As one of the most popular world religions, Buddhism serves not only as a way of life for many people around the world, but also as a guide to the afterlife and how to escape the cycle of rebirth. Buddhism has several forms including Theravada, Mahayana, and Vajrayana, and all forms of Buddhism have similar concepts that compose the fundamental ideals and beliefs of Buddhism. One of the most outstanding concepts of Buddhism is impermanence, or that this life and everything in it is ever changing (Laungani 2015, 62). Tibetan Buddhism, much like the other forms of Buddhism, puts a heavy emphasis on escaping the suffering within the cycle of rebirth, or samsara, by seeking an end to the cycle, or Nirvana. For a Tibetan Buddhist, liberation is
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Meditation can be used as a way to focus one’s thoughts, seek liberation, or prepare oneself for rebirth. For laypeople, meditation can be centered around their experience in the bardos so that they can reach liberation in that state. In the Tibetan Book of the Dead, it states “if thou dost not now recognize thine own thought-forms, whatever of meditation or of devotions thou mayst have performed while in the human world — if thou hast not met with this present teaching — the lights will daunt thee. . .”(Evan-Wentz). This quote shows the importance of meditation for a layperson because meditation may be the only way for them to recognize the clear light they may experience. So, not only can meditation allow a Buddhist to reach liberation during life, but it can also help a layperson reach liberation during the bardo period. For monks, meditation may be used to assist them in reaching Nirvana and focusing their mind. Death meditations are used for both monks and laypeople in order to gain an “experiential transcendence” in which they contemplate death, release their attachment to the body, and come to terms with their impending death (Chidester, 94). This is significant to do so that Tibetan Buddhists do not fear death, which may help a layperson in the bardos and a monk achieve deathlessness (Chidester, 96). Considering their views of death and the afterlife, meditation is used for all Tibetan Buddhists in their everyday
Meditation can be used as a way to focus one’s thoughts, seek liberation, or prepare oneself for rebirth. For laypeople, meditation can be centered around their experience in the bardos so that they can reach liberation in that state. In the Tibetan Book of the Dead, it states “if thou dost not now recognize thine own thought-forms, whatever of meditation or of devotions thou mayst have performed while in the human world — if thou hast not met with this present teaching — the lights will daunt thee. . .”(Evan-Wentz). This quote shows the importance of meditation for a layperson because meditation may be the only way for them to recognize the clear light they may experience. So, not only can meditation allow a Buddhist to reach liberation during life, but it can also help a layperson reach liberation during the bardo period. For monks, meditation may be used to assist them in reaching Nirvana and focusing their mind. Death meditations are used for both monks and laypeople in order to gain an “experiential transcendence” in which they contemplate death, release their attachment to the body, and come to terms with their impending death (Chidester, 94). This is significant to do so that Tibetan Buddhists do not fear death, which may help a layperson in the bardos and a monk achieve deathlessness (Chidester, 96). Considering their views of death and the afterlife, meditation is used for all Tibetan Buddhists in their everyday