What is The Tibetan Book of the Dead

In Tibetan Buddhist ceremony, The Tibetan Book of the Dead is intended to be read aloud to the dead person. The spirit of the deceased lingers nearby in a transitional realm called bardo. The bardo is a place for the deceased to make decisions about their afterlife. They could choose to become enlightened by giving up their “unconscious tendencies” or they can remain attached which would lead them through the cycle once more. The spoken text is to help the deceased find and choose enlightenment. Bardo Thodol, which means “Liberation by Hearing on the After-Death Plane.”

“The book stresses over and over that the free consciousness has only to hear and remember the teachings in order to be liberated.”