The Tibetan Book of the Dead: First Complete Translation (Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition) [Mass Market Paperback]

Graham Coleman (Editor), Thupten Jinpa (Editor), Gyurme Dorje (Translator)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 30, 2007

The first complete translation of the classic Buddhist text

One of the greatest works created by any culture and overwhelmingly the most significant of all Tibetan Buddhist texts in the West, The Tibetan Book of the Dead has had a number of distinguished but partial translations. Now the entire text has not only been made available in English but also in a translation of remarkable clarity and beauty. Translated with the close support of leading contemporary masters, this complete edition faithfully presents the insights and intentions of the original work. It includes one of the most detailed and compelling descriptions of the after-death state in world literature, practices that can transform our experience of daily life, guidance on helping those who are dying, and an inspirational perspective on coping with bereavement.

Editorial Reviews

Review

The most celebrated and widely read work of Tibetan literature outside Tibet . . . now in its finest and most complete form in this excellent English translation. (Bryan J. Cuevas, Tricycle)

Profound and unique, it is one of the great treasures of wisdom in the spiritual heritage of humanity. (Sogyal Rinpoche, author of The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying)

One of the great scripts of world civilization . . . a voyage inside the profound imagination of a people, immaculately rendered in an English both graceful and precise. (Time Out, London)

This new translation of The Tibetan Book of the Dead is a tremendous accomplishment. The whole text is a vast source of inspiration. (Francesca Fremantle, Buddhadharma magazine)

Magnificent . . . beautiful verse meditations. (The Guardian, London)

I hope that the profound insights contained in this work will be a source of inspiration and support to many interested people around the world. (His Holiness The Dalai Lama)

About the Author

Gyurme Dorje, Ph.D., is a leading scholar of the Nyingma tradition of Tibetan Buddhism.

Thupten Jinpa, Ph.D., is the senior translator to His Holiness The Dalai Lama and president of the Institute of Tibetan Classics.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 18 and up
  
• Mass Market Paperback: 592 pages
• Publisher: Penguin Classics; Deluxe edition (January 30, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0143104942
• ISBN-13: 978-0143104940
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.2 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (42 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #33,982 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #3 in Books > Religion & Spirituality > Bible & Other Sacred Texts > Book of the Dead (Tibetan)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

242 of 250 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Expanded version with authoritative interpretations. Important!, February 6, 2006

By 

P. Nagy "revreader" (Chapel Hill, NC USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Tibetan Book of the Dead (Hardcover)

The Tibetan Book of the Dead edited by Graham Coleman, Thupten Jinpa, translated by Gyurme Dorje (Viking) is by far the most popular example of indigenous Tibetan Buddhist treasure literature. An edition was issued in 1927 by Oxford University Press under the general editorship of W. Y. Evans-Wentz. The block-print copy, he used was an abridgment obtained in Nepal and translated by a Tibetan lama. Evans-Wentz was a scholarly Theosophist who imported certain Theosophical preconceptions into his commentary on the work. Carl Jung the prominent analytical psychologist even wrote a psychological commentary on the work prompted by Evans-Wentz. Since the 1970s, beginning with Francesca Fremantle and Chogyam Trungpa's edition of the text and more recently Robert Thurman's translation, corrected versions of the Tibetan Book of the Dead are well represented in English and other European languages. The mistakes and egregious errors of the pioneering edition have been corrected and Tibetan Buddhism now in America and Europe has been flourishing with many translations and commentaries on basic Buddhist practices as well as the indigenous literatures of Tibet.
This new edition by Graham Coleman and Thupten Jinpa uses a fuller edition of the work for translating, adding new chapters and reflecting the interpretation of contemporary masters and lineage holders of this tradition. In many ways this is the first complete The Tibetan Book of the Dead. In many ways this book is both a guide for living as well as a how to consciously move on after death. The book has been extremely popular in Central Asia among Buddhists. The Tibetan Book of the Dead contains especially written guidance and practices related to transforming our experience of daily life, on how to address the process of dying in the after-death states, and on how to help those who are dying. Some of these teachings include: methods for investigating and cultivating our experience of the ultimate nature of mind in our daily practice, guidance on the recognition of the science of impending death and a detailed description of the mental and physical processes of dying, rituals for the avoidance of premature death, the now famous great liberation by hearing that is read to the dying and the dead, special prayers are read at the time of death, and allegorical masque play that lightheartedly dramatizes the journey through the intermediate state, and a translation of the sacred mantras that are attached to the body after death and are said to bring liberation by wearing. The editors have also included two additional texts are not usually included in the first chapter there is a preliminary meditation and practices related to the cycle of teachings, and in chapter 10, instructions on methods of transforming consciousness at the point of death into a enlightened state and are an essential aspect of the practices related to dying.
The editors have gone out of their way to be sure to relate what the actual masters of these traditions mean by these practices. For that reason alone, makes this new edition of The Tibetan Book of the Dead authoritative in ways that previous editions have not been. Needless to say, this book should capture the imagination not only of students of Buddhism, but psychologists, philosophers, spiritual directors, and chaplains as well as anyone who wishes to entertain profound teachings about the survival of consciousness after death as well as ways to encourage the meaning of our own life in the everyday world.

156 of 164 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Nice book to have around on your death bed, April 27, 1998

By 

James Inman (Brooklyn, NY) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Tibetan Book of the Dead: The Great Book of Natural Liberation Through Understanding in the Between (Paperback)

I've been through three copies of this book and memorized the essence prayers.. Each night I use this in my meditation.. All my life I have had a fear of death and this book cuts right to the bone.. Padma Sambava tackels the problem head on.. I don't really remember why I started reading it.. I could never make it through the Evans-Wentz translation.. Too much esoteric mumbo jumbo.. Robert A. Thurman's version is for the everyman.. Please get this book..Life is short..

From the Root Verses.. "With mind distracted, never thinking death is coming... To slave away on the pointless buisness of mundane life, and then to come out empty is a tragic error.."

80 of 83 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best translation yet, with lucid commentary, August 6, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: The Tibetan Book of the Dead: The Great Book of Natural Liberation Through Understanding in the Between (Paperback)

The remarkable Bob Thurman offers us a new translation of the 'Tibetan Book of the Dead'. It surpasses by far the previous translation by Chogyam Trungpa and Frances Fremantle. As a text for practical use, as a source of spiritual inspiration, and as literature, this book shines. As well as the translation of the text and commentary, Professor Thurman has written an introduction which stands on its own as an introduction to Buddhism and Tibetan spirituality. If you have an interest in Buddhism, Tibet, or a concern about the after-death states, this book is essential. Pete Folly