The Complete Nyingma Tradition from Sutra to Tantra, Books 24 and 25: Bardos and the Ultimate Fruitions

In this series, The Complete Nyingma Tradition from Sutra to Tantra, Tibetan yogi Chöying Tobden Dorje presents the entire Buddhist path from foundation to fruition. This volume translates books 24 and 25, on the liminal states between birth and death and the final results of the Buddhist path.

In this volume, Joseph McClellan translates books 24 and 25 of The Complete Nyingma Tradition series, in which Chöying Tobden Dorje extracts and weaves together the fourteenth-century master Longchen Rabjam’s discussions of the bardos—the “liminal states,” including post-death experiences—and the ultimate fruition of the Buddhist path. These two central topics of Buddhist thought are drawn from two of Longchenpa’s lesser-known works: The Precious Treasury of the Genuine Meaning and The Precious Treasury of the Supreme Vehicle.

In the Nyingma tradition, the bardos—the transitional states between life, death, and rebirth—are not just about what happens after we die, but are ongoing phases unfolding throughout our lives, inviting us to recognize the luminous nature of our own mind. Through deep meditation and preparation, we can face death without fear, seeing it as a natural dissolution into primordial purity—the vast, timeless ground beyond all dualities. This fruition of the Buddhist path transcends all dualities and conceptual limitations, revealing a luminous, dynamic reality where the mind rests in effortless clarity and compassionate activity flows naturally.