In 1919 the distinguished scholar, Walter Evans-Wentz, visited an Indian monastery, where he encountered the source of this famous volume. Derived from a Buddhist funerary text, it offers instructions for preparing for death and moving through the various stages of rebirth. The book has since developed into a guide to attaining enlightenment and assuring an auspicious journey through the realms of the afterlife.

About the Author

W. Y. Evans-Wentz was a scholar of Theosophy who attended Stanford University and Jesus College, Oxford. He later travelled to the East, where he became a student of Tibetan religious texts and worked with Lama Kazi Dawa-Samdup to translate works that would later be published as The Tibetan Book of the Dead. He is considered one of the scholars responsible for bringing awareness of Tibetan Buddhism to the West.