The Space Between Death and Rebirth
"In the clear light of the Void, there is neither self nor other. Recognize this as the nature of your own mind." — The Tibetan Book of the Dead
The Bardo (Tibetan: bar do, "between two") refers to the intermediate states between death and rebirth — but more broadly, to any transitional state where the old has dissolved and the new has not yet emerged.
The apocalyptic moment is itself a Bardo — the space between the death of the old world and the birth of the new.
The Tibetan Teaching: Bardo Thodol
The Bardo Thodol ("Liberation Through Hearing in the Intermediate State"), commonly called The Tibetan Book of the Dead, describes three primary bardos after death:
1. The Bardo of the Moment of Death (Chikhai Bardo)
At the moment of death, the Clear Light of Reality dawns — the luminous ground of being, naked and unadorned. If the soul recognizes this light as its own true nature, liberation is immediate.
Most souls, overwhelmed by the brilliance, turn away in fear.
2. The Bardo of Experiencing Reality (Chonyid Bardo)
Visions arise — peaceful and wrathful deities, brilliant lights and terrifying forms. These are projections of the mind's own nature. The peaceful deities appear first; if not recognized, the wrathful deities follow. Each is an opportunity for recognition and liberation.
This mirrors the imagery of Revelation — the Lamb and the Dragon, the angels and the beasts — all projections of consciousness encountering its own depths.
3. The Bardo of Becoming (Sidpa Bardo)
If the soul has not achieved liberation in the previous bardos, it enters the bardo of becoming — drawn by karma toward rebirth. Visions of copulating couples appear, representing the six realms of existence. The soul is pulled toward its next incarnation.
The Egyptian Teaching: The Duat
The Egyptian Book of the Dead (Pert Em Hru, "Coming Forth by Day") maps a similar territory:
- The soul (ba) separates from the body and enters the Duat (underworld)
- It must navigate a series of gates, each guarded by beings who demand knowledge of sacred names and formulae
- The culminating event is the Weighing of the Heart against the feather of Ma'at
- If the heart is light, the soul enters the Field of Reeds — paradise
- If heavy, it is consumed by Ammit — the devourer
The Egyptian teaching emphasizes preparation — knowledge of the sacred words and the cultivation of a light heart (a life lived in truth).
The Western Tradition
The Western mystery tradition encodes similar teachings:
- Plato's Myth of Er (Republic, Book X) — the soul's journey after death through celestial realms, choosing its next life
- Virgil's Underworld (Aeneid, Book VI) — Aeneas's descent through Hades, guided by the Sibyl
- Dante's Commedia — the most elaborate Western bardo map: Inferno → Purgatorio → Paradiso
- The Pistis Sophia — the Gnostic teaching of the soul's ascent through the archontic spheres after death
- ACIM's teaching — that death is illusion, and the transition is simply the laying aside of one dream for another, until the dreaming itself ceases
The Apocalypse as Collective Bardo
The Book of Revelation can be read as a collective bardo experience — the death of an entire world-age and the terrifying, wondrous, overwhelming visions that accompany that transition:
- The peaceful visions — the Lamb, the angels, the New Jerusalem — correspond to the peaceful deities of the Chonyid Bardo
- The wrathful visions — the Beast, the Dragon, the plagues — correspond to the wrathful deities
- The Clear Light is the final revelation: "I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end" — the recognition that all of it was always God
Those who recognize the light are liberated. Those who turn away in fear continue in the cycle.