THE TIBETAN BOOK OF THE DEAD (The Great Book of Natural Liberation Through Understanding in the Between)

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Effect::: The most prominent expert on Tibetan Buddhism in the West offers a translation of this essential book of Tibetan philosophy that captures the true spirit and poetry of the original work--a profound book that reveals the nature of the mind and its manifestations and offers pure enlightenment.User friendly.

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THE TIBETAN BOOK OF THE DEAD (The Great Book of Natural Liberation Through Understanding in the Between)Feature for this item ISBN13: 9780553370904 Condition: NEW Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.

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The Dalai Lama's medieval circus took flight from its paradisiacal kingdom amidst the cold and feudal Himalayan Mountains (a glimpse of Shangri-La), only to land in sunny side California; a Guru's paradise of psychedelic openness, narcissistic personality disorder and transcendental entrepreneurism.

In this spiritual time bomb of American excess, you will find nihilistic death worship for dummies (please insert the latest nihilistic mystical celebrity fad), hang out with charismatic Budweiser Lama's, such as his charismatic-ness Chogyam Trungpa and witness Tibetan scholar Robert Thurman jumping into the octagon, ready to fight for the truth of the in-between bardo states. He's a true believer you see; the super heavyweight champion of true believers. This is all good though, because it brings a startlingly sincere passion and vividness to Mr Thurman's work.

Though not as poetically driven and scholarly as the newer Penguin translation, Thurman's is written in good plain (graspable) English, he also has the knack of explaining difficult concepts and his is the more readable of the various translations. (I think the Penguin will probably suit people who are at home with Heidegger).

Thurman, it seems, is convinced of the ontological validity of the bardo realms. No metaphors here please. What do you mean no metaphors? I hear you cry. I thought the realms described in the Bardo Thödol were just topological manifolds of the human psyche? Surely those nice Tibetan's don't mean to frighten us? Thurman thinks we shouldn't be so naive. He believes that the in-between places, with the angry, mad Gods (Devas), the ravenous thirsty ghosts (pretas, who try to eat your feet) and the juvenile God-like Titans (Ashuras), are as real as the horrors swimming around inside the Popes imagination. So if you want cheery metaphors then run along to the Penguin edition, with its beautiful poetry, vivid artwork and weighty scholarship, you will be better off and less worried!

Padma sambhava's luminous axioms are apparently true for all time you see and because Thurman is a true believer, his commentaries add extra weight and so this book is the authentic deal. He really believes man, which I think is reassuringly weird, and no matter what you yourself may believe, you can't help but to be impressed by the shear gravity and sophistication of Tibetan metaphysics. Cardinal Ratzinger once described Buddhism as being a masturbation of the intellect. Well I say lets masturbate away! Plus the artwork included in here is impressive indeed.

Robert Thurman's version then is for the workers and lumpen Buddha's of this world. We need an honest to God rendition of the Way and its power; not a cerebral analytic scholar talking about psychoanalysis, metaphors and the Hell realms being mere metaphors bah blah. Thurman is a brilliant fanatic you see (in the best sense of the word) and 'tis the one eyed sears who command respect in my book. No wonder he named his daughter after a Tibetan goblin!

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