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Thomas Kelly  > BOOK PUBLISHED > The Tibetan Book of the Dead
The Tibetan Book of the Dead or, Bardo Todol is one of the great classics of Tibetan literature. The present volume is a fresh look at this timeless classic. It brings together a range of stunning images by the renowned photographer Thomas Kelly; with a contextual analysis and abridged translation by the ubiquitous Tibetologist Glenn H. Mullin.

As Such the Bardo Todol is as relevant as a guidebook to daily (and nightly) living as it is to a successful death and transmigration. Thomas Kelly’s photographs bring this great Tibetan classic to life, and draw the reader into a deeper sense of the spiritual environment in which The Tibetan Book of the Dead exists.


This book is available at Thomas Kelly’s office @ Kathmandu, Nepal.
Place your order at:
tkelly@photo.wlink.com.np
TeleFax# 977-01-443-8883,
# 977-01-4431-954
Moblie # 977-98510-26738
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The Tibetan Book of Dead
Lord of the charnel grounds.
Surrendering fearlessly to the inevitability of death, we discover, paradoxically an open dimension in which birth and death are taking place around us all the time. Vividly dramatizing the unceasing display of life and death, the lords of the charnel grounds symbolize not impending oblivion but the deathless nature of our innermost being. Stripped of the impediments of the flesh, the dancing, grinning skeletons celebrate our naked, imperishable essence liberated from all attachments and obstructions.
Cham Dance. Katok 

In Cham dances spectators see either the reenactment of sacred historical events or the continual transformation of volatile psychic forces. In Tantric Buddhism these shadow energies are not suppressed or rejected but turned to the service of wisdom and compassion.
Prostrations, Phuntsoling. Tibet. tif.

Where will you go after death?
What will you become? No certainity!
Not having the strength of realized mind
Will death not terrify you?
-The Seventh Dalai Lama,
ÒThe Song of Essential PreceptsÓ
Buddhist fresco, Phuntsoling Monastery, Central Tibet. 

Student: What caused the war between the Chinese and the Buddhists?
Trungpa Rinpoche: Well, the Communists donÕt like meditation practice. They
think it is a waste of time. They think that people should be working all the time. Meditation produces too much personal strength. The communists want to produce  group strength, not personal strength. They do not believe in the basic goodness of the group. ThatÕs why it is called communism; thatÕs it a nutshell.
Kushinigar. Death, India.

Just as death and impermanence was BuddhaÕs first teaching, it was also his first one. Some forty-five years after his enlightment he announced that he had completed his lifeÕs works, and requested that his principal disciples meet with him in Kushinigar in order to be with him during his final days. On the day of his passing he delivered a final discourse to the gathering, entered meditation, and with full awareness departed from this world.
Old Tibetan Buddhist nun. Solukhumbu, Everest region Nepal.
Humla Shamans in prayer. Manasarovar. Tibet. The Budhist dhamis believe there is an underwater kingdom beneath the lakeÕs surface where sea sheep and water yaks dwell. If their intentions are pure, they will be endowed with spiritual blessings; if not, they could be dragged under the water and will be lost in the underwater kingdom for eternity.
The Mirror of Death- Aging Nun gazes into mirror, Swayambhu, Nepal.

Holding dorje and bell, an aging nun gazes into a mirror, Swayambhu, Kathmandu, Nepal. ÔWhen you really look into the nature of death, it is like a mirror in which the true meaning of life is reflected. The changes or small deaths that occur so frequently in our lives are a living link with death, prompting us to let go and revelaing the possibility of seeing, in that gap, the sky-like, empty, open space of the true nature of our mind. In the transition and uncertainity of change lies the opportunity for awakeningÓ. 
                                                                            -Sogyal Rinpoche
                                                                          ÒThe Mirror of DeathÓ
The Tibetan Book of Dead
The Tibetan Book of Dead
The Tibetan Book of Dead
Nikon COOLPIX S220 |
More details: exif |
Original size: 657x717 |
Current: 550x600 |
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