[Guest editorial].A new book of the dead: Reflections on the near-death experience and the Tibetan Buddhist tradition regarding the nature of death.
The Journal of near-death studies 1993 DOI: 10.17514/jnds-1993-12-2-p75-84 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | Buddhism Near-death experience |
| Citations | 3 |
| Key points | Argues that contemporary Western near-death experiences differ from the Tibetan "das-log" tradition in culturally patterned ways, and proposes that modern NDE accounts could serve as the basis for a new Book of the Dead addressing present-day existential and planetary concerns. |
Abstract
Article offering a comparison of historical cases of Tibetan near-death experiences (NDEs) and contemporary Western accounts. A tradition of NDEs in Tibetan culture, the das-log experience, affords such a comparison. Modern NDEs differ from das-log experiences in ways that reflect their cultural context and may provide the foundation for a new Book of the Dead especially fitted to the existential and planetary concerns of modern time.