The Hidden History of the Tibetan Book of the Dead

by Cuevas, Bryan J.

• ISBN13: 9780195154139
• ISBN10: 0195154134
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2003-03-27
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

In 1927, Oxford University Press published the first western-language translation of a collection of Tibetan funerary texts (the Great Liberation upon Hearing in the Bardo) under the title The Tibetan Book of the Dead. Since that time, the work has established a powerful hold on the westernpopular imagination, and is now considered a classic of spiritual literature. Over the years, The Tibetan Book of the Dead has inspired numerous commentaries, an illustrated edition, a play, a video series, and even an opera. Translators, scholars, and popular devotees of the book have claimed toexplain its esoteric ideas and reveal its hidden meaning. Few, however, have uttered a word about its history. Bryan J. Cuevas seeks to fill this gap in our knowledge by offering the first comprehensive historical study of the Great Liberation upon Hearing in the Bardo, and by grounding it firmlyin the context of Tibetan history and culture. He begins by discussing the many ways the texts have been understood (and misunderstood) by westerners, beginning with its first editor, the Oxford-educated anthropologist Walter Y. Evans-Wentz, and continuing through the present day. The remarkablefame of the book in the west, Cuevas argues, is strikingly disproportionate to how the original Tibetan texts were perceived in their own country. Cuevas tells the story of how The Tibetan Book of the Dead was compiled in Tibet, of the lives of those who preserved and transmitted it, and exploresthe history of the rituals through which the life of the dead is imagined in Tibetan society. This book provides not only a fascinating look at a popular and enduring spiritual work, but also a much-needed corrective to the proliferation of ahistorical scholarship surrounding The Tibetan Book of theDead.

Author Biography

Bryan J. Cuevas is Assistant Professor of Buddhist and Tibetan Studies in the Department of Religion at Florida State University.

Table of Contents

A Note on Tibetan Words	xi
1. Introduction: The Saga of The Tibetan Book of the Dead	3	(24)
ONE DEATH AND THE DEAD
2. Beginnings: Funeral Ritual in Ancient Tibet	27	(12)
3. Transitions: The Buddhist Intermediate State	39	(30)
4. From Death to Disposal	69	(12)
TWO PROPHECY, CONCEALMENT, REVELATION
5. Prophecies of the Lotus Guru	81	(10)
6. A Tale of Fathers and Sons	91	(10)
7. The Gampodar Treasures	101	(19)
8. The Third Generation	120	(17)
THREE TRADITIONS IN TRANSFORMATION
9. Traditions in Eastern Tibet	137	(21)
10. Traditions in Central and Southern Tibet	158	(21)
FOUR TEXT AND CONSOLIDATION
11. Rikzin Nyima Drakpa, Sorcerer from Kham	179	(26)
12. Conclusion: Manuscripts and Printed Texts	205	(12)
Notes	217	(54)
Bibliography	271	(32)
List of Tibetan Spellings	303	(9)
Index	312