Views from Tibet: NDEs and the Book of the dead.
Journal of Near-Death Studies 1985 DOI: 10.17514/jnds-1985-5-1-p3-20. (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | Near-death experience |
| Citations | 3 |
| Key points | The author argues that Tibetan Buddhist philosophical idealism offers a framework for understanding near-death experiences, noting parallels between the Bardo Thodol and modern NDE reports such as moving through darkness into light, out-of-body experiences, and life-review. The author contends this perspective can help explain personal and cultural variations in NDEs. |
Abstract
This article presents a Tibetan perspective on near-death experiences (NDEs) and life after death.Tibetans have been concerned with death and deathbed visions from ancient times.After reviewing the beliefs of the Bon religion and of Vajrayana Buddhism, this article focuses on the theories of the Tibetan Bardo Thodol or Book of the Dead (Evans-Wentz, 1957).Many similarities to modern NDE reports are noted, including hearin a noise and moving through darkness into light, out-of-body-type experiences, heavenly and hellish deities and scenery, life-review and judgment, etc.It is seen that the Tibetan Buddhist philosophical idealism, while challenging traditional paradigms, has potential to explain some previously inadequately understood NDE findings such as personal and cultural variations. THE TIBETAN WORLD-VIEWTibet's unique geographical setting has strongly influenced its philosophy and history.Occupying over a million square miles in the middle of the Asian 'continent, Tibet is severely isolated from its neighbors by the Himalaya and Kunlun mountain ranges.Although its snows feed the Mekong, Brahmaputra, Indus, Yang-tse, and other major rivers, the mountains block the monsoons from the south, so annual rainfall is extremely low.Therefore the Tibetans can raise few crops, and must depend largely on nomadic sheep-and yak-herding for their livelihoods.Tibet's barren plateaux range from 11,000 to 18,000 feet in altitude, where oxygen is too thin for the unacclimated visitor.Because of the extreme altitude, the daily sun is very strong, but temperatures at night plunge to freezing even in summer.The winter adds to sub-zero temperatures the perils of blizzards, hailstorms, and windstorms carrying abrasive gravel and destructive stones.Thus, the land has never been particularly hospitable, and this environment early gave rise to its-inhabitants' beliefs in malevolent Anabiosis -
Comparable studies
Other theoretical and historical papers on near-death experience, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Otherworld Journeys: Accounts of Near-Death Experience in Medieval and Modern Times | 1987 | Historical analysis | |
| Neuroscience and the Near-Death Experience: Roles for the NMSA-PCP receptor, the sigma receptor and the endopsychosins | 1990 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Implications of near-death experiences for a postmaterialist psychology. | 2010 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Near-Death Experience as a Probe to Explore (Disconnected) Consciousness | 2020 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Near-death experiences between science and prejudice | 2012 | Theoretical or philosophical paper |