Navigating the “Bardo” of Life: When Transitions Feel Like Life, Death, and Rebirth

Yesterday I had a profound conversation with a dear and long-time friend, someone who has walked beside me for many years, held my hand during difficult moments, and witnessed every twist of my journey.

I shared with him how the last few years, and especially the last one, have felt like moving back and forth between life and death, death and life—between endings and beginnings, collapse and emergence.

Some bridges in my life have fallen due to deep internal shifts, and yet new bridges have not yet appeared on the horizon. This in-between phase feels like a vacuum: not fully in the old life, not yet in the new one. It is unsettling, quiet, and disorienting.

Floating Between Worlds

My friend reminded me of the Tibetan word Bardo, which refers not only to the phase between death and new birth, but also to any transitional space where the familiar dissolves and the unknown has not yet taken form.

In one explanation I found, bardo is described like this: “We can use the term bardo metaphorically to describe times when our usual way of life becomes suspended… Such moments can be fruitful for spiritual progress because external constraints diminish. Any transitional experience—any state occurring between two other states—can be called a bardo. When we refine our understanding of the essence of bardo, we realize that every moment is a bardo, always suspended between past and future.” (Samye, 2020)

These words landed deeply in me. They articulated something I had been feeling but could not express: Every transition contains moments of stillness, moments of disintegration, moments of quiet revelation.

Layers peel away. Identities loosen. Something sacred begins to rearrange itself.

I shared with my friend that lately I feel as if I am floating between different states of being. I watch friends online living fast, full, active lives. And in contrast, I am here—slowed down, stripped back, suspended. At times it feels like separation, or even isolation.

But my friend gently reminded me: This holds profound value. These transitions are not punishments, they are gateways.

Who Are We Without Our Titles, Roles, and External Definitions?

When my friend asked how I see this period, I paused. After a few quiet moments, I told him that this phase, one of the most significant transitions of my life—feels like being stripped of all external identities: labels, roles, degrees, titles, expectations. All the things that the outer world uses to define me.

What remains is my essence.

Raw. Unadorned. Untitled.

It is not always comfortable. At times it is frightening. Yet I am learning that these moments must be embraced with open arms. They are invitations into the purest version of ourselves—journeys of inner rebirth that carry rare beauty, wisdom, and meaning.

The bardo is not a void, it is a womb.

It is the silent, sacred space where the next version of us begins to form.

If you, too, find yourself in a place where old structures collapse and new ones have not yet appeared, remember: this space is precious. This pause is powerful. This in-between is part of your becoming.

References:

Samye (2020) The Six Bardos: Powerful Opportunities for Liberation. Available at: https://www.samyeinstitute.org/nlncnd/the-six-bardos/ (Accessed on November 21, 2025)