The Tibetan book of the dead : or, The after-death experiences on the Bardo plane, according to Lāma Kazi Dawa-Samdup's English rendering

The Tibetan Book of the Dead is one of the texts that, according to legend, Padma-Sambhava was compelled to hide during his visit to Tibet in the late 8th century. The guru hid his books in stones, lakes, and pillars because the Tibetans of that day and age were somehow unprepared for their teachings. Now, in the form of the ever-popular Tibetan Book of the Dead, these teachings are constantly being discovered and rediscovered by Western readers of many different backgrounds--a phenomenon which began in 1927 with Oxford's first edition of Dr. Evans-Wentz's landmark volume. While it is traditionally used as a mortuary text, to be read or recited in the presence of a dead or dying person, this book--which relates the whole experience of death and rebirth in three intermediate states of being--was originally understood as a guide not only for the dead but also for the living. As a contribution to the science of death and dying--not to mention the belief in life after death, or the belief in rebirth--The Tibetan Book of the Dead is unique among the sacred texts of the world, for its socio-cultural influence in this regard is without comparison. This fourth edition features a new foreword, afterword, and suggested further reading list by Donald S. Lopez, author of Prisoners of Shangri-La: Tibetan Buddhism and the West. Lopez traces the whole history of the late Evans-Wentz's three earlier editions of this book, fully considering the work of contributors to previous editions (C. G. Jung among them), the sections that were added by Evans-Wentz along the way, the questions surrounding the book's translation, and finally the volume's profound importance in engendering both popular and academic interest in the religion and culture of Tibet. Another key theme that Lopez addresses is the changing nature of this book's audience--from the prewar theosophists to the beat poets to the hippies to contemporary exponents of the hospice movement--and what these audiences have found (or sought) in its very old pages. CONTENTS......Page 46 ILLUSTRATIONS......Page 50 PSYCHOLOGICAL COMMENTARY......Page 58 INTRODUCTORY FOREWORD......Page 76 FOREWORD: The Science of Death......Page 88 I. The Importance of the Bardo Thödol......Page 108 II. The Symbolism......Page 109 III. The Esoteric Significance of the Forty-Nine Days of the Bardo......Page 113 IV. The Esoteric Significance of the Five Elements......Page 115 V. The Wisdom Teachings......Page 117 VI. The Death Ceremonies......Page 125 VII. The Bardo, or After-Death State......Page 135 VIII. The Psychology of the Bardo Visions......Page 138 IX. The Judgement......Page 142 X. The Rebirth Doctrine......Page 146 XI. The Cosmography......Page 168 XII. The Fundamental Teachings Summarized......Page 173 XIII. The Manuscript......Page 175 XIV. The Origin of the Bardo Thödol......Page 180 XV. The Translating and the Editing......Page 185 BOOK I: THE CHIKHAI BARDO AND THE CHÖNYID BARDO......Page 190 The Transference of the Consciousness-Principle......Page 192 The Reading of this Thödol......Page 194 The Practical Application of this Thödol by the Officiant......Page 195 INSTRUCTIONS ON THE SYMPTOMS OF DEATH, OR THE FIRST STAGE OF THE CHIKHAI BARDO: THE PRIMARY CLEAR LIGHT SEEN AT THE MOMENT OF DEATH......Page 196 INSTRUCTIONS CONCERNING THE SECOND STAGE OF THE CHIKHAI BARDO: THE SECONDARY CLEAR LIGHT SEEN IMMEDIATELY AFTER DEATH......Page 204 INTRODUCTORY INSTRUCTIONS CONCERNING THE EXPERIENCING OF REALITY DURING THE THIRD STAGE OF THE BARDO, CALLED THE CHÖNYID BARDO, WHEN THE KARMIC APPARITIONS APPEAR......Page 208 THE DAWNING OF THE PEACEFUL DEITIES, FROM THE FIRST TO THE SEVENTH DAY......Page 211 The First Day......Page 212 The Second Day......Page 215 The Third Day......Page 217 The Fourth Day......Page 219 The Fifth Day......Page 222 The Sixth Day......Page 225 The Seventh Day......Page 235 Introduction......Page 240 The Eighth Day......Page 245 The Tenth Day......Page 249 The Eleventh Day......Page 250 The Twelfth Day......Page 251 The Thirteenth Day......Page 252 The Fourteenth Day......Page 254 THE CONCLUSION, SHOWING THE FUNDAMENTAL IMPORTANCE OF THE BARDO TEACHINGS......Page 262 BOOK II: THE SIDPA BARDO......Page 264 THE BARDO BODY: ITS BIRTH AND ITS SUPERNORMAL FACULTIES......Page 266 CHARACTERISTICS OF EXISTENCE IN THE INTERMEDIATE STATE......Page 271 THE JUDGEMENT......Page 276 THE ALL-DETERMINING INFLUENCE OF THOUGHT......Page 282 THE DAWNING OF THE LIGHTS OF THE SIX LOKAS......Page 286 THE CLOSING OF THE DOOR OF THE WOMB......Page 288 The First Method of Closing the Womb-Door......Page 289 The Second Method of Closing the Womb-Door......Page 290 The Third Method of Closing the Womb-Door......Page 291 The Fourth Method of Closing the Womb-Door......Page 293 The Fifth Method of Closing the Womb-Door......Page 294 The Premonitory Visions of the Place of Rebirth......Page 296 The Protection against the Tormenting Furies......Page 298 THE ALTERNATIVE CHOOSING: SUPERNORMAL BIRTH; OR WOMB-BIRTH......Page 301 Supernormal Birth by Transference to a Paradise Realm......Page 302 Womb-Birth: the Return to the Human World......Page 303 THE GENERAL CONCLUSION......Page 306 I. THE INVOCATION OF THE BUDDHAS AND BODHISATTVAS......Page 310 II. 'THE PATH OF GOOD WISHES FOR SAVING FROM THE DANGEROUS NARROW PASSAGE-WAY OF THE BARDO'......Page 312 III. 'THE ROOT VERSES OF THE SIX BARDOS'......Page 315 IV. 'THE PATH OF GOOD WISHES WHICH PROTECTETH FROM FEAR IN THE BARDO'......Page 318 V. THE COLOPHON......Page 322 I. YOGA......Page 324 II. TANTRICISM......Page 326 III. MANTRAS, OR WORDS OF POWER......Page 333 IV. THE GURU AND SHISHYA (OR CHELA) AND INITIATIONS......Page 335 V. REALITY......Page 337 VI. NORTHERN AND SOUTHERN BUDDHISM AND CHRISTIANITY......Page 345 VII. THE MEDIEVAL CHRISTIAN JUDGEMENT......Page 351 B......Page 370 C......Page 371 G......Page 372 L......Page 373 P......Page 374 S......Page 375 Y......Page 376 Z......Page 377 Oxford University Press, USA CONTENTS 46 ILLUSTRATIONS 50 PSYCHOLOGICAL COMMENTARY 58 INTRODUCTORY FOREWORD 76 FOREWORD: The Science of Death 88 INTRODUCTION 108 I. The Importance of the Bardo Th枚dol 108 II. The Symbolism 109 III. The Esoteric Significance of the Forty-Nine Days of the Bardo 113 IV. The Esoteric Significance of the Five Elements 115 V. The Wisdom Teachings 117 VI. The Death Ceremonies 125 VII. The Bardo, or After-Death State 135 VIII. The Psychology of the Bardo Visions 138 IX. The Judgement 142 X. The Rebirth Doctrine 146 XI. The Cosmography 168 XII. The Fundamental Teachings Summarized 173 XIII. The Manuscript 175 XIV. The Origin of the Bardo Th枚dol 180 XV. The Translating and the Editing 185 BOOK I: THE CHIKHAI BARDO AND THE CH脰NYID BARDO 190 THE OBEISANCES 192 THE INTRODUCTION 192 The Transference of the Consciousness-Principle 192 The Reading of this Th枚dol 194 The Practical Application of this Th枚dol by the Officiant 195 PART I: THE BARDO OF THE MOMENTS OF DEATH 196 INSTRUCTIONS ON THE SYMPTOMS OF DEATH, OR THE FIRST STAGE OF THE CHIKHAI BARDO: THE PRIMARY CLEAR LIGHT SEEN AT THE MOMENT OF DEATH 196 INSTRUCTIONS CONCERNING THE SECOND STAGE OF THE CHIKHAI BARDO: THE SECONDARY CLEAR LIGHT SEEN IMMEDIATELY AFTER DEATH 204 PART II: THE BARDO OF THE EXPERIENCING OF REALITY 208 INTRODUCTORY INSTRUCTIONS CONCERNING THE EXPERIENCING OF REALITY DURING THE THIRD STAGE OF THE BARDO, CALLED THE CH脰NYID BARDO, WHEN THE KARMIC APPARITIONS APPEAR 208 THE DAWNING OF THE PEACEFUL DEITIES, FROM THE FIRST TO THE SEVENTH DAY 211 The First Day 212 The Second Day 215 The Third Day 217 The Fourth Day 219 The Fifth Day 222 The Sixth Day 225 The Seventh Day 235 THE DAWNING OF THE WRATHFUL DEITIES, FROM THE EIGHTH TO THE FOURTEENTH DAY 240 Introduction 240 The Eighth Day 245 The Ninth Day 249 The Tenth Day 249 The Eleventh Day 250 The Twelfth Day 251 The Thirteenth Day 252 The Fourteenth Day 254 THE CONCLUSION, SHOWING THE FUNDAMENTAL IMPORTANCE OF THE BARDO TEACHINGS 262 BOOK II: THE SIDPA BARDO 264 THE OBEISANCES 266 INTRODUCTORY VERSES 266 PART I: THE AFTER-DEATH WORLD 266 THE BARDO BODY: ITS BIRTH AND ITS SUPERNORMAL FACULTIES 266 CHARACTERISTICS OF EXISTENCE IN THE INTERMEDIATE STATE 271 THE JUDGEMENT 276 THE ALL-DETERMINING INFLUENCE OF THOUGHT 282 THE DAWNING OF THE LIGHTS OF THE SIX LOKAS 286 PART II: THE PROCESS OF REBIRTH 288 THE CLOSING OF THE DOOR OF THE WOMB 288 Method of Preventing Entry into a Womb 289 The First Method of Closing the Womb-Door 289 The Second Method of Closing the Womb-Door 290 The Third Method of Closing the Womb-Door 291 The Fourth Method of Closing the Womb-Door 293 The Fifth Method of Closing the Womb-Door 294 THE CHOOSING OF THE WOMB-DOOR 296 The Premonitory Visions of the Place of Rebirth 296 The Protection against the Tormenting Furies 298 THE ALTERNATIVE CHOOSING: SUPERNORMAL BIRTH; OR WOMB-BIRTH 301 Supernormal Birth by Transference to a Paradise Realm 302 Womb-Birth: the Return to the Human World 303 THE GENERAL CONCLUSION 306 THE APPENDIX 310 I. THE INVOCATION OF THE BUDDHAS AND BODHISATTVAS 310 II. 'THE PATH OF GOOD WISHES FOR SAVING FROM THE DANGEROUS NARROW PASSAGE-WAY OF THE BARDO' 312 III. 'THE ROOT VERSES OF THE SIX BARDOS' 315 IV. 'THE PATH OF GOOD WISHES WHICH PROTECTETH FROM FEAR IN THE BARDO' 318 V. THE COLOPHON 322 ADDENDA 324 I. YOGA 324 II. TANTRICISM 326 III. MANTRAS, OR WORDS OF POWER 333 IV. THE GURU AND SHISHYA (OR CHELA) AND INITIATIONS 335 V. REALITY 337 VI. NORTHERN AND SOUTHERN BUDDHISM AND CHRISTIANITY 345 VII. THE MEDIEVAL CHRISTIAN JUDGEMENT 351 INDEX 370 A 370 B 370 C 371 D 372 E 372 F 372 G 372 H 373 I 373 J 373 K 373 L 373 M 374 N 374 O 374 P 374 R 375 S 375 T 376 U 376 V 376 W 376 Y 376 Z 377 ISBN-13:,9780195133110 "The Tibetan Book of the Dead is one of the texts that, according to legend, Padma-Sambhava was compelled to hide during his visit to Tibet in the late 8th century. The guru hid his books in stones, lakes, and pillars because the Tibetans of that day and age were somehow unprepared for their teachings. Now, in the form of the ever-popular Tibetan Book of the Dead, these teachings are constantly being discovered and rediscovered by Western readers of many different backgrounds - a phenomenon which began in 1927 with Oxford's first edition of Dr. Evans-Wentz's landmark volume. While it is traditionally used as a mortuary text, to be read or recited in the presence of a dead or dying person, this book - which relates the whole experience of death and rebirth in three intermediate states of being - was originally understood as a guide not only for the dead but also for the living. As a contribution to the science of death and dying - not to mention the belief in life after death, or the belief in texts of the world, for its socio-cultural influence in this regard is without comparison."--Jacket Dr. Walter Yealing Evans-Wentz was the first englishman to make it to the Tibetan Lamas, high in the mountaiuns in the early 1900's. He was the first indoctrinated by the Tibetan Lamas at that time. His translation, and interpretation of The Tibetan Book of The Dead is the first also. It is an excellent book, and he was very strict in staying as close to the original text as possible, and yet translate to the english language. He was under the strict guidance of his Lama the entire time. This new edition of a unique, sacred text features a Foreword, Afterword, and suggested further reading list by author Donald S. Lopez, Jr., who traces the history of the late Evans-Wentz's three earlier editions of this book and discusses the volume's influence on the interest in Tibetan culture and religion. 11 halftones and line illustrations. A classic of Buddhist wisdom, this book was composed in the eighth century to prepare souls for the afterworld, it has become influential in the West for its psychological insights into the processes of death and dying, and also of grieving. Compiled And Edited By W.y. Evans-wentz ; With A New Foreword And Afterword By Donald S. Lopez, Jr. Includes Bibliographical References (p. [255]-256) And Index.