Nyingma means "ancient"—the oldest school of Tibetan Buddhism. In the eighth century, Guru Rinpoche (Padmasambhava) came to Tibet with Śāntarakṣita and King Trisong Detsen to lay the foundation of the Dharma. Later, Yeshe Tsogyal and successive tertons hid many profound teachings in mountains and mind, to be revealed when the time was ripe—these are the terma, the "hidden treasures."

The "Liberation Upon Hearing in the Bardo" is just such a terma. It tells the dying: after the consciousness leaves the body, it will meet, in turn, the visions of Vajrasattva and the peaceful and wrathful deities. Hearing a familiar mantra and guidance at that moment lets one recognize the primordial light and cease drifting with karma. Nyingma deliverance rests on this terma.

Many overseas Chinese and Tibetan families, kept away by distance or circumstance, cannot travel to a monastery for a loved one. Online deliverance ensures that intention is not blocked by distance.

Deliverance for the dead accumulates a twofold good.

For the deceased, it is help in recognizing the light. With clairaudient clarity in the bardo, a single Guru mantra or a passage of terma guidance becomes a refuge by which they recognize the light; if they had affinity with the Dharma in life, it eases fear and turns them toward a good rebirth or liberation.

For the living, it is settling. We often blame ourselves for an unfinished goodbye. Making merit on the dead’s behalf transforms longing into real nourishment—not consolation, but a true gift.

For all karmic creditors, it is release. Smoke offering and dedication reach every being one has met; one dedication loosens old knots, and the home often grows calm.

Online deliverance follows the Nyingma tradition, simple and dignified:

• **Memorial tablet.** You provide the deceased’s name and birth (or lunar memorial) date; the lama sets a liberation tablet before the mandala.
• **Sutra and mantra.** The lama recites, per the terma, the Guru mantra, the Vajrasattva hundred-syllable mantra, and the liberation scriptures, purifying the dead’s obscurations.
• **Smoke offering.** Food offering and incense are burned as a smoke offering—upward gift and outward generosity, filling the ten directions.
• **Dedication.** All merit is dedicated solely to the dead, that they be free of suffering; and to all karmic creditors, dissolving past enmity.
• **Forty-nine days.** Traditionally the most critical period is the forty-nine days after death; one may schedule seven periodic ceremonies, one every seven days.

You need not be present—only, in a quiet moment, speak with the departed in your heart. The lama’s ritual completes what remains.