The Tibetan Book of the Dead is one of the great texts of the wisdom traditions. It is also one of the most cryptic and impenetrable. This course will “translate” this ancient masterpiece into contemporary terms, and reveal its vast and immediate applicability in modern life. The Book of the Dead is just as much a guide for how to live, and equally The Tibetan Book of Birth.
What is the secret history of this timeless text? Why is it so hard to understand? How can I use The Book to prepare for death, and to live a more fulfilling life? This course will unpack the three death bardos, or “intervals,” that await us at the end of life, and that constitute the journey through the book itself. We will discover that bardos are everywhere, and that by working with the small bardos now we will prepare for the big one at the end of life.
The Book of the Dead is fundamentally a meditation manual, and this course presents the central practices that underlie the book, and that prepare you for your final journey. Death (letting go) is something you can practice now. Breathtaking in its profundity, bewildering in its complexity, and applicable to anything that ends, this classic tome will become your companion after this course, and guide you through life’s most challenging moments with confidence and grace.
