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Title: Tibetan Book of the Dead by W. Y. Evans-Wentz ISBN: 0-19-500223-7 Publisher: Oxford University Press Pub. Date: June, 1974 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $10.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.69 (13 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: The Original Book and Translation (1927)
Comment: This is the original "Tibetan Book of the Dead". All other versions are a toned-down version of this work by different authors who want to accommodate people who do not want to put the work in. You need to put the work in. No one can spoon-feed this kind of wisdom to you.
The Tibetan Book of the Dead is an extremely authoritative translation of the original texts of the "Bardo Thodol" by Lama Kazi Dawa-Samdup who schooled W.Y.Evans-Wentz in Tibetan Buddhism. The book is an extremely important piece of work for both the scholars of psychology and religion, and the lay person who has the time to spend working on it. The book is also the reality behind the "Necronomicon" which has been popularized by fiction writers, such a H.P.Lovecraft, but has been completely taken out of its true context.
To begin with, this book is a beautiful book once you truly understand the message that it is trying to convey to the reader - or more correctly, when the reader correctly understands the message that is being conveyed. It has a primordial air to it and is certainly ancient in its wisdom and understanding. The book was translated in the early 1900s and was first published in 1927. Be warned - this book is exceptionally difficult to read because the standard of grammar used is of the highest acumen humanly possibly. Evans-Wentz was a Doctor of Literature, a Doctor of Science and a Master of Arts. If you don't have a full size Oxford dictionary, then you will have trouble reading it. There is also a difficulty in the translation. There are many Tibetan words that do not exist in English so Evans-Wentz sometimes derives a more descriptive meaning behind the message that is trying to be communicated to the reader. Dr. C.G. Jung has written an introduction at the start of the book which is mostly concerned about explaining the Tibetan meaning of the words "Soul" and "Mind". It is for reasons like these that the book requires multiple readings to fully absorb the information that is being presented. So what exactly is The Tibetan Book of the Dead? It is a corpus with several teachings. Tibetan Buddhist monks believe that if you understand the meaning of death then you will understand the meaning the life. It expounds in detail on the illusions of the human mind and gives a context for working out many questions that are philosophical and spiritual in nature.
The book is essentially split into three parts. The first part has introductions from various students of theology, psychology and Buddhism. Evans-Wentz then explains the nature of the book and gives a rough breakdown of what we will find in the "Bardo Thodol" and how it is used to help the dead find their way to Nirvana during the after-death ceremonies (like an Irish wake) but also how the book can be used as a guide for the living, which is its true intended purpose. The middle part of the book is the "Bardo Thodol" translated directly into English and third part covers the topic of Buddhism in general with references to the different schools of thought and Christianity.
The middle part of the book, the actual "Bardo Thodol", is split into three parts. There is an introduction at the start which explains the entry into the "Chikhai Bardo", the first of the Bardo regions that one automatically enters at the point of death. Then there is the second phase of the "Bardo Thodol", the "Chonyid Bardo" before the final phase of the "Bardo Thodol" the "Sidpa Bardo". Essentially these three areas can be explained as - the moment of death and the dawning of the light or nirvana, the karmic illusions of worldly things and finally the rebirth process. However do not think that this means that everybody is reborn or that Tibetans/Buddhists take reincarnation literally. It is all part of a thinking puzzle. You have got to work out things for yourself. There are hidden meanings in there. You must compare the different concepts in this book to find out what it really means! Question the "Bardo Thodol". Question what it teaches! Question what it says about itself!
The Bardo Thodol is a technical and thoroughly scientific examination of consciousness that is still highly regarded as one of the most logical and controlled methods of understanding the mind and its relation to the world of phenomena. At first glance the book may seem horrid, uncanny and evoke a fear by the mere mention of the word "death", but this is a book about the living, dedicated to life and expounds on some of the most important questions that man can ask himself. It is extremely satisfying and worthy of repetitive readings. There is a pile of footnotes to help guide you through each page.
Enormously recommended! ! ! !
(As a side note Evans-Wentz wrote several other books to follow up on this one. They should be read in the following order - (1)The Tibetan Book of the Dead, (2) Tibet's Great Yogi Milarepa, (3)Tibetan Yoga and Secret Doctrines and (4)The Tibetan Book of the Great Liberation.)
Rating: 5
Summary: The Definitive Book of the Mind
Comment: First published in 1927. Translated by LAMA KAZI DAWA-SAMDUP. Edited by Dr. W.Y Evans-Wentz, formerly of Jesus College, Oxford who spent the rest of his life dedicating himself to following the teachings of this very translation. This writer is the one who first produced the teachings of 'The Tibetan Book of the Dead' to occident man in the west. It still remains the definitive edition to this day. The book also has many footnotes and an important lengthy introduction by C.G. Jung to introduce the occident mind to the nature of the book. The footnotes are the helping hand in reading and understanding the text.
This is a book about the raw mind. It may take you many lifetimes to understand. You may understand it after the first reading. There are no devices, tools, sects, schools or Gods used to get you there. This is a book about your mind. The mind is the only device you should need along with the book to bring you to the understanding of - knowing the nature of reality. Then when you are done with the book pass it on and use the only tool that this book expounds on. The mind.
I have not even attempted to read anything else since I found this book. That is because it is definitive. The book only needs your mind. Nothing else. That is why this book is THE definitive book of the mind. Christians should not be afraid of this book in any way shape or form. It is good natured, good willing and does nothing more than help expand your goodness.
It is through the book of the dead that you will learn the book of life.
As the recently deceased Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi, of Tiruvannamalai, South India, admonished Evans-Wentz when he sojourned in his ashram he said - "Each of you should ask yourself, 'who, or what, am I?' Why am I here incarnate? Whither I am destined? Why is there birth and why is there death?'"
This book has never been equaled by any other book. And I am not just talking about within the confines of theology.
This is THE book.
Rating: 5
Summary: The central book of Thanatology
Comment: This book is probably the pre-eminent "global" text on Ars Moriendi. Stripped of culturally conditioned paraphernalia ( various Bodhisattvas, elaborate Mahayanist mythologies etc ), what remains is probably the most descriptive essay on the "great beyond" ( apart from Plato's "Phaedo", which I find even more aesthetically and cognitively persuasive, but greatly differing in spirit ).
Among the greatest merits of the book are, IMO, a clear exposition of the Trikaya doctrine, ie. Mahayanist ontology; subtle psycho-spiritual analysis ( mainly in footnotes ) of 'Knower' ( principle of consciousness, caitanya or shes-pa - permanent reincarnating "I": an entity in perfect concordance with Tantricism but not very plausible in Buddhist Theravada orthodoxy ) and visionary cartography of the three ( "Divine"( Chikai ), noetic/causal ( Chonyid ), and psychic/imaginal ( Sidpa )) supraphysical Bardo states/worlds.
Probably the biggest failure is Jung's introduction, something that makes a man suspicious whether Jung had read "Bardo Thodhol" at all. Avalon's foreword is not bad, but also not very illuminating. What makes the book readable and understandable are Evans Wentz's intro and footnotes without which "The Tibetan Book of the Dead" would be a dry and dull read. Since inception of Wentz's "Tibetan Canon" ( 4- 5 books ) many eminent authors ( Chogyam Trungpa, Tarthang Tulku, Sogyal Rinpoche,..) have written numerous works on the Vajrayana, but, as far as I'm concerned- they haven't succeeded in surpassing these early masterpieces.
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