Tibetan monks call it "Bardo Thodol", that is, "Liberation through listening." This book contains a detailed description of what awaits a person after death and before the next reincarnation. Between death and future life, according to the book, the soul goes through several stages - "bardo". The stay in the bardo lasts 49 days. All this time, this book should be read over the body of the deceased, as if giving him recommendations on what to do next. "Bardo Todol" also contains instructions for the living, preparing them for the inevitable departure from this world.
It is believed that this book was written by the Tibetan monk Padmasambhava in the eighth century. When translating into Western languages, the title "Book of the Dead" was used, because with this title it becomes more understandable for the European reader and may interest him. Perhaps the association with the Egyptian "Book of the Dead" was also meant, about which European residents are well aware.
For many centuries, the "Great Book of the Dead" was in the Forbidden Kingdom - the monastery, which was also founded by Padmasambhava. Only in the XIV century it was accidentally found by a certain treasure seeker. And the book began to be translated into European languages only in 1927. In recent years, Bardo Todol has been actively promoting itself in the West and in Russia by the efforts of the famous Lama Namkhai Norbu Rinpoche. It was from these translations that Europeans first learned a lot about Buddhist philosophy and "life after death."
What does the book teach? It explains that a series of rebirths is an inevitable phenomenon, but it can be overcome if you realize the meaning of suffering and acquire some necessary knowledge. One should carefully prepare for death while still alive, so as not to die prematurely and to meet death with dignity, courage and peace. However, calmness and masculinity alone is not enough, you should also train your intellect in a special way and direct your consciousness to the right goal.
In this, the Tibetan "Book of the Dead" is similar to the teachings of most other religions in the world, starting from ancient times. From time immemorial, people were afraid of death and tried to learn to "prepare" for it. People distinguished between "good" death and "bad". "Good" is accompanied by a calm and even joyful state of mind, awareness of the fulfilled duty on Earth, the dying person does not experience suffering from existing diseases and injuries.
It is interesting that "Bardo Todol" contains a detailed description of the physical and mental state of a person shortly before death, at the time of its occurrence and in the first time after dying. And this makes it interesting for doctors and psychologists. In particular, on its basis, the famous psychologist Timothy Leary compiled a guide for conducting experiments with psychedelic drugs. And it makes sense. It is known that the ancient Tibetan monks were also skilled doctors.
In preparation for death, Bardo Todol pays special attention to meditation techniques and rituals. This area of spiritual activity should be approached with special care, since improper or inept performance of the rite can be fraught with trouble and even premature death. It is believed that Tibetan monks, as a result of their meditations, acquired special "superpowers" - such as levitation, opening the "third eye", the appearance of the "Brahma hole" and many others. Often simply fantastic cases are described: for example, monks could move the bones of their skulls apart, as a result of which blood formed on the crown; this was called the "opening of Brahma." This hole has a special meaning in Tibetan Buddhism: through it, at the time of death, a person's consciousness is released. A monk sits over this hole of the deceased,to perform the necessary rituals and recite mantras.
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The researchers note that the perception of the Tibetan Book of the Dead may differ between Eastern Buddhists and Western readers. In fact, this is true for any religious or cultural tradition: only people who have grown up in the appropriate environment, brought up in the canons of a given religion or culture can most adequately perceive it. Both Carlos Castaneda and Victor Pelevin talked about something like this. In their books, Castaneda and the Indians with whom he spoke sharply condemned the Europeans for their attempts to join the religion and culture of the Indians. The same is true for the Tibetan "scriptures": they contain traditions, myths, legends and realities that are understandable only to the indigenous people of Tibet and, perhaps, representatives of other Buddhist peoples. This is exclusively their life experience and their delusions.
Carl Gustav Jung, who was also seriously interested in this book, also argued about a different understanding of its content by European and Asian readers. However, he declared about the "limitations" and "backwardness" of the European consciousness, which prevents the inhabitants of Western countries from "correctly" understanding the "Book of the Dead". Jung took quite a few ideas from this book and incorporated them into his theory. However, more sane researchers consider Jung to be nothing more than a charlatan, skillfully disguised as a scientist-psychologist (since psychology as a science leaves a lot of room for such a disguise). Jung was one of those who became disillusioned with the values of Western civilization, read - could not establish themselves within the framework of rationalism, critical realism and scientific knowledge of reality. Tibetan Buddhism with its mysticism,the abundance of myths about the "other world" was a real refuge for Jung and his supporters.
