The Tibetan Book of the Dead

Jim's interest in the esoteric traditions of Tibetan Buddhism inspired my own reading and research. After his death, I carried out a ritual for five days, drawing both from The Tibetan Book of the Dead as well as a very different tradition from The Book of Five Rings, concepts that were both very different and yet compatible. The readings from the first book are supposed to aid the departed on the journey through existence.

 

Day 1: Fire.

This was a day for preparation. I tried to light a fire in a firepit next to our garden, but the fire kept going out. I read out loud from Chapter 4 of the Tibetan Book of the Dead, "The Introduction to Awareness: Natural Liberation through Naked Perception." The metaphors of Fire, Water, and so on are from The Book of Five Rings.

Day 2: Water.

I stood outside under our shelter while a cold rain fell. I read from Chapter 11, "The Great Liberation by Hearing."

Day 3: Earth.

Standing in the midst of our garden, I read from Chapter 7, "Natural Liberation through Acts of Confession."

Day 4: Air.

Standing in the middle of our living room, surrounded by our memories of over 30 years in this house that itself is nearly a hundred years old, I read from Chapter 14, "Liberation by Wearing: Natural Liberation of the Psycho-physical Aggregates."

Day 5: Emptiness.

As the sun set, the fire caught. I tore the page from The Tibetan Book of the Dead with the image of a mandala and reduced it to ashes.

- Jeff -