Tibetan Book of the Dead

Rating:
Summary: Pretty advanced stuff
Review: I've been through three copies of this book and memorized the essence prayers.. Each night I use this in my meditation.. All my life I have had a fear of death and this book cuts right to the bone.. Padma Sambava tackels the problem head on.. I don't really remember why I started reading it.. I could never make it through the Evans-Wentz translation.. Too much esoteric mumbo jumbo.. Robert A. Thurman's version is for the everyman.. Please get this book..Life is short..

From the Root Verses.. "With mind distracted, never thinking death is coming... To slave away on the pointless buisness of mundane life, and then to come out empty is a tragic error.."

Rating:
Summary: THE REAL NECRONOMICON
Review: IF YOU WANT THE REAL NECRONOMICON, THIS IS IT. A MUST HAVE

Rating:
Summary: Beautifully romanticized
Review: This is a beautiful book, and I know of no other translation that is better. Thurman is one of a handful of people responsible for basically importing Tibetan buddhism to the West, for better or worse. Having said that, I must also warn readers that Thurman has quite a tendency to romanticize Tibet as a pristine, untouchable place where perfection would have been inevitable, had the Chinese not destroyed the country. Donald Lopez's Prisoners of Shangri-la is an excellent book and balances Thurman's translation nicely. Tibet is a real place, and people there struggle with as many spiritual issues as westerners.

Rating:
Summary: An important book
Review: This is a must have title for anyone who has an interest in Tibetan Buddism. Thurman's translation of this central Tibetan text is lucid and inspiring. His personal experience as an ordained monk, student of the Dalai Lama's and his many years of bringing the Dharma to west make him thoroughly and uniquely qualified to offer this brilliant translation. I find that Thurman writes in such a way that makes it easy to " hear ", the strong tradition of oral transmition that plays such as important role in the practice of Tibetan Buddhist teaching.

Rating:
Summary: THE REAL NECRONOMICON
Review: This is an interesting book that brings to life many of the teachings and beliefs of the Tibetan Bhuddists. This book is primarily about the migration of souls and the process of death and rebirth. I particularly liked the background information given by the author leading into the main text that discusses the basics of this flavor of Bhuddism and the evolution of its teachings. The author retranslates the title for the purposes of reading and after reading the text, I certainly agree with him. The two major teachings that I see are what to expect after death and how to prepare for death while still alive. Although I think the emphasis is on the latter. I think you'll find that the basic tenets of this faith are found in all major religious beliefs along with noticable differences the further one defines the system. Overall, this would be a good starter text for a student of religions as well as bridge for those whose preconceived notions of religions outside their own are faulty and ignorant.

Rating:
Summary: The study of the process of death.
Review: This is an interesting book that brings to life many of the teachings and beliefs of the Tibetan Bhuddists. This book is primarily about the migration of souls and the process of death and rebirth. I particularly liked the background information given by the author leading into the main text that discusses the basics of this flavor of Bhuddism and the evolution of its teachings. The author retranslates the title for the purposes of reading and after reading the text, I certainly agree with him. The two major teachings that I see are what to expect after death and how to prepare for death while still alive. Although I think the emphasis is on the latter. I think you'll find that the basic tenets of this faith are found in all major religious beliefs along with noticable differences the further one defines the system. Overall, this would be a good starter text for a student of religions as well as bridge for those whose preconceived notions of religions outside their own are faulty and ignorant.

Rating:
Summary: A Highly Accessible Guide to Liberation in the Between
Review: With this translation of the Tibetan Book of the Dead, or Natural Liberation in the Between, Thurman fulfills the function of a Bodhisattva in helping others attain liberation. This is the most accessible, down-to-earth and learned rendering of this guide to spiritual liberation that I have encountered in modern American English. Thurman even manages to work in a little humor on the edges.

What this translation makes abundantly clear is just how many chances in the in-between we have for liberation. Apparently one has to be very non-aware to go through the in-between and miss the chance for stepping off the carousel. of samsara. (So why am I still here?)

It would be interesting to devote some time to a cross cultural/cross discipline study of death, dying and beyond. In particular, a study comparing Stan Grof's 3rd perinatal matrix; Sufi descriptions of the interworld (barzakh) and the world of Harqalya (see Corbin's Celestial Body); some schools of visualization/dream work; descriptions of the astral world (Robert Bruce's and Robert Monroe's works in particular); and shamanic traditions would be illuminating. Throw Dante in for good measure. There appear to be large areas of overlap and agreement as to what happens during death, and what happens next. (Get enough blind men together and compare their impressions of the elephant and a clearer picture may come to light.)

The best thing about this book, however, is that it invites the reader to learn the Tibetan death ritual for oneself. It helps that, as the book explains, our after-death mind is nine times more intelligent than our current mind. So just a little application now in learning these texts will go a long way later.

Face it. At some moment in the near future you will close your eyes for the last time on this world. Death is more certain than retirement - and longer. Like anything else, the more you learn about it and get acquainted with it, the less shocking and scary it will be.