The Tibetan Book of the Dead - 1

[markings]

COMMON PRELIMINARY PRACTICE

O, Alas! Alas! Fortunate Child of Buddha Nature,
Do not be oppressed by the forces of ignorance and delusion!
But rise up now with resolve and courage!
Entranced by ignorance, from beginningless time until now,
You have had [more than] enough time to sleep.
So do not slumber any longer, but strive after virtue with body, speech and mind!

[sparklekaz]

Beautiful words and very wise markings. I have started reading the Tibetan Book of Living and Dying. I am moving through it slowly, as there is a lot to digest, but it is one of the most profound books I have read so far, and it touches something in me that knows it to be true.

I would be interested to hear more from The Tibetan Book Of The Dead, and your thoughts on it so far.

Love and light
Kaz

[markings]

I have read Tibetan Book of Living and Dying some years ago, brilliant in its own right.

The Tibetan Book of the Dead is rightfully considered to be a treasure for humanity and I am very glad that a complete translation has bee published and not just the selected extracts of what someone else considers to be important.

In the course of my postings we will look into the essence of core Buddhist teachings. Tibetan Buddhism is fascinating because it can become incomprehensibly esoteric while still retaining a sense of keeping in contact with the ground. It is probably this groundedness which allows it to fly high into realms rarely explored.

[markings]

"Fortunate Child of Buddha Nature"

Human existence is the most advanced state a being can be born into within cyclic existence. To be born into this realm is also the most rare occurrance. To illustrate how rare it is there is this story:

Imagine the oceans of the world and in this vast expanse swims a turtle. This turtle is an exceptional animal because it only needs to surface for a breath of air every one hundred years.
Somewhere on the surface of these oceans floats a large wooden board with a big hole in it. To be born as a human has similar likelyhood as that of the turtle coming up for air with its head sticking through the hole in the wooden board.

Human life is therefore precious beyond imagination. At the same time it also present the best opportunity for liberation.

No wonder that we are urged to use this life in the best way possible.

[sparklekaz]

What a lovely story Markings. I was surprised by your words, that being born human is so rare. I guess I assumed because we are so prolific, it must be a regular occurrence. I think we do take our humanity very much for granted, something like this actually stops you in your tracks and makes you think.

Then you ask yourself the question, at least I have.. 'am I really making the most of this wonderful opportunity I have been given'. I have been trying very hard over the last two or three years to work on my self. To gain a better understanding of the human condition and our spiritual essence. But is definitely a 'work in progress'. Every time I think I am making some progress, I then realise how little I know. I am also in awe of the wonder of it all.

Thank you for sharing.

Love and light
Kaz

[clara927]

Hello Markings,

Thank you for starting this post. I've been interested in Tibetan Buddhism for a while and I look forward to your posts on this topic in the future.

-Clara

[markings]

Compared to the number of animals, fish, bugs and other critters which may exists, the number of humans must be quite insignificant and thus 'rare'.

On the other hand, compared to them, the potential and possibilities open to us humans is immeasurably greater. Few, if any, could develop all our potential to the full extent. We seem to have to select where we want to grow, especially if we want to take it to the level of mastery.
Progress on a personal level seems to be exceedingly slow to the point of discouragement. Our culture is not very supportive towards certain accomplishments which makes it difficult to deal with such phases.

As far as knowing is concerned I take solace from this distinction between a physicist and a meta-physicist I came across some years ago.
"The physicist tries to know more about something. The only way to do that is to specialize. So we could say that the physicist tries to know more and more about less and less until he knows everything about nothing.
The meta-physicist works in the opposite manner. He tries to know less and less about more and more until he knows nothing about everything."