The Tibetan Book of the Dead is the most famous Buddhist text in the West, selling more than a million copies since it was first published in English in 1927. What is this book about? The Tibetan Book of the Dead for Beginners discusses the details of the after-death state and is considered a guide to living and dying as originally taught by the master from Oddiyana, Padmasambhava. He, along with others, established Buddhism in Tibet during the eighth century and most Tibetans consider him as a "second Buddha". There is discussion on the consciousness that continues to exist between one life and the next and how a person’s life and surviving loved ones can influence it through meditation and prayer. A chapter talks about mindfulness and meditation practices for attaining compassion and wisdom, the keys to a good life, and rebirth. A section covers how to support the dying, helping distant loved ones, and preparing for a good death, finally, ending with a discussion of rebirth as a natural phenomenon. There are many helpful insights into the subject of death and dying no matter what one’s religious beliefs are. In general, this book is an empowering guide to Buddhist philosophy and practices on death and dying.

Thank you to NetGalley, the author and publisher for a copy of this eARC in exchange for an honest review.
As someone who has always been fascinated with death and dying I found this book to be an easy well informed read with some very thought provoking passages. I am going to be delving further into the Tibetan ways.

The authors of this book seek to communicate the essence of The Tibetan Book of the Dead, the classic Buddhist text which they characterize as esoteric and inaccessible to most. I think they achieve what they set out to do. A number of Buddhist concepts are clarified, including “karma”, “no self”, and what Zen Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh called “interbeing”—the idea that nothing exists independently; everything is connected to and dependent on other things. The authors identify the six bardos—gaps, time periods, junctures at which liberation from suffering is possible—but they are most interested in the dying process and “the bardo of luminosity”, which consciousness passes through in the 49 days after physical death.

For Tibetan Buddhists, a good death—a calm, peaceful transition—is highly desirable. It predisposes one to an auspicious rebirth. To be clear, while I find all of this anthropologically interesting, I am not a Buddhist and I cannot say I believe it. However, I do think many of the practices the authors describe—following one’s breath, meditation, living a good life, overcoming the fear of death, and being there for a dying person—are very helpful.

For me, this is a solid 3.5 book. It is calmly and plainly written, and it contains practicable guidance. I have no idea why we are all here, why we have the consciousness we do. We are part of a vast mystery. Buddhism provides one narrative about what’s going on. I have a hard time buying it, but I find I can’t judge or dismiss, only admit I simply do not know.

This book fascinated me. I had heard about The Tibetan Book of the Dead for years and found the title intriguing but I had never really investigated it, so I thought this book for beginners would give me a good overview of the 8th century text - and it did I think. The book is basically a set of teachings that will help a dying person pass from death to one of the bardos (the state between life and death) and into rebirth. I found the principles apply to any religion and could help anyone in their life of with their death. The teachings could apply to anything and stress compassion, wisdom, kindness and meditation so that you can live in the present and clear your thoughts to focus on what is happening now. Short prayers and mantras are given as well as examples of certain situations. I found the book enlightening. Certainly a different view of death than what I am familiar with.

Thanks to Sounds True Publishing through Netgalley for an advance copy. This book will be published on June 27, 2023.

This highly readable, interesting, and informative book shares wisdom on death, dying, and preparation for rebirth of the consciousness from the perspective of Tibetan Buddhism.

I have always been curious about The Tibetan Book of the Dead and when I saw this "for Beginners" version, I knew I had to read it. I'm glad I did! This has whetted my desire to learn more.

My sincere thanks to Sounds True Publishing for permitting me to access a DRC via NetGalley. This paperback version is scheduled to be released on 6/27/23. All opinions expressed in this review are my own and are freely given.

I am not an expert on Buddhism but I found this book a little dogmatic and not nuanced enough. I quit after it started to link near death experience to science and Buddhism. I read a few books on Buddhism before and it was much more open and reasonable.

A very well done book on an interesting subject. It walks the read through all the thoughts and teachings in a well constructed yet easy to read manner.

This lovely little book is a commentary on the Tibetan Buddhist sacred text, the book of the Dead. The Tibetan Buddhist approach to death We acknowledged that the prospect of death motivates us to live a happy life. Living with joy enables us to approach death with confidence and ease. Death becomes a smooth, natural and peaceful process as we transition into our next reincarnation. Discusses karma, our sense of self, bardos ((intermediate states between death and consciousness), dealing with a dying person, death practices (prowa) , and developing wisdom. This book should be read by anyone dealing with a dying loved one