When the translation of The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying, originally written by Sogyal Rinpoche on the basis of Liberation through Hearing the Teaching in the Intermediate State (also rendered as The Tibetan Book of the Dead), was published in Taiwan it became a widely ready bestseller. Indeed, it is worthwhile to discuss this well known book seriously and the following five points are the present writer's reflections on it after a preliminary study: 1) Some of the ideas regarding the intermediate state which can be found in The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying have been influenced by the Bon religion, and the concepts showing Bon traces represent general archetypal human views on the souls of the dead. 2) These archetypal ideas regarding the souls of the dead are not in agreement with the teachings on the intermediate state as given in the Yogaacaarabhuumi, Abhidharmako`sa and other treatises of Nikaaya and Mahaayaana Buddhism. 3) According to the Abhidharma scriptures of both, the Lesser and the Greater Vehicle, the being in the intermediate state is unable to listen to the Book of the Dead. Even if such a being would manage to hear the text it would still be impossible for him to gain liberation unless he was a practitioner on the level of the path of accumulation who had attained the wisdom arising from cultivation. So forget about the average Buddhist believer. 4) In case of a noble being awakened to truth, he would naturally know how to utilize the intermediate state in order to gain deeper understanding even if he had never heard about the secret teachings on the intermediate state while alive. 5) The concept of liberating found in the Book of the Dead is incomplete in terms of scriptural proof and logical reason. Moreover, it easily misguides people to stray from the proper path of meditation and wisdom, and lends support to the negative trend towards rituals for the deceased. Thus it is not appropriate to propagate it. However, if one does not use The Tibetan Book of the Dead for the actual purpose of "liberating the deceased" but as a means to understand how life comes into being and ends then it can be still regarded as one insightful symbolistic exposition of the twelve links of interdependent origination -- the lore of life and death -- as found in Mahaayaana Buddhism.
