What’s available in the bardo of our practice?

The Tibetan Book of the Dead, a Tibetan Buddhist text sharing tthe teachings on death and dying, introduces a concept called the bardo. The Tibetan word “bardo” means “transition.” While on the surface, the term represents the transitional state between death and rebirth, it also speaks to the gap arising between any two states. We often name this as liminal spaces.

The bardo emphasizes one of Buddhism’s defining qualities - impermanence - the changing nature of all things. The bardo shows us that we are constantly experiencing little deaths and births all the time, seeing them as spaces to grow, explore and learn ourselves more intimately. From the space between each breath,  the space between a career change, the space between life with a loved one to life without that loved one after they passed, to viewing our life as a space between birth and death, the bardo is ever present.  Whether we can see the bardo in one moment changing into the next or the space between between the past and the future, one key defining trait of this intermediate liminal space is moving from knowing and not knowing. The world as we knew is now suspended, and often our sense of groundedness is swept from under us.

In the Treasury of Abhidharma, the bardo can be described as:

Here, between death and birth
There arises intermediate existence
Since the destination is not yet reached,
It is the interim phase of becoming.

If we interrogate the bardo more intentionally, this space of becoming can be one of transformation. If we are aware of the potential of the space, including its luminosity and emptiness, we are able to use this space as an incubator of intentional change. What feels full of discomfort, the unknown, and fear can actually be one full of possibility, The bardo becomes a place of self-study, reflection, and contemplation - one we can experience in our stillness practice - whether sound, meditation, or yoga nidra. The possibility is driven home in the Tibetan Book of the Dead’s alternate name -  Liberation Through Hearing During the Intermediate State. It is in the opportunity and potential present in this liminal space that takes us one step closer to freedom.

When you become aware of this in-between space in your life, I want to offer this self-inquiry question:

“What is now available in the space between “no longer” and “not yet”?”