The Tibetan Book Of The Dead

Informative insight into Buddhism and their views on death. You don't have to be a devout follower to enjoy this as the theories on death are enlightening and important. All helped greatly by the dulcet tones of the remarkable Leonard Cohen.

If you like buddhism, if you like tibet , if you like leonard, then this will satisfy all. But seriously, this beutifully done real life exploration of Tibetan Buddhsit view and understanding of the living and dying process that we are all part of, is wonderful. Not sentimental, not religious, just open honest upfront exploration of how one can approach our enevitable death before and after the event. None of the lets hide it away, not discuss death at all until it sneaks in the back door, western attitude here. Just plain , full frontal in your face raw life. What else to say, that is enough for any one, a must for any being, i believe.

A man is dying in a Tibetan village. The lama and his young apprentice monk come to the house to read Bardo Thodol or the 'Tibetan Book of the Dead' and perform the last rites. Unique photography shows the family's mourning and Buddhist beliefs are clearly explained. Special effects are a bit trite, and there isn't very much development. But if you'd like to know more about the Tibetan traditions and beliefs, this title is highly recommended.

THE TIBETIAN BOOK OF THE DEAD was not what I had expected, although I did learn a lot of new ideas. It is a documentary on how the Tibetians think about death and dying and the rituals surrounding that. I found it amazing that such a highly revered group of people can believe that you could become an animal in your next birth depending on how you've lived your present birth. I thought we brought our personality (sanskaras) with us in our new bodies, not that our bodies changed into an animal species.

This is just a difference of opinion. Overal the film is very well presented with lots of shots of Buddhist life, countryside, dress.

Am giving it 3 stars because it was pretty sombre and the narrator had a boring voice.

There are two short films on this disc, both of which look at the way Tibetans’ buddhist faith directs them to deal with death.

In the first, a family mourn the death of an old man while a local monk turns up to help out with the death rites. This involves reading to the dead man from the Tibetan Book of the Dead while his consciousness, still with a functioning ear awareness, wanders the bardo – a kind of nightmare realm we spend 49 days in before rebirth.

In the second, a teenage monk begins learning about the bardo and helps his mentor again, perform death rites - this time for a businessman who died prematurely and spent too much time with his worldly concerns and did nothing to develop his mind – a great shame from the buddhist point of view.

Narrator Leonard Cohen’s voice is rich and soothing and well suited to profundity.

This is a nice insight into traditional practice in tibet – i’d say its very useful for anyone practising buddhism as a westerner to see the cultural roots of our faith. Also good for someone interested in the Buddhist beliefs connected to life, death and rebirth.

I loved one of the final lines, the mentor’s advice to the young monk: seek the truth, practise compassion and keep your sense of humour.