The Six Bardos - How to Prepare for Death [4]

Khenpo Sherab Sangpo, a professor of Tibetan Buddhism in the Nyingma Lineage, offers teachings on the “The Root Verses of the Six Bardos.” These tantric teachings were brought to Tibet by Padmasambhava in the 9th century and were taught to his closest 25 disciples. Padmasambhava’s pith advice for preparing for the natural transitions during life and death were rediscovered as a treasure text (terma) by the 14th century treasure revealer (tertön), Karma Lingpa, and form part of the close (short) lineage of terma transmission in the Nyingma tradition. This text is part of the cycle of revelations related to the peaceful and wrathful deities called "Bardo Tödrol Chenmo,” in Tibetan, meaning "The Great Liberation through Hearing in the Bardo,” and is known as “The Tibetan Book of the Dead” in the West. As Khenpo Sherab Sangpo states in his commentary, the cycle of the six bardos describes our journey through six states of consciousness. Each bardo has its own unique instructions and meditation practice. These six verses show what is to be practiced and what is to be realized in each bardo for liberation (enlightenment) from saṃsāra to occur. The four guided meditation sessions are on 1) recognizing the wisdom of emptiness by looking at the mind without thinking; 2) recognizing self-arising awareness by pausing the breath; 3) dharmakāya phowa practice through the seal of the view by resting in the non-conceptual nature of mind; and 4) recitation of the the noble Mahāyāna sūtra called "The Wisdom for the Time of Death.” Please visit our website to learn more about Khenpo Sherab Sangpo, his teachings and for practice texts. This episode can be seen on Youtube.