Luminous Emptiness: A Guide to the Tibetan Book of the Dead

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The
Tibetan
Book of the Dead,

a best-seller for three decades, is one of the most widely read texts of
Tibetan Buddhism. Over the years, it has been studied and cherished by
Buddhists and non-Buddhists alike.
Luminous
Emptiness
is
a detailed guide to this classic work, elucidating its mysterious concepts,
terms, and imagery. Fremantle relates the symbolic world of the
Tibetan
Book of the Dead
to
the experiences of everyday life, presenting the text not as a scripture for
the dying, but as a guide for the living.

According
to the Buddhist view, nothing is permanent or fixed. The entire world of our
experience is constantly appearing and disappearing at every moment. Using
vivid and dramatic imagery, the
Tibetan
Book of the Dead
presents
the notion that most of us are living in a dream that will continue from
lifetime to lifetime until we truly awaken by becoming enlightened. Here,
Fremantle, who worked closely with Chögyam Trungpa on the 1975 translation
of the
Tibetan
Book of the Dead
,
brings the expertise of a lifetime of study to rendering this intriguing
classic more accessible and meaningful to the living.

Luminous
Emptiness
features
in-depth explanations of:

The
Tibetan Buddhist notions of death and rebirth

The
meaning of the five energies and the five elements in Tibetan Buddhism

The
mental and physical experience of dying, according to the Tibetan Buddhist
tradition