Tukdam

Practitioners believe that one's consciousness can remain in a meditative state known as the "Clear Light Stage" after death. A person is claimed to exist in this state anywhere from a minute to weeks, depending on the level of their realization, but only expert practitioners of meditation, when dying, can recognize it and use it for spiritual purposes. As Sogyal Rinpoche describes it in The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying: The appearance of people that entered , in tantric view, is described as "radiant", with the skin maintaining its softness and elasticity. Exit is manifested by the body beginning to decompose. A 2021 study, using electroencephalograhy, did not detect any brain activity in clinically dead when examined in the days after death. == Cultural and religious significance==

is rarely mentioned explicitly in the canon texts of Tibetan Buddhism. It holds profound cultural and religious significance within Tibetan Buddhism. It is viewed as a manifestation of a practitioner's mastery over the mind and the death process. In Tibetan Buddhism, death is not seen as an end but a transition. The state of represents an advanced level of spiritual attainment where the practitioner's consciousness remains in meditation after clinical death, merging into the Clear Light or Ground Luminosity. This concept is extensively discussed in Tibetan texts such as The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying by Sogyal Rinpoche. Rinpoche writes that a realized practitioner recognizes the nature of mind at the moment of death and awakens into the Ground Luminosity, remaining in that state for several days. The body is typically not disturbed or moved until signs of have ceased, reflecting the belief that the consciousness is still present and active. Books such as Death and Rebirth in Tibetan Buddhism, by Lati Rinpoche and Jeffrey Hopkins, and Mind Beyond Death, by Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche, further explore the spiritual and philosophical underpinnings of . Additionally, scholarly research and personal accounts of , as compiled in Testimonies of Tibetan Tulkus: A Research Among Reincarnate Buddhist Masters in Exile by Dieter Bärlocher, document the experiences and teachings of those who are believed to have attained this state. The tradition became more popular among Tibetan exiles after the 14th Dalai Lama's call for scientific research into the matter. ==See also==