The Bardo Thödol
The Tibetan Book of the Dead
Preface.
The origin of this book is not known. A Tibetan adaptation of an Indian original, or, much more likely, a Buddhist adaptation of a Tibetan tradition before the seventh century, the Bardo THÖDOL is a treatise on death based on a background of Far Eastern animism. The description, not external, but internal and lived of the agony is so precise, that one could believe this eschatological science acquired by men returned from the very threshold of death. The English translator, Doctor W Y Evans Wentz, believes it rather dictated by great masters, attentive dying, who had the strength to teach their disciples as they went, the process of their own end.
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Obedience.
To the divine Body of Truths, to the incomprehensible, the Limitless Light.
To the divine body of the perfect gift which is the lotus, the deities of Peace and the deities of Anger.
In the embodiment of the lotus, Padma Sambhava who is the protector of all conscious beings.
To Gurus, to the Three Bodies, is due obedience.
Introduction
This great doctrine of liberation by understanding, which gives spiritual freedom to the followers of ordinary spirits, while they are in the intermediate state, has three divisions: the preliminaries, the subject is the conclusion. And first of all the preliminaries, the Guide Books for the emancipation of beings, must be studied and assimilated by practice.
TRANSFER OF THE CONSCIOUS PRINCIPLE.
By the guides, the higher spirits must certainly be released, but if they were not, then they should, in the intermediate state of the moment of death, practice the transference which automatically gives release if one can manage to remember.
Ordinary-minded followers should certainly be liberated as well, but would they not be, that then during the intermediate state, period of experience of reality, they should continue to listen to the great doctrine of liberation through understanding. For this, believers should first examine the symptoms of death as they appear gradually in their dying bodies, following personal release (through observance) from the characteristics of the symptoms of death.
So when all the symptoms of death are complete, it is necessary to apply the transference which confers liberation on those who can remember it.
READING THIS THÖDOL
If the transfer has been made, there is no need to read this thödol. But if the transfer was not actually carried out, then this thödol must be read correctly and clearly near the body of the dead man.
If there is no body, the deceased's usual bed or seat must be occupied by the reader, who must expose the force of the truth. So, calling the dead, he must imagine him present and attentive, then read. During this time, no preferred parent or spouse should be allowed to cry or moan, as this is not good, so they must be forced to remain silent.
If the body is present, at the time when the last expiration ceases, a lama who was the Guru of the dead, where a brother in the Faith whom he respected, or a dear friend, putting his mouth close to his ear - without touch it - must read the big thödol.
The Tibetan Book of the Dead or the Afterlife Experiences in the Bardo Plan Following the English Version of Lama Kazi Dawa Samdup, edited by Dr. W. Y. Evans-Wentz. Edition, Paris American and oriental bookshop Adrien Mainsonneuve
La philosophie antique nous apprenait à accepter notre mort. La philosophie moderne, la mort des autres.
Michel Foucault
