Bardo
Bardo in Buddhism is an intermediate or transitional state, most often referring to the phase between death and rebirth in Tibetan traditions. It is also used more broadly to describe any “in‑between” state—psychological or existential—where old patterns have dissolved and the new has not yet stabilized. en.wikipedia
Basic meaning
- The Tibetan word bar do literally means “between two,” often glossed as “gap,” “interval,” or “intermediate state.” andrewholecek
- In early Buddhist debates, some schools held that rebirth occurs immediately, while others posited an intermediate phase; Mahayana and Tibetan Buddhism largely accepted this intermediate period as bardo. en.wikipedia
Bardo between death and rebirth
- In Tibetan Buddhism, bardo most famously denotes the period after consciousness separates from the body at death and before it takes a new rebirth. vzmla
- This state is described as very fluid and groundless: perceptions shift rapidly, the mind is “flighty and unstable,” and there are strong opportunities either for liberation or for being driven by karma into another samsaric existence. lionsroar
The six bardos
Many Tibetan systems (e.g., Karma Lingpa’s Bardo Thödol) speak of six bardos that map the whole cycle of life, death, and rebirth. wisdomlib
| # | Tibetan / English name | When it occurs | Key point |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kyenay bardo – bardo of birth and life | From conception until physical death | Ordinary waking life is already a bardo, a continuous in‑between. en.wikipedia |
| 2 | Milam bardo – bardo of dream | While dreaming during sleep | Dreams are used for practices like dream yoga to train recognition of mind’s nature. en.wikipedia |
| 3 | Samten bardo – bardo of meditation | During meditative absorption | Deep meditation reveals bardo‑like, nonordinary states of consciousness. en.wikipedia |
| 4 | Chikhai bardo – bardo of dying | From onset of the dying process until the “clear light of death” | Elements dissolve and a primordial clear light appears, offering a direct chance for recognition. en.wikipedia |
| 5 | Chönyi bardo – bardo of reality/luminosity | Just after the final inner breath ceases | Visionary displays and luminosity arise, interpreted as mind’s own radiant nature. en.wikipedia |
| 6 | Sidpa bardo – bardo of becoming/rebirth | From after those visions until a new conception | A “mental body” moves under karmic momentum toward the next rebirth. en.wikipedia |
Purpose in practice
- Each bardo is framed as a heightened opportunity to recognize the nature of mind and reality, avoid negative karma, and attain liberation from samsara. tricycle
- Texts like the Bardo Thödol (“Tibetan Book of the Dead”) are recited as guidance so that the dying and deceased can recognize these states and be freed rather than confused by them. themathesontrust
Broader, existential sense
- Later teachers extend bardo to any transition—emotional shifts, life changes, social or cultural upheavals—as continuous “bardos of becoming” in which everything is always changing and in‑between. alwayswellwithin
- From this perspective, the present moment itself is described as a continual bardo, suspended between past and future, and thus always available as a site for awakening. andrewholecek