The Tibetan Book of the Dead: The Great Liberation Through Hearing in the Bardo

Record summary

The Bardo Thödol describes visionary beings encountered between death and rebirth, including peaceful and wrathful deities, guardians, and other figures whose appearance is interpreted within Tibetan Buddhist ritual and cosmology. Modern editions and translations make the material accessible for comparison with angelic or watcher traditions, while emphasizing that these beings are not simply equivalent to Abrahamic angels. The text’s composition, redaction, ritual use, and translation history are disputed in detail. Its accounts are religious instructions and visionary literature, not independently verified reports of postmortem encounters.