Bardo Stages Meaning: The Tibetan Book of the Dead Guide

By NICOLE LAU

Introduction: The Journey Between Lives

The bardo—Tibetan for "intermediate state" or "in-between"—refers to the transitional periods between one state of existence and another, most famously the journey of consciousness between death and rebirth. The Bardo Thodol ("Liberation Through Hearing in the Intermediate State"), known in the West as the Tibetan Book of the Dead, is a profound guide to navigating these liminal states, offering detailed maps of what consciousness experiences after death and instructions for achieving liberation at each stage.

Far from being merely a funerary text, the bardo teachings reveal that we are constantly moving through intermediate states—between waking and sleeping, between thoughts, between breaths, between moments. Understanding the bardos provides a complete map of consciousness, showing how mind creates reality, how liberation is always available, and how every transition is an opportunity for awakening. The death bardo is simply the most dramatic and consequential of these transitions.

In this comprehensive guide, we'll explore the six bardos, with special focus on the three death bardos, the stages of dissolution, the appearance of peaceful and wrathful deities, the opportunities for liberation, and how to prepare for death as the ultimate spiritual practice.

Understanding the Bardos

What Is a Bardo?

A bardo is:

• An intermediate state: Between one condition and another
• A transition: A period of change and uncertainty
• An opportunity: A moment when liberation is possible
• A projection of mind: Experiences arise from consciousness itself
• A teaching moment: Reality reveals its true nature

The Six Bardos

Tibetan Buddhism identifies six bardos:

The Three Life Bardos:

1. Bardo of This Life (Kyenay Bardo): From birth to death
2. Bardo of Dreams (Milam Bardo): The dream state each night
3. Bardo of Meditation (Samten Bardo): Meditative absorption

The Three Death Bardos:

4. Bardo of Dying (Chikhai Bardo): The process of death itself
5. Bardo of Dharmata (Chönyi Bardo): The luminous nature of reality
6. Bardo of Becoming (Sidpa Bardo): Seeking rebirth

Why Study the Bardos?

• Preparation for death: The most important transition
• Understanding consciousness: How mind creates experience
• Recognizing opportunities: Every moment offers liberation
• Transforming fear: Death becomes a spiritual practice
• Living wisely: This life is also a bardo

The Three Life Bardos

1. The Bardo of This Life

Duration: From birth to death

Characteristics:

• The longest bardo
• The best opportunity for practice and liberation
• Relatively stable compared to death bardos
• The foundation for all other bardos

Practice:

• Recognize this life as a bardo (impermanent, transitional)
• Practice dharma while you have the opportunity
• Prepare for death through meditation and study
• Accumulate merit and purify obscurations

2. The Bardo of Dreams

Duration: Each night during sleep

Characteristics:

• Similar to the death bardos (mind creating reality)
• Training ground for recognizing projections
• Opportunity to practice lucid dreaming
• Reveals the illusory nature of experience

Practice (Dream Yoga):

• Recognize you're dreaming while dreaming
• Transform dream content at will
• Practice deity yoga in dreams
• Prepare for the bardo of dharmata

3. The Bardo of Meditation

Duration: During meditative absorption

Characteristics:

• Temporary cessation of ordinary mind
• Direct experience of mind's nature
• Similar to the clear light of death
• Training for recognizing dharmata

Practice:

• Develop stable meditation
• Rest in the nature of mind
• Recognize the clear light in meditation
• Prepare for recognizing it at death

The Bardo of Dying (Chikhai Bardo)

The Dissolution Process

As death approaches, the elements and consciousness dissolve in stages:

Stage 1: Earth Dissolves into Water

• External sign: Body becomes heavy, sinks down
• Internal sign: Vision becomes hazy, like a mirage
• Experience: Loss of physical strength

Stage 2: Water Dissolves into Fire

• External sign: Bodily fluids dry up
• Internal sign: Vision becomes smoky
• Experience: Loss of control over fluids

Stage 3: Fire Dissolves into Air

• External sign: Body heat fades
• Internal sign: Vision like sparks or fireflies
• Experience: Loss of warmth and digestion

Stage 4: Air Dissolves into Consciousness

• External sign: Breathing stops
• Internal sign: Vision like a flickering butter lamp
• Experience: Final breath, clinical death

The Inner Dissolution

After breathing stops, consciousness continues to dissolve:

Stage 5: Appearance (White Vision)

• White light fills awareness
• 33 anger-based thoughts cease
• Like moonlight in a clear autumn sky

Stage 6: Increase (Red Vision)

• Red-orange light fills awareness
• 40 desire-based thoughts cease
• Like sunlight in a clear autumn sky

Stage 7: Near-Attainment (Black Vision)

• Darkness fills awareness
• 7 ignorance-based thoughts cease
• Like a dark, empty sky
• Consciousness faints into unconsciousness

Stage 8: The Clear Light (Ground Luminosity)

• The fundamental nature of mind is revealed
• Pure awareness, empty and luminous
• The ultimate opportunity for liberation
• Like the dawn sky, clear and radiant

The Opportunity for Liberation

If you recognize the clear light:

• You recognize your own buddha nature
• Liberation is instant and complete
• No need to continue through the bardos
• This is the supreme moment

If you don't recognize it:

• Consciousness faints
• You awaken in the bardo of dharmata
• Further opportunities for liberation remain

Duration: The clear light lasts from a few moments to three days, depending on the practitioner's realization

The Bardo of Dharmata (Chönyi Bardo)

The Luminous Bardo

Duration: Varies, traditionally said to be up to two weeks

Characteristics:

• The nature of reality (dharmata) manifests directly
• Peaceful and wrathful deities appear
• Sounds, lights, and rays of intense brilliance
• All appearances are projections of your own mind
• Opportunities for liberation at each stage

The Peaceful Deities (First Week)

The Five Buddha Families appear in sequence:

Day 1: Vairochana (White, Center)

• Brilliant white light of dharmadhatu wisdom
• Accompanied by dull white light of the god realm
• If you recognize and merge with the bright light: liberation
• If you're attracted to the dull light: rebirth as a god

Day 2: Akshobhya (Blue, East)

• Brilliant blue light of mirror-like wisdom
• Dull white light of the hell realm
• Recognize and merge: liberation
• Attracted to dull light: rebirth in hell

Day 3: Ratnasambhava (Yellow, South)

• Brilliant yellow light of equalizing wisdom
• Dull blue light of the human realm

Day 4: Amitabha (Red, West)

• Brilliant red light of discriminating wisdom
• Dull yellow light of the hungry ghost realm

Day 5: Amoghasiddhi (Green, North)

• Brilliant green light of all-accomplishing wisdom
• Dull red light of the jealous god realm

Day 6: All Five Families Together

• All five wisdoms appear simultaneously
• The complete mandala of enlightenment
• Powerful opportunity for liberation

Day 7: The Vidyadharas (Knowledge Holders)

• Peaceful deities of the five families
• Final opportunity in the peaceful phase

The Wrathful Deities (Second Week)

If liberation hasn't occurred, wrathful deities appear:

Days 8-14: The Wrathful Manifestations

• The same buddhas in wrathful form
• Terrifying appearance: flames, skulls, weapons
• Loud sounds, intense lights
• Actually compassion in fierce form
• Destroying ego-clinging and ignorance

The Key Teaching:

• All deities are projections of your own mind
• The peaceful deities are your own wisdom
• The wrathful deities are your own compassion
• Recognize them and you're liberated
• Fear them and you continue to the next bardo

Instructions for the Bardo of Dharmata

1. Recognize the Visions as Mind

• "These are my own projections"
• "This is the display of my own awareness"
• "There is nothing to fear"

2. Don't Be Attracted to the Dull Lights

• They lead to rebirth in the six realms
• They seem safer but are traps
• Choose the brilliant lights of wisdom

3. Merge with the Deities

• Recognize them as your own buddha nature
• Dissolve into the light
• This is instant liberation

The Bardo of Becoming (Sidpa Bardo)

Seeking Rebirth

Duration: Up to 49 days (7 weeks)

Characteristics:

• The mental body (consciousness without physical form)
• Driven by karma and habitual patterns
• Seeking a new birth
• Increasingly desperate and confused
• Experiences determined by karma

The Mental Body

Abilities:

• Can move instantly by thought
• Can pass through solid objects
• Has all sense faculties
• Can see and hear the living (but they can't see you)
• Experiences hunger and thirst but can't satisfy them

Limitations:

• Driven by karma, not free will
• Increasingly confused and frightened
• Desperate for a body
• Attracted to future parents

The Journey to Rebirth

Week 1-3: Confusion and Wandering

• Trying to return to your old life
• Realizing you're dead
• Experiencing the results of karma
• Seeing visions of your future realm

Week 4-6: Judgment and Review

• The Lord of Death (Yama) appears
• Your life is reviewed
• White and black pebbles (good and bad karma) are counted
• This is symbolic—you judge yourself

Week 7: Seeking Birth

• Driven toward the realm of your next birth
• Attracted to future parents
• Entering the womb (or egg, or other birth)
• Consciousness merges with the embryo
• The bardo ends, new life begins

Instructions for the Bardo of Becoming

1. Recognize You're in the Bardo

• "I am dead, this is the bardo"
• "These experiences are projections of my mind"
• "I can still achieve liberation"

2. Practice Phowa (Transference of Consciousness)

• Eject consciousness to a pure land
• Visualize Amitabha or your chosen deity
• Transfer consciousness to their heart
• Achieve rebirth in a pure land

3. Choose Your Rebirth Wisely

• If you must be reborn, choose carefully
• Avoid the lower realms (hell, hungry ghost, animal)
• Seek birth in a dharma-practicing family
• Look for signs of a good rebirth

4. Close the Womb Door

• If you see parents copulating, don't be attracted
• Recognize it as a trap
• Practice pure vision instead
• This can prevent rebirth and allow liberation

Preparing for Death

Practices for This Life

1. Study the Bardo Teachings

• Familiarize yourself with the stages
• Know what to expect
• Recognition is the key to liberation

2. Practice Phowa

• Learn consciousness transference
• Practice regularly
• Be ready to use it at death

3. Deity Yoga

• Familiarize yourself with peaceful and wrathful deities
• Practice visualizing them
• Recognize them as your own mind
• When they appear in the bardo, you'll recognize them

4. Dream Yoga

• Practice lucid dreaming
• Recognize dreams as mind's projections
• This trains you for the bardos

5. Meditation on the Nature of Mind

• Rest in awareness itself
• Recognize the clear light in meditation
• This prepares you to recognize it at death

At the Time of Death

For the Dying Person:

• Maintain awareness as long as possible
• Practice phowa or deity yoga
• Rest in the nature of mind
• Let go of attachment to this life
• Generate bodhicitta

For Those Present:

• Create a peaceful environment
• Read the Bardo Thodol aloud
• Remind the dying person of their practice
• Don't disturb the body for three days (if possible)
• Perform prayers and practices for 49 days

Conclusion: Death as Opportunity

The bardo teachings reveal that death is not an ending but a transition, not a tragedy but an opportunity, not something to fear but something to prepare for as the ultimate spiritual practice. Every moment of the death process offers a chance for liberation—from the clear light at death, through the peaceful and wrathful deities, to the final moments before rebirth.

But more than that, the bardos teach us that we are always in transition, always between states, always creating our experience through mind. This life is a bardo. Each night's sleep is a bardo. Every moment between thoughts is a bardo. By understanding the bardos, we understand the nature of consciousness itself—how it creates reality, how it can be liberated, how every transition is an opportunity for awakening.

The ultimate teaching of the Bardo Thodol is simple: recognize the nature of mind, and you are free. Whether in life, in dreams, in meditation, or in death—recognition is liberation. The clear light is always present. The deities are always your own mind. Liberation is always available. You need only recognize what has always been true.

The bardos await. The clear light shines. Liberation calls.

NICOLE LAU is a researcher and writer specializing in Western esotericism, Jungian psychology, and comparative mysticism. She is the author of the Western Esoteric Classics series and New Age Spirituality series.