Difference between revisions of "Tibetan Book of the Dead" - New World Encyclopedia

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{{Tibetan Buddhism}}
  
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|z=Pardo Toichoi
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|thdl=Bardo Tödröl
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|e=Bardo Thodol,<br />Bardo Thödol,<br />Bardo Thodrol,<br />Bardo Todol
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|tc=《中有聞解》
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|p=Zhōng yǒu wén jiě}}
  
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{{Wylie_box|english=Bardo Thodol|wylie=bar do thos grol|comment=literally: Liberation through Hearing in the State of Bardo}}
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[[tr:Bardo Thödol]]
  
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The '''''Bardo Thodol''''' ([[Tibetan language|Tibetan]] '''Liberation through Hearing in the Intermediate State''', is a [[funerary text]] that describes the experiences of the consciousness after death during the interval known as [[bardo]] between death and [[Rebirth (Buddhist)|rebirth]]. It is commonly known by its traditional but illiteral title: ''The Tibetan Book of the Dead''.
+
The '''''Liberation Through Hearing During the Intermediate State''''' ([[Tibetan language|Tibetan]]: ''bardo'' "[[liminality]]"; ''thodol'' as "liberation"<ref>Fremantle (2001: p.21) states that:  Liberation is synonymous with the Sanskrit word ''bodhi'', which means awakening, understanding, or enlightenment, and with ''nirvana'', which means blowing out or extinction:  the extinction of illusion.</ref>), sometimes translated as '''Liberation Through Hearing''' or '''Bardo Thodol'''  is a [[funerary text]]. It is often referred to in the West by the more casual title, "'''Tibetan Book of the Dead'''", a name which draws a parallel with the ancient Egyptian [[Book of the Dead]], another funerary text.
  
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== Background ==
+
The Tibetan text describes, and is intended to guide one through, the experiences that the consciousness has after death, during the interval between death and the next [[Rebirth (Buddhist)|rebirth]]. This interval is known in Tibetan as the [[bardo]]. The text also includes chapters on the [[signs of death]], and rituals to undertake when death is closing in, or has taken place. It is the most internationally famous and widespread work of [[Tibet]]an [[Nyingma]] literature.<ref>Dorje, Gyurme. '''The Tibetan Book of the Dead'''. "A Brief Literary History of the ''Tibetan Book of the Dead''. (Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition, 2007). Translated by Gyurme Dorje. ISBN 978-0-14-310494-0.</ref>
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The Bardo Thodol is recited by [[lama]]s over a dying or recently deceased person, or sometimes over an effigy of the deceased. It has been suggested that it is a sign of the influence of [[shamanism]] on [[Tibetan Buddhism]]. The name means literally "liberation through hearing in the intermediate state."
 
  
−
The ''Bardo Thodol'' actually differentiates the intermediate states between lives into three bardos (themselves further subdivided):  
+
== Title ==
−
# the ''chikhai bardo'' or "bardo of the moment of death"
+
This text is commonly known by its the Western title: ''The Tibetan Book of the Dead'', however, Fremantle (2001: p.20) states:
−
# the ''chonyid bardo'' or "bardo of the experiencing of reality"
+
<blockquote>
−
# the ''sidpa bardo'' or "bardo of rebirth."
+
...there is in fact no single Tibetan title corresponding to the ''Tibetan Book of the Dead''.<ref>Information about these texts and others relating to death can be found in Detlef Ingo Lauf, ''Secret Doctrines of the Tibetan Books of the Dead'', Boulder, Shambhala, 1977.</ref>  The overall name given to the whole terma cycle is ''Profound Dharma of Self-liberation through the Intention of the Peaceful and Wrathful Ones'', and it is popularly known as ''Karma Lingpa's Peaceful and Wrathful Ones''.<ref>In Tibetan, ''[[zab chos zhi khro dgongs pa rang grol]]'' and ''[[kar gling zhi khro]]''.</ref>  It has been handed down through the centuries in several versions containing varying numbers of sections and subsections, arranged in different orders, ranging from around ten to thirty-eight titles.  These individual texts cover a wide range of subjects, including the dzogchen view..., meditation instructions, visualizations of deities, liturgies and prayers, lists of mantras, descriptions of the signs of death, and indications of future rebirth, as well as those that are actually concerned with the after-death state. the [''sic.''] Tibetan Book of the Dead as we know it in English consists of two comparatively long texts on the bardo of dharmata (including the bardo of dying) and the bardo of existence....  They are called ''Great Liberation through Hearing:  The Supplication of the Bardo of Dharmata'' and ''Great liberation through Hearing:  The Supplication Pointing Out the Bardo of Existence''.<ref>In Tibetan, ''[[chos nyid bar do'i gsol 'debs thos grol chen mo]]'' and ''[[strid pa'i bar do ngo sprod gsol 'debs thos grol chen mo]]''.</ref>  Within the texts themselves, the two combined are referred to as ''Liberation through Hearing in the Bardo'', ''Great Liberation through Hearing'', or just ''Liberation though Hearing'',<ref>In Tibetan, ''[[bar do thos grol]]'', [[thos grol chen mo]], and [[thos grol]].</ref>....
 +
</blockquote>
  
−
The ''chikhai bardo'' features the experience of the "clear light of reality," or at least the nearest approximation to it of which one is spiritually capable.  
+
== Background ==
 +
According to Tibetan tradition, the ''Liberation Through Hearing During the Intermediate State'' was composed by [[Padmasambhava]], written down by his primary student, [[Yeshe Tsogyal]], buried in the Gampo hills in central Tibet and subsequently discovered by a [[Tibet]]an [[terton]], [[Karma Lingpa]].<ref>Evans-Wentz (1960), p. liv; and, Fremantle & Trungpa (2003), p. xi.</ref>
  
−
The ''chonyid bardo'' features the experience of visions of various [[Buddha]] forms (or, again, the nearest approximations of which one is capable).
+
The Liberation Through Hearing During the Intermediate State is recited by Tibetan Buddhist [[lama]]s over a dying or recently deceased person, or sometimes over an effigy of the deceased. The name means literally "liberation through hearing in the intermediate state".
  
−
The ''sidpa bardo'' features karmically impelled hallucinations which eventually result in rebirth. (Typically imagery of men and women passionately intwined.)
+
The ''Liberation Through Hearing During the Intermediate State'' 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 "clear light of reality", or at least the nearest approximation of which one is spiritually capable.
 +
# The ''chonyid bardo'' or "bardo of the experiencing of reality", which features the experience of visions of various [[Buddhahood|Buddha]] forms (or, again, the nearest approximations of which one is capable).
 +
# The ''sidpa bardo'' or "bardo of rebirth", which features karmically impelled hallucinations which eventually result in rebirth. (Typically imagery of men and women passionately entwined.)  
  
−
One can compare the descriptions of the ''Bardo Thodol'' with accounts of certain "out of the body" [[near-death experience]]s described by people who have nearly died in accidents or on the operating table - these typically contain accounts of a "white light," experienced as, somehow, a living being, and of helpful figures corresponding to that person's religious tradition.
+
The ''Liberation Through Hearing During the Intermediate State'' also mentions three other bardos: those of "life" (or ordinary waking consciousness), of "dhyana" (meditation), and of "dream" (the dream state during normal sleep).  
  
−
The ''Bardo Thodol'' also mentions three other bardos: those of "life" (or ordinary waking consciousness), of "dhyana" (meditation), and of "dream." Thus together the "six bardos" form a classification of [[state of consciousness|states of consciousness]] into six broad types, and any state of consciousness forms a type of "intermediate state" - intermediate between other states of consciousness. Indeed, one can consider any momentary state of consciousness a bardo, since it lies between our past and future existences; it provides us with the opportunity to experience reality, which is always present but obscured by the projections and confusions due to our previous unskillful actions.
+
Together these "six bardos" form a classification of [[state of consciousness|states of consciousness]] into six broad types. Any state of consciousness can form a type of "intermediate state", intermediate between other states of consciousness. Indeed, one can consider any momentary state of consciousness a bardo, since it lies between our past and future existences; it provides us with the opportunity to experience reality, which is always present but obscured by the projections and confusions that are due to our previous unskillful actions.
  
−
According to Tibetan tradition, the ''Bardo Thodol'' was composed by [[Padmasambhava]], written down by his wife, [[Yeshe Tsogyal]], buried in the Gampo hills in central Tibet and subsequently discovered by a [[Tibet|Tibetan]] [[terton]], [[Karma Lingpa]].<ref>Evans-Wentz (1960), p. liv; and, Fremantle & Trungpa (2003), p. xi.</ref>
+
==Comparison with the Western experience of death==
−
+
One can perhaps attempt to compare the descriptions of the ''Liberation Through Hearing During the Intermediate State'' with accounts of certain "out of the body" [[near-death experience]]s described by people who have nearly died in accidents or on the operating table. These accounts sometimes mention a "white light", and helpful figures corresponding to that person's religious tradition.
  
 
==English translations and related teachings==
 
==English translations and related teachings==
 
*Graham Coleman with Thupten Jinpa (editors). ''The Tibetan Book of the Dead'' [''English Title'']. ''The Great Liberation by Hearing in the Intermediate States'' [''Tibetan Title'']. Composed by [[Padmasambhava|Padma Sambhava]]. Revealed by [[Karma Lingpa]]. Translated by Gyurme Dorje. Penguin Books. 2005. (The first complete translation). ISBN 978-0-140-45529-8.
 
*Graham Coleman with Thupten Jinpa (editors). ''The Tibetan Book of the Dead'' [''English Title'']. ''The Great Liberation by Hearing in the Intermediate States'' [''Tibetan Title'']. Composed by [[Padmasambhava|Padma Sambhava]]. Revealed by [[Karma Lingpa]]. Translated by Gyurme Dorje. Penguin Books. 2005. (The first complete translation). ISBN 978-0-140-45529-8.
−
*[[W. Y. Evans-Wentz]] (editor) Lama Kazi Dawa-Samdup (translator). ''Tibetan Book of the Dead: Or, The After-Death Experiences on the Bardo Plane'', Oxford, 1927, 1960. ISBN 0-19-500223-7 This was a long-term best-seller in the 1960s. Evan-Wentz came up with the title based on the previously published famous ''[[Egyptian Book of the Dead]]''.
+
*[[W. Y. Evans-Wentz]] (editor) Lama Kazi Dawa-Samdup (translator). ''Tibetan Book of the Dead: Or, The After-Death Experiences on the Bardo Plane'', Oxford, 1927, 1960. ISBN 0-19-500223-7 This was a long-term best-seller in the 1960s. Evans-Wentz came up with the title based on the previously published famous ''[[Egyptian Book of the Dead]]''.
 
*[[Edward Conze]] provides a precis in ''Buddhist Scriptures'', Penguin, 1959.
 
*[[Edward Conze]] provides a precis in ''Buddhist Scriptures'', Penguin, 1959.
 
* [[Francesca Fremantle]] and [[Chögyam Trungpa]], ''The Tibetan Book of the Dead: The Great Liberation through Hearing in the Bardo by [[Guru Rinpoche]] according to [[Karma Lingpa]]'', Shambhala, 1975, 2003, ISBN 0-394-73064-X, ISBN 1-59030-059-9
 
* [[Francesca Fremantle]] and [[Chögyam Trungpa]], ''The Tibetan Book of the Dead: The Great Liberation through Hearing in the Bardo by [[Guru Rinpoche]] according to [[Karma Lingpa]]'', Shambhala, 1975, 2003, ISBN 0-394-73064-X, ISBN 1-59030-059-9
−
*[[Robert Thurman]] (translator), [[Tenzin Gyatso, 14th Dalai Lama|Dalai Lama]] (Foreword), ''The Tibetan Book of the Dead, as popularly known in the West. Known in Tibet as The Great Book of Natural Liberation Through Understanding in the Between, Composed By [[Padmasambhava|Padma Sambhava]] Discoverd by Karma Lingpa'', Harper Collins, 1994, ISBN 1-85538-412-4
+
*[[Robert Thurman]] (translator), [[Tenzin Gyatso, 14th Dalai Lama|Dalai Lama]] (Foreword), ''The Tibetan Book of the Dead, as popularly known in the West. Known in Tibet as The Great Book of Natural Liberation Through Understanding in the Between, Composed By [[Padmasambhava|Padma Sambhava]] Discovered by Karma Lingpa'', Harper Collins, 1994, ISBN 1-85538-412-4
−
* [[Francesca Fremantle]], ''Luminous Emptiness: A Guide to the Tibetan Book of the Dead''
+
* Fremantle, Francesca (2001). ''Luminous emptiness: understanding the Tibetan book of the dead''.  Boston, Massachusetts, USA:  Shambhala Publications, Inc.  ISBN 1-57062-450-X 
−
* [[Timothy Leary]] ''Psychedelic Prayers'', a loose interpretation of the book.
+
*[[Timothy Leary]] ''Psychedelic Prayers'', a loose interpretation of the book.
 +
*[[Timothy Leary]], [[Ralph Metzner]], [[Richard Alpert]], ''[[The Psychedelic Experience: A Manual Based on the Tibetan Book of the Dead]]'' The three hallucinogenic drug pioneers and researchers authored this book strongly influenced by some parts of the '''Tibetan Book of the Dead'''. It was intended for reciting during [[hallucinogenic drug]] sessions. 1964. ISBN 0-8065-1652-6.
 +
*[[John Lennon]] ([[The Beatles]]), ''Tomorrow Never Knows'', a song based on the philosophies found in ''The Tibetan Book of the Dead''.
 
*[[Jean-Claude van Itallie]], ''The Tibetan Book of the Dead for Reading Aloud''
 
*[[Jean-Claude van Itallie]], ''The Tibetan Book of the Dead for Reading Aloud''
−
* Graham Coleman (Translator), Gyurme Dorje (Translator), Thupten Jinpa (Editor) , ''The Tibetan Book of the Dead'', Penguin Classics; new edition (2005) ISBN 0-7139-9414-2
+
* Graham Coleman (Translator), Gyurme Dorje (Translator), Thupten Jinpa (Editor) , ''The Tibetan Book of the Dead'', Penguin Classics; new edition (2005) ISBN 0-7139-9414-2
 
*Lati Rinpochay and Jeffrey Hopkins, ''Death, Intermediate State and Rebirth,'' Snow Lion, 1985.
 
*Lati Rinpochay and Jeffrey Hopkins, ''Death, Intermediate State and Rebirth,'' Snow Lion, 1985.
 
*Lama Lodo, ''Bardo Teachings''. Snow Lion, 1987.
 
*Lama Lodo, ''Bardo Teachings''. Snow Lion, 1987.
 +
*Sögyal Rinpoche, with Patrick Gaffney and Andrew Harvey, eds. ''The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying'', Harper San Francisco, 1992, ISBN 0-06-250793-1.
 +
*Glenn H. Mullin, ''Death and Dying: The Tibetan Tradition,'' Penguin-Arkana, 1986, ISBN 0-14-019013-9.
 
*Chokyi Nyina Rinpoche, ''The Bardo Guidebook,'' Ragjung Yeshe, 1991.
 
*Chokyi Nyina Rinpoche, ''The Bardo Guidebook,'' Ragjung Yeshe, 1991.
 +
* Karma Lingpa (revelator); Gyurme Dorje (translator); Graham Coleman (editor) : ''The Tibetan Book of the Dead''. Viking Penguin, NY, 2006.
  
−
*In 2007, [[The History Channel]] released a [[documentary film]], ''Tibetan Book of the Dead'': "The Tibetan book of the Dead is an important document that has stood the test of time and attempts to provide answers to one of mankind's greatest questions: What happens when we die? Interviews with Tibetan Lamas, American scholars, and practicing Buddhists bring this powerful and mysterious text to life. State-of-the-art computer generated graphics will recreate this mysterious and exotic world. Follow the dramatized journey of a soul from death...to re-birth. In Tibet, the "art of dying" is nothing less than the art of living."<ref>[http://www.history.com/shows.do?action=detail&episodeId=221474 The History Channel: ''Tibetan Book of the Dead'']</ref>
+
*In [[2007]], [[The History Channel]] released a [[documentary film]], ''Tibetan Book of the Dead'': "The Tibetan book of the Dead is an important document that has stood the test of time and attempts to provide answers to one of mankind's greatest questions: What happens when we die? Interviews with Tibetan Lamas, American scholars, and practicing Buddhists bring this powerful and mysterious text to life. State-of-the-art computer generated graphics will recreate this mysterious and exotic world. Follow the dramatized journey of a soul from death...to re-birth. In Tibet, the "art of dying" is nothing less than the art of living."<ref>[http://www.thehistorychannel.co.uk/site/tv_guide/full_details/World_history/programme_38.php The History Channel: ''Tibetan Book of the Dead'']</ref>
−
 
 
−
==Yidams==
 
−
<table valign=top><tr><td>
 
−
'''Center'''
 
−
*Element: Ether
 
−
*Chief Buddha: Vairochana
 
−
*Consort: Dharma-Dhatu
 
−
*Color: Blue
 
−
*Enemy: Stupidity
 
−
 
 
−
'''East'''
 
−
*Element: Water
 
−
*Chief Buddha: Vajra Sattva
 
−
*Consort: Mamaki
 
−
*Color: White
 
−
*Enemy: Violent Anger
 
−
*Virtue: Mirror-like Wisdom
 
−
*Accompanying Bodhisattvas: Kshitigarbha, Lasema, Maitreya, Pushpema
 
−
 
 
−
'''South'''
 
−
*Element: Earth
 
−
*Chief Buddha: Ratna Sambhava
 
−
*Consort: Sang-Yay Chan-ma
 
−
*Color: Yellow
 
−
*Enemy: Egotism
 
−
*Virtue: Equality
 
−
*Accompanying Bodhisattvas: Akasha Garbha, Mahlaima, Samanta Bhadra, Dureme
 
−
 
 
−
<td>
 
−
'''West'''
 
−
*Element: Fire
 
−
*Chief Buddha: Amithaba
 
−
*Consort: Cokarmo
 
−
*Color: Red
 
−
*Enemy: Attachment
 
−
*Virtue: Discrimination
 
−
*Accompanying Bodhisattvas: Chanrazee, Chirdhima, Jampal, Aloke
 
−
 
 
−
'''North'''
 
−
*Element: Air
 
−
*Color: Green
 
−
*Chief Buddha: Amogha-Siddhi
 
−
*Consort: Dolma
 
−
*Color: Green
 
−
*Enemy: Jealousy
 
−
*Virtue: All-performing Wisdom
 
−
*Accompanying Bodhisattvas: Chag-na-Dorje, Gandhema, Dibpanamsel, Nidhema
 
−
</table>
 
−
 
 
  
 +
==See also==
 +
*[[Bardo]]
 +
*[[Six realms]]
 +
*[[Reality in Buddhism]]
  
 
==Notes==
 
==Notes==
 
<references/>
 
<references/>
 +
 +
==References==
  
 
==External links==
 
==External links==
Line 99: Line 77:
 
*[http://www.near-death.com/experiences/buddhism01.html Description of the travel]
 
*[http://www.near-death.com/experiences/buddhism01.html Description of the travel]
 
*[http://www.summum.us/mummification/tbotd/ The Tibetan Book of the Dead - Ebook]
 
*[http://www.summum.us/mummification/tbotd/ The Tibetan Book of the Dead - Ebook]
 +
*[http://texts.00.gs/Great_Liberation_by_Hearing.htm| longer variant form of the '''Tibetan Book of the Dead''', entitled '''The Great Liberation by Hearing in the Intermediate States''']
 +
*[http://www.thomasscoville.com/BardoComix The Comic Bardo Thodol - Tibetan Book of The Dead, paraphrased in cartoon form.]
 +
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[[Category: Philosophy and religion]]
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[[Category: Religion]]
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[[Category: Buddhism]]
  
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[[Category:philosophy and religion]]
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{{Credits|Liberation_Through_Hearing_During_the_Intermediate_State|243178547}}
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{{Credit|137646042}}
 

Revision as of 08:42, 20 October 2008


Tibetan name
Tibetan: བར་དོ་ཐོས་གྲོལ
Wylie transliteration: bar-do thos-grol
pronunciation in IPA: [pʰàrdo tʰǿɖøl]
official transcription (PRC): Pardo Toichoi
THDL: Bardo Tödröl
other transcriptions: Bardo Thodol,
Bardo Thödol,
Bardo Thodrol,
Bardo Todol
Chinese name
traditional: 《中有聞解》
simplified: 《中有闻解》
Pinyin: Zhōng yǒu wén jiě

tr:Bardo Thödol

The Liberation Through Hearing During the Intermediate State (Tibetan: bardo "liminality"; thodol as "liberation"[1]), sometimes translated as Liberation Through Hearing or Bardo Thodol is a funerary text. It is often referred to in the West by the more casual title, "Tibetan Book of the Dead", a name which draws a parallel with the ancient Egyptian Book of the Dead, another funerary text.

The Tibetan text describes, and is intended to guide one through, the experiences that the consciousness has after death, during the interval between death and the next rebirth. This interval is known in Tibetan as the bardo. The text also includes chapters on the signs of death, and rituals to undertake when death is closing in, or has taken place. It is the most internationally famous and widespread work of Tibetan Nyingma literature.[2]

Title

This text is commonly known by its the Western title: The Tibetan Book of the Dead, however, Fremantle (2001: p.20) states:

...there is in fact no single Tibetan title corresponding to the Tibetan Book of the Dead.[3] The overall name given to the whole terma cycle is Profound Dharma of Self-liberation through the Intention of the Peaceful and Wrathful Ones, and it is popularly known as Karma Lingpa's Peaceful and Wrathful Ones.[4] It has been handed down through the centuries in several versions containing varying numbers of sections and subsections, arranged in different orders, ranging from around ten to thirty-eight titles. These individual texts cover a wide range of subjects, including the dzogchen view..., meditation instructions, visualizations of deities, liturgies and prayers, lists of mantras, descriptions of the signs of death, and indications of future rebirth, as well as those that are actually concerned with the after-death state. the [sic.] Tibetan Book of the Dead as we know it in English consists of two comparatively long texts on the bardo of dharmata (including the bardo of dying) and the bardo of existence.... They are called Great Liberation through Hearing: The Supplication of the Bardo of Dharmata and Great liberation through Hearing: The Supplication Pointing Out the Bardo of Existence.[5] Within the texts themselves, the two combined are referred to as Liberation through Hearing in the Bardo, Great Liberation through Hearing, or just Liberation though Hearing,[6]....

Background

According to Tibetan tradition, the Liberation Through Hearing During the Intermediate State was composed by Padmasambhava, written down by his primary student, Yeshe Tsogyal, buried in the Gampo hills in central Tibet and subsequently discovered by a Tibetan terton, Karma Lingpa.[7]

The Liberation Through Hearing During the Intermediate State is recited by Tibetan Buddhist lamas over a dying or recently deceased person, or sometimes over an effigy of the deceased. The name means literally "liberation through hearing in the intermediate state".

The Liberation Through Hearing During the Intermediate State differentiates the intermediate state between lives into three bardos:

  1. The chikhai bardo or "bardo of the moment of death", which features the experience of the "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, again, 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 imagery of men and women passionately entwined.)

The Liberation Through Hearing During the Intermediate State also mentions three other bardos: those of "life" (or ordinary waking consciousness), of "dhyana" (meditation), and of "dream" (the dream state during normal sleep).

Together these "six bardos" form a classification of states of consciousness into six broad types. Any state of consciousness can form a type of "intermediate state", intermediate between other states of consciousness. Indeed, one can consider any momentary state of consciousness a bardo, since it lies between our past and future existences; it provides us with the opportunity to experience reality, which is always present but obscured by the projections and confusions that are due to our previous unskillful actions.

Comparison with the Western experience of death

One can perhaps attempt to compare the descriptions of the Liberation Through Hearing During the Intermediate State with accounts of certain "out of the body" near-death experiences described by people who have nearly died in accidents or on the operating table. These accounts sometimes mention a "white light", and helpful figures corresponding to that person's religious tradition.

English translations and related teachings

  • Graham Coleman with Thupten Jinpa (editors). The Tibetan Book of the Dead [English Title]. The Great Liberation by Hearing in the Intermediate States [Tibetan Title]. Composed by Padma Sambhava. Revealed by Karma Lingpa. Translated by Gyurme Dorje. Penguin Books. 2005. (The first complete translation). ISBN 978-0-140-45529-8.
  • W. Y. Evans-Wentz (editor) Lama Kazi Dawa-Samdup (translator). Tibetan Book of the Dead: Or, The After-Death Experiences on the Bardo Plane, Oxford, 1927, 1960. ISBN 0-19-500223-7 This was a long-term best-seller in the 1960s. Evans-Wentz came up with the title based on the previously published famous Egyptian Book of the Dead.
  • Edward Conze provides a precis in Buddhist Scriptures, Penguin, 1959.
  • Francesca Fremantle and Chögyam Trungpa, The Tibetan Book of the Dead: The Great Liberation through Hearing in the Bardo by Guru Rinpoche according to Karma Lingpa, Shambhala, 1975, 2003, ISBN 0-394-73064-X, ISBN 1-59030-059-9
  • Robert Thurman (translator), Dalai Lama (Foreword), The Tibetan Book of the Dead, as popularly known in the West. Known in Tibet as The Great Book of Natural Liberation Through Understanding in the Between, Composed By Padma Sambhava Discovered by Karma Lingpa, Harper Collins, 1994, ISBN 1-85538-412-4
  • Fremantle, Francesca (2001). Luminous emptiness: understanding the Tibetan book of the dead. Boston, Massachusetts, USA: Shambhala Publications, Inc. ISBN 1-57062-450-X
  • Timothy Leary Psychedelic Prayers, a loose interpretation of the book.
  • Timothy Leary, Ralph Metzner, Richard Alpert, The Psychedelic Experience: A Manual Based on the Tibetan Book of the Dead The three hallucinogenic drug pioneers and researchers authored this book strongly influenced by some parts of the Tibetan Book of the Dead. It was intended for reciting during hallucinogenic drug sessions. 1964. ISBN 0-8065-1652-6.
  • John Lennon (The Beatles), Tomorrow Never Knows, a song based on the philosophies found in The Tibetan Book of the Dead.
  • Jean-Claude van Itallie, The Tibetan Book of the Dead for Reading Aloud
  • Graham Coleman (Translator), Gyurme Dorje (Translator), Thupten Jinpa (Editor) , The Tibetan Book of the Dead, Penguin Classics; new edition (2005) ISBN 0-7139-9414-2
  • Lati Rinpochay and Jeffrey Hopkins, Death, Intermediate State and Rebirth, Snow Lion, 1985.
  • Lama Lodo, Bardo Teachings. Snow Lion, 1987.
  • Sögyal Rinpoche, with Patrick Gaffney and Andrew Harvey, eds. The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying, Harper San Francisco, 1992, ISBN 0-06-250793-1.
  • Glenn H. Mullin, Death and Dying: The Tibetan Tradition, Penguin-Arkana, 1986, ISBN 0-14-019013-9.
  • Chokyi Nyina Rinpoche, The Bardo Guidebook, Ragjung Yeshe, 1991.
  • Karma Lingpa (revelator); Gyurme Dorje (translator); Graham Coleman (editor) : The Tibetan Book of the Dead. Viking Penguin, NY, 2006.
  • In 2007, The History Channel released a documentary film, Tibetan Book of the Dead: "The Tibetan book of the Dead is an important document that has stood the test of time and attempts to provide answers to one of mankind's greatest questions: What happens when we die? Interviews with Tibetan Lamas, American scholars, and practicing Buddhists bring this powerful and mysterious text to life. State-of-the-art computer generated graphics will recreate this mysterious and exotic world. Follow the dramatized journey of a soul from death...to re-birth. In Tibet, the "art of dying" is nothing less than the art of living."[8]

See also

  • Bardo
  • Six realms
  • Reality in Buddhism

Notes

  1. ↑ Fremantle (2001: p.21) states that: Liberation is synonymous with the Sanskrit word bodhi, which means awakening, understanding, or enlightenment, and with nirvana, which means blowing out or extinction: the extinction of illusion.
  2. ↑ Dorje, Gyurme. The Tibetan Book of the Dead. "A Brief Literary History of the Tibetan Book of the Dead. (Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition, 2007). Translated by Gyurme Dorje. ISBN 978-0-14-310494-0.
  3. ↑ Information about these texts and others relating to death can be found in Detlef Ingo Lauf, Secret Doctrines of the Tibetan Books of the Dead, Boulder, Shambhala, 1977.
  4. ↑ In Tibetan, zab chos zhi khro dgongs pa rang grol and kar gling zhi khro.
  5. ↑ In Tibetan, chos nyid bar do'i gsol 'debs thos grol chen mo and strid pa'i bar do ngo sprod gsol 'debs thos grol chen mo.
  6. ↑ In Tibetan, bar do thos grol, thos grol chen mo, and thos grol.
  7. ↑ Evans-Wentz (1960), p. liv; and, Fremantle & Trungpa (2003), p. xi.
  8. ↑ The History Channel: Tibetan Book of the Dead

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