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What the Tibetan Book of the Dead teaches us about life

71 points by altStoner 5y ago

rootsudo 5y ago
Not to be confused with what Timothy Leary wrote - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Psychedelic_Experience https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Psychedelic_Experience
costcopizza 5y ago
This book inspired the writing of 'Pyramid Song' by Radiohead.
- kitotik 5y ago
  And “Tomorrow Never Knows” by some ancient pop band called the Beatles.
swayvil 5y ago
I personally own a copy of this book. I thought you all should know that.
- GianFabien 5y ago
  and ... what have you learnt to apply in your everyday life from it?
KorematsuFredt 5y ago
Interesting to read but I am not sure what to make out of it. What does the book of dead teach us exactly ?
- kordlessagain 5y ago
  Freeing oneself from fixation, as one example.
literallyaduck 5y ago
Having seen a post for Christianity, Islam, and now Tibetan Buddhism recently, I believe the first two were to show off Apis, but this one appears to have nothing technical to offer, so I must look within for the meaning to this post. From a scientific perspective I see no evidence of thought after death. To stand before judgment is a theme among Christians and apparently Buddhism. With Christianity the judgment is external, with Buddhism it seems from the article to be an internal balance between actions and the perception of actions in one's own consciousness. If you are an expert on the topic and can show me the error, please let me know. Having seen many deaths recently I am drawn to the tests from Houdini to those performing an attempt at contact from the afterlife. If contact post death has not been proven how can I rationally accept anyone's account of an afterlife? I am not attempting to challenge your beliefs, but am willing to hear an explanation.
- kitotik 5y ago
  Another perspective on such topics is to not take them so literally. The texts can be extremely useful not just for the friends and family of the deceased, but also for when there is no literal loss of life and just intense life changes (‘ego death’, ‘rebirth’). Regarding judgement, you could look at this as simple data analysis to make decisions on one’s life - did the efforts achieve the desired outcomes? We’re the efforts insufficient? Was the impact of prior life choices as expected? With esoteric teachings, assuming they can only be useful when followed religiously would be akin to reading programming tutorials and assuming they are only for creating todo lists and chat apps(even if they may be!)
- ianai 5y ago
  I think we need a much deeper understanding of consciousness before I’m comfortable with scientific arguments ruling things out. Science is greatest when it’s humble about what it knows and doesn’t. (It’s through this humility that science leads to deeper understanding than doctrine.) Relatedly, NDE stories can be incredibly compelling. YouTube of course has many at the ready. It’s definitely not rigorous nor science, but does seem like something could be there.
  - 5y ago
neom 5y ago
The Tibetan Book of the Dead (1994) - Narrated by Leonard Cohen - https://youtu.be/P5A2erZXJx8 https://youtu.be/P5A2erZXJx8 Certainly the documentary I've watched the most by a long shot, and certainly what brought me deeper into buddhism. I cannot recommend it enough.

71 points by altStoner 5y ago

Not to be confused with what Timothy Leary wrote - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Psychedelic_Experience https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Psychedelic_Experience

costcopizza 5y ago

This book inspired the writing of 'Pyramid Song' by Radiohead.

kitotik 5y ago
And “Tomorrow Never Knows” by some ancient pop band called the Beatles.

swayvil 5y ago

I personally own a copy of this book. I thought you all should know that.

GianFabien 5y ago
and ... what have you learnt to apply in your everyday life from it?

KorematsuFredt 5y ago

Interesting to read but I am not sure what to make out of it. What does the book of dead teach us exactly ?

kordlessagain 5y ago
Freeing oneself from fixation, as one example.

literallyaduck 5y ago

Having seen a post for Christianity, Islam, and now Tibetan Buddhism recently, I believe the first two were to show off Apis, but this one appears to have nothing technical to offer, so I must look within for the meaning to this post. From a scientific perspective I see no evidence of thought after death. To stand before judgment is a theme among Christians and apparently Buddhism. With Christianity the judgment is external, with Buddhism it seems from the article to be an internal balance between actions and the perception of actions in one's own consciousness. If you are an expert on the topic and can show me the error, please let me know. Having seen many deaths recently I am drawn to the tests from Houdini to those performing an attempt at contact from the afterlife. If contact post death has not been proven how can I rationally accept anyone's account of an afterlife? I am not attempting to challenge your beliefs, but am willing to hear an explanation.

kitotik 5y ago
Another perspective on such topics is to not take them so literally. The texts can be extremely useful not just for the friends and family of the deceased, but also for when there is no literal loss of life and just intense life changes (‘ego death’, ‘rebirth’). Regarding judgement, you could look at this as simple data analysis to make decisions on one’s life - did the efforts achieve the desired outcomes? We’re the efforts insufficient? Was the impact of prior life choices as expected? With esoteric teachings, assuming they can only be useful when followed religiously would be akin to reading programming tutorials and assuming they are only for creating todo lists and chat apps(even if they may be!)
ianai 5y ago
I think we need a much deeper understanding of consciousness before I’m comfortable with scientific arguments ruling things out. Science is greatest when it’s humble about what it knows and doesn’t. (It’s through this humility that science leads to deeper understanding than doctrine.) Relatedly, NDE stories can be incredibly compelling. YouTube of course has many at the ready. It’s definitely not rigorous nor science, but does seem like something could be there.
- 5y ago

neom 5y ago

The Tibetan Book of the Dead (1994) - Narrated by Leonard Cohen - https://youtu.be/P5A2erZXJx8 https://youtu.be/P5A2erZXJx8 Certainly the documentary I've watched the most by a long shot, and certainly what brought me deeper into buddhism. I cannot recommend it enough.