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Tibetan Book of the dead

NirvanaNoobNirvanaNoob
edited March 2010 in Arts & Writings
I bought it the other day. What r your thoughts on it?

Comments

  • srivijayasrivijaya
    edited November 2007
    Kind of reminds me of those ‘exotic’ cookery books. They are full of amazing and interesting recipes but then you realise that the shops in your area don’t stock 95% of the required ingredients.

    A nice book that I dust off every few years, flick through, smile fondly at and put back on the shelf.

    I prefer; Lama Yeshe’s Bliss of Inner Fire, Mullin’s Six Yogas of Naropa or Geshe Kelsang's Clear Light of Bliss. I can just about get the ingredients:D
  • SimonthepilgrimSimonthepilgrim Veteran
    edited November 2007
    NirvanaNoob wrote: »
    I bought it the other day. What r your thoughts on it?

    Do you know this?

    DVD with Leonard Cohen
  • NirvanaNoobNirvanaNoob
    edited November 2007
    hmm no I dont think ive ever seen that DVD before.
  • karmatseringkarmatsering
    edited January 2008
    I've seen that D.V.D its really good and Leonard Cohen has the perfect voice for it.
  • adamadam
    edited January 2008
    Simonthepilgrim wrote: »
    Do you know this?

    DVD with Leonard Cohen


    Thank you very much for pointing that DVD out Simon. I ordered it after you poted that and received it about a week ago. I have just seen the first part, but it is very informative and extemely real! It's wonderful. Thanks again.
  • PalzangPalzang Veteran
    edited January 2008
    Yes, check out the DVD. It's much more approachable than the so-called (and misnamed) Tibetan Book of the Dead. That's a very esoteric work that is intended for practitioners of Tibetan Buddhism, so it's not something you can just pick up and make much sense out of. The DVD does a great job of making it understandable.

    BTW, the proper name for the book is the Bardo Thodrol, which translates to something like the guidebook for passing through the intermediate state between death and rebirth.


    Palzang
  • Davids/peaceDavids/peace
    edited January 2008
    I found some very good information on Youtube regarding the Tibetan Book of the Dead.
  • buddhafootbuddhafoot Veteran
    edited January 2008
    I have it - started it - never finished it.

    I have heard that it is kind of hard to get through. At the time I purchased it - I also purchased a book called "Luminous Emptiness: Understanding The Tibetan Book Of The Dead"

    I will have to get through them some day.

    -bf
  • PalzangPalzang Veteran
    edited January 2008
    Hey, bf!

    Like I said, it's not really intended so much for reading per se as it is to be used when someone dies. Traditionally it is read over the 49 day period of the passage through the intermediate bardo after someone dies.

    Palzang
  • buddhafootbuddhafoot Veteran
    edited January 2008
    I know - but it's such an "icon" (or at least it seems to be) for those wandering through or into Buddhism - if you don't know anything about it - it's title makes it most intriguing.

    -bf
  • SimonthepilgrimSimonthepilgrim Veteran
    edited January 2008
    buddhafoot wrote: »
    I know - but it's such an "icon" (or at least it seems to be) for those wandering through or into Buddhism - if you don't know anything about it - it's title makes it most intriguing.

    -bf

    I think it's because we are the heirs to 3000 years of Egyptian 'theology' and 'thanatophily' (love of death) so the title, however badly translated from the Tibetan, is freighted with memories of the Egyptian Book of Going Forth by Day (or "Book of the Dead").

    And, because we, in the West, have so little trust in anything other than annihilation after death, we grasp at anything that offers us certainty, however dubious!
  • buddhafootbuddhafoot Veteran
    edited January 2008
    I've been thinking on getting my hair and ears done in a Anubis ala Flock Of Seagulls sort of doo.

    -bf
  • starstuffstarstuff
    edited January 2008
    buddhafoot wrote: »
    I've been thinking on getting my hair and ears done in a Anubis ala Flock Of Seagulls sort of doo.

    -bf


    If you take that mellon on your head, your hair may come out natually that way.
  • SimonthepilgrimSimonthepilgrim Veteran
    edited February 2008
    Seriously tho', folks, I hope our beloved and no doubt slimmer brother Palzang will forgive me if I direct your attention to a wonderful - and free - offering by his teacher:
    Prayer to be Reborn in Dewachen


  • PalzangPalzang Veteran
    edited February 2008
    Yes, I think that would be of more use than trying to slog your way through the Bardo Thodrol, Simon.

    Palzang
  • buddhafootbuddhafoot Veteran
    edited February 2008
    Just "stumbled" across this: http://www.lib.virginia.edu/small/exhibits/dead/

    -bf
  • federicafederica Seeker of the clear blue sky... Its better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak out and remove all doubt Moderator
    edited February 2008
    buddhafoot wrote: »
    I've been thinking on getting my hair and ears done in a Anubis ala Flock Of Seagulls sort of doo.

    -bf

    Oh go ahead - Do it, do it!!!
  • KnitwitchKnitwitch
    edited February 2008
    Just wish I had enough hair left to do a style like that!
  • stevejstevej
    edited March 2010
    I've read the book sometime back and loved it. I've heard comments from people who are not Tibetan Buddhists but have read this book and eventually got interested in Tibetan Buddhism. I think the obvious reason is because we all have to deal with death...of our loved ones and one day, of our own. And this book offers an insight (without the actual procedure to practice) into what is involved.
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