What The Tibetan Book of the Dead Can Teach Us About “Bad Trips”

The Tibetan Book of the Dead has long been utilized and served as a guide for those traversing through the enigmatic portals of life, the afterlife, and psychedelic journeys, as well as for those witnessing these adventures.

The Tibetan Book of the Dead was meant to be read aloud as individuals travel through the Bardos, varying states of existence between death and rebirth, while spinning on the wheel of samsara, the cycle of death, rebirth, and birth, with the escape being Moksha, meaning enlightenment or release from said cycle, fueled by the law of karma. The intent of reading aloud is to assist with “The Great Liberation Through Hearing.” (Which has some other implications for the use of sound, energy, and music at the end of life, in altered states, dementia, etc. that I won’t go into here.)

When venturing through the Bardos, it is upon “setting face-to-face with the Clear Light” that one has the opportunity to escape the wheel of samsara. There are many junctures at which this can occur (including prior to permanent physical death), but let’s focus on the Third Stage, called the Chonyid Bardo, when the Karmic Apparitions appear, and how this relates to a “bad trip.”

In this stage, one is first said to encounter The Dawning of the Peaceful Deities, after the Chikhai Bardo of the moments of death, assuming that one doesn’t achieve liberation prior to this state. Following the Dawning of the Peaceful Deities, one is said to encounter the Dawning of the Wrathful Deities. It is possible to achieve liberation with the dawning of either type of Deity.?

In order to reach liberation, one must simply realize that these Deities, the Clear Light in whatever form it may be interpreted, is no different than one’s own real self. To dissolve the illusion of separateness. In essence, to truly know that all of these visions or experiences are a projection of your own making.?

So, in order to navigate a peaceful or a wrathful psychedelic trip, altered state, death, etc., it is helpful to identify it as a projection of your own consciousness. To achieve enlightenment or liberation from these states, knowing that they are simply an illusion and way of viewing things that you, yourself, have created is incredibly, umm…liberating.?

These projections, these experiences, these visions will be shaped upon your perception of reality. These Peaceful and Wrathful Deities hold parallels to “good” and “bad” trips, concepts of Heaven and Hell, and dualistic existence in general. They are neither inherently good nor bad, simply a picture painted by one’s own mind in order to illustrate something and give you an experience to realize the true nature of reality.?

In order to deal with a “bad” trip, it can be helpful to realize that it may be a projection of your own mind. An attempt to show you something in order to liberate you from some idea, state, or perception. An attempt that you generated. Perhaps instead of being distracted or in fear of it, inquire into it to see what you’re trying to liberate yourself from. And maybe be grateful for the chance to traverse this bardo prior to your final physical death in this incarnation, take this knowledge with you throughout your journeys, and disseminate it out to as many people as possible.?