The Bardo Retreat
Unless you love your body, unless you understand your body, you cannot grow spiritually; your body is the temple of your soul.
ABOUT BARDO
Over two thousand years ago Tibetan Buddhists created a practice of dying and being reborn. Central to this is the scripture called the Bardo Thödol – Liberation in the Intermediate State through Hearing (The Tibetan Book of the Dead). The term, ‘bardo,’ means ‘a transitional time,’ and as such it is a time of a heightened potential for inner transformation.
Meditation is used as a method to enter this ‘Intermediate State’ consciously and so become free of attachments. Traditionally, the Bardo Thödol was read by a Tibetan lama to a person as they were dying and even after their death – with the understanding that our ability to hear continues for some time after our physical death. It guides the listener through what Tibetan Buddhism teaches are various stages that the consciousness enters once it leaves the body and up to the point of either liberation or rebirth.
“The greatest thing to learn is not to hold onto anything: to your love, to your joy, to your body or to your health. If something is available, enjoy it. When it disappears, let it disappear with gratitude – gratitude for all that it has been and with no complaint. ‘You will know the greatest joys of both life and death, of both being and non-being.” Osho The Dhammapada: The Way of the Buddha, Volume 7
WHO SHOULD ATTEND A BARDO RETREAT
Osho Bardo can be used by anyone, of any or no religious or spiritual affiliation. It is for:
- Anyone who would like to live and die consciously
- Anyone who would like to be able to relax while remaining present and alert
- Anyone who has a fear around living or dying
- Those already familiar with meditation as well as those who would like to learn how to meditate
- Cares of those who are ill or dying. ‘Witnessing is your nature, your very nature.’
In meditation, when you are witnessing you are, by and by, without your knowing it, dispelling unconsciousness. A moment comes when your whole being is full of consciousness. This is witnessing. “When life was there, you witnessed life. Death is nothing new: death is only an object, just as life was an object. If you have learned how to witness, there is no question of being afraid. You will be a witness in your death too.” Osho Yakusan: Straight to the Point of Enlightenment
WHAT YOU WILL EXPERIENCE, DISCOVER, AND LEARN
When Osho Bardo is a regular practice, many benefits can be felt:
- A sense of freshness and rejuvenation
- More relaxation in daily life, less stressed in work and relationships
- Being more present to the moment, with a sense of openness, love and joy
- A diminishing or even disappearance of fear
- Recognising yourself, at the deepest core of your being, as consciousness
- Experiencing the truth that everything in life comes and goes
THE ART OF DYING THROUGH MEDITATION
In dying, as in meditating, we can…
- Shift from the outer world to the inner
- Relax, letting go of all tension
- Move from doing to being
- Let go of all the various roles with which we have been identified
- Enter our own journey, however many other people might be around us
