TIBETAN BOOK OF THE DEAD

From the editor: According to legend, this great work is one of the texts that the honored guru Padma-Sambhava concealed during his visit to Tibet in the late eighth cen­tury. Because Tibetans of that day and age were not yet prepared for such teachings, Padma-Sambhava was forced to hide his books in stones, lakes, and pillars. 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 as well as to the belief in life after death, 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.

Included in this new edition are a foreword, afterword, and suggested further reading list by Donald S. Lopez, Jr., author of Prisoners of Shangri-La: Tibetan Buddhism and the West. Lopez traces the whole history of the late Evans-Wentzs 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.

Pages: 264
Special Interest: Religion, Tibet, Advanced Studies & Application, Ritual, Occult.

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