Bardo

In Tibetan Buddhism, the intermediate state after death.

Bardo is a Tibetan word meaning intermediate space or transition. In Tibetan Buddhism it refers above all to the intermediate state between death and rebirth, but in a broader sense to any transition between two states. The tradition usually names six bardos, including those of life, of meditation, of dying, and also the bardo of dream.

Well known is the Bardo Thödol, called the Tibetan Book of the Dead in the West. This text is read aloud to someone who is dying or has just died, to guide the mind through the intermediate state. The text describes appearances of light, peaceful and wrathful figures, and teaches that all those appearances are projections of one's own mind. Whoever recognises that can find liberation instead of being reborn out of fear and desire.

The bardo of dream holds a special place. According to the tradition the dream state closely resembles the intermediate state after death: in both, the mind creates a world that seems real but is not. That is why dream yoga is practised in Tibetan Buddhism. Whoever learns to recognise in a dream that they are dreaming is, according to the teachers, already practising for the moment of death.

In dream interpretation the bardo idea can help to understand dreams about transitions: dreams between two places, about doors, bridges or waiting rooms, or about deceased people who seem to be on their way. Dreams around the death of a loved one are also sometimes read in this light, as a period in which the deceased is still on their way.

On Dreamkin the Buddhist readings offer this perspective as a way of looking, not as a statement about what happens after death.