This course will “translate” this ancient masterpiece into contemporary terms, and reveal its vast and immediate applicability in modern life.The Book of the Dead is just as much a guide for how to live, and equally The Tibetan Book of Birth.

This course will focus on the first of the three death bardos, or “transitional processes,” that structure the Tibetan Book of the Dead: the painful bardo of dying. By understanding The Book, we can transform death into a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. The bardo teachings proclaim that if we are prepared, there are more opportunities for rapid spiritual evolution in death than there are in life. Upon close reading, The Book is a condensation of the heart-essence of Buddhism, so this course serves as an introduction to the core teachings of this tradition.