bardo
Transitional afterlife realm
Bardo is a Tibetan Buddhist concept describing the intermediate state between death and rebirth—a transitional period when consciousness exists without a physical body.
The term has expanded to describe any liminal or in-between state: stuck in a bardo between careers, the bardo of a long layover.
The Tibetan Book of the Dead describes bardos in detail as stages of the dying process.
State of uncertain waiting
- purgatoryPlace of temporary suffering
- thresholdPoint of beginning
- liminalityTransitional ambiguity between phases
- in-betweenOccupying middle position
passage · crossing · transitional · betwixt · suspension · interlude · gap · interval
Cycle of rebirth
- rebirthSpiritual or physical regeneration
- reincarnationSoul's rebirth after death
- transmigrationSoul passing into another body
- mokshaRelease from rebirth cycle
nirvana · liberation · cycle · wheel · return · continuity · destiny · fate
State of perceiving reality
- mindfulnessAwareness of the present
- clarityState of being understandable
- recognitionPerceiving something as known
- luminosityIntrinsic brightness of source
samadhi · vipassana · contemplation · insight · stillness · presence · equanimity · non-attachment
Of a Himalayan region
- BuddhismEnlightenment-seeking Eastern religion
- liberationRelease from constraint
- tantraEsoteric spiritual discipline
- lamaAndean beast of burden
mandala · mantra · dharma · sangha · monastery · thangka · mudra
Reasoned decision-making capacity
- visionsImagined or prophetic sights
- apparitionsSupernatural visible manifestations
- luminosityIntrinsic brightness of source
- recognitionPerceiving something as known
delusion · fear · attachment
limbo
State of uncertain waiting
- purgatoryPlace of temporary suffering
- thresholdPoint of beginning
- liminalityTransitional ambiguity between phases
in-between · passage · crossing · transitional · betwixt · suspension · interlude · gap · interval · pause
samsara
Cycle of rebirth
- rebirthSpiritual or physical regeneration
- reincarnationSoul's rebirth after death
- transmigrationSoul passing into another body
moksha · nirvana · liberation · cycle · wheel · return · continuity · destiny · fate · awakening
awareness
State of perceiving reality
- mindfulnessAwareness of the present
- clarityState of being understandable
- recognitionPerceiving something as known
luminosity · samadhi · vipassana · contemplation · insight · stillness · presence · equanimity · non-attachment · emptiness
Tibetan
Of a Himalayan region
- BuddhismEnlightenment-seeking Eastern religion
- liberationRelease from constraint
- tantraEsoteric spiritual discipline
lama · mandala · mantra · dharma · sangha · monastery · thangka · mudra
judgment
Reasoned decision-making capacity
- visionsImagined or prophetic sights
- apparitionsSupernatural visible manifestations
- luminosityIntrinsic brightness of source
recognition · delusion · fear · attachment
- EscritoresShakespeare, Cervantes, Borges, Jorge Luis Borges, Gabriel Garcia Marquez
- afterlifeheaven, hell, paradise, purgatory, limbo
- tradicion oralromances, parabola, saga, griot, nana
- poesía épicaBeowulf, Gilgamesh, Mahabharata, Ramayana, Orlando Furioso
- Tibetan BuddhismBuddha, Tibet, Dalai Lama, lama, lamas
- Buddhist funeralscremation, incense burning, cremation urn, ashes, funeral pyre
bardowaking
Regaining consciousness from sleep
alertness · lucidity · clear mind · mindfulness · clarity
bardoenlightenment
Profound spiritual awakening
nirvana · liberation · moksha · arrival · heaven
- bardic songsPerformed poetry of minstrels