esoteric practices as general guides. Despite these flaws, Evans-Wentz's 1927 edition played a pivotal role in introducing the Bardo Thodol to Western audiences before , sparking interest among intellectuals, occultists, and early scholars of Eastern religions. Its publication marked the text's entry into English-speaking esoteric circles, influencing figures in and , and laying the groundwork for later, more accurate translations by popularizing Tibetan Buddhist ideas on and rebirth in the pre-war era.

Other Major Translations

Following the pioneering but Theosophy-influenced translation by W.Y. Evans-Wentz in 1927, subsequent English versions of the Bardo Thodol have sought greater fidelity to the original Tibetan text and its lineage context. Another influential version is the translation by Francesca and , which provides a poetic rendering aimed at both practitioners and general readers. A notable abridged edition appeared in 1994, translated by Robert A.F. Thurman, titled The Tibetan Book of the Dead: The Great Book of Natural Liberation Through Understanding in the Between. This version, published by Bantam Books, condenses the core text while preserving its poetic structure and spiritual intent, making it accessible for Western readers through an extensive introduction that integrates Tibetan Buddhist concepts with and practical meditations adaptable to diverse traditions. Thurman's approach emphasizes the text's role as a practical guide for the living and dying, incorporating visualizations of both traditional deities and contemporary symbols to facilitate understanding. The most comprehensive scholarly translation to date is Gyurme Dorje's 2005 edition, The Tibetan Book of the Dead: The Great Liberation by Hearing in the Intermediate States, co-edited with Graham Coleman and Thupten Jinpa and published by . Supported by His Holiness the and drawing on consultations with contemporary lamas, this first full English rendering of the Kar gling zhi khro cycle is based on the fourteenth-century terma manuscripts from the Zangdou Nyingpo (Heart Essence of the Great Expanse) revelation by Karma Lingpa, accessing multiple historical variants for accuracy. It strips away extraneous commentaries and interpretive additions from prior editions, prioritizing a literal yet readable that clarifies esoteric without orientalist overlays. These translations advance beyond Evans-Wentz by enhancing fidelity to the Tibetan original: Thurman's abridgment removes verbose annotations to focus on the text's meditative essence, while Dorje's critical edition eliminates non-canonical elements, providing extensive notes, a , and lineage to ensure terminological precision rooted in sources. Both avoid speculative psychological interpretations, instead highlighting the Bardo Thodol's function as a funerary . Comparatively, renderings of key concepts differ in nuance and accessibility. For the bardos (intermediate states), Thurman employs "the between" to evoke transitional fluidity, aligning with everyday Western comprehension, whereas Dorje opts for "intermediate state" to maintain the technical Tibetan bar do , emphasizing its cosmological precision across the three primary phases: birth/, dream/dreamlike reality, and meditation/dharmata. In depicting the peaceful and (zhi khro), Thurman's version uses vivid, inclusive imagery that allows substitution with non-Buddhist icons for broader appeal, while Dorje provides exact transliterations and descriptions—such as the forty-two peaceful deities emerging from the heart syllable HRĪḤ—drawn directly from , ensuring authenticity for practitioners. These variations reflect Thurman's ecumenical adaptation versus Dorje's philological rigor. In the 2020s, scholarly editions have incorporated advances in manuscript studies, with digital archiving of additional terma variants from Tibetan collections enabling refined annotations in reprints of Dorje's work, though no entirely new full translations have been published as of 2025. Ongoing research, including comparative analyses of post-fourteenth-century recensions, continues to inform these updates, enhancing textual reliability without altering the core renderings.

Scholarly Analyses and Variations

Scholarly analyses of the Bardo Thodol emphasize its evolution as a composite text within Tibetan religious , rather than a singular ancient . Bryan J. Cuevas's 2005 , The Hidden History of the Tibetan , traces the text's compilation from the 12th to 19th centuries, highlighting how it drew from earlier funerary rituals and teachings in the tradition, while adapting elements from indigenous Tibetan practices. Cuevas argues that the Bardo Thodol's canonical status emerged through terma () revelations, particularly those attributed to Karma Lingpa in the , which integrated diverse scriptural sources to form a practical guide for post-mortem navigation. Doctrinal debates surrounding the Bardo Thodol often center on its compatibility with broader Buddhist views on death and rebirth, particularly the elaboration of intermediate states (bardos) versus the rejection of such concepts. In tradition, as articulated by in the Kathāvatthu (Points of Controversy), the notion of an antarābhava—an intermediate existence between death and rebirth—is explicitly denied, with rebirth occurring instantaneously upon the cessation of consciousness in the prior life. interpretations, as presented in the Bardo Thodol, expand this into a detailed tripartite bardo framework (of dying, dharmatā, and becoming), viewing death as an opportunity for liberation through recognition of , which aligns with emphases on transformative visions but diverges from 's focus on immediate karmic continuity without liminal phases. Scholars like Cuevas note that this approach integrates tantric elements absent in , raising questions about the text's orthodoxy within non-Mahayana lineages. Textual variations in the Bardo Thodol reflect differences between the and traditions, particularly in their conceptualization of bardos and post-death guidance. In the school, the text is rooted in philosophy, portraying the bardos as manifestations of innate awareness () where recognition leads to enlightenment, with the peaceful and serving as projections of the practitioner's mind. tradition, while sharing structural parallels such as intermediate states and visionary encounters, incorporates pre-Buddhist shamanic elements, emphasizing of local deities and a distinct lineage tracing bardos to ancient sources rather than Indian tantras. These variations are evident in Bon's analogous texts, which adapt frameworks but prioritize indigenous cosmologies, leading scholars to view the Bardo Thodol as a hybridized product influenced by Bonpo motifs.

Cultural and Modern Influence

Western Esotericism and Popularization

The introduction of the Bardo Thodol to the West began with Walter Y. Evans-Wentz's 1927 English translation, The Tibetan Book of the Dead, which framed the text through a Theosophical lens and sparked interest among esoteric circles. Evans-Wentz, influenced by his visits to the headquarters in , where he met , presented the work as a universal guide to the , blending Tibetan Buddhist concepts with Theosophical ideas of and spiritual evolution. This edition, supported by the 's networks, facilitated its dissemination among Western spiritual seekers seeking insights beyond . In the 1930s, the text gained prominence in psychological circles through Carl Jung's psychological commentary, added to subsequent editions of Evans-Wentz's translation. Jung interpreted the Bardo Thodol's descriptions of post-death visions as manifestations of the and archetypes, linking them to processes of and psychic transformation. His foreword emphasized the text's value for understanding mental states akin to or near-death experiences, influencing Jungian therapy's exploration of death symbolism and the psyche's journey through liminal states. Figures like further aided dissemination; through her travels in and books such as Magic and Mystery in Tibet (1929), she introduced Western audiences to Tibetan esoteric practices, including funerary rituals. Theosophical and New Age movements adapted the Bardo Thodol as a generalized manual for navigating death, often detaching it from its Nyingma Buddhist context of liberation through hearing. In Theosophy, it was aligned with doctrines of astral planes and karma, promoting it as evidence of universal spiritual truths accessible to all seekers. New Age interpretations in the late 20th century similarly repurposed its bardo stages as a non-sectarian roadmap for personal growth and afterlife preparation, sometimes conflating them with mediumship or out-of-body experiences, leading to critiques of cultural misrepresentation. In the 21st century, the Bardo Thodol has seen revivals in secular mindfulness and end-of-life care programs, emphasizing its teachings on impermanence and conscious dying. Sogyal Rinpoche's The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying (1992) popularized these ideas, integrating bardo practices into daily meditation for holistic well-being and compassionate care for the dying. Contemporary palliative programs, such as those in hospices, draw on its guidance for mindfulness-based preparation, using readings and visualizations to support patients in facing death with awareness and reduce fear. This adaptation aligns Tibetan concepts with evidence-based end-of-life support, fostering equanimity in diverse cultural settings.

Psychedelic and Countercultural Adaptations

In the 1960s, the Bardo Thodol gained prominence within Western psychedelic movements through , , and Richard Alpert's 1964 book : A Manual Based on the Tibetan Book of the Dead, which reinterpreted the text as a guide for navigating LSD-induced states. The authors mapped the three bardos—chikhai (clear light at death), chonyid (visions of deities), and sidpa (search for rebirth)—directly onto the phases of a psychedelic trip: ego dissolution, hallucinatory encounters, and reintegration, positioning psychedelics as a means to simulate and prepare for death. This adaptation framed the Bardo Thodol as a practical manual for "" and spiritual rebirth during drug sessions, emphasizing surrender to visions akin to the text's instructions for the deceased. The work profoundly influenced the and emerging , where the Bardo Thodol's concepts were integrated into rituals simulating and rebirth to foster personal transformation. Beat figures like incorporated psychedelic explorations inspired by the text into communal practices, blending Eastern mysticism with drug use to challenge conventional reality and pursue enlightenment. Among hippies, the book informed "turn on, tune in, drop out" ethos, with group sessions often reciting passages from Leary's adaptation to guide participants through intense visionary experiences as metaphorical passages through the bardos. Critics, particularly from Buddhist and scholarly perspectives, have condemned Leary's version for reducing the Bardo Thodol—a profound funerary rooted in Tibetan tradition—to a simplistic "drug manual," stripping its karmic and depth. This orientalist reinterpretation overlooked the text's emphasis on lifelong preparation through and , instead promoting psychedelics as a shortcut to liberation, which some viewed as culturally insensitive and spiritually superficial. Post-2000, echoes of these adaptations persist in and communities, where Bardo Thodol concepts inform preparation for subtle psychedelic states or ceremonial integration. Practitioners in circles reference navigation to contextualize visionary encounters as transitional journeys, aiding psychological processing without full immersion. advocates draw on the text's stages to frame low-dose experiences as mini-bardos for daily insight and ego modulation, reviving countercultural ideas in therapeutic and wellness settings.

Representations in Arts and Media

The Bardo Thodol has influenced musical compositions through direct adaptations of its chants and thematic explorations of and rebirth. Traditional Tibetan chants reciting the text have been recorded for use, such as those accompanying readings to guide the deceased, preserving the in audio formats produced by institutions like the label. In , the 2019 album Songs from the by , Jesse Paris Smith, and Choegyal integrates excerpts from the Bardo Thodol with experimental instrumentation, including and percussion, to evoke the intermediate states of consciousness. drew on Tibetan Buddhist ideas in his songwriting during the and , reflecting existential themes of transition and the . In film, the Bardo Thodol has served as both subject and structural inspiration. The 1994 two-part documentary series The Tibetan Book of the Dead, directed by Barrie Kieth and written by Yukari Hayakawa, documents the text's recitation rituals in Tibetan communities, highlighting its role in funerary practices through interviews and footage of performances. Gaspar Noé's 2009 feature film draws on the Bardo Thodol's depiction of post-mortem visions and rebirth cycles to frame its psychedelic narrative of a soul's journey after death, with the protagonist's experiences mirroring the states described in the text. Literary works have woven the Bardo Thodol into narratives of personal and spiritual quests. In Peter Matthiessen's 1978 travelogue , the author references the Bardo Thodol as a manual for navigating death, consulting its instructions amid grief and his Himalayan expedition to contemplate impermanence. George Saunders' 2017 novel adapts the text's concept to portray ghosts trapped in a liminal , structuring the story as a polyphonic dialogue that echoes the Bardo Thodol's guidance for liberation from cyclic . Visual arts in the 2020s have increasingly incorporated bardo imagery from the Bardo Thodol to explore themes of mortality and transformation. The Rubin Museum of Himalayan Art's 2010 exhibition Bardo: Tibetan Art of the Afterlife displayed approximately 50 paintings, sculptures, and mandalas depicting peaceful and wrathful deities encountered in the bardo, curated to illustrate the text's visionary sequences and their cultural resonance in modern interpretations. Contemporary Tibetan artists, such as those in recent shows at Tibet House US, have reinterpreted these motifs in mixed-media installations that blend traditional iconography with abstract forms to address exile and existential flux. Recent digital adaptations, such as explorations of the Bardo Thodol in virtual reality as of 2024, continue to reimagine its teachings for contemporary audiences.

References

  1. https://theconversation.com/guide-to-the-classics-the-tibetan-book-of-the-dead-172962
  2. https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/16/10/1276
  3. https://texts.mandala.library.virginia.edu/book_pubreader/39141
  4. https://buddhism.lib.ntu.edu.tw/FULLTEXT/JR-ADM/goss.htm
  5. https://paw.princeton.edu/article/ann-tashi-slater-84-teaches-us-how-live-impermanent-world
  6. https://encyclopediaofbuddhism.org/wiki/Bardo_Thodol
  7. https://www.wisdomlib.org/definition/bardo
  8. https://www.wisdomlib.org/definition/antarabhava
  9. https://oxfordre.com/religion/display/10.1093/acrefore/9780199340378.001.0001/acrefore-9780199340378-e-200
  10. https://www.tngcentre.org/en/lineage-holders/kagyud-masters/khenting-tai-situpa/the-six-aspects-of-bardo
  11. https://www.samyeinstitute.org/nlncnd/the-six-bardos/
  12. https://www.worldhistory.org/Tibetan_Book_of_the_Dead/
  13. http://www.psilosophy.info/resources/v20n1-32to33.pdf
  14. https://bardothodol.nextohm.com/BardoThodol19/
  15. https://www.academia.edu/7201670/_Elliott_M_Diemberger_H_Clemente_M_2014_Buddhas_Word_The_Life_of_Books_in_Tibet_and_Beyond_Cambridge_Museum_of_Archaeology_and_Anthropology_University_of_Cambridge
  16. https://www.bdrc.io/programs/
  17. https://isharonline.org/wp-content/uploads/The-Tibetan-Book-of-the-Dead.pdf
  18. https://www.theosophical.org/publications/quest-magazine/sp-1550110798
  19. https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc799284/m2/1/high_res_d/vol5-no1-3.pdf
  20. https://d1i1jdw69xsqx0.cloudfront.net/digitalhimalaya/collections/journals/ret/pdf/ret_55_23.pdf
  21. https://oxfordre.com/religion/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780199340378.001.0001/acrefore-9780199340378-e-178
  22. https://academic.oup.com/edited-volume/40700/chapter/348429983
  23. https://www.themathesontrust.org/papers/buddhism/Trungpa-Fremantle-Bardo_Todol-Comment.pdf
  24. https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691134352/the-tibetan-book-of-the-dead
  25. https://www.lionsroar.com/whose-book-of-the-dead/
  26. https://shambhala.com/the-tibetan-book-of-the-dead-2/
  27. https://tricycle.org/magazine/tibetan-book-dead/
  28. https://tricycle.org/magazine/real-dead-definitive-translation/
  29. https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/288210/the-tibetan-book-of-the-dead-by-gyurme-dorje/
  30. https://digitalcommons.ciis.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1071&context=advance-archive
  31. https://global.oup.com/academic/product/the-hidden-history-of-the-tibetan-book-of-the-dead-9780195306521
  32. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/375436378_The_Hidden_History_of_The_Tibetan_Book_of_the_Dead
  33. https://is.muni.cz/el/1421/jaro2011/RLB237/um/TKM/txt/cuevas_1996.pdf
  34. https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/978-94-010-2242-2_19
  35. https://oxfordre.com/religion/display/10.1093/acrefore/9780199340378.001.0001/acrefore-9780199340378-e-880
  36. https://www.dharmawheel.net/viewtopic.php?t=3938
  37. https://academic.oup.com/book/12379/chapter/161982921
  38. https://www.theosophical.org/publications/quest-magazine/dawning-of-the-clear-light-a-comparison-of-the-tibetan-book-of-the-dead-with-theosophical-teachings-on-the-afterlife
  39. https://online.ucpress.edu/nr/article/21/3/47/71032/The-Psychedelic-Book-of-the-DeadTimothy-Leary-in
  40. https://sacred-texts.com/bud/tib/psydead.htm
  41. https://blog.oup.com/2018/03/hippie-trail-search-enlightenment/
  42. https://www.buddhistdoor.net/features/tibetan-book-of-the-dead-part-one-cosmic-jumper/
  43. https://www.noblechatter.com/faq/7410/tibetan-book-of-the-dead/how-has-the-tibetan-book-of-the-dead-influenced-western-views-on-death-and-dying
  44. https://www.academia.edu/106174660/Semiotic_Analysis_of_The_Psychedelic_Experience_A_Manual_Based_on_the_Tibetan_Book_of_the_Dead_from_the_Standpoint_of_Tibetan_Buddhism
  45. https://tricycle.org/magazine/high-history-buddhism/
  46. https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10212132/9/McAlpine_10212132_thesis.pdf
  47. https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychology/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1152896/full
  48. https://www.academia.edu/9019815/Entheogens_the_Conscious_Brain_and_Existential_Reality
Add your contribution
Related Hubs
Contribute something
User Avatar
No comments yet.