How to Prepare for Death: A Buddhist Scholar on the Bardo | with Dr. John Campbell [video]

What if the whole point of your yoga practice was to prepare you to die well?

In one of our favorite conversations of the year, Dr. John Campbell joins Harmony Slater and Russell Case for a third time — and goes somewhere we’ve never gone on the show. John is one of the few Westerners certified to teach Ashtanga by the Mysore lineage, finished the Fourth Series, and holds a PhD in Religion from Columbia. He co-founded the Contemplative Sciences Center at UVA and translates Sanskrit and Tibetan tantric texts with Prof. Robert Thurman. Today he teaches Vajra Yoga at Tibet House US in New York.

Together they explore the Bardo — the Tibetan “in-between” of dying and rebirth — and how the same dissolution can be glimpsed through psychedelics, deep meditation, and moments of love or terror. Russell shares what an ayahuasca journey revealed about a lifelong fear of death; John recounts a 24-hour ceremony and the integration that mattered more than the medicine; and Harmony reframes asana as the building of a “diamond body” — a vessel strong enough to hold the energy that practice unlocks.

They sit with hard, beautiful questions: Why would an enlightened being choose to be reborn? What is the “clear light mind”? Can you really care for someone without carrying them? And is a strong backbend the goal of yoga — or just the prerequisite?

This is philosophy, dark humor, lineage, and tenderness in one sitting.

Please note: this episode discusses psychedelics, addiction, and death, and is offered for educational and contemplative purposes only — not as medical advice or an endorsement of substance use.

Links

• Vajra Yoga at Tibet House US — tibethouse.us / thus.org
• Newburgh Yoga Shala (upstate NY) with Bibi Lorenzetti: https://newburghyogashala.com/
• Nepal pilgrimage with Corey Michael Bryant / @thespiritualpilgrim, Sept 27–Oct 7 
• Harmony & Russell’s upcoming yoga + art + integration retreat — DM @harmonyslaterofficial

 

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