Death In Tibetan Buddhism

Death in Tibetan Buddhism is the end of the physical body, while the mind continues to another existence. After a brief state of blackout, the mind enters the bardo of becoming. Wandering alone for weeks or longer without a physical body, in a frightening situation, the mindstream seeks rest, and consequently takes rebirth.

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Buddhism dying process

Buddhism posits the death of the physical body, but the continuation of the alaya – the mindstream that holds the karma. This produces consciousness, the illusion of separateness within awareness. Without a physical body, the mind experiences rapid arising of vast karma. This generates tremendous fear, exhaustion, and forgetfulness of the previous identity.

At some point, the mindstream seeks rebirth, desperate to escape the wandering of the unfixed, in-between state. The disembodied mind (there is a sort of imagined body) sees physical beings copulating, and enters the male’s form, emerging through sperm and uniting with egg to create a new life.

In the higher teachings, this process is seen to be essentially illusory. As Milarepa sang in the Song of Six Delights (Khenpo Tsultrim students translated, Jim Scott):

There’s no such thing as dying to be done
It’s just clear light, the mother and child clear light uniting
When mind forsakes the body, sheer delight
Songs of Realization Translated from Milarepa’s Original

Death in Buddhism Quotes

He further advises not to cause yourself ‘anxiety and grief’ at the time of death because of this lack of reality in the dying process.

From a lower dharma perspective of the Hinayana, if there is no self, what is there to die? From a relativistic standpoint, a corporeal form appears, manifesting in the relative world. Therefore the illusion of death occurs and, as conditioned beings, we experience it as real.

From the Hinayana perspective, if the mind has lived an ordinary samsaric life, then the karma sustaining the being will wear out. The body will experience dissolution. The mindstream will leave and continue into the next life, seeking rebirth from the bardo. On the karmic map, this occurs at the 3rd nidana (past life to present life) or before the 11th nidana (present to future life).

Dissolution of the elements as death nears

When the mind approaches death, a dissolution of the elements occurs, beginning with Earth, then water, fire, air, and consciousness.

Earth’s dissolution into water leaves the being weak and insubstantial. Hallucinations occur. Dissolution of water into fire leaves them dry and thirsty. The mind sees moving smoke. Dissolution of fire into air leaves them cold, forgetful, and indifferent to friends and family. Numerous firefly-like emanations appear internally. When air dissolves into consciousness, the breath ceases. Panic can arise. They may forget their name and will no longer care about the concerns of their own existence. A steady flame is seen.

Consciousness dissolves over a series of additional steps as all bodily functions cease. The consciousness still abides and experiences white, then dissolution into blackness (near attainment) or pure emptiness, then into the clear light. Most beings go unconscious during these stages and miss this opportunity to attain actual enlightenment. They awake in the bardo, not aware of their death. They will hover around their body for a time, trying to communicate, but increasingly losing their sense of self and wandering without identity.

Enlightened beings will maintain warmth in the body after the dissolutions for several days. The awareness abides in the heart center during this time.

Consciousness after death in Buddhism

At the moment of ‘death,’ the first stage of the bardo, attainment, the Great emptiness, and clear light arise, pure awareness. For meditators, this is the best chance for enlightenment. The person can recognize the dharmadhatu (space of phenomena) and seize it with the hook of awareness, attaining full enlightenment at the moment of death. In some sense, this is the full practice of Buddhism – to attain the meditative ability that allows the mind to open and merge into the clear night nature at the moment of death. That correlates to the completion stage (sampanakrama) of meditation.

If this chance is missed (which usually happens), there are additional opportunities. These correlate to the generation stage (utpattikrama) meditations – the form of the deity and so forth. The deity can arise from the mindstream and the space of awareness, having been meditated on so strongly, to guide the being to enlightenment.

In the bardo, the hundred peaceful and wrathful deities arise from the heart and head. The wrathful deities will terrify the being and the peaceful deities will be compelling. It’s very easy to reify these things as being real when the bardo provides no other context for one’s existence. However, with appropriate practice, we can see they are mere manifestations of mind, or as arising from pure awareness out of compassion to aid us.

Much of generation-stage practice is about mastery, seeing oneself as the deity in the bardo, and taking rebirth intentionally, for the benefit of others as an enlightened being. The skilled practitioner takes control of their own rebirth.

Nothing happens.
15th Karmapa shortly before passing

This is the higher sense of death in Buddhism. Without a self and without a true existence in reality, all that happens is merely illusion. It has no fixed essential reality. Therefore, nothing happens, nor does it not happen.

Contemplation on Death in Tibetan Buddhism

Contemplating one’s death and death in general is a critical practice in Buddhism. It generates weariness with suffering and wandering in this life and the next. It creates a sense of urgency for practice as you only have limited time. It helps to overcome attachment to what is transitory. It helps to understand impermanence at a coarser level, leading to deeper understanding of moment to moment in impermanence. Contemplation on death in meditation can bring tremendous peace.

Tibetan death ritual

For a good death of a loved one in Buddhism, a death ritual in 7 days is done, then another 49 days after death. Buddhism’s dying process explains this as helping the deceased through the bardo. Typically, a lama reads the Liberation Through Hearing During the Intermediate State (also called the Tibetan Book of the Dead) to the dead person.

The reader concentrates on the state of the person and where they are in the intermediate state of the bardo, targeting the appropriate text to help them attain realization by seeing through their experience.
If they fail to attain realization by meditations on the mind-created reality of the projected phenomena, then the reader helps them attain a beneficial rebirth, especially in the human realm with dharma available.

Another ritual is the Pureland ritual of Amitabha. Here, the meditators supplicate the primordial Buddha Amitabha to take the decedent’s mind-stream into his pure realm, where they can practice until they attain realization.

After 49 days, the person is considered to be exiting the bardo, though the time will be somewhat different for everyone. The ritual here is generally a repeated version of the Pureland ritual.

What is the death ritual in Tibet?

For the death ritual in Tibet Buddhism, bodies are often given a sky burial – essentially fed to vultures. This is because winter is too cold to dig and there is not enough firewood for cremation.

What are the 9 stages of death in Buddhism?

The 9 stages of Death in Buddhism, contemplated by practitioners, are: Swelling, Bursting, seeping blood, putrefying, desiccation, being eaten, falling apart, skeletonization, dust

What do Buddhists say when someone dies?

When someone dies, Buddhists say: May they attain enlightenment at the moment of death. May they be reborn in a Pureland. If not, may they find a good human birth to pursue the dharma. If not, may they escape the torment of the lower realms.

How do Buddhists mourn death?

Buddhists mourn death during a 49-day period, they recall the dead, helping them through the intermediate state with different rituals and chants. They do not express clinging but let and encourage the deceased to continue their journey without looking back.

Why is 49 days after death important?

The mindstream seeks rebirth after wandering in the bardo for 49 days. A ritual is done to ease this passage into the next life, giving them the best rebirth.

Summary of Death in Buddhist Philosophy

Buddhism teaches that death is an illusion, though a very strong one. The body and mind successively dissolve, leaving a chance for awakening in the bardo. If this is missed, the being will wander in samsara until they can attain liberation.