Balinees Hindoesme

1

Gesar of Ling
Bardo Thödol
2
The epic of Gesar

• describes the heroic deeds of Gesar of Ling
• versions from
• Tibet, Ladakh, Mongolia, Pakistan,
  Nepal, Siberia
• proto-epic, 6 - 7 episodes

3

Alexandra David-Néel (1933) The Superhuman Life
of Gesar of Ling R.A. Stein (1956) Lépopée
tibétaine de Gesar dans saversion lamaïque de
Ling Matthias Hermanns (1965) Das National-Epos
der Tibeter gLing König Ge sar
4

• Matthias Hermanns Das National-Epos der Tibeter
  gLing König Ge sar
• Gesars journey to hell
• journey to China
• A stag lha mos descent into hell she
  meets Yama, the judge of the under- world

5

• Gesars descent into hell (after A stag Lha
  mos death)
• encounter with Yama, Lord of Death
• Gesar guides Lha mo upwards
  through the hells
• - to the highest paradise

6

• Gesar compassionate bodhisattva
• Gesar goes back to the realm of the gods in
  heaven

7

Bardo Thödol The Tibetan Book of the
Dead Liberation through Hearing in the
Intermediate State parallels Gesar //
traditional role of the lama
8
The Tibetan Book of the Dead in Dutch Het
Tibetaanse Dodenboek W.Y. Evans-Wentz, Lama
Kazi Dawa-Samdup (1927) Francesca Fremantle,
Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche (1975) Robert A.F.
Thurman (1994)
9
Bardo intermediate state transitional
state liminal state
10

• 6 Bardos
• shinay bardo birth and life
• - milam bardo dream state
• - samten bardo meditation
• - chikkhai bardo moment of death
• - chönyid bardo reality
• - sidpai bardo becoming

11

• Parallels between Gesars epic and Bardo Thödol
• Questions
• how is Yama pictured?
• what kind of part personages like
  Avalokitesvara and Padmasambhava plays in both
  texts?

12

• description of the hells?
• parallels in symbolism?
• parallels between visions?
• what is the meaning of the images of the
  visions in both texts?