Tibetan Book of the Dead.. Hindu Equivalant?

Tirisilex · January 9, 2006

Are there instructions about death and dying in Hinduism as it is in Buddhism? Do they have similar views?

January 9, 2006

bhagavad gita as it is.

www.vedabase.com

January 9, 2006

as it is

chapter 2 verse's 11, 12 and 13.

www.http://www.iskcon.com/books/bg/bg.php?ch=2

January 9, 2006

The Bardo Thodol or TBD is really written from the point of view of high level Buddhist thought, perception and goals and by Buddhists for Buddhists.

But theirs is hardly the only view point. It is very subjective due to the formation of the mind's of those practictioners. IOW one will see and experience what one is trained to see.

Notice how at various transitional states one passes through in the between (term used for the time/space between death and rebirth in the book) the soul is presented with an oppurtunity to escape samsara and rebirth entirely.

That escape is of course the goal of Buddhism whether in or out of a gross material body.

Just as there is no consciousness of a Personal God for them while embodied after death it is still not a focus. So an advanced Buddhist may go through death and rebirth without paying much attention to the outer details of the experience. Or an Advaitin may similarily be concentrating on the Brahman beyond all the subtle variety of those astral planes.

A devotee would have yet a different experience. Just as all three see this same world we live in here in unique ways we would see the experience of the Bardols differently.

Even within "Hinduism" different schools would have their different slants. Not that one is correct and another incorrect just that they focused on different aspects of the state between in their unique ways. Some perhaps more complete or finely tuned than others but not really nullifying the others experience.

So what our ultimate goal is and how we train our mind in this predeath time will determine that. So there may be many books but which one will help you in your goal? What is our goal? do we know?

If one wants to acquire love for Krishna and eternal consciousness of Him then that should be prepared for in this body and it will carry over as he passes. So a devotee trained under an advanced devotee would be well served to cautious about the writing of other schools as it may misdirect him.

Srila Prabhupada did not spend much energy on describing the between worlds. His was a focus on raising the lost immortals of the temporary material worlds back to the land beyond birth and death so he concentrated on the person of Krishna and how to reestablish our relationship with Him.

There are many metaphysical books from hindu authors and I wouldn't be surprised if there was a rough equivalent of the TBD.