The Tibetan Book Of The Dead - VIDEOS for you to watch

"The Tibetan Book of the Dead." Narrated by Leonard Cohen, this documentary film provides an in-depth examination of death and dying in the remote mountain communities of Tibet as well as in a Western hospice. Based on one of the most profound treatises of Buddhist spirituality, this film approaches the subject of mortality from a compassionate and intelligent perspective that is clear and unforgettable.

The tibetan book of the dead (part 1a)

The tibetan book of the dead (part two)

Duration: 7'50''

The Tibetan Book of the Dead - A Way of Life - Part III

Duration: 8'56''

The Tibetan Book of the Dead - A Way of Life-Part IV

Duration: 9'17''

The Tibetan Book of the Dead - A Way of Life - Part V

Duration: 9'53''

Introduction
The Bardo Thotrol (also known as the Tibetan Book of The Dead) is only one of the many kinds of instructions about liberation from suffering: it's liberation by hearing.

It was composed by Guru Rinpoche (Padmasambhava), written down by his wife and burined in the Gampo hills - Central Tibet.

Liberation here means that whoever comes in contact with these teachings receives a glimpse of enlightenment and becomes familiar with the teachings and when the person dies will have a chance of remembering and following the instructions thus awakening.

Guru Rinpoche gave teaching transmissions to his main 25 disciples and later Karma-Lingpa a reincarnation of one of them discovered the text and began teaching it.

The Message From The Text
Some still compare the text to the Egyptian Book of The Dead but that is a wrong assumption. These are instructions for the living. Death and re-birth occur constantly in life. This should be called the Tibetan Book Of Life.

The original name of the book is Bardo Thothol. Bardo means gap; it’s the gap that happens between a life and the next; and it’s also a possibility for liberation. Liberation from suffering. That is. The bardo is often explained by the six realms of existence and of the deities that appear to us during the bardo itself. The peaceful (first week) and wrathful deities (last week).

However if you think about it, this happens in everyday living situation. If we are open to the possibility then the experience of death would not be a shock because we are already familiar with the process and change can really happen.

The Moment Before Death
The first experience is the uncertainty whether one is actually going to die or not. There is the experience of losing one’s mind. Loosing the world of joys and sorrows to step into a world of fogs. A world of ghosts.The book describes the death of the individual in terms of the different elements that make up what we call self.

You feel heavy when the earth element dissolves into the water element. When water dissolve into the fire element then the circulation begin to cease> When fire dissolves into air any sensation of warmth deigns to disappear. When the air element dissolves into space you lose contact with the physical world. Finally when the space element or consciousness dissolves itself into the central NADI (Channel) then there is an experience of luminosity.

The death is not quite sure whether is experiencing enlightenment or losing his/her mind. What happens next is really interesting:

The death needs to find comfort in something he/she can relate to: the water element.

You reassure yourself that your mind is still working. During the next stage the mind is still not quite sure if it’s functioning and the only way to relate is through emotions so you begin to think of someone you love or hate, however even that dissolves quickly into air and there is the tendency to lose grip.

The next experience is the luminosity.

You begin to give in because you cannot take it anymore and there is an opportunity for opening up; pleasure and pain are mixed and the luminosity presents itself naturally. There is an opportunity to access the naked mind and recognize it but usually the dualistic experience takes over and the luminosity is not recognized, hence the possibility of enlightenment is lost.

Some basic tendency of grasping is beginning to form and from that the 6 relms of the world begin to manifest.

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