The Buddhist view on life and death is circular. There is an ongoing life-death cycle that has no defined beginning or defined end. A person lives life according to Buddhist precepts. The purpose of life itself is to focus on the preparation for death. Death offers an opportunity to escape the life-death cycle or improve the prospects of a future release—more on this process in another post.
The Tibetan text BARDO THODOL CHENMO (Great Liberation Through Hearing in the Between) describes the experiences of consciousness after death. Bardo refers to the interval between death and the next rebirth. The text includes a detailed description of the actual dying process. Bardo Thodol serves as a guide for the dead during the states between death and the next rebirth.
The Tibetan text BARDO THODOL CHENMO (Great Liberation Through Hearing in the Between) describes the experiences of consciousness after death. Bardo refers to the interval between death and the next rebirth. The text includes a detailed description of the actual dying process. Bardo Thodol serves as a guide for the dead during the states between death and the next rebirth.
To Buddhists, death is a natural part of life. Rebirth is inevitable. All phenomena are in flux; in change, nothing is permanent. Humans experience impermanence by the fleeting nature of happiness, life, birth and death. Yet death is merely a new beginning. Consciousness does not disappear; it is part of the dynamic change process without beginning or end, passed on into the next life cycle. The yearning for permanence dominates the human mind and fuels the life/death cycle by creating a misguided notion of permanent ‘self’.
