The Tibetan Book of the Dead

Bardo Thodol

The Bardo Thodol — Liberation Through Hearing in the Intermediate State — is a manual for navigating the forty-nine days between death and rebirth. It was composed by the tantric master Padmasambhava in the 8th century, hidden as a “terma” (treasure text) in a cave in Tibet, and rediscovered by the treasure-revealer Karma Lingpa in the 14th century. It describes in precise detail the sequence of v

Codex Digital EditionComing soonEdition currently in preparation

Edition049

FormatDigital PDF

Editorial statusIn review

TraditionAncient Wisdom

Before you read

Context without the mythology.

Codex ISO separates the surviving evidence from later interpretation, so you can encounter the text without being told what to believe about it first.

01 / Historical context

Written by Padmasambhava, 8th century. Hidden as a “treasure text” for 600 years. Suppressed by Chinese occupation of Tibet. First published in English 1927.

02 / Why it matters

Instructions for death. Hidden for six centuries. Read them now.

From / associated with the text

““O nobly born, now the Clear Light of Reality Itself dawns upon thee. Recognise it. O nobly born, thy present awareness, vacant, naked, is itself the very Reality.””

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Source before story.

We identify the edition, translation and surviving evidence; distinguish documentation from tradition; and state uncertainty rather than turning it into a sales claim.

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Continue the archive

The Tibetan Book of the Dead

Context without the mythology.

Source before story.

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