On Sale - Sep 9, 2025
Publisher - Balance, Hachette Book Group
Page Count - 288 pages
ISBN-13 - 9780306835216
Traveling in Bardo: The Art of Living in an Impermanent World
In a world where nothing lasts forever, how do we live?
“A rich and freewheeling meditation on life, death, and impermanence.”
⎯ Publishers Weekly
A luminous guide to navigating transition and impermanence. Foreword by Dani Shapiro, New York Times best-selling author.
In a world where nothing lasts forever, how do we live? Life is perpetually, endlessly filled with change: new jobs and new loves, unfamiliar places and faces. And entwined in that change is loss: loss of what was or is, or what could have been. In the midst of this shifting landscape, Traveling in Bardo invites us to embrace impermanence in a powerful way, rooted in ancient wisdom.
Interweaving explorations of bardo in relation to marriage and friendship, parents and children, work and creativity with stories of her Tibetan ancestors and the Buddhist teachings on the fleeting nature of existence, Ann Tashi Slater illuminates what the teachings have to tell us in our contemporary lives. She relays vital wisdom from Tibetan culture, giving us a bold, new framework to navigate moments of change and live life fully.
During over forty years of writing and speaking about her Tibetan-American heritage and the relevance of Buddhism in Western society, Slater has come to see how Tibetan bardo views on impermanence can transform the way we live. In Tibetan belief, bardo is the interval between death and rebirth, as well as the intermediate state between birth and death. It also refers to liminal periods in life when the reality we know comes to an end. A time of great possibility, it offers us the opportunity to find happiness in an impermanent world.
Praise for Traveling in Bardo
“How can we become more accepting of change? How can we live with empathy, attention, and kindness amid the beauty and sorrow of this ephemeral world? How can we embrace life fully? These are the questions that Ann Tashi Slater asks and so beautifully answers in Traveling in Bardo, showing us how to live in this impermanent world.”
⎯ from the foreword by Dani Shapiro, New York Times best-selling author
“Brilliant and compassionate, philosophical and pragmatic, Ann Tashi Slater takes us on a modern-day journey through bardo. Drawing upon ancient tradition, her family’s deep lineage within Tibetan Buddhism, and her own experiences of unexpected grief and joy, she gives us a map (just when we most need one!) of how to not only survive but thrive in times of great upheaval and uncertainty. Both gemstone and touchstone, this book is a gift.”
⎯ Elizabeth Gilbert, New York Times bestselling author
“An elegant and heartening exploration of how the wisdom of Tibetan Buddhism speaks to the ceaseless change of our lives, and our painful grasping for permanence. Ann Tashi Slater is a wise and humble guide, and her lucid and compassionate perspective is a wellspring to return to again and again. What a gift this book is.”
⎯ Melissa Febos, bestselling author of Girlhood and The Dry Season
“Not only has Ann Tashi Slater written her very own contemporary Book of the Dead, but she shows us how the ancient wisdom applies to our lives now. And all the while, we are enthralled by her evocative writing—she's a Scheherazade storyteller. I will be giving this book to friends who find themselves grappling with losses, and to other companions on my journey who need the refreshment of a new perspective or a big cool pour of faith and wisdom. I can’t think of one person whom I wouldn’t want to read this timely and timeless book.”
⎯ Julia Alvarez, bestselling author of In the Time of the Butterflies and The Cemetery of Untold Stories
“Powerfully merging the personal and the universal, Traveling in Bardo brings to life stories of Ann Tashi Slater’s past, her Tibetan ancestors, and The Tibetan Book of the Dead, demonstrating what it means to live fully amidst the impermanence and unpredictability of existence.”
⎯ Sharon Salzberg, bestselling author of Lovingkindness and Real Life
“A fascinating contemplation about death that really is all about ‘plunging into life.’ Liberating, refreshing, exquisitely written,Traveling in Bardo reverberates like a mindfulness bell. A wondrous read!”
⎯ Sandra Cisneros, writer/activist and author of The House on Mango Street and Woman Without Shame
"Traveling in Bardo offers a wise and compassionate roadmap to navigating the shocks, U-turns, and upheavals that life invariably delivers. A brilliant and generous guide, Ann Tashi Slater brings us with her to monasteries in Darjeeling, into the rhythms of urban Tokyo, and into her own past as she explores how learning to face death and ephemerality can catalyze the rebirth of a richer self. This book is an indispensable companion, one that teaches us to find beauty and joy even in life's unpredictability and losses."