Bardo of becoming

The 'karmic' bardo of becoming (Skt. bhāvāntarābhava; Wyl. srid pa las kyi bar do) — one of the four or six bardos. The karmic bardo of becoming is what we generally call the Bardo or intermediate state, which starts after the bardo of dharmata and lasts right up until the moment we take on a new birth.

Sogyal Rinpoche writes:

With our failure to recognize the Ground Luminosity and our failure to recognize the bardo of dharmata, the seeds of all our habitual tendencies are activated and reawakened. The bardo of becoming spans the time between their reawakening and our entering the womb of the next life. The word sipa in sipé bardo, which is translated as "becoming," also means "possibility" and "existence." In the sipé bardo, as the mind is no longer limited and obstructed by the physical body of this world, the "possibilities" are infinite for "becoming" reborn in different realms.

Alternative Translations

• bardo of existence

Teachings Given to the Rigpa Sangha

• Sogyal Rinpoche, Lerab Ling, 31 Aug. & 4 Sept. 2010

Further Reading

• Dzogchen Ponlop, Mind Beyond Death (Ithaca: Snow Lion Publications, 2006), Ch.7 'To Be or Not To Be: The Karmic bardo of Becoming'.
• Kangyur Rinpoche, Treasury of Precious Qualities (Boston & London: Shambhala, 2001), 'Appendix 2'.
• His Holiness Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, Pure Appearance—Development and Completion Stages in the Vajrayana Practice (Halifax: Vajravairochana Translation Committee, 2002), pages 49-51. (restricted publication)
• Sogyal Rinpoche, The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying, revised and updated edition (Harper San Francisco, 2002), Ch. Eighteen 'The Bardo of Becoming'.
• Tsele Natsok Rangdrol, Mirror of Mindfulness: The Cycle of the Four Bardos, translated by Erik Pema Kunsang (Boston & Shaftesbury: Shambhala, 1989), Ch.4 'The Karmic Bardo of Becoming'.
• Tulku Thondup, Enlightened Journey—Buddhist Practice as Daily Life, edited by Harold Talbott (Boston: Shambhala Publications, 1995), pages 68-76.