The Tibetan Book of the Dead
Contents:
Timothy Leary recast it as The Psychedelic Experience, a manual for psychedelic voyagers - the idea being to "shortcut" many years of spiritual training and discipline by dropping some acid - and William Burroughs claimed to be in telepathic contact with Tibetan adepts, subtitling his novel The Wild Boys "A Book of the Dead".
Gysin's beatnik friends, Ginsberg and Burroughs included, are depicted chanting in the street, their "heads shaven like Tibetan monks" and wearing orange robes: In fact, Evans-Wentz's book has been so influential it is surprising to learn that he translated only three chapters of the original work which, it turns out, is not even called The Tibetan Book of the Dead - that was his idea. It's a magnificent achievement. The extra material includes an examination of the nature of mind "One's own mind is insubstantial, like an empty sky" and some beautiful verse meditations usually sung by monks performing their early morning duties.
There are aspirational prayers to be read at the moment of death, as well as a translation of the sacred mantras that can be attached to a corpse in order to bring "Liberation by Wearing". An unexpected bonus is a light-hearted allegorical masque about travelling through the after-death state.
Chapter 10 reveals how to transfer our consciousness at the exact moment of death. This involves blocking up in our imagination the rectum the entrance to hell , the genitals entrance to the realm of the anguished spirits and other orifices, so that our consciousness escapes through the crown fontanelle, which we should visualise opening up.
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- The Tibetan Book of the Dead.
If it leaks blood, it is a sure sign the deceased has attained buddhahood. It is said that if these ancient rituals are followed, even the unrefined and uncultured "however unseemly and inelegant their conduct" can attain enlightenment. In fact, they have a head start on those devout monks and learned philosophers who pooh-pooh such practices. Combining Tibetan folklore with traditional medicine, another chapter tells us how to recognise the signs of our impending death.
These include loss of appetite and disturbed sleep, but also "if one's urine falls in two forks" and "if one urinates, defecates and sneezes simultaneously". Another sure sign is dreaming of riding a tiger or a corpse, or of eating faeces, or of "being disembowelled by a fierce black woman". Untimely or sudden death may be averted, it tells us, by following the "Natural Liberation of Fear through the Ritual Deception of Death", which involves making dough effigies, kneaded with our own urine, and hurling them into a river. Gyurme Dorje's translation avoids the archaic thees and thous of the Evans-Wentz version and emphasises instead the quasi-scientific quality of the text - a point made in the Dalai Lama's introduction, where he draws parallels between Buddhist ideas and the discoveries of modern physics.
The result is a very clear-cut, practical rendering of this classic of Nyingma literature the Nyingmapa being followers of the oldest school of Tibetan Buddhism stretching back to the eighth century. The familiar, evocative vocabulary has been rationalised - "bardo" becomes "the intermediate state", "samsara" is "cyclic existence", "wisdom" is "pristine cognition", "the Knower" becomes "the consciousness [of the deceased]" and "good and bad karma" are now "positive and negative past actions" - but there are more gains than losses.
Published January 30th by Penguin Classics first published To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up. To ask other readers questions about The Tibetan Book of the Dead , please sign up. I have, 3 times, read a copy of the Tibetan book of the dead, edited by John Baldock.
The Bardo Thodol is a text from a larger corpus of teachings, the Profound Dharma of . The bar do thos grol is known in the west as The Tibetan Book of the Dead, a title popularized by Walter Evans-Wentz's edition, but as such virtually. The Tibetan Book of the Dead: The Great Book of Natural Liberation Through Understanding in the Between Paperback – December 1, The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying: The Spiritual Classic & International. The Dalai Lama's blessing attends Thurman's translation of the.
I would like to known what has been added or changed, with this edition, making it 4 times the length. Does it have what is written in the version I read? Kathy Gill I give you this review from TheGuardian: It's a magnificent achievement. See 1 question about The Tibetan Book of the Dead…. Lists with This Book. Aug 08, Ebblibs Thekstein rated it it was amazing. Important deluxe edition of a new translation of the full version.
It is a bit like a person who comes across a roasted fish, eats the bones and leaves the flesh untouched and concludes 'well that wasn't very nourishing'.
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So ,yes for those people, this book would be useless for them and a Important deluxe edition of a new translation of the full version. So ,yes for those people, this book would be useless for them and a waste of their precious time. They might possibly be better off with a modern self-help book perhaps, I hear that the market is bursting at the seams with these quick and helpful guides to instant happiness and well-being!
There are a lot of reviews of this book where the reader finds the text obscure, meaningless or unfathomable. It is also an academic text, at least in the detailed description of the textual provenance and the translation, notes and appendices etc.
Well worth repeated and continued close sympathetic study. Jul 10, Simonida rated it it was amazing. This book is not a light read, but if it falls in the right hands believe me that person will be transformed. I do believe that we enjoy and understand some books only if our mind and our soul do have enough knowledge, emotional maturity and life experience. My review will be short, additional religious knowledge as well as spirituality and some understating of lifelong traditions will contribute for a enjoyable reading experience, the tone is soft, and the reality of this philosophy is clearly This book is not a light read, but if it falls in the right hands believe me that person will be transformed.
My review will be short, additional religious knowledge as well as spirituality and some understating of lifelong traditions will contribute for a enjoyable reading experience, the tone is soft, and the reality of this philosophy is clearly presented. Aug 16, Thierry Sagnier rated it liked it. I'm one of those delinquent Buddhists who does not formally practice his faith.
I started reading this 30 years ago and recently, after a health scare, picked it up again. Life, it is said, is a terminal disease. You always die from it. There are no overwhelming revelations here, just a wonderfully coherent manual describing how to prepare yourself for the next Big Event.
A teaching ostensibly for guiding a dying person through the death-trip by talking them through it, sort of like an air traffic controller. Timothy Leary thought that the esoteric content of this book refers to any natural state of ego-loss, including death, psychedelic experiences and meditation. The book vividly describes several states of mind that the student passes through, each with their pitfalls and possible escape routes to enlightenment. If the practitioner is skilled, she or he attain A teaching ostensibly for guiding a dying person through the death-trip by talking them through it, sort of like an air traffic controller.
If the practitioner is skilled, she or he attains lasting liberation early on in the experience. As the experience progresses, possibilities for liberation present themselves less frequently with lesser result; the final state is simply rebirth into the abyss of maya. The experiencer seems to transit through a stage of ego-losing, then ego-loss, then ego-rebirth, each with its attendant spiritual entitites, iconography, etc.
Was Leary right in his interpretation? I don't feel confident to comment on the esoteric meaning of a text this obscure.
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- The Tibetan Book of the Dead by Gyurme Dorje.
There is a strong possibility, as always, that he was shoehorning an ancient mythology into his own world-view conception. However, it would seem that the authors would have had access to this realm of experience through their rigorous spiritual exercises. One would assume that non-death ego-loss states would at least prepare one for some aspects of the process of death. Jul 11, David rated it it was amazing. Spot on what I learned in Tibetan monasteries.
Bardo Thödol
For your own personal journey about why we are living, and dying, pick it up. It is a hard read. It is logical and scientific, so if you're not used to Eastern religious text and thinking, it can be too methodical and rigorous.
Published January 30th by Penguin Classics first published Although [all be] set face-to-face in such detail, there is a vast preponderance of those who wander downwards unliberated. It is meant to sooth the soul in preparatory wonder. They are thine own tutelary deities. These six Bodhic deities will appear to thee. Those who have attained enlightenment bodhi are thereby released from this process, attaining liberation moksha. These will come to shine against thy heart simultaneously.
It's not the normal soft tone the Dalai Lama uses in his books, but does so to drive home the deep thought Buddhism has surfaced for this text. Oct 07, John Brooke rated it it was amazing Shelves: It was a hard slugging away at the heightened language but well worth my persistence. Many of the thoughts about life and death have stayed with me since I read it the first time 65 years ago. Valuable insights now that I'm 80 and death is looking for me.
I intend on reading a modern translated version soon. A valuable guide to living and dying. Nov 11, Simon Robs rated it liked it. The life of a book is always subjective; the death of ego in reading, objective. My first near death experience came via a broken neck while diving into a desert reservoir in Grandview, ID, Black Sands Beach August '91 instantaneously paralyzing me from neck down, felt and heard the snap, face down floating immediately disoriented and panicked, quickly moving on into a gonna die review of life and release, then the tunnel of light and calm, all contained in the minu The life of a book is always subjective; the death of ego in reading, objective.
My first near death experience came via a broken neck while diving into a desert reservoir in Grandview, ID, Black Sands Beach August '91 instantaneously paralyzing me from neck down, felt and heard the snap, face down floating immediately disoriented and panicked, quickly moving on into a gonna die review of life and release, then the tunnel of light and calm, all contained in the minute or two submerged afloat until a noticer came and pulled me out to shore spewing, gagging, lifeless movement but otherwise consciousness.
Something happened in that water I can't explain but will never forget. It was tragically calming. In result of a second near exit 20 years later Harrowing and horrific were the enclosing circumstances and by the third day I was delirious, fading, hopelessly anchored to a rapidly advancing demise that again produced some otherworldly phantasmagorical sensations. I was again saved by a nick-of-time cohort, woke out of coma several days later in another Boise ICU on life support and looking down noticed a leg missing.
The "TTBotD" is a guide, a playbook for the considered traveler whose earthly position is shifting to endgame. It is meant to sooth the soul in preparatory wonder. And I wonder, did my soul mingle there already? The book didn't impact me the way I thought it might. Maybe I'm not ready yet for its subtlety between the lines - but will keep it handy 'cause next time I know I'm a gone'er. In the fog of my intuition, I feel like dead matter fallen in the rain and mourned by the howling wind.
And the chill of what I won't feel gnaws at my present heart. Mar 24, Steven Walle rated it really liked it. This was a great complete translation of a classic Budist text. These writings teach us how to go through life and death. I recommend this book to all. Enjoy and be blessed. Apr 28, Keith rated it really liked it Shelves: So much better—more accurate, more complete, more scholarly, more Buddhist—than the classic first translation by Theosophist Evans-Wentz , which really only covered one chapter of this authoritative tome. Essential for anyone familiar with what amounts to the granddaddy of Tibetan grimoires whose interest extends beyond mere curiosity.
That said, if what one wants to be doing is "reading the Book of the Dead to one who is deceased," this is probably not the edition to use unless one also has been So much better—more accurate, more complete, more scholarly, more Buddhist—than the classic first translation by Theosophist Evans-Wentz , which really only covered one chapter of this authoritative tome. That said, if what one wants to be doing is "reading the Book of the Dead to one who is deceased," this is probably not the edition to use unless one also has been instructed to do so by a qualified lama and has had the proper transmissions and training.
Otherwise, virtually any previous translation of the "Liberation by Hearing" chapter is likely to be far more useful, particularly those by Thurman or Fremantle.
Bardo Thodol - Wikipedia
Jan 28, Mohit Misra rated it it was amazing. Wow wow wow What a classic. Tibetan philosophy explained with simplicity. Wow wow wow is what I have to say about this book. Sep 20, Khandria rated it it was amazing. It means a person who is a discoverer of ancient hidden texts or terma. I will confirm that Gyurme Dorje's english translation faithfully conveys the original meaning of most of the Tibetan text with a few gaps which intellect alone can not span.
To fill in these gaps one must have the same experiences as the author. Reading a book on a thing is not the same as experiencing it and entails a little effort but its worth the effort. Advanced meditators listen to the Tao which the ancient greeks called "the logos" , In the modern bible it is called" the holy spirit" ,"the word" John 1: This technique of hearing our creator vibrating within our consciousness as means to escape reincarnation and return to God was taught by the founders of every religion but fell into obscurity when those founders left the earth and bookish priests took over As correlated by practitioners of Surat Shabd Yoga the TBOTD testifies about the phenomenon called the Bardo Thodol Tibetan: The text also includes chapters on the signs of death and rituals to undertake when death is closing in or has taken place.
However it was NEVER intended as a guide the mere reading of which could guide one through the transition of death. Along with the loss of knowledge of the practice of hearing teh Tao as a daily practice the need for spiritual teacher like Moses , Buddha , John , Jesus , Peter , Guru Nanak and his 9 successors and currently Swami Ji and his existing line of succession aka www. Thus the best ritual to prepare for death is to live a life desiring and thinking about God and virtues that he loves so that death takes us closer to eternal life and freedom from transmigration. The Bardo Thodol differentiates the intermediate state between lives into three bardos: The chikhai bardo or "bardo of the moment of death", which features the experience of the 1 "clear light of reality", or at least the nearest approximation of which one is spiritually capable; 2 The chonyid bardo or "bardo of the experiencing of reality", which features the experience of visions of various Buddha forms, or the nearest approximations of which one is capable; 3 The sidpa bardo or "bardo of rebirth", which features karmically impelled hallucinations which eventually result in rebirth, typically yab-yum imagery of men and women passionately entwined.
AS I stated before If we live our our whole life desiring the bliss of listening to the Toa and not desiring sensual pleasures we will be spared the 3rd stage and will go to God rather than this world. BY attaching our attention to the TAO we are detaching our attention from sensual pleasures which always pulls us back to this world. Since teh dawn of the human race there has always been at least one master on this earth to take the marked souls back and to make someone his successor.
So The TBOTD misses a lot but is still very interesting to students who are intrigued by death and maybe mustering the courage to eventually seek teh current living Master who can teach them SSY View all 3 comments. Oct 11, Cassandra Kay Silva rated it it was amazing Shelves: I am doing a personal comparative study of this and the Egyptian book of the dead simultaneously.
After the first two read throughs of this work I was extremely glad for the notes and appendixes provided for the study. I adore Tibetan Buddhism as a religion and culture and can relate very well to their ideas of mind projection in the afterlife, it gives a whole new meaning to the phrase "come into the light". I highly suggest if you read this book not to skip over the introduction and so forth i I am doing a personal comparative study of this and the Egyptian book of the dead simultaneously.
I highly suggest if you read this book not to skip over the introduction and so forth it is very valuable and well written.
Mar 05, Ibrahim Niftiyev rated it really liked it. Reading this book was very interesting due to its narrative and bright episodes. As we know, every religion has its own approach to the afterlife, however, Tibet is very different in this case. The book really represents the Buddhist philosophy and motivated trip and search ideas for my spiritual way. Somehow, I was exactly thinking like the book depicts some stages of the afterlife and they just overlapped and I felt amazing feelings. Without any doubt, it is not an ordinary book.
Either you will benefit or ignore this book, there is now some middle way in this case.