DEEPENING WISDOM

Dying Every Day: Essence of the Bardos

A journey through the transitions of life and death
Language: English
  OPEN TO EVERYONE
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This course is included in your Vajrayana Online Membership. Click here to add it to your library at no additional cost.
This course is available to all Vajrayana Online Members, or as a standalone lifetime-access course.

About the Course

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Mingyur Rinpoche teaches how “dying every day” allows us to live fully and creatively
The bardo teachings of Vajrayana Buddhism are profound and precious teachings that address both how to approach the transitory, momentary experience of this life and how to use this wisdom to skillfully and intentionally navigate the process of our own dying and rebirth. At its heart, the bardo teachings are concerned with the core teaching of impermanence and letting go, both in life and in death, and with the liberation that comes with recognizing the real nature of the mind in the midst of all that changes.
In this course, Mingyur Rinpoche will guide us on this journey through the lens of his book, In Love with the World, that chronicles in intimate detail his very personal experience of death and rebirth.
At the heart of this journey is a strong emphasis on community and integrating the teachings into our lives. You will be supported by monthly webinars with Lama Trinley and biweekly live sessions with Tergar Guides Tim Olmsted and Kasumi Kato throughout the entire year. These community sessions are designed to help you work through each lesson’s material, ask questions, and practice together.
VAJRAYANA ONLINE GUIDES

Meet Your Teacher and Guides

In this course, you will receive teachings from Mingyur Rinpoche, Lama Trinley, Vajrayana Online guides, and guest teachers.

Mingyur Rinpoche

TEACHER

Mingyur Rinpoche was born in 1975 in the border region between Tibet and Nepal. Drawn to contemplation from an early age, he spent much of his childhood in strict retreat and studied with some of the greatest Dzogchen masters of our time. In 2011, he left his monastery for a four-and-a-half-year wandering retreat, an experience he later recounted in his book, In Love with the World. Today, Rinpoche leads the Tergar Meditation Community, oversees monasteries in Nepal and India, and guides students in more than thirty countries.

LEARNING EVERY MOMENT

Your Course Includes

Video Teachings from Mingyur Rinpoche

Exclusive teachings shaped by Rinpoche’s accessible and playful style — with audio and transcript

Guided Meditations

Step-by-step instructions to refresh your practice and deepen your experience on the cushion

Bi-Weekly Live Sessions

Live sessions with Vajrayana Online guides to ask questions, share experiences, and stay connected

Practices for Daily Life

Short times, many times — simple ways to bring the teachings into everyday moments, anytime, anywhere

Introductions from Tergar Guides 

Lived insights and practical context to support your understanding and real-world application of the teachings

Webinars Recordings

Recordings of live sessions with Mingyur Rinpoche and Tergar guides

Journaling and Community Resources

Invitations for integrating the teachings through personal reflection and discussion groups
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You Will Learn

  • How the six bardos mirror life’s transitions, offering a practical map for living, dying, and beyond
  • Practices for meeting death with clarity, courage, and a sense of curiosity
  • Ways of facing impermanence and working with change as opportunities for growth
  • How to use dreams and meditation to let go of grasping, opening space for creativity
  • Methods for recognizing luminous awareness in the transition between lives
  • How to let old patterns die and live more fully with presence, kindness, and wisdom

Kasumi Kato Welcomes You to The Bardos Program

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AWAKENING TOGETHER

Vajrayana Online Live Sessions

TWICE A MONTH
Bardo Heart-to-Heart with Kasumi Kato and Tim Olmsted
Kasumi and Tim will lead intimate sessions to explore the teachings through our own experience, opening space for reflection and questions.
Thursdays, 10 AM US ET
Starting September 3, 2026
ONCE A MONTH
Heart-to-Heart on Aging and Illness with Tim Olmsted
In this new Heart-to-Heart series, Tim Olmsted will gather with those of us who are older, living with a life-threatening condition, or accompanying someone through a serious illness. Together, we will share our experiences and reflect on how we can bring our practice and study to these stages of life. Learn more →
Tuesday, 11 AM EDT
Starting September 8
 
Recordings
We strongly encourage you to join us live. 
If you’re unable to attend, the recordings will be made available in this course.
If you are not a Vajrayana Online member, please join the community to access the courses and live sessions in this transmission.

Already a member? Log in!

THE JOURNEY AHEAD

Course Outline

This course consists of six lessons. In each lesson, you’ll receive a teaching from Mingyur Rinpoche, along with an introduction, guided meditation, and practice for daily life.

LESSON 1
The Bardo of This Life
In this lesson, Mingyur Rinpoche shows how accepting life’s ups and downs — and even the reality of death — can bring freedom and growth in every moment.
LESSON 2
The Bardo of Dreams
Discover how the bardo of dreams and the practice of lucid dreaming can free us from grasping and open the mind to spaciousness and joy.
LESSON 3
The Bardo of Meditation
Mingyur Rinpoche explains how the bardo of meditation helps us rest in the “gap” between thoughts, connecting with our true nature — open, spacious, and free.
LESSON 4
The Bardo of Dying
Learn how meeting the bardo of dying with awareness transforms fear into openness, revealing the luminous mind and a deep appreciation for life.
LESSON 5
The Bardo of Dharmata
Explore how the bardo of dharmata offers a rare moment to recognize pure awareness before concepts arise, awakening our innate wisdom and freedom.
LESSON 6
The Bardo of Becoming
Mingyur Rinpoche reveals how the bardo of becoming invites us to let the old, fixed mind dissolve so we can be reborn fresh, guided by awareness, love, and compassion.

Live Webinars

SEP 25, 2026

Live Interview with

Roshi Joan Halifax

  Open to everyone

Monthly Webinars

with Lama Trinley

  Open to everyone

INCLUDED IN THIS COURSE

Meditation Instructions

As a preview of the meditation instructions in this course, we’re sharing Mingyur Rinpoche’s instructions for practicing the bardo of meditation — a method for recognizing and resting with awareness in the experience of the “gap.”
Find a comfortable position and hit play to begin your practice now
Meditation instructions and practices for daily life by Mingyur Rinpoche in this course:
  • Practicing the Bardo of This Life
  • Practicing the Bardo of Dying
  • Practicing the Bardo of Dreams
  • Practicing the Bardo of Dharmata
  • Practicing the Bardo of Meditation
  • Practicing the Bardo of Becoming

Course Text

The book In Love with the World: A Monk's Journey Through the Bardos of Living and Dying by Mingyur Rinpoche is recommended reading and will be referred to throughout the course.

Learn More About the Bardos Year-Long Program 

If you wish to go deeper with the topics introduced in this course, we recommend exploring our full program on the bardos.
BECOME A MEMBER

Join Vajrayana Online

This course is included in your Vajrayana Online membership, which also gives you access to our full platform of over 25 self-paced courses, weekly live sessions, live programs, personal interviews with Tergar guides, guided meditations, and much more. We aim to make Vajrayana Online accessible to everyone by offering three different pricing options. Feel free to choose the one that best suits your needs.
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Choose this option if you have financial hardship or a currency exchange rate that makes the standard rate unaffordable.

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  • Vajrayana Online App

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$4167

USD per month, billed annually at $500/year after a 10-day free trial.
Cancel anytime.

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By choosing the standard rate, you keep Vajrayana Online alive and flourishing.

  • 10-day free trial
  • 25+ self-paced courses, including new content every month
  • Weekly live sessions
  • Vajrayana Online App

Sponsor

$6250

USD per month, billed annually at $750/year after a 10-day free trial.
Cancel anytime.

You save $150

By choosing the sponsor rate, you help us offer a reduced rate to someone who needs it.

  • 10-day free trial
  • 25+ self-paced courses, including new content every month
  • Weekly live sessions
  • Vajrayana Online App
  • Includes free access to the Joy of Living online program
You will make the first payment after the free trial period. The membership will automatically be renewed in accordance to the frequency you have selected. You can cancel anytime, and no additional fees will be charged. For more questions about the membership, please visit our FAQs section.

Tergar is committed to making the benefits of Buddhist teachings and practices available to everyone. If the membership rate of $29 USD per month is a hindrance for you financially, please do not hesitate to reach out to us via volsupport@tergar.org to ask for a further reduced rate. We offer financial assistance rates for certain countries, for students with limited budgets, and for the monastic community.
When we accept that we are dying every day, and that living cannot be separated from dying, then the bardos offer a map of the mind during this lifetime, and each stage offers invaluable guidance for how to live every day.
— Mingyur Rinpoche
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