Bardo

bardo (T. bar do བར་དོ་) is the Tibetan translation for the Sanskrit term antarābhava, which refers to the "intermediate state" between death and rebirth.

In Tibetan Buddhism, the term bardo is used in the following senses:

• the intermediate state between death and rebirth (antarābhava)
• a set of four or six transitional states that cover the full cycle of life, death and rebirth.
• any type of transitional experience, any state that lies between two other states.

In the Tibetan tradition, the system of four or six bardo states is the focus of many texts and practice traditions.

The meanings of "bardo"

When the term bardo is used without qualification, it typically refers to the intermediate or transitional state between death and rebirth (antarābhava); however, the term is also used in a more expanded sense to included additional states of transition that cover the whole cycle of life, death and rebirth.

Francesca Fremantle states:

Originally bardo referred only to the period between one life and the next, and this is still its normal meaning when it is mentioned without any qualification. There was considerable dispute over this theory during the early centuries of Buddhism, with one side arguing that rebirth (or conception) follows immediately after death, and the other saying that there must be an interval between the two. With the rise of Mahayana, belief in a transitional period prevailed. Later Buddhism expanded the whole concept to distinguish six or more similar states, covering the whole cycle of life, death, and rebirth. But it can also be interpreted as any transitional experience, any state that lies between two other states. Its original meaning, the experience of being between death and rebirth, is the prototype of the bardo experience, while the six traditional bardos show how the essential qualities of that experience are also present in other transitional periods. By refining even further the understanding of the essence of bardo, it can then be applied to every moment of existence. The present moment, the now, is a continual bardo, always suspended between the past and the future.

Types of bardos

The bardos, or transitional states, can be categorized into four or six.

The four bardos

When categorized as four bardos, they are:

1. the natural bardo of this life - The period from being conceived in the womb until catching a fatal disease or meeting with an irreversible cause of death.
2. the painful bardo of dying - The period from the onset of the process of dying until the end of the three subtle dissolution stages.
3. the luminous bardo of dharmata - The intermediate state following death in which one experiences the nature of phenomena.
4. the karmic bardo of becoming - The period from the arising of confusion and one's emergence in a mental body until being conceived in the womb of the next life.

The six bardos

When categorized as six bardos, two additional bardos are added to the four bardos listed above. These are:

5. the bardo of meditation - The period during which one remains in a meditative state.

6. the bardo of dreaming - The period from falling asleep until waking up again.

These two bardos are part of the "natural bardo of this life."

Explanation of the four bardos

Erik Pema Kunsang states:

The Buddha taught that the physical body is only a temporary abode, an excellent dwelling in fact, but nevertheless not so important as the inhabitant, the consciousness, which is the continual stream of cognition.

At present our consciousness is temporarily in a human body. However, this condition of being embodied lasts for an uncertain length of time. This is the first intermediate state, the natural bardo of this life.

After being born, growing up, leading a life, and maybe growing old, the body dies but not the mind. For a certain period the consciousness undergoes a separation from the embodied state and enters a state totally without solid grounding. That is the second intermediate state, the painful bardo of dying.

The basis for consciousness is not compounded by material particles and therefore not subject to their change or transformation. Nonetheless, unlike physical space, it has a cognitive capacity which gives rise to manifestation. During the third intermediate state, the luminous bardo of dharmata, one is disembodied, that is, without any physical support whatsoever. The mind is utterly bare and naked; there is only dharmata, "what naturally is." In this state, it is said, perception and experience or seven times more vivid than usual. Consequently, the opportunity for either confusion or clarity is intensified seven times. The manifestations of one's basic nature, dharmata, can be experienced either as a nightmare of haunting demons or as a pure realm of divine beings.

When habitual tendencies of grasping at duality – which stem from a lack of insight into the basic nature of mind and are embedded in one's base of consciousness – regain power after their short lapse, one seeks re-embodiment corresponding to one's karmic habits, which are now ready to ripen. This is the fourth intermediate state, the karmic bardo of becoming.

After a while one enters a new body, not necessarily human, and is again in the first bardo.

This cycle of the four bardos goes on endlessly, unless one is born as a human being and connects with the right teacher and teachings. The goals and aims that are paramount in the first bardo, such as wealth, power, social position, and fame, seem futile and pointless when one recognizes that these mundane attainments are all left behind in passing through the other bardos.

See also

• Six Yogas of Naropa

Sources

• Fremantle, Francesca (2001), Luminous Emptiness: Understanding the Tibetan Book of the Dead, Shambala Publications 
• Tsele Natsok Rangdrol (1987), The Mirror of Mindfulness, translated by Pema Kunsang, Erik, Rangjung Yeshe Publications 

Further reading

• The Tibetan Book of the Dead: Awakening Upon Dying. 2013. by Padmasambhava (Author), Chögyal Namkhai Norbu (Commentary), Karma Lingpa (Author), Elio Guarisco (Translator). Shang Shung Publications & North Atlantic Books.
• Abhidharma Kośa Bhāṣyām. 1991. de la Vallèe Poussin, L.; translated by Pruden, L. Vols. I, II, III & IV. Asian Humanities Press.
• Death, Intermediate State, and Rebirth. 1981. Lati Rinpoche. Snow Lion Publications.
• Natural Liberation. 1998. Padmasambhava. The text is translated by B. Alan Wallace, with a commentary by Gyatrul Rinpoche. Somerville, Wisdom Publications.
• Bardo Teachings. 1987. By Ven. Lama Lodo. Snow Lion Publications.