Home Events Archive - Shang Shung Institute UK Light of Kailash 30 | Life Can Be Very Confusing If We Don’t Understand Death | By Christian Bernert

Light of Kailash 30 | Life Can Be Very Confusing If We Don’t Understand Death | By Christian Bernert

Christian Bernert on Death, the Bardo and the Tibetan Buddhist Framework

This interactive talk offers an examination of the transition from life to "the beyond" within the Tibetan Buddhist framework. Drawing from a work preserved in the collected writings of the 19th-century polymath Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo, supplemented by the speaker's own research, we will explore ontological and phenomenological dimensions of the dying process. The discussion will include inquiries into:

  • The mechanics of dissolution: physiological and subtle-energy shifts that precede clinical death.
  • States of consciousness: the transition from coarse sensory perception to the refined mental states of the bardo.
  • The paradox of rebirth: an investigation into the paradox of rebirth in the absence of a permanent self.

By framing death not as an end, but as a predictable sequence of events, we explore how this understanding serves as a vital pedagogical tool for the spiritual path.

About the Speaker:

Christian Bernert is an in-house translator for the Khyentse Vision Project. He specializes in translating Tibetan Buddhist texts, especially from the Sakya tradition, and mentors other translators. Born into a Franco-Austrian family, he grew up in Vienna and spent several years in Kathmandu, Nepal, where he received intensive Buddhist training. His formal connection with Buddhism began in 1999 under the guidance of Khenchen Sherab Gyaltsen Amipa Rinpoche.

Christian holds an MA in Religious Studies and Tibetology from the University of Vienna (2009), followed by two years of translator training at the International Buddhist Academy (IBA) in Kathmandu, where he later became a program coordinator. He is a founding member of the Chödung Karmo Translation Group and coordinates a seven-year Sakya study program with the 42nd Sakya Trizin. He has published several Buddhist translations, including classical and contemporary works, and also works on the Bodhisvara Project, which records Sanskrit Buddhist chants.

Saturday, March 21st | 10:00 AM London Time (11:00 AM Italian Time) | Online via Zoom

Please register at the bottom of this page to receive the Zoom link via email.

The event is finished.