Digital Bardo: Reimagining the Tibetan Book of the Dead in Virtual Identity and Consciousness Transformation
Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: The Bardo Thodol (bar do thos grol), commonly known in the West as The Tibetan Book of the Dead, has traditionally served as a spiritual manual guiding consciousness through the postmortem bardo (bar do) states toward liberation or rebirth. While prior interpretations have framed the text in ritualistic, psychological, or mystical terms, this essay proposes an original and interdisciplinary expansion: that the bardo model can serve as a framework for understanding digital identity dissolution and transformation. Drawing from Tibetan Buddhist thought, extended mind theory, digital anthropology, and cognitive science, this study reinterprets the bardo states as phenomenological thresholds that manifest not only in physical death but also in virtual liminality—moments of radical ego disintegration, avatar deconstruction, and reidentification in digital and augmented environments. By mapping the six bardos onto digital experiences, this paper presents a unique synthesis of esoteric Tibetan metaphysics and contemporary posthuman theory, offering new insights into consciousness, ethical selfhood, and the future of identity.
Source: Religions
DOI: 10.3390/rel16101276
Authors: Hong Zeng, Saidi Su
Institution: Southwest Jiaotong University
Language: English
Topic: Indian and Buddhist Studies
Subfield: Religious studies
Field: Arts and Humanities
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $2,172
OpenAlex ID: W4414915377