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Prayers for the Dying and Understanding the Bardo

Also see Phowa Practice

Note: It is important to realize that the explanations below describe the transition of an ordinary being.

When a Realized Master such as His Holiness Penor Rinpoche experiences death, it is a different experience.

A Realized Master experiences the death transition with open eyes and no fear, immediately entering into the
deep and subtle state of thugdam meditation. The thugdam meditation state may last from several days to a week.
For a Realized Master, this is the time of ParaNirvana: their entrance into the complete state of Enlightenment.
During this time, these realized masters are still powerfully with all students in the mandala.

Shitro, which translates as “The Peaceful and Wrathful Bardo Deities (Buddhas)”, is a blessing

and transmission of the 100 Peaceful and Wrathful Deities of the (After Death) Bardo.

As the foundation of the Bardo Thodöl (Tibetan Book of the Dead),

the Shitro is considered part of the Inner Yogic teachings.

***It is important to understand that these Buddha (deity) representations are symbols (archetypes)

of our own inner psychological landscape.

The Shitro empowerment is an initiation into the mandala of the 100 Peaceful and Wrathful symbolic deities (Buddhas)

that personify each practitioner’s skandhas. That is: the Aggregates of Form, Perception, Feeling, Mental Volitions

and Consciousness. And the Vital Elements (wind, fire, water and earth).

At the moment of death, it is considered in Tibetan Buddhism that the physical elements of the body dissolve

and their actual nature arises as various energies: the After-Death Visions.

The Bardo Teaching instructions provide us with a body of techniques and practices by which we can recognize

the mind’s True Nature and achieve liberation (Enlightenment) at the time of death. The benefits of receiving

the Shitro empowerment, practicing it and reciting the mantra are many. With actualization of the practice,

practitioners can recognize the stages of the Bardo as they occur, and will not be drawn into lower existences

(animal realm, etc); and will have the possibility to attain liberation from cyclic existence and achieve

Enlightenment at the time of death.

If Interested, Further Reading Suggested by Khenchen Tsewang Gyatso Rinpoche:

His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Mind of Clear Light: Advice on Living Well and Dying Consciously

"Whether you live a day, a week, a month a year, make that time meaningful. Involve your thoughts in what is beneficial in the long run. The longer you live, the more beneficial it will be." 

Tsele Natsok Rangdrol, The Mirror of Mindfulness: The Cycle of the Four Bardos

Presentation of Tibetan Buddhist teachings on the endless cycle of experience, the four bardos: life, death,
after-death, and rebirth. Instruction is aimed at inspiring and helping the practitioner achieve liberation from deluded existence and awaken to complete enlightenment for  the benefit of others. 

Dudjom Rinpoche, Counsels From My Heart   

As a teacher of legendary kindness and wisdom, Dudjom Rinpoche (deceased, former head of the Nyingma

lineage) is highly regarded. This volume contains some of the very few of Dudjom Rinpoche's teachings that

have ever been translated and published. In it he discusses the Three Jewels, self and cyclic existence 

and the bardo states between life and death.

Thurman, Robert A. F. (trans.). Bardo Thödol: The Tibetan Book of the Dead

Bardo Thödol: 

The Great Liberation Through Hearing in the Intermediate State

Tibetan: bar-do  thos-grol      Pronounced: Bardo Thötröl  

  The Bardo Thödol (incorrectly translated in the West as The Tibetan Book of the Dead) can be understood at two levels: 

1. as advanced practice for trained meditators, and, 

2. as support for beings experiencing the bardo without specific meditative training, 

    experience or empowerment.  

The Bardo Thödol  is a text based on oral teachings by Padmasambhava (Guru Rinpoche) and recorded in written form 

around 760 AD. Through early misrepresentation to the West by the incomplete translation of Evans-Wentz (1878-1957),

 practitioners in the West have come to know this text as The Tibetan Book of the Dead, a title that has misguided many.  

A much better translation is The Great Liberation Through Hearing in the Intermediate State. 

Serious meditative practitioners, who have received the proper empowerments (initiations) meditative training and

sustained meditative experience, have an opportunity at death to recognize the Clear Light of the Absolute True Nature 

of Reality and achieve Ultimate Enlightenment at that time. Much of an advanced practitioner's meditative training

involves meeting this transformative moment.  

To help the dying achieve the goal of auspicious re-birth or even Enlightenment, a spiritual master (lama) traditionally

whispers guiding instructions through the bardo into the person's ear. Traditionally, these instructions are read from 

The Bardo Thödol, designed to help guide the deceased's consciousness through the intermediate realm between 

lives (bardo).  Thus the meaning of the Bardo Thödol: The Great Liberation Through Hearing in the Intermediate State.

The bardo state is recognized as an opportunity for change; a starting point of transformation. It is understood as a gap

 between familiar boundaries through which beings can glimpse the Absolute True Nature of Reality. By fully recognizing

 this ultimate nature, the deceased is capable of breaking the afflictive cycle of rebirth (samsara) and achieving final

 liberation: Enlightenment for the sake of all sentient Beings.

Buddhism recognizes the fact that human beings tend to avoid thinking about or dealing with the fact of death. 

The refusal to acknowledge the imminence of death and impermanence is regarded in Buddhism as a fundamental cause 

of the confusion and ignorance that prevents spiritual progress (Four Noble Truths of Buddhism). Spiritual growth is

achieved not by avoiding ‘unpleasant’ facts, but by facing and accepting them with calmness, wisdom and compassion.

Specific meditations enable Buddhist practitioners to seriously consider the truth of impermanence and to comprehend

the true nature of human existence. The goal of skillful meditation study and practice is experience and actualization  

of the Absolute True Nature of Reality (Enlightenment).

Tibetan Buddhism and the Bardo Thödol teach that the first moment of death is marked by a gradual process of

disintegration, in which both the mental and physical components of the dying individual begin to collapse. 

Corresponding to the gradual deterioration of consciousness during death, the dying patient experiences a variety of

distinctive visions, each marking a stage in the dying process.

Serious meditators study these stages in order to gain intimate knowledge of them, since a person familiar with the 

death experience is less likely to be frightened when death finally arrives. But more importantly, a detailed knowledge 

of the dying process enables advanced practitioners to simulate the experience during meditation. Through cultivation

and experience of these subtle visionary states of consciousness the meditator can achieve complete

Liberation (Enlightenment) during life or at the moment of death.

But in the case of ordinary individuals without empowerment, training and advanced meditative experience, the 

deceased is dependent upon the assistance of the lama (or other religious practitioner), to recite the guiding instructions

from the Bardo Thödol in order to bring Reality into clear focus for the deceased in the bardo.

The words of the lama communicate the essential truth of the postdeath experience, giving the deceased a point of

reference to make sense of the often confusing and terrifying visions with which non-trained and ordinary individuals 

are confronted during the bardo period. Also, recitation of the texts within a ceremonial setting offers practical wisdom 

to the participants.

Before the ordinary dying process is complete, relatives and friends are advised to quietly bid the dying person farewell,

without creating excessive drama. Tibetan Buddhists believe that it is crucial for both the dying person and those around

him/her to avoid causing excessive regret, grief or longing in the patient; and to have a mindful, calm and compassionate

state of mind. The state of mind at the time of death is believed to influence directly the experiences of the departing

consciousness.

Any thoughts that occur during this time are extremely important; it is vital for the individual to generate and sustain 

a positive mental state throughout all the stages of dying. The quality of mind at the time of death is a critical component

in determining the dying person's experience in the bardo. If disruptive thoughts can be avoided while simultaneously

directing the mind toward pure and virtuous thoughts, even the ordinary person without advanced meditative training

may be capable of positively effecting the outcome of the dying process.

If Interested, Further Reading Suggested by Khenchen Tsewang Gyatso Rinpoche:

His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Mind of Clear Light: Advice on Living Well and Dying Consciously

"Whether you live a day, a week, a month a year, make that time meaningful. Involve your thoughts in what is beneficial in the long run. The longer you live, the more beneficial it will be." 

Tsele Natsok Rangdrol, The Mirror of Mindfulness: The Cycle of the Four Bardos

Presentation of Tibetan Buddhist teachings on the endless cycle of experience, the four bardos: life, death, after-death, and rebirth. Instruction is aimed at inspiring and helping the practitioner achieve liberation from deluded existence and awaken to complete enlightenment for  the benefit of others. 

Dudjom Rinpoche, COUNSELS FROM MY HEART  

As a teacher of legendary kindness and wisdom, Dudjom Rinpoche (deceased, former head of the Nyingma lineage) is highly regarded. This volume contains some of the very few of Dudjom Rinpoche's teachings that have ever been translated and published. In it he discusses the Three Jewels, self and cyclic existence and the bardo states between life and death.

Thurman, Robert A. F. (trans.). Bardo Thödol: The Tibetan Book of the Dead

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