Bardo of Becoming (Sidpa Bardo) — The Search for Rebirth
The Sidpa Bardo is the third and final intermediate state in the Bardo Thodol's three-bardo framework, entered when consciousness fails to achieve liberation during the Chonyid Bardo's visionary displays. Here the gandharva (being-in-between) possesses a mental body (manomaya-kaya) driven by the karmic winds (karma-vayu) of accumulated vasanas (habitual imprints), experiencing hallucinatory environments shaped by the dominant kleshas. The Bardo Thodol provides specific instructions for this phase: the gandharva should invoke its yidam (meditation deity), recall powa (consciousness transference) practice, and — if rebirth is unavoidable — consciously select a womb door (yul sgo) by observing the six realms of samsara with discriminating awareness rather than being pulled by raga (attraction) or dvesa (aversion).