The Tibetan Book of the Dead — ed. W. Y. Evans-Wentz

To Mr. E. S. Bouchier, M.A. (Oxon.), F. R. Hist. S., author of Syria as a Roman Province, A Short flistory of Antioch, &c., my heartiest thanks are due for the assistance which he has so kindly rendered in reading the whole of this book when in proof.

Sardar Bahadur S.W. Laden La, Chief of Police, Darjeeling, who sent me to Gangtok with a Ictter of introduction to the late Lama Kazi Dawa-Samdup, the translator of the Bardo Thodol; Dr. Johan Van Manen, Secretary of the Asiatic Society, Calcutta, who lent me Tibetan books which proved very helpful while the translation was taking shape, and who afterwards contributed advice concerning translations; and Dr. Cassius A. Pereira, of Colombo, Ceylon, who criticized parts of the Introduction in the light of Theravada Buddhism, are among many others to whom my thanks are due.

Thus, under the best of auspices, this book is sent forth to the world, in the hope that it may contribute something to the sum total of Right Knowledge, and serve as one more spiritual strand in an unbreakable bond of good will and universal peace, binding East and West together in mutual respect and understanding, and in love such as overleaps every barrier of creed and caste and race. W. Y. E-W.

Jesus Cottece, OxForp,
Easter, 1927.

I. RENUNCIATION

“Get thee away from life-lust, from conceit,

From ignorance, and from distraction’s craze ;

Sunder the bonds; so only shalt thou come

To utter end of Ill. Throw off the Chain

Of birth and death—thou knowest what they mean.

So, free from craving, in this life on earth,

Thou shalt go on thy way calm and serene.’—The Buddha.
Psalms of the Early Buddhists, 1. Wi

(Mrs. Rhys Davids’ Translation).

Hl. VICTORY

‘But anguish crept upon me, even me,

Whenas I pondered in my little cell:

Ah me! how have I come into this evil road.

Into the power of Craving have I strayed!

Brief is the span of life yet left to me;

Old age, disease, hang imminent to crush.

Now ere this body perish and dissolve,

Swift let me be; no time have I for sloth.

And contemplating, as they really are,

The Aggregates of Life that come and go,

I rose and stood with mind emancipate!

For me the Buddha’s words had come to pass’.—
Mittakali, a Brahmin Bhikbhuni.

Psalms of the Early Buddhists, I, xliii
(Mrs. Rhys Davids’ Translation).

COME NTS

PREFACE
ILLUSTRATIONS

FOREWORD: The Science of Death, by Sir John Woodroffe .

INTRODUCTION

I.

II. iF

The Importance of the ee Thodol . < ae fs

The Symbolism

The Esoteric Significance of the — Nine — of the

Bardo .

. The Esoteric Significance of the Five Elements . The Wisdom Teachings

. The Death Ceremonies

. The Bardo, or After-Death State

. The Psychology of the Bardo Visions

. The Judgement

. The Rebirth Doctrine .

. The Cosmography

. The Fundamental Teachings Summarized

. The Manuscript

. The Origin of the Bardo Thédol . . The Translating and the Editing .

BOOK ad

THE CAlkaAl BARDO AND THE
CHONYID BARDO

The Psychology of the Bardo Visions

. The Judgement

. The Rebirth Doctrine .

. The Cosmography

. The Fundamental Teachings Summarized

. The Manuscript

. The Origin of the Bardo Thédol . . The Translating and the Editing .

BOOK ad

THE CAlkaAl BARDO AND THE
CHONYID BARDO

THE OBEISANCES

THE INTRODUCTION

The Transference of the Censsneneess pees
The Reading of this Thédol .

The Practical Application of this Thodol By the Omsen .

xiV CONTENTS

Pak ol

THE BARDO OF THE MOMENTS OF DEATH

INSTRUCTIONS ON THE SYMPTOMS OF DEATH, OR
THE FIRST STAGE OF THE CH/IKHAI BARDO: THE
PRIMARY CLEAR LIGHT SEEN AT THE MOMENT
OF DEATH

INSTRUCTIONS CONCERNING THE SECOND , STAGE OF THE CHIKHAI BARDO: THE SECONDARY CLEAR LIGHT SEEN IMMEDIATELY AFTER DEATH

Peo vL

THE BARDO OF THE EXPERIENCING
OF GREATLY

INTRODUCTORY INSTRUCTIONS CONCERNING THE EXPERIENCING OF REALITY DURING THE THIRD STAGE OF THE BARDO, CALLED THE CHONYID BARDO, WHEN THE KARMIC APPARITIONS AP- PEAR . .

THE DAWNING OF THE PEACEFUL DEITIES, FROM
THE FIRST TO THE SEVENTH DAY : :
The First Day
The Second Day .
The Third Day
The Fourth Day
The Fifth Day
The Sixth Day
The Seventh Day .

THE DAWNING OF TIIE WRATHFUL DEITIES, FROM
THE EIGHTH TO THE FOURTEENTH DAY .
Introduction .
The Eighth Day
The Ninth Day
The Tenth Day
The Eleventh Day
The Twelfth Day .
The Thirteenth Day
The Fourteenth Day

THE CONCLUSION, SHOWING THE FUNDAMENTAL
IMPORTANCE OF THE BARDO TEACHINGS

p. 89

oF

IolI

TO4
TO5
108
LIO
IIl2
TI5
118
126

131
131
136
138
138
139
140
141
Le Fs)

p. 151

CONTENTS

BOOK II

PAE S/DPA BARDO

. THE OBEISANCES INTRODUCTORY VERSES

PARI A

THE AFTER-DEATH WORLD

nt LBAKDO BODY: ITS BIRTH AND ITS SUPER- NORMAL FACULTIES : :

GUARACTERISIMICS OF EXISTENCE IN THE INTER- MEDIATE STATE 5 > ae fe ee :

THE JUDGEMENT

THE ALL-DETERMINING INFLUENCE OF THOUGHT .

THE DAWNING OF THE LIGHTS OF THE SIX ZOKAS.

Pak 1!

THE PROCESS OF REBIRTH

THE CLOSING OF THE DOOR OF THE WOMB
Method of Preventing Entry into a Womb
The First Method of Closing the Womb-Door .
The Second Method of Closing the Womb-Door
The Third Method of Closing the Womb-Door .
The Fourth Method of Closing the Womb-Door
The Fifth Method of Closing the Womb-Door ,
THE CHOOSING OF THE WOMB-DOOR
The Premonitory Visions of the Place of Rebirth
The Protection against the Tormenting Furies .
THE ALTERNATIVE CHOOSING: SUPERNORMAL
BIRTH; OR WOMB-BIRTH .
Supernormal Birth by Transference to a patie oe
Womb-Birth: the Return to the Human World

THE GENERAL CONCLUSION

ESD
155

175
176
176
TY
178
180
18x

183
183
185

188
189
Igo
193

xvi CONTENTS

THE APEEMiirs.
I. THE INVOCATION OF THE BUDDHAS AND
BODHISATTVAS

Il. ‘THE PATH OF GOOD WISHES FOR SAVING FROM
THE DANGEROUS NARROW PASSAGE-WAY OF
THE SAKRDO : , . ‘

Ill. “THE ROOT VERSES OF THE SIX 2ARnDCS:

IV. ‘THE PATH OF GOOD WISHES WHICH PROTECT- ETH FROM FEAR IN THE BARDO’

V. THE COLOPHON

ADDENDA

I. THE INVOCATION OF THE BUDDHAS AND
BODHISATTVAS

Il. ‘THE PATH OF GOOD WISHES FOR SAVING FROM
THE DANGEROUS NARROW PASSAGE-WAY OF
THE SAKRDO : , . ‘

Ill. “THE ROOT VERSES OF THE SIX 2ARnDCS:

IV. ‘THE PATH OF GOOD WISHES WHICH PROTECT- ETH FROM FEAR IN THE BARDO’

V. THE COLOPHON

ADDENDA

I YOGA
II. TANTRICISM
HI. MANTRAS, OR WORDS OF POWER

IV. THE GURU AND SHISHYA il ae" AND
INITIATIONS :

V. REALITY

VI. NORTHERN AND SOUTHERN BUDDHISM AND
CHRISTIANITY ee :

VIL. THE MEDIEVAL CHRISTIAN "JUDGEMENT

INDEX

p. 197

p. 202

p. 205

Web vstkATIONS

I. THE TRANSLATOR AND THE EDITOR . preceding Plate II

From a photograph of the Translator and the Editor in Tibetan dress, taken in Gangtok, Sikkim, during the year 1919.

II. FOLIOS 35a AND 672 OF THE BARDO THODOL MS.
Frontispiece

A photographic reproduction (about two-thirds of the original size).
In the original the illuminations are in colour (now much faded)
painted on the folios (cf. p. 68).

The painting on the upper folio illustrates, with the colours, emblems, and orientation in strict accord with the traditions of Tibetan monastic art, the description in the text of the united mandalas, or divine conclaves, of the Peaceful Deities of the First to the Sixth Day of the Bardo that dawn thus in one complete conclave on the Sixth Day (cf. pp. 118-26). In the central circle (Centre) is the Dhyani Buddha Vairochana, embraced by his shakt:, or divine spouse, the Mother of Infinite Space. In the next circle, each likewise embraced by his shat, are the four Dhyani Buddhas, who, with Vairochana, constitute the mazdala of the Five Dhyani Buddhas. In the outermost circle are typical Bodhisattvas and other deities who accompany the Five Dhyani Buddhas (cf. pp. 118-20); and in the four small outer circles the four female Door-Keepers of the complete conclave (cf. p. 120).

The painting on the lower folio similarly illustrates, in colours, emblems, and orientation, the united mandalas of the Wrathful Deities of the Eighth to the Fourteenth Day that dawn thus in one complete conclave on the Fourteenth Day (cf. pp. 143-6). In the cruciform design at the centre are the three-headed Herukas of the Buddha, Vajra, Ratna, Padma, and Karma Order, each with his shakti, that dawn, mandala by mandala, from the Eighth to the Twelfth Day (cf. pp. 136-41). The outer circle contains representations of the various animal-headed deities that dawn on the Thirteenth and the Fourteenth Day (cf. pp. 141-6). In the four small outer circles are the Four Yoginis of the Door (cf. pp. 145-6).

The translation of the text on the two folios is indicated by special markings on pages I20 and 144.

Il]. EFFIGY OF THE DEAD PERSON ee mae One a8 A reproduction (slightly reduced) of a copy of a Tibetan printed Chang-ku paper.

3069 ¢ xviii ILLUSTRATIONS

IV. THE GREAT MANDALA OF THE PEACEFUL DEITIES facing p. 118