The Bardo of Death - What Ra said

Ra Uru Hu, the founder of Human Design, spoke deeply about the Bardo of Death, a term borrowed from Tibetan Buddhism. His views are a synthesis of esoteric knowledge, mechanics of the bodygraph, neutrino information, and his own mystical encounter in 1987. Here's a lucid summary of what he said regarding death, birthing, and life after death, in sequence:

🔹 1. Bardo of Death – The Transitional State

Ra used the term bardo to describe the liminal space between death and rebirth—the inter-life period. This echoes the Tibetan Book of the Dead, but through the Human Design lens, it has its own energetic mechanics.

At the moment of death, the bodygraph (which charts how the Design Crystal and Personality Crystal are embodied) dismantles.

The Design Crystal (linked to the body and unconscious) and the Personality Crystal (linked to consciousness) separate from the magnetic monopole, which held them together during life.

This dismantling is not painful; it’s a release, a disentangling from the illusion of separation.

Ra emphasised that death is mechanical, not mystical in the way most spiritual traditions describe it. It is a mechanical unbinding of form.

🔹 2. Birthing Process – The Entry Point

Birth, in Human Design terms, is the point when the Design Crystal and Personality Crystal are joined by the magnetic monopole in the fetus (around 88 days before birth). This is when the individual aura begins to form.

The Design Crystal enters the fetus first (from the Earth), determining the body and unconscious.

Then the Personality Crystal (from the heavens or cosmos) comes in.

These two are “glued” together by the magnetic monopole, creating the illusion of a singular self.

Ra saw this moment as the true beginning of life—not the physical birth, but the imprinting moment where your chart is fixed (the Human Design chart is based on two times: actual birth and 88 days prior).

🔹 3. Sequential Process of Death

Ra described the process of dying as a reverse of the birthing mechanics:

1. Personality Crystal detaches – Conscious awareness begins to dissolve.

2. Design Crystal detaches – The life force leaves the body.

3. Magnetic Monopole is released – The illusion of being a unified being ends.

At this point, the three components return to their cosmic repositories:

The Design Crystal goes back into the Earth (Gaia).

The Personality Crystal returns to the Crystal Bank (a kind of cosmic waiting room).

The Magnetic Monopole returns to its universal function—drawing things together.

Death, then, is a cosmic recycling process.

🔹 4. What Happens After Death?

Ra did not romanticize the afterlife. He was very clear: there is no “you” after death.

No reincarnating ego goes from body to body.

The Personality Crystal is not the person; it is impersonal.

What you experience as “you” is the illusion created by the magnetic monopole binding your two crystals.

After death:

The Design Crystal is re-used (perhaps millions of years later).

The Personality Crystal may be assigned to another form.

But there is no continuity of identity—only continuity of consciousness in a non-personal sense.

So, in Human Design, there is no personal karma, no individual soul progressing through lifetimes as you. You are a temporary form expressing a programmed consciousness.

🔹 5. The Big Takeaway from Ra

Ra was emphatic about one point:

> “You are here to live your design—not to transcend it.”

He taught that instead of worrying about death or the afterlife, the key is to fully live your life according to your strategy and authority. That's how the mechanics flow correctly. Obsession with “life after death” distracts from the only real work—to be awake and correct in this life. 

Summary: Phase What Happens

Birth (pre-birth) Design Crystal enters fetus; Personality Crystal joins; magnetic monopole fuses them

Life Illusion of a self navigates experience based on mechanics and imprinting

Death Crystals separate; magnetic monopole released; form dissolves

After Death Crystals return to impersonal storage; no ego or personal soul remains.