Becker Journal of Near Death Studies_1989 8-59-64

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B O O K R E V I E W

Carl B. Becker, Ph.D.

T s u k u b a U n i v e r s i t y

D e a t h I n t e r m e d i a t e S t a te a n d R e b i r t h i n T i b e t a n B u d d h i s m b yL a t i R i n b o c h a y a n d J e f f r e y Hopkin s. Ithaca, NY: Snow Lion Press,

1985, 86 pp., 6.95 (pb)

The 1970s were a period of serious inte res t in Tibetan t a n t r a and the

B o o k o f t he D e ad and Jeffrey Hopkins is one of the leading translatorsand expositors of these interest s to America. The renewed interest in

Tibetan problems in 1988, along with the fact tha t th is book has been

republished (the original having been printed in 1979), war ran t taking

another look at this slim but compressed volume. In D e a t h I n t e r m e d i -a t e S t a t e an d Reb i r t h Hopkins has made available to the lay reader a

rare text of potential importance for the understand ing of the Tibetantraditions about death and afterlife.

The origins of the book first need to be placed in context. Like so

much of Sino-Tibetan Buddhism, which claims ancient heritage and

ancestry, this book traces its roots back to Indian patriarchs of Ma-

hayana Buddhism: Nagarjuna and Vasubandhu. Also common to the

Buddhist tradit ion is the fact that it is a commentary upon a commen-

ta ry upon a commentary. Specifically, it is a commenta ry by 20th-century scholars Lati Rinbochay and Je ffrey Hopkins (although it is

never made clear which one is writing what) upon an 18th-century texton the T h r e e B a s i c B o d i e s by the Yellow-hat (dGe-lugs-pa) monk Yang-

jen-ga-way-lo-dro. Yang-jen-ga-way-lo-dro, in turn, wrote the text as a

commentary and exposition to illuminate texts by Tsong-ka-pa, the

Dr. Becker is Assistant Professor of Philosophy at Tsukuba University. Requests for

reprints should be addressed to Dr. Becker at the Insti tute of Philosophy TsukubaUniversi ty Tsukuba City 305 Japan.

Journal of Near-Death Studies, 8(1) Fall 19899 1989 Human Sciences Press 59



60 JOURN AL OF NEAR-DEATH STUDIES

1 5 t h - c e n t u r y f o u n d e r o f t h e d G e - l u g s - p a o rd e r . T s o n g - k a - p a ' s te x t s , i n

t u r n , w e r e b a s e d o n t h e l l t h - c e n t u r y I n d i a n m o n k A t is a 's re n d e r i n g so f V a s u b a n d h u ' s ( 4 t h -c e n t u ry ) a n d N a g a r j u n a ' s ( 2 n d - c e n tu r y ) c o m m e n -

t a r ie s o n t h e A b h i d h a r m a .

T h i s l o n g l i n e a g e i s i n t e n d e d n e i t h e r a s p r a i s e n o r c r it ic i sm , b u t

s i m p l y t o s e t in c o n t e x t t h e b a c k g r o u n d o f t h e t e x t . N o r i s i t n e c e s s a r i l y

a c r i t ic i sm t h a t t h e H o p k i n - R i n b o c h a y c o m m e n t a r y b e a r s b u t d i s t a n t

r e s e m b l a n c e t o o r ig i n a l A b h i d h a r m a d o c t ri n e , fo r i t i s a w i d e l y ac -

c e p t e d p r in c i p l e i n B u d d h i s t t r a d i t io n t h a t t h e c o m m e n t a t o r s e n r i c h

a n d a d v a n c e t h e t e a c h i n g s o v e r t i m e , a n d t h a t l a t e r t e x t s o f t e n e x pl i-

c a t e w h a t t h e B u d d h a a n d h i s f o l lo w e r s h a d n o t d i s c u s se d p u b li c ly . T h ea u t h o r a n d h i s m e t h o d o f c o m m e n t a r y p r e s u p p o se s u b s t a n t i a l f am i l -

i a r i ty w i t h w o r k s o n T i b e t a n B u d d h i s m f or a f u ll u n d e r s t a n d i n g o f t h e

t e x t . T h r o u g h d u a l p r e f a ce s , a n d b y h i s o w n f r e q u e n t i n t e r p o l a t i o n s

a n d f oo t no t es , H o p k i n s a t t e m p t s t o m a k e c l e ar s o m e o f t h e b a c k g r o u n d

a n d u n d e r l y i n g a s s u m p t i o n s t h e t e x t p r e s u p p o s e s .

I n a fo r m a t t h a t i s a l so t y p i c a l o f T i b e t a n a n d S a n s k r i t t e x t s , t h e t e x t

i t s e lf i s a h i g h l y s t r u c t u r e d , a l m o s t e p i g r a m m a t i c o u t l i n e o f r i g o r o u s

p a r a l l e l i s m a n d d e n s e d e s c ri p ti o n . T h i s d e n s i t y o f d e s c r i p ti o n m a y

f r u s t r a t e a r e a d e r w h o i s s e e k i n g a q u i c k o v e r v i e w o f T i b e t a n t e a c h -i n g s , fo r t h e t h i n s p i n e o f t h e b o o k b e l i e s t h e v e r y b r o a d s c o p e o f i t s

m a t e r i a l .

W h e r e Death Intermediate State and Rebirth m a k e s i t s g r e a t e s t

c o n t r i b u t i o n i s n o t to a n u n d e r s t a n d i n g o f t h e Bardo o r s t a t e b e t w e e n

i n c a r n a t i o n s , w h i c h h a s a l r e a d y b e e n m u c h d i s c u s s e d i n o t h e r b o o k s

l i k e t h o s e b y L a u f ( 1 97 6 , 1 9 77 ) a n d E v a n s - W e n t z ( 1 92 7 , 1 93 5 ). R a t h e r ,

i t i s i n t h e f a c t t h a t t h i s t e x t c o v e r s i n s u b s t a n t i a l d e t a i l t h e p r o c e s s o f

d y i n g i ts e lf , a n d t h e p h y s i o l o g i c a l -p s y c h o l o g i c a l s y m p t o m s o r e x p e ri -

e n c e s i n d i c a t iv e o f e a c h s t a g e o f t h a t t r a n s i t i o n . Death IntermediateState and Rebirth r e c o g n iz e s f r o m t h e o u t s e t t h a t d e a t h i s n o t a n

i n s t a n t a n e o u s o c c u rr e nc e , s uc h a s w h e n t h e b r e a t h s to p s o r t h e b r a i n

n o l o n g e r re g i s t e rs . R a t h e r , d e a t h i s s e e n a s a l o n g p r o c e s s t a k i n g

h o u r s o r e v e n d a y s , d u r i n g w h i c h a v a r i e t y o f s e n s a t i o n s a n d e x p e ri -

e n c e s a c c o m p a n y e a c h s u c c e ss i v e s t a g e o f t h e d i s so l u ti o n o f t h e

h u m a n p e r s o n a l i t y f r o m i t s b o d i l y h a b i t a t i o n (p p. 18 ff). In p a r t i c u l a r ,

t h e e i g h t s t a g e s o f d e a t h a r e a c c o m p a n i e d b y t h e f o l lo w i n g e x p e r ie n c e s

r e s p e c t i v e l y :

1. S h r i n k i n g o f t h e l im b s , t h e i m p r e s s i o n o f s i n k in g , a n d s e e i n g a

c l o u d o r m i r a g e .

2 . C e s s a t i o n o f h e a r i n g , d r y i n g o f t h e m o u t h , a n d a n a p p e a r a n c e

o f b l u e b i l l o w i n g s m o k e .



BOOK REVIEW 61

3 . C e s s a t i o n o f s m e l l , c o o li n g o f t h e b o d y , a n d a n a p p e a r a n c e

~ l i k e f i r e f l i e s .4 . C e s s a t i o n o f t a s t e , e n d o f b r e a t h a n d m o v e m e n t , a n d v i s io n a s

o f a s p u t t e r i n g b u t t e r - l a m p .

5 . C e s s a t i o n o f a l l c o n c ep t io n s , a n d v i s i o n o f v a c u o u s e m p t y

w h i t e n e s s l i k e m o o n l i g h t .

6 . E n e r g y m o v i n g f ro m t h e s e x u a l o r g a n t o t h e h e a r t , a n d a r ed -

o r a n g e a p p e a r a n c e a r i s i n g .

7 . H e a r t e n e r g y l o st , c e s s a t i o n o f d u a l i s m , a n d v i s i o n o f r a d i a n t

b l a c k v a c u i t y li k e a u t u m n n i g ht .

8 . B l o o d o r p h l e g m l e a v i n g t h e n o s e o r s e x u a l o r g a n a n d a na p p e a r a n c e o f c l e a r l ig h t .

N o w i t i s n o t c o m p l e t e l y e x p li c i t w h e t h e r t h i s i s a d e s c ri p t iv e o r

p r e s c r i p t i v e a c c o u n t ; i n o t h e r w o r d s , w h e t h e r t h i s i s t a k e n t o b e a t r u e

d e s c r i p t i o n o f w h a t e v e r y o n e n e c e s s a r i ly e x p e r i e n c e s d u r i n g t h e d e a t h

p r oc e ss , o r w h e t h e r w e a r e t o u n d e r s t a n d t h a t m o s t p eo p le s h o u l d p a s s

t h r o u g h s o m e s u c h s t a g e s . T h e r e s e e m s r o o m fo r b r o a d i n t e r p r e t a t i o n

a n d e x c e p ti o n i n t h e c o m m e n t a r y , a n d o f c o u r se t h e a c c o u n t p re s u p -

p o s e s p e o p l e w h o a r e d y i n g n a t u r a l d e a t h s , n o t i n a c c i d e n ts , s e iz u r e s,o r s u d d e n e x p l os io n s . T h e i n t e r e s t i n g p o i n t o f t h i s a c c o u n t , h o w e v e r , is

t h a t i t y i e l d s a ~ 'c h ro n o lo g y o f d e a t h a t l e a s t p o t e n t i a l l y c a p a b l e o f

e m p i r i c a l v e r i f i c a t i o n o r f a l s if i c a t io n . I n s o f a r a s c e r t a i n o f t h e d e s c ri p -

t o r s a r e v i s i b l e b y t h i r d - p a r t y o b s e r v e r s , w e m a y c e r t a i n l y a s k , fo r

e x a m p l e , w h e t h e r i t is in f a c t t h e c a s e t h a t d r y i n g o f t h e m o u t h

p r e c e d e s c o o l i n g o f t h e b o d y , w h i c h i n t u r n p r e c e d e s s t o p p i n g o f b r e a t h .

S e c on d ly , w e m i g h t u s e t h e t e c h n i q u e s a l r e a d y b e g u n b y s o m a n y N D E

r e s e a rc h g r o u p s - i n t e r v i e w i n g t h o se w h o h a v e ~ re tu rn e d f ro m d e a th

o r i ts b r i n k - t o a s k w h e t h e r i n f a c t t h e r e w e r e a s e q u e n c e o f l ig h ts , o rc o lo rs , a n d s e n s a t i o n s t h a t i n a n y w a y p a r a l l e l t h e l is t o f s u b j e c t i v e

s e n s a t i o n s t h a t D e a t h I n t e r m e d i a t e S t a te a n d R e b i r t h w o u l d p r e d i c t .

T h i s c h a l l e n g e a l o n e s e e m s t o b e o n e v a l u a b l e d e r i v a t i v e f r o m t h i s

b o o k . T h e d e s c r i p t i o n a l s o l e a v e s a m p l e r o o m f o r p o s s i b l e r e c o n c i li a -

t i o n w i t h t h e s o r t s o f O B E a n d N D E a c c o u n ts c o m m o n f r o m n e a r - d e a t h

e x p e r i e n c e r s t o d a y .

H o w e v e r , t h e r e a r e t h r e e r e s p e c t s i n w h i c h t h e a c c o u n t s o f t h i s b o o k

a r e s o m e w h a t h a r d t o u n d e r s t a n d : m y t h i c a l , l i n g u i s t ic , a n d c a t e g o ri -

c a l. O f c o u r se , t h e s e a r e n o t t h e f a u l t s o f t h e t r a n s l a t o r s , b u t t h e y m a yp o s e o b s t a c l e s t o t h e u n p r e p a r e d r e a d e r . T h e f i r s t p r o b l e m i s t h a t t h e s e

B u d d h i s t t e s t s , l i k e t h e J u d a e o - C h r i s t i a n B i b l e , c o n t a i n m y t h o l o g i c a l

a c c o u n t s o f e v e n t s t h a t s e e m i n p ri n c i p l e i n c a p a b l e o f p r o v i n g t r u e .

T a k e t h e f o l l o w i n g c o s m o l o g y :



62 JOURNAL OF NEAR-DEATH STUDIES

During the first aeon [after formation of this world system], thehumans of this world had seven features-spontaneous birth, an im-measurable life-span, all sense faculties, a body pervaded by its ownlight, adornment with similitudes of the major and minor marks [of aBuddha], sustenance by the food of oy without eating coarse food, andmagically flying in the sky. However, due to activation of predisposi-tions established by attachment to food, they ate coarse sustenance.Then, when the unrefined part of the food turned into faeces andurine, the male and female organs protruded as openings for excre-tion. Two who possessed predispositions established by copulation informer [lives] became attached to each other and, in dependence ontheir lying together, a sentient being formed in the womb. Through

these steps, birth from a womb came to be. (p. 29)

Some people ma y find the above account more inte rest ing th an the one

in Genesis, and others find it less imagina tive. Ju st as the fundamen-

talists' insistence on the literal truth of Genesis detracts from the

credibil ity of the ir enti re view of the Bible, so a too-doctrinaire inter-

preta tion of this old Buddhi st folk-cosmology tends to cheapen the

germs of tru th in the rest of the accounts of death and the intermediat e

state. Such mythological/cosmological int erludes are not philosophi-

cally impo rtan t to the tr ut h of the discussion of death and dying, and ifanything, tend to detract from it. As scholars do not let criticisms of

Genesis infect their appreciat ion of Acts, so we should not let our

natural incredulity at such Tibetan mythologies obscure the impor-

tance of the testable hypotheses found in other sections of the text.

A second difficulty in und ers tan din g the te xt lies in the linguistic

problems of metaphors in translation. The descriptions of conscious-

ness in post-mortem states are r eplete in metaphor, but the y are not all

the sorts of metaphor s tha t are i ntui tive ly acceptable to a modern

Weste rn mind. The mi nd is continually analogized to a rider, and th e~winds th at pe rmeat e the body are said to be akin to its '~mount. Yet

in what sense there even exist ~winds withi n the body, and wha t

possible me ani ng could be atta ched to a ~mind ... mount ing the m

escapes common English intuition. While the light or sparks from a

butter-lamp may be imaginable, however distant from the everyday

life of a modern English-speaking reader, the four empties Cempty,

very empty, great empty, and all empty ) again transcend common

daily experience and English usage, and there fore seem unclear if not

meaningless. There are a number of cases where the analogies ormetap hors of consciousness and life in the body simply ru n counter-

intuitive to a modern English world-view. I would not go so far as to

thereupon pronounce th em all false or meaningless, nor would I fault

Hopkins in his literal translation, but one might with that more

intuitively understandable English explanations had been included.



BOOK REVIEW 63

A t h i rd d i ff ic u l t y w i t h a n c i e n t S a n s k r i t a n d T i b e t a n t e x t s a g a i n

r a i s e s i t s h e a d i n t h i s o n e: t h e p r o b l e m s o f d i s a n a l o g o u s c a t e g o r i e s a n du n n e c e s s a r y c a t e g o r i e s .

T h e p r o b l e m o f d i s a n a l o g o u s c a t e g o r i e s c a n b e s e e n i n th e e x a m p l e o f

t h e 8 0 c o n c e p ti o n s, w h i c h a r e d i v i d e d i n t u r n i n t o 3 3 o f w h i t e a p p e a r -

a n c e , 4 0 o f r e d i n c r e a s e , a n d 7 o f r a d i a n t b l a c k n e a r - a t t a i n m e n t . I f w e

l o o k a t s o m e o f t h e 4 0 c o n c e p ti o n s, w e s e e t h a t t h e y i n c l u d e: G r e a t J o y ,

M i d d l i n g J o y , a n d S m a l l Jo y ; E m b r a c i n g , K i s s i n g , S u c k i n g ; S t a b i l i t y ,

E f f o rt , P r i d e ; V i r t u e a n d U n t r u t h , e tc . N o w i n E n g l i s h u s a g e , t h e s e d o

n o t r e f e r to t h e s a m e s o r t s o f t h i n g s a t a l l. S o m e a r e a b s t r a c t a n d s o m e

a r e c o n c r e te ; s o m e a p p l y to p e r s o n a l a c t io n , o t h e r s t o p ro p o s i t i o n s , a n do t h e r s t o c h a r a c t e r ; s o m e t h a t s e e m g r a d a b l e a r e u n g r a d e d , a n d s o m e

t h a t s e e m n o t v e r y i n t u i t i v e l y g r a d a b l e , a r e g r a d e d h e r e . I t is n o t c le a r

w h e t h e r t h is i s p r i m a r i ly a p ro b l e m o f t r a n s l a t i o n - t h a t t h e s e t h in g s

a r e r e a l l y a l l o n t h e s a m e l e v e l o f a b s t r a c t i o n i n T i b e t a n , a n d w e

s i m p l y l a c k s u i t a b le E n g l i s h t o m a k e t h e i r a n a l o g o u s n a t u r e c l e a r - o r

p r i m a r i l y a p r o b l e m o f c a t e g o r y c o n f u s i o n e v e n i n t h e o r ig i n a l. I n

e i t h e r c a se , t h e i r p a r a l l e l i n c l u s io n d o e s n o t m a k e t h i n g s a n y e a s i e r fo r

t h e E n g l i s h r e a d e r .

T h e p r o b l e m o f u n n e c e s s a r y c a t e g o r i e s i s c l e a r l y o n e o f t h e o r i g i n a lt ex t( s) a n d n o t o f t h e t r a n s l a to r s . E v e n m o r e t h a n t h e a n c i e n t P y t h a g -

o r e a n s , S a n s k r i t a n d T i b e t a n a u t h o r s l o ve t o m a k e l o n g a n d p a r a l le l

l i s ts o f c a t e g o r ie s . T h e s e s o m e t i m e s s e r v e d a s m n e m o n i c d e v ic e s ; p e r-

h a p s t h e y a l s o g a v e a s e n s e o f f u l l n e s s o r c o m p l e t e n e s s t o a s y s t e m o f

t h o u g h t , a s w h e n a m a t h e m a t i c i a n e s t a b l is h e s a p a r t i c u l a r l y e l e g a n t

p ro o f. F r o m a n A n g l o - A m e r i c a n p o i n t o f v i e w , h o w e v e r , s u c h c a t e g o r i-

z a t i o n l e a d s t o t h e f i l li n g i n o f t a b l e s o f p a r a l l e l a t t r i b u t e s w i t h w o r d s

a n d i d e a s t h a t a r e b a s e d l es s o n em p i r i c a l o b s e r v a t io n t h a n u p o n s o m e

c l a s si c a l s c h o l a r s n o t i o n o f w h a t w o u l d c o n s t i t u t e a c o m p l e t e a n de l e g a n t s y s t e m . T h e c h a r t s o n p a g e s 1 6 - 1 8 a n d 3 3 - 3 4 m a k e t h i s p ar t i c -

u l a r l y c l e a r - a n d p a r t i c u l a r l y s u s p e ct . I t i s r a r e i n n a t u r e t h a t t h e

s a m e c a t e g o r i e s c a n b e f i l l e d o u t a n a l o g o u s l y t o d e s c r i b e a n y t w o

d i f f e r e n t o r g a n i s m s o r s t a g e s o f e x p e r i e n c e . W h e n t h e T i b e t a n c a te g o -

r i e s o f p o s t - m o r t e m e x p e r i e n c e f a l l i n to n e a t g r a p h - l i k e p r e c is i o n ,

t h e r e f o r e , r a t h e r t h a n i n c r e a s i n g o u r c o n f id e n c e i n t h e a b s o l u t e s y m -

m e t r y o f u n i v e r s a l e x p e r i e n ce , t h e y r a t h e r r a i se o u r s u s p ic i o n s t h a t

p e r h a p s t h e e x p e r i e n t i a l a c c o u n t s h a v e b e e n f o rc e d i n t o t o o n e a t a

m o l d - j u s t a s s o m e m o d e r n n e a r - d e a t h r e s e a r c h e r s w o u l d l ik e t o f in d

t h e s a m e p a t t e r n i n e v e r y o n e s N D E , e v e n t h o u g h t h e r e i s i n fa c t a

t r e m e n d o u s r a n g e o f d i s a n a l o g o u s e x p e r i e n ce s r e p o r t e d .

N o n e t h e l e s s , t h i s i s a te x t v e r y m u c h w o r t h h a v i n g a v a i l a b l e i n

E n g l i s h . A t t h e v e r y l e a s t , i t s h e d s f u r t h e r p s y c h o l o g i c a l a n d a n t h r o -

p o l og i c l i g h t o n t h e T i b e t a n c o s m o l o g y a n d w o r l d -v i e w . It m a y i n f a c t



64 JOURNAL OF NEAR-DEATH STUDIES

provide important insights about the nature of the dying and post-

mortem process -or at least stimulate future researchers to dedicatemuch-needed attention to this area of investigation. In any case, we

may applaud Hopkins continuing dedication to familiarizing the

English-speaking public with the vast and inadequately understood

traditions of Tibetan Buddhist death and afterlife.

e f e r e n c e s

Evans-Wentz, W.Y. 1927). The Tibetan Book of the Dead London, England: OxfordUniversity Press.Evans-Wentz, W.Y. 1935). Tibetan Yoga and Secret Doctrines London, England: Oxford

University Press.Lauf, D.I 1976). Tibetan Sacred Art: The Heritage of Tantra London, England:

Shambhala.Lauf, D.I. 1977). Secret Doctrines of the Tibetan Books of the DeacL London, England:

Shambhala.

Documents

Becker Journal of Near Death Studies_1989 8-59-64