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The Tibetan Book of the Dead by W. Y.…
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The Tibetan Book of the Dead (original 1927; edition 1975)

by W. Y. Evans-Wentz, C. G. Jung (Contributor), Lama Anagarika Govinda (Foreword), John Woodroffe (Foreword)

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The Tibetan Book of the Dead is one of the texts that, according to legend, Padma-Sambhava was compelled to hide during his visit to Tibet in the late 8th century. The guru hid his books in stones, lakes, and pillars because the Tibetans of that day and age were somehow unprepared for their teachings. Now, in the form of the ever-popular Tibetan Book of the Dead, these teachings are constantly being discovered and rediscovered by Western readers of many different backgrounds--a phenomenon which began in 1927 with Oxford's first edition of Dr. Evans-Wentz's landmark volume. While it is traditio… (more)
Member:RobinGood
Title:The Tibetan Book of the Dead
Authors:W. Y. Evans-Wentz
Other authors:C. G. Jung (Contributor), Lama Anagarika Govinda (Foreword), John Woodroffe (Foreword)
Info:Oxford Univ Press (1975), Edition: 3rd, Paperback, 249 pages
Collections:Your library
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Work Information

Tibetan Book of the Dead: Or, The After-Death Experiences on the Bardo Plane, according to Lama Kazi Dawa-Samdup's English Rendering by W. Y. Evans-Wentz (1927)

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English (4)  French (2)  Dutch (1)  All languages (7)
Showing 4 of 4
The Tibetan Book of the Dead as translated by W.Y. Evans-Wentz is a less than complete and less than faithful translation but is the only version known in the West for a long time. As such, it is, at the least, an important historical document even when it might not be a particularly useful one for those interested in Buddhism.

My case is one example. I became familiar with the book when I first picked up a copy of The Psychedelic Experience back in the late 60s. It is the version that not only influenced those experiments but served as an introduction to Eastern thought for me. It is also the version that Jung referenced in his work. So having this copy for these purposes make perfect sense.

If you want to sidestep Evans-Wentz' theosophy influence and get a better, more comprehensive translation as part of studying Buddhism, I would recommend a different translation. This Ixia Press edition is a wonderful copy of Evans-Wentz version and I would highly recommend it for those who want or need this version.

Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley. ( )
1 vote pomo58 | Dec 20, 2020 |
The Tibetan Book of the Dead is one of the texts that, according to legend, Padma-Sambhava was compelled to hide during his visit to Tibet in the late 8th century. The guru hid his books in stones, lakes, and pillars because the Tibetans of that day and age were somehow unprepared for their teachings. Now, in the form of the ever-popular Tibetan Book of the Dead, these teachings are constantly being discovered and rediscovered by Western readers of many different backgrounds--a phenomenon which began in 1927 with Oxford's first edition of Dr. Evans-Wentz's landmark volume. While it is traditionally used as a mortuary text, to be read or recited in the presence of a dead or dying person, this book--which relates the whole experience of death and rebirth in three intermediate states of being--was originally understood as a guide not only for the dead but also for the living. As a contribution to the science of death and dying--not to mention the belief in life after death, or the belief in rebirth--The Tibetan Book of the Dead is unique among the sacred texts of the world, for its socio-cultural influence in this regard is without comparison.
  PSZC | Mar 24, 2019 |
Tedious. I felt like I had to mine the information out with a chisel and brush. The information is the treasure, the clumsy writing and unfortunate selection of vocabulary is the sand and clay. ( )
  Annmarie_Banks | Jan 26, 2014 |
A must read, I like the Evans-Wentz interpretation best of the 3 or 4 I've read ( )
  sfisk | Sep 4, 2008 |
Showing 4 of 4
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» Add other authors (4 possible)

Author nameRoleType of authorWork?Status
W. Y. Evans-Wentzprimary authorall editionscalculated
Dawa-Samdup, Lama KaziTranslatormain authorall editionsconfirmed
Govinda, Lama AnagarikaForewordsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Hull, R. F. C.Translatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Jung, Carl GustavContributorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Lopez, Donald S., Jr.Forewordsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Woodroffe, JohnForewordsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed

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Epigraph
'Thou shall understand that it is a science most profitable, and
passing all other sciences, for to learn to die. Fora man to know
that he shall die, that is common to all men ; as much as there is
no man that may ever live or he hath hope or trust thereof; but
thou shall find full few that have Ihis cunning to learn to die. . . .
1 shall give tlicc the mystery of this doctrine; the which shall
profit Ihec greatly to the beginning of ghostly health, and to
a stable fundament of all virtues.'— Orologium Safientiae.
' Against his will he dieth that hath not learned to die. Learn
to die and thou shall learn to live, for there shall none learn to
live that hath not learned to die.'—Tour* of ail Tonics: and
Ttachtth a Man for to Die.
The Book o/ifie Craft of Dying (Comper's Edition).
' Whatever is here, that is there ; what is there, the same is
here. He who seeth licrc as different, mectcth death after death.
' By mind alone this is to be realized, and [then] there is no
difference here. From death to death he goeth, who seeth as if
there is difference here.'—Kalha Upanishad, iv. lo-n (Swami
Sliarvananda's Translation).
The phenomena of life may be likened unto a dream, a phantasm, a bubble, a shadow, the glistening dew, or lightning flash;  and thus they ought to be contemplated -- The Buddha, in "The Immutable Sutra"
Dedication
IN MEMORY OF
MY DECEASED FATHER AND MOTHER
I DEDICATE
THIS BOOK TO MY TEACHERS
BOTH SECULAR AND RELIGIOUS
IN EUROPE AND AMERICA
AND THROUGHOUT
THE ORIENT
First words
Introduction: This is one of the half-dozen really great books of all time.
Preface: In this book I am seeking--so far as possible--to suppress my own views and to act simply as the mouthpiece of a Tibetan sage, of whom I was a recognized disciple.
Foreword:  The thought of death suggests two questions.
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This (abridged) edition of "The Tibetan Book of the Dead" edited by Evans-Wentz, contains different source material and very different editorial content from the abridged edition by Thurman. Neither is it the same as the first complete English translation, issued much later by Penguin Classics and other publishers. It is also a totally different work from "The Tibetan Book of the Great Liberation: Or the Method of Realizing Nirvana through Knowing the Mind". Please do NOT combine with any of these other books, unless you are willing to separate and re-combine them properly again. There are well over a thousand copies.
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The Tibetan Book of the Dead is one of the texts that, according to legend, Padma-Sambhava was compelled to hide during his visit to Tibet in the late 8th century. The guru hid his books in stones, lakes, and pillars because the Tibetans of that day and age were somehow unprepared for their teachings. Now, in the form of the ever-popular Tibetan Book of the Dead, these teachings are constantly being discovered and rediscovered by Western readers of many different backgrounds--a phenomenon which began in 1927 with Oxford's first edition of Dr. Evans-Wentz's landmark volume. While it is traditio

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