Journey of the Mind

Preparing for the Bardo in Life, Dreams, Meditation, while Dying, and Rebirth

Khenchen Thrangu Rinpoche

Translated by Peter Roberts, Khenpo David Karma Choephel, and Lama Yeshe Gyamtso

PDF

EPUB

Print edition: Namo Buddha Publications

English

Dharma Practice

Namo Buddha Publications

2026-02-14

This book is a lucid, comprehensive, and practical explanation of the bardo. It contains extensive appendices and color pictures to help anyone interested in the bardo.

The Bardo is the interval between when we die and when we are reborn. For ordinary persons the experience in the bardo is very frightening with uncontrolled streams of visions, sounds that are louder than thunder, and frightening deities and visions. For the unprepared mind these could lead to a very undesirable rebirth.

In this book Thrangu Rinpoche teaches us that while we are alive, we can prepare for this experience of dying and why this will be very beneficial to us. Rinpoche describes activities that we can do in our daily life and also our sleep and life outside of our meditation to prepare for the Bardo. If we are meditators, Rinpoche explains the meditations that are specifically beneficial for the Bardo experience.

Rinpoche also describes the nine stages of death that we go through and what we, and companions who are helping us, can do to aid us in the dying process. He then describes the visions and sounds of the bardo and how to deal with our fear and how we can make correct choices in the Bardo.

Editor’s Preface
The Six and Four Bardos

The Bardo of Living

1 • Between Birth and Death

Why Study the Bardo
The Six Bardos
The First Bardo of Living
The Role of the Completion Stage in the Bardo
Practicing for the Bardo in Post-Meditation
Questions

The Eight Consciousnesses

2 • The Bardo of Dreaming

Special Practices of Dream Yoga
Questions

The Eight Freedoms and the Ten Assets

3 • The Bardo of Meditation

The Role of Disturbing Emotions in the Bardo
Practicing in Retreat
Engaging in Pure Conduct
Practicing the Vajrayana
Empowerment
The Commitments or Vows of Practice
The Oral Instructions
The Common and Special Preliminaries
The Creation Stage
Questions

The Bardo of Dying

4 • The Bardo at the Time of Death

The Experience of Practitioners in the Bardo
Recognizing the Stages of Dying
The Dissolution and Function of the Five Elements
Dissolution of the Five Subtle Winds
Dissolution of the Five Elements
The Dissolution of the Mental Consciousness
The Dissolution of the Life Supporting Wind
Preparing for the Stages of Dissolution
The Summary of the Fourth Bardo of Dying
Questions

5 • Preparing for Our Own Death

Contemplating Impermanence
Confessing Our Negative Deeds
Choosing the Right Circumstances at Death
Lessening the Disturbing Emotions
Posture in Dying
Meditation as We Die
Questions

Characteristics of Mani Mantra

6 • Phowa: The Ejection of Consciousness

The Timing for Doing Phowa
The Five Types of Phowa
Training in the Nirmanakaya Phowa
The Celestial Phowa
Applying Phowa at the Time of Death
Questions

The Bardo of Dharmata

7 • The Luminosity of the Ground

Developing a Stable Mind for the Bardo of Dharmata
Developing an Understanding of Emptiness for the Bardo of Dharmata
Experiencing Emptiness through Meditation
Vipashyana Meditation to Realize Emptiness
The Eight Consciousnesses and the Bardo of Dharmata
The Dissolution of Space into Clear Light
Questions

8 • The Peaceful and Wrathful Deities

The Wrathful Deities
The Appearance of the Peaceful Deities
Dissolutions into Wisdoms
The Vidyadharas
Preparing to Recognize the Deities in the Bardo of Dharmata
Questions

The Ten Virtuous and Unvirtuous Actions

9 • The Practice for the Bardo of Dharmata

Why We Experience the Dharmata
Visualization of Peaceful and Wrathful Deities
The Preliminaries
Preparation Practice for the Zhitro Deities
The Three Characteristics of the Creation Stage
Two Aspects of the Bardo of Dharmata
The Meditation Days of the Peaceful Deities
The Meditation Days of the Semi-Wrathful Deities
The Meditation Days of the Wrathful Deities
Questions

The Bardo of Becoming

10 • Rebirth

The Mind Separating from the Body
Selecting a New Rebirth
Choosing a Favorable Rebirth
Questions

Preparing for Appearances in the Bardo

11 • Rebirth in Sukhavati

The First Condition for Entering Sukhavati
The Second Condition for Rebirth in Sukhavati
The Third Condition for Rebirth in Sukhavati
The Fourth Condition for Rebirth in Sukhavati
Questions

12 • The Conclusion

The Five Major and Five Minor Subtle Winds

Appendices

A • The Five Elements
B • The Five Chakras
C • The Six Realms of Samsara
D • Dream Yoga
E • The Nine Stages of Dissolution
F • Recognizing the Signs of Encroaching Death
G • The Five Buddha Families
H • The Five Wisdoms
I • The 42 Peaceful Deities of the Bardo
J • The 58 Wrathful Deities of Bardo