What is Told in The Tibetan Book of the Dead
About 50 years ago, in the era of the Vietnam War, some young and radical Americans were interested in The Tibetan Book of the Dead (reportedly composed in the 8th century), since it tells how dying people would feel and should be treated. Its description appealed to young Americans who wanted to see a different and peaceful world while they might get drafted and be sent to Vietnam where 50,000 American soldiers were to be killed. Some of them found the sate of death described in The Tibetan Book of the Dead resembled the effect of narcotic drugs, such as LSD, on the human body and mind.
According to the book, after three and a half days later after the moment of death, every dead man would surely come to oneself; his soul should find that it is alive. And, within 49 days after death, the soul of a dead man would undergo reincarnation.
During the three days after death, some Buddhist sutras should be chanted to the ears of a dead man to make his undying soul understand that his body is in the state of death. And when a metempsychosis or a cycle of death and life is made, his identity in the former life should be lost in most cases. But, when a disciplinant of yoga or a yogi masters a way to join his soul to universality or universal status in the universe, his own identity loses its meaning. Or, the Buddha found the way to cut off this cycle through enlightenment.
This process of dying generally matches what people having near-death experiences reported, although there seems to be no report of reincarnation. The body can be dead, but the soul does not die. It goes to the entrance of the spirit world. According to The Tibetan Book of the Dead, the spirit stays in the spirit world for scores of days till reincarnation, but those with near-death experiences come back to life into their own old bodies after being told to go back to their old life by some spirits.
In the Japanese Buddhism, memorial services for the dead have been traditionally practiced to console dead men's souls. On the 49th day after death, the 49th-day memorial service is performed. On the day of death one year after the death, the anniversary memorial service is performed. Even when a man is dying or dead, sutra recitation at the bedside is performed. However, this tradition is nowadays fading away.
Anyway, the spiritualism, the study results on near-death experiences, etc. are generally approvingly accepted by the Japanese people. However, immortality of souls and the existence of the spirit world seem to have lost appealing power to people while the human world is being contaminated more and more by materialism and the worship of money.
In this context, we should remember the teaching of Christ Jesus that the sols of poor men are accepted in Heaven, but those of rich and evil men cannot enter into Heaven but go to the hells in the spirit world.
Anyway, both Christ Jesus and the Buddha took it for granted that a soul is immortal and there is the spirit world. However, it is rare for a living man to see his own soul and see the spirit world. That may be why we need religions such as Christianity or Buddhism. However, Christ Jesus and the Buddha taught truth through the spirit world and the human world but not religious business.
++++ ++++ ++++Genesis 1, King James Version
3 And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.
4 And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness.
5 And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.
6 And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.
7 And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so.
8 And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day.
9 And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so.
10 And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas: and God saw that it was good.