Dying Before We Die

The recognition of luminosity is the experience of dying before we die, dying within the bardo (i.e., transitional period, or intermediate state) of this life. When this happens, the flesh-and-blood body no longer functions as the filter or anchor of the mind. Although the body will look ordinary to the ordinary observer, for an awakened mind, the body has become what we call an “illusory” body. It is no longer “real” in any conventional sense, but exists — to an awakened mind — more as a reflection, like a hologram. In this state, although other people will perceive a life that is ending, one who has woken up to their own deathless emptiness will not experience dying as a final ending — only as a transition.

Yongey Mingyur
from In Love with the World; What a Monk Can Teach You About Living from Nearly Dying