The Bardo is the interval between when we die and when we are reborn. For ordinary persons the experience in the bardo is a very frightening with uncontrolled streams of visions, sounds that are louder than thunder, and frightening deities and visions. For the unprepared mind these could lead to a very undesirable rebirth.

In this book Thrangu Rinpoche describes that when we are alive, we can prepare for this experience of dying and why this will be very beneficial to us. Rinpoche describes activities that we can do in our daily life and also our sleep and outside of our meditation to prepare for the Bardo. If we are meditators, Rinpoche describes and explains the meditations that are specifically beneficial for the Bardo experience.

Rinpoche also describes the nine stages of death at we go through and what we and companions helping us can do to help us in the dying process. He then describes the visions and sounds of the bardo and how to deal with our fear and how to make correct choices in the Bardo.

This book is a very lucid, comprehensive, and practical explanation of the bardo. It contains extensive appendices and color pictures to help anyone interested in navigating the bardo.

Journey of the Mind: Preparing for the Bardo in Life, Dreams, Meditation, while Dying, and Rebirth; Thrangu Rinpoche; Namo Buddha Publications; Paperback; 216 pages; $19.95

Khenchen Thrangu Rinpoche is a renowned Tibetan Buddhist master known for his deep compassion and the clarity of his teachings. He was selected by His Holiness the Dalai Lama to serve as the principal tutor to His Holiness the 17th Karmapa, Oryen Trinley Dorje.

Thrangu Rinpoche is a full holder and teacher of the Kagyu Vajrayana lineages. He founded the Namo Buddha retreat center in Nepal, has established two shedras (monastic universities) in Nepal and India, and serves as Abbot of Gampo Abbey in Nova Scotia. He also built Tara Abbey, where nuns receive a full dharma education qualifying them to become khenpos or teachers. Thrangu Rinpoche teaches extensively throughout Asia, Europe and the United States. He has centers in Maine and California, and is building the Vajra Vidya Retreat Center in Crestone, Colorado.