RLB237 Tibetan Book of the Dead

Faculty of Arts
Autumn 2019
Extent and Intensity
1/1/0. 5 credit(s). Type of Completion: k (colloquium).
Teacher(s)
doc. PhDr. Luboš Bělka, CSc. (lecturer)
Mgr. Martin Špirk, Ph.D. (assistant)
Guaranteed by
doc. PhDr. David Zbíral, Ph.D.
Department for the Study of Religions – Faculty of Arts
Contact Person: Mgr. Kateřina Sedlářová
Supplier department: Department for the Study of Religions – Faculty of Arts
Timetable
each odd Thursday 16:00–17:40 G24
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is only offered to the students of the study fields the course is directly associated with.

The capacity limit for the course is 30 student(s).
Current registration and enrolment status: enrolled: 0/30, only registered: 0/30
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
Course objectives
Tibetan individual eschatological text Bardo Thedol (Liberation in Bardo through Listening), known in the West as The Tibetan Book of the Dead, takes very specific position in the Western accounts of Buddhism. The text is more popular in the West than in Tibet, paradoxically. The reason is the extreme popularity of the text itself in the first half and even more in the second half of the last century in the Euro-American region. The popularity is lasting to nowadays and thus The Tibetan Book of the Dead is a subject of numerous Western interpretations including the phantasmagoric ones.
The course will be focused also on texts and the correct interpretation in the historical, political and religious context.
Learning outcomes
After completing the course, students will be able to:
  • undersand the text of the Bardo Thedol;
  • explain the ritual use of the Bardo Thedol;
  • know the visual aspect of the Bardo Thedol, i.e. the depictions of peaceful and wrathful figures;
  • define the basic forms of the bardo in Tibetan Buddhism (in textual material);
  • describe the basic visual representations of the bardo in Tibetan Buddhism.
    • Syllabus
    • 1. Introduction - The Tibetan Book of the Death
    • 2. Life and the death in Buddhism, especially in the Tibetan tradition
    • 3. Bhavachakra, thanatology, funeral rituals and dealing with the remains
    • 4. Jama s trial
    • 5. The text and the context – West (history of the text exploration as an illustration of the discipline development: Academic Study of Religions)
    • 6. Ritual I. – presentation of a documentary movie: "The Tibetan Book of the Death" and its critical analyses
    • 7. "The Tibetan Book of the Death I.": textual critical analyses
    • 8. Ritual II. – presentation of a documentary movie: "Kailas" and its critical analyses
    • 9. "The Tibetan Book of the Death II.": commentary critical analyses
    • 10. Ritual III. – presentation of a documentary movie: "In The Circle of Reborn" and its critical analyses
    • 11. "The Tibetan Book of the Death III.": visuals critical analyses
    • 12. The text and the context – East (demystification)
    • 13. A Final Test – factual knowledge of "The Tibetan Book of the Death"
    Literature
      required literature
    • Zab-čhos ži-khro dgongs-pa rang-grol (Orig.) : Tibetská kniha mrtvých : Bardo thödol : vysvobození v bardu skrze naslouchání [1991, Odeon] : Tibetská kniha mrtvých : Bardo thödol : vysvobození v bardu skrze naslouchání [1995, Odeon]. info
      recommended literature
    • SLOBODNÍK, Martin. Tibet : krajina, dejiny, l'udia, kultúra (Přít.) : Tibetská kniha mŕtvych v obrazoch. Photo by Vít Fila. Bratislava: FiDaT. [78] s. :. 1996. info
    • RINPOČHE, Sogjal. Tibetská kniha o životě a smrti. Edited by Patrick Gaffney - Andrew Harvey. Vyd. 1. V Praze: Pragma. 405 s. ISBN 8071763578. 1996. info
    • The Tibetan book of the dead : as popularly known in the West : known in Tibet as The great book of natural liberation through understanding in the between. Edited by Karma-gliṅ-pa - Padma Sambhava, Translated by Robert A. F. Thurman. New York: Bantam Books. xxii, 278. ISBN 0553370901. 1994. info
    • The Tibetan book of the dead, or, The after-death experiences on the Bardo Plane, according to lama Kazi Dawa-Samdup's English rendering. Edited by W. Y. Evans-Wentz - Anagarika Brahmacari Govinda - John George Woodrof. 3rd ed. London: Oxford University Press. lxxxiv, 24. ISBN 0195002237. 1960. info
    • BEROUNSKÝ, Daniel. Archaická tibetská literatura (7.–10. století). 1. vyd. Brno: Masarykova univerzita. 166 pp. ISBN 978-80-210-6358-7. 2013. Digitální knihovna FF MU info
    Teaching methods
    Lectures, class discussions, reading of texts, homeworks.
    Assessment methods
    Written test based on the required reading, lectures, and presentations (100 points, the minimum of 60 points is required to pass the test). The test represents 100 % of overal evaluation in the course.
    Language of instruction
    Czech
    Further comments (probably available only in Czech)
    Study Materials
    The course is taught once in two years.
    Information on course enrolment limitations: Zápis mimo religionistiku je podmíněn souhlasem vyučujícího.
    Listed among pre-requisites of other courses
    The course is also listed under the following terms Autumn 2008, Spring 2011, Spring 2013, Spring 2015, Spring 2017, Autumn 2021.
    • Enrolment Statistics (Autumn 2019, recent)
    • Permalink: https://is.muni.cz/course/phil/autumn2019/RLB237