The Tibetan Book of the Dead Liberation

The most prominent expert on Tibetan Buddhism in the West offers a translation of this essential book of Tibetan philosophy that captures the true spirit and poetry of the original work--a profound book that reveals the nature of the mind and its manifestations and offers pure enlightenment.

Robert Thurman, acclaimed translator of The Tibetan Book of the Dead and author of Inner Revolution, is the Jey Tsong Khapa Professor of Indo-Tibetan Buddhist Studies in the department of religion at Columbia University and is the director of the American Institute of Buddhist Studies. He is a friend of the Dalai Lama’s, president of Tibet House U.S., and one of the most visible and respected Buddhist scholars and thinkers in the West.

List of Figures

xiii

List of Color Plates

xv

Foreword

xvii

Dalai Lama

Preface

xix

PART ONE PREPARATIONS FOR THE JOURNEY

Background

5

(18)

An Outline of Tibetan History

5

(5)

Tibet: A Spiritual Civilization

10

(2)

Tibet's Present Plighat

12

(1)

Buddhism in Summary

13

(5)

Tibetan Ideas About Death

18

(5)

The Tibetan Science of Death

23

(28)

What Is Death?

23

(6)

The Six Realms

29

(4)

The Three Buddha Bodies

33

(2)

The Body-Mind Complex

35

(6)

Stages of Death

41

(4)

The Reality of Liberation

45

(6)

The Tibetan Art of Dying

51

(32)

Introduction

51

(1)

Ordinary Preparations for Death

52

(6)

Extraordinary Preparations

58

(25)

The Preliminary Stage

59

(4)

Mentor and Initiation

63

(5)

The Creation Stage

68

(5)

The Perfection Stage

73

(10)

The Natural Liberation Literature

83

(14)

The History of the Texts

83

(4)

The Sections of the Book

87

(10)

PART TWO THE GUIDEBOOK FOR THE JOURNEY

The Between Prayers

97

(20)

The Prayer of the Three Body Mentor Yoga

99

(6)

The Prayer for Help from the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas

105

(3)

The Prayer for Deliverance from the Straits of the Between

108

(4)

The Prayer for Refuge from All Terrors of the Between

112

(3)

The Root Verses of the Six Betweens

115

(2)

The Guidebook to The Betweens

117

(88)

The Prayer of the Reality Between

117

(14)

Preliminaries

117

(2)

Using The Book of Natural Liberation

119

(1)

Recognition of the Clear Light in the Death-point Between

119

(1)

The Central Channel Reality Clear Light

120

(7)

The Out-of-Body Reality Clear Light

127

(4)

The Mild Deity Reality Between

131

(18)

The First Day

133

(2)

The Second Day

135

(1)

The Third Day

136

(2)

The Fourth Day

138

(2)

The Fifth Day

140

(1)

The Sixth Day

141

(4)

The Seventh Day

145

(4)

The Fierce Deity Reality Between

149

(18)

The Eighth Day

149

(5)

The Ninth Day

154

(1)

The Tenth Day

154

(1)

The Eleventh Day

155

(1)

The Twelfth Day

156

(11)

Orientation to the Existence Between

167

(38)

Basic Introduction

167

(2)

Powers and Problems of a Between-Being

169

(5)

Encountering the Lord of Death

174

(3)

Detachment from the Previous Life

177

(3)

Avoiding the Dull Lights to Block Rebirth

180

(2)

Blocking the Door of the Womb

182

(5)

Choosing a Good Womb

187

(8)

Taking Refuge in the Three Jewels

195

(10)

PART THREE SUPPLEMENTARY TRANSLATIONS

The Dharma Practice, Natural Liberation of the Instincts

205

(22)

The Ten Branches of Accumulating Merit

206

(4)

Enlightening, Protecting, and Purifying

210

(1)

Vajrasattva Purification

210

(1)

The Actual Visualization

211

(16)

Self-Creation

211

(1)

The Mild Deity Interior Mandala

212

(4)

The Scientist Deity Interior Mandala

216

(2)

The Fierce Deity Interior Mandala

218

(9)

The Natural Liberation Through Naked Vision, Identifying the Intelligence

227

(16)

The Quintessence

228

(1)

The Need for This Identification

229

(2)

The Detailed Identification

231

(12)

The Three-Point Entrance

232

(2)

The Forceful Method

234

(2)

The Four Inerrancies and Four Nails

236

(1)

The Oneness of Times

237

(1)

Views, Meditations, Ethics, Fruitions

237

(1)

This Knowing

238

(2)

Mind Is All

240

(3)

Glossary

243

(34)

Essential Bibliography

277

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The Tibetan Book of the Dead Liberation Through Understanding in the Between

Summary

Author Biography

Table of Contents

Supplemental Materials