The Bardo of Dying
The Bardo of Dying is what the previous three bardos of life have been preparing us for. It is where the pedal hits the medal so to say. It is here we take our final exam to see how far we have progressed in our spiritual development during this life. It’s important to realize, however, this is not an all or nothing proposition.
It’s Not All or Nothing
In other words, we shouldn’t worry if we can’t reach complete realization. There are degrees of progress along the way that, according to the Tibetan Buddhists can lead us into intermediate realms where we can continue to work on our realization in more favorable climates. Even if we can’t attain that level, our efforts will at least ensure us of a favorable rebirth. So, any progress along the way is beneficial.
For review, I covered the Bardos in General here , and the three Bardos of Life: the Bardo of this Life here, the Bardo of Dream here the Bardo of Meditation here.
In his book Mind Beyond Death, Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche says at death we are given a tremendous opportunity to experience mind’s ultimate nature. The amazing thing is we already possess this nature, we just don’t know it yet. We could even say, we are already dead, we just don’t know that yet either. On this topic Rinpoche says,
“At the time of death, however, this…