American Book of the Dead
American Book of the Dead—30th Anniversary Edition, by E.J. Gold
Trade paperback.
With more than 125,000 copies of the American Book of the Dead sold, this irreverent, contemporary, and unique work brings the Tibetan teaching into contemporary American culture. Now in its 33rd year of publication! With special relevance to those who are sick or dying, this American interpretation of the timeless Tibetan spiritual classic is invaluable for anyone in spiritual crisis, preparing for death, or wishing to honor loved ones. The American Book of the Dead transforms our attitudes toward death so that we may learn to live through explicit, practical instructions to guide readers along the labyrinthine voyage of spiritual transformation. E.J. Gold discusses the states of life between birth and death—and beyond—as well as caring for the dying, building a personal altar, and ultimately, accepting one's own death or the death of a loved one.
As an extra bonus this book is profusely illustrated with absolutely stunning charcoal artworks by the author.
“The ultimate questions have always been burning in me since I can remember. This book, though frequently hard for me to understand, is a living, breathing interactive life teaching designed to help those who die find their way through the in-between lives state, be liberated, or at least find a good re-birth. Reading it provides a deep sense of purpose that one is helping others and reveals depths of personal understanding in mysterious non-linear ways. When I came across this book in a spiritual library, my first hit was that it was the profoundest writing I have encountered. Studying it daily, confirmed this to be true and forms the foundation of all my work.”
—I.W.
“The American Book of the Dead didn't just change my life. It blew the lid clean off of it. I now have a spectacular view of the stars.”
—K.T.
“Just as a midwife assists birth, the reader of the American Book of the Dead assists voyagers who have passed into the macrodimensions to attain liberation or to achieve a conscious and deliberate rebirth on re-entry into the human dimension in which the voyager may select a living creature with which to associate; such symbiotic association is commonly called, from the organic view, a lifetime.”
—Excerpted from The Professional Labyrinth Reader's Handbook
“This high-powered updating of the classic Tibetan work on the techniques of dying is the most illuminating, outrageous and astounding holy text you're like to find all month.”
—Robert Silverberg, author of Dying Inside and To Live Again
“Americans do not like to think about death, or read or write about it, much less think about preparing for it. E.J. Gold's book is an attempt to wake us up and get us ready for the greatest change of all, for the most important moment of our lives. This is a groundbreaking work, definitely worth reading.”
—Andrew Weil, M. D., author of the Natural Mind
“Gold's work, understanding, unscholarly, and humorous, is likely to stimulate in its reader an attitude, as well as an orientation, toward the ultimate (which is) beyond attachment/aversion to experience.”
—Claudio Naranjo, author of Ennea-type Structures and How to Be
“This unique book brings the Tibetan teaching into contemporary American culture. With special relevance to those who are sick and dying, this American interpretation of the timeless Tibetan spiritual classic is invaluable for anyone in spiritual crisis, preparing for death, or wishing to honor loved ones. The American Book of the Dead transforms our attitudes toward death so that we may learn to live—through explicit, practical instructions to guide readers along the labyrinthine voyage of spiritual transformation.”
—Michael McDonnell
“I came across Gold first on his IntegralNaked conversations with Stuart Davis about the American Book of the Dead, which I really enjoyed. I just finished reading that book to my recently deceased father yesterday as it happens. It was a huge help to me to have that perspective on death, and I hope it helped him too.”
