But it is meant to instruct the reader as well. So Padmasambhava wrote this guidebook for the recently deceased, to be read aloud to them for forty-nine days. The most likely time for spontaneous enlightenment to occur, ending the process of transition fromone bardo to another, is during the 'natural liberation' of death. These three bardos of death are called the bardo of clear light or luminosity, the bardo of radiant truth or realizing Reality, and the bardo of becoming. The three bardos addressed in the Tibetan Book of the Dead, however, begin with death and end with rebirth. These three begin with birth and end with death. Three of the six bardos are of states of life: the waking state, the sleep and dream state, and themeditative state (Karma-glin-pa 169). All six are transitional states, one leading naturally and inevitably to the next unless an occurrence of enlightenment intervenes.

In it he taught about three of the six bardos or states of samsara, the round of life and death. The Bardo Thodrol is one of the treasures or 'termas' that Padmasambhava, the Indian teacher who introduced Buddhism to Tibet in the eighth century, hid in caves and also in the minds of future disciples. The intention here is to make the heights more accessible. Like a high mountain peak, it is widely admired but hard to climb. THE BARDO THODROL, OR TIBETAN BOOK OF THE DEAD, is the most famous and mysterious book of Tibet, widely known and often begun but seldom read all the way through. Originally printed in the May - June 2003 issue of Quest magazine.Ĭitation: Bakula, Joann S. 'The Tibetan Book of the Dead: A Tour.' Quest 91.3 (MAY - JUNE 2003):

Bardo book