RELI 2732 Lecture Notes - Lecture 8: Bardo Thodol, Theravada, Padmasambhava
2 May 2018
School
Department
Course
Professor
March 12th, 2018
Tibetan Buddhist Views on Death and Afterlife
Review of Buddhism and Soul
• Nothing is permanent and nothing goes on
• Anatman (no soul) – unchanging aspect of the person
o Any idea of an eternal unchanging part of the person is not
accepted
o Still there is rebirth according to karma
o What is reborn?
▪ There is no what that exists now, so there is no what to be
reborn, everything needs to have a cause and effect,
something must come from something else
o The human person, body and mind, is regarded as continually
flowing along
o The mind part of the body (soul) goes on after death to take a
new form during the rebirth
Spread of Buddhism
• 3 Types of Buddhism
o Theravada Buddhism
▪ Practiced in Sri Lanka, Thailand, Myanmar
▪ Represents some of the earliest Buddhist traditions
o Mahayana
▪ Practiced in China, Japan, Vietnam
▪ Practice the later thoughts of Buddhism
o Vajrayana (The diamond way, Tibetan Buddhism)
▪ Practiced in Tibet, Ladakh, Nepal – spread to Tibet in 7th
century CE
find more resources at oneclass.com
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2
Tibetan Book(s) of the Dead (Bardo Thodol)
• Traslates as The Great Lieratio Through Heari i the Bordo or
The Book of the Dead
• Bardo – i etwee or iterediate
• Thodol – liberation through hearing or understanding
• The Bardo Thodol is read to the dead or dying person
o Death is not regarded as the succession of breathing and
heartbeat
• Guide for the dying, describes the process of dying is natural
Traditional History of the Bardo Thodol
• The Bardo was traced back to the Buddha, and said to have been
brought to Tibet in the 17th century by Padmasambhava, an Indian
tantric yogi
o Pad became very famous in Tibet, and was considered the
second Buddha
o It was hidden and rediscovered by future disciples of Pad – it
was said to be buried in the mountains
Death Rituals in Tibetan Buddhism
• After someone dies in Tibetan Buddhism, the book of the dead is read
for 49 days everyday after the death by a yogi
• The consciousness of the dead is floating between worlds for 49 days,
in that time the person is capable of hearing, the text is read out loud
to guide them
• At first, the text is read in front of the body
• Mind experiences its own liberation as radiant white light
o This light is your true nature
• Both life and death are unsure transitions called Bardos
• There is a teaching of Poa – designed to teach people how to release
your consciousness at the time of death
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
The dalai lama: the 14th dali lama was recognized as the incarnation of the previous. Dali lama in 1935: assumed as the leader as the tibetan state at the age of 15. The time and occasion of death is uncertain (contemplating impermanence and the uncertainty of life: 3. The bardo of the dying process: 1. Dissolution of the earth element: external sign all the physical aspects of the person become weak, internal sign mind experiences wavy, mirage-like images, 2. Dissolution of the water element: external sign the liquids of the body dry up (saliva, weat, urine, sensation starts to go, internal sign mind experiences smoke-like images, 3. 4: external digestive processes going, memory fails, internal organs start failing, internal mind filled with images of sparks like fireflies (flashing lights, 4. When the grosser thoughts fade away then that allows other levels of consciousness come to play: now the mind is filled with a white light, 6.
