The Great Liberation (Tibetan Book of the Dead)

Wisdom Quarterly; HCLivess

A presentation of NHK Japan, Mistral Films of France, and the National Film Board of Canada

  

The Great Liberation

This is a companion piece to The Tibetan Book of the Dead, a Way of Life. It is a short film that centers around the premature death of a 42-year-old man in the Himalayas. He has returned to his family from a long journey and is suddenly stricken with an unknown illness. The film serves as a practical introduction to the Tibetan Book of the Dead with stunning visuals from Buddhist India high in the Himalayan province of Ladakh. The area, near the Tibetan border, is home to a unique form of Buddhism known variously as Vajrayana, Tantrayana, and Lamaism. It is mixed with an indigenous pre-Buddhist shamanistic tradition known as Bon. It survives in spite of Chinese desecration of Tibet because it was once spread throughout various Himalayan Buddhist kingdoms such as Bhutan, Sikkim, Nepal, Mustang, Ladakh, and Shangri-la.  

• Native Americans and Buddhism 
• Buddhist nun shares the sound of music
• You and that heavy metal music of yours
• Finding Common Cause with Chinese Buddhists

World Buddhist Forum (china.org.cn)

(SCPR.org, 4th of 5 parts) In recent years, China's communist government has taken a new, proactive approach to religion. In particular, it has bolstered support for Buddhism, which provides needed charity work and financial aid -- and also serves as a counterweight to the explosion of Christianity in China.... This was the first World Buddhist Forum, attended by more than 1,000 monks, and held in China. Never before had the officially atheist country sponsored such a large religious conference. Tensions still remain in Beijing's relationship to Tibetan Buddhism, particularly given believers' loyalty to their exiled spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama.

Read More

Life After Death: A Zen Response.

A samurai once asked Zen Master Hakuin where he would go after he died. Hakuin answered 'How am I supposed to know?' 'How do you not know? You're a Zen master!' exclaimed the samurai. 'Yes, but not a dead one,' Hakuin answered.

James: What Master Hakuin understood was that so long as this samurai was obsessed with what happens after death, (if anything) he might as well already be dead. In clinging to worries about death, he is dead to the present moment. Therefore, the samurai is not able to experience and enjoy the vibrant life that is already unfolding around him!! Why concern yourself with an existence after this one if you're not even experiencing the current one?!! This is why Zen doesn't focus too intently on afterlife.

It advises people to live each moment as though it were their last, which leads us to live a life of greater awareness of our actions; and that causes less suffering for us and those around us. In this way, we will live a healthier spiritual life to where any concerns or fears about a possible afterlife will naturally fade away.

PHOTO: The altar where I meditate at home.

~may all beings know peace~

Read More