06/10/2026
When life brings us into a “bardo moment”—a time of transition and uncertainty—what can we do to work with it?
More than 1,700 students from 18 countries across four continents have made their choice: to join Mingyur Rinpoche for the Six Bardos Retreat, learning and practicing the view and meditation of the bardos, and discovering how challenges can become opportunities for transformation and growth.
The retreat began yesterday, October 5, at 7:00 p.m. at the Regent Cha Am Beach Resort in Thailand. Led by Mingyur Rinpoche and organized by Tergar Asia and Tergar Thailand, the retreat brings together more than 500 participants in person and over 1,200 online.
Participation in this retreat requires a foundation in meditation practice. Everyone attending has previously completed either Tergar’s Joy of Living Level 1 or Anytime Anywhere Meditation, where they learned about awareness and established a foundation in meditation. More than half of the participants have attended teachings on the bardos before, while over 67% have studied the wisdom teachings of Joy of Living Level 3 as well as Levels 1 and 2 of the Path of Liberation Mahamudra teachings.
With a room full of dedicated practitioners and an atmosphere of enthusiasm for learning and practice, Mingyur Rinpoche began the four-day retreat.
Here are some highlights from Rinpoche’s teaching during the first session on the evening of October 5. May everyone who encounters these teachings plant an auspicious seed for liberation in the bardos.
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The practice of the Six Bardos is about accepting reality as it is—letting go, but not giving up.
But how do we actually do this?
The first step is learning to appreciate and be grateful. It is not difficult to feel appreciation and gratitude when things are going well. But when we are going through difficult and painful times, gratitude can be much harder.
Yet these difficult moments can also offer us opportunities to learn, transform, and grow. In this sense, they too are worthy of our appreciation and gratitude.
Earlier, two participants shared how they had transformed challenges during “bardo moments” in their lives into opportunities. One woman described how she had once been able to appreciate birdsong and the beauty of flowers. But when she experienced postpartum depression, the birds were still singing and the flowers were still blooming—yet she could no longer see or hear that beauty. When she eventually emerged from the depression, she was able to experience it once again.
We all have a tendency to exaggerate our problems. Something may have nine positive qualities and only one negative one, yet we often focus only on the negative aspect—and then exaggerate the negative aspect even further. This is often what happens when we encounter the bardos of everyday life.
That is why we practice gratitude and appreciation:
Relax the muscles in your body.
First, let your mind rest in open awareness.
There is no need to focus on any particular object of meditation. Simply be—resting in a state of presence.
Now, feel grateful that we are alive.
Be grateful that our senses are intact:
that we have eyes that can see,
ears that can hear,
and a body that can feel.
Be grateful that today we are able to be here,
to join this retreat
and receive the teachings on the bardos.
Most importantly, all of us possess wonderful innate qualities:
awareness, compassion, and wisdom.
And these qualities are always shining.
Now rest your mind in open awareness.
And continue to appreciate and be grateful for everything.
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