In Tibetan Buddhism the transition from this life to the next is what is called ‘Bardo.’ Bardo means ‘gap,’ as it is described in the “Bardo Thotrol”, The “Tibetan Book of the Dead.” Many ‘bardos’ happen to us throughout our lives, death being the greatest. 

Life is seen as the opportunity to fine tune the mind to reside in the spaciousness of consciousness called Rigpa. Meditation is seen as the greatest gift in life and the way to achieve enlightenment which makes the moment of death an opportunity for liberation rather than fear and confusion.

Depending on the level of practice of a person, a lama can guide the consciousness of the dead person through the obstacles in the afterlife so they can attain liberation. So even though the subject is about death, it really is about life and how to live now in the present so the event called death is embraced ‘as a child running into the lap of its mother.’