Book of the Dead and the Egyptian connections

Exodus Chapter 20: "1And God spake all these words, saying, 2I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.

3Thou shalt have no other gods before me.

4Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth:

5Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;

6And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments. 7Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.

8Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.

9Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work:

10But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates:

11For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.

12Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.

13Thou shalt not kill. 14Thou shalt not commit adultery.

15Thou shalt not steal.

16Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour."

17Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour's.

18And all the people saw the thunderings, and the lightnings, and the noise of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking: and when the people saw it, they removed, and stood afar off.

19And they said unto Moses, Speak thou with us, and we will hear: but let not God speak with us, lest we die.

20And Moses said unto the people, Fear not: for God is come to prove you, and that his fear may be before your faces, that ye sin not.

21And the people stood afar off, and Moses drew near unto the thick darkness where God was...."

Here in this Chapter we will connect the "Ten Commandments" to the "Egyptian Book of the Dead".

In the website "houseoftruth.education" states this on the "Book of the Dead": Egyptian Book of the Dead - 42 Negative Confessions: "As the Ancient Egyptian Book of the Dead can be consider the forefather of the Bible and Quran, correspondingly the 42 negative confessions can be considered the forefather of the Law of Moses and especially of the Ten Commandments. At this point, we may recall the teachings of Jesus where he told us that the Law given by Moses was actually not the entire Law."

"Indeed, the Ten Commandments are included in the 42 negative confessions, which may be considered as 42 Commandments – the Whole Law. These 42 commandments have been created with the most pure mind and thus only negative forms are used. Whoever utters them, cannot take any credit for his/her deeds, but rather only tell about what he/she has not done. The negative construction of commandments is thus a praise to the highest God. The 42 Negative Confessions can be found in two different parts in the Book of the Dead. They are named the Papyrus of ANI and the Papyrus of NU. ‘Ani’ can be consider as ‘I’ and ‘Nu’ can be considered the name of the Father-God Nu."

"Their names are also clues to understanding that they actually represent the two different phases of the Way of Truth. The Papyrus of ANI describes a person’s own experience and thus the word ‘I’ is used. This is the first phase – the Baptism of Water. The first phase is also referred to with the word ‘Maat’, because these confessions are pronounced in the Hall of Maat (in the process of Weighting of Heart). In the second phase, the room is called the Hall of Maat(i), where suffix (i) expresses the dual construction of a word. The duality means that there are two things which are referred to. That is why, when the word Maat(i) is used, we speak of the Hall of two Maats? The Double Maat, or twin Maat means the presence of extremes."

"In this context, the term sometimes used is the ‘Hall of two Truths’. Two Truths refer to the dual construction of all things. For instance, there cannot be a poor man unless there is also a rich man. If there would not be any rich men, then the baseline would not exists and thus neither rich nor poor could exist either. The existence of these extremes originates already in the Ancient Egypt, where it was called Ka(u). In the language of symbolism we usually speak of the Seven Ka(u) – one such instance is found in the Bible in the passage of the seven cows (Genesis 41:1-57). The Seven Ka(u) are the battlefields of the Baptism of Fire, where the seven parts of the soul are fully presented. A similar symbolism is also used in the Bible, when Jesus cures Mary Magdalene of the seven evil spirits (Mark 16:9; Luke 8:2)."

The Negative Confessions from the Papyrus of Ani (From the Book of the Dead Translated by E.A. Wallis Budge (240 BCE):

"Hail, Usekh-nemmt, who comest forth from Anu, I have not committed sin.

Hail, Hept-khet, who comest forth from Kher-aha, I have not committed robbery with violence.

Hail, Fenti, who comest forth from Khemenu, I have not stolen.

Hail, Am-khaibit, who comest forth from Qernet, I have not slain men and women.

Hail, Neha-her, who comest forth from Rasta, I have not stolen grain.

Hail, Ruruti, who comest forth from heaven, I have not purloined offerings.

Hail, Arfi-em-khet, who comest forth from Suat, I have not stolen the property of God.

Hail, Neba, who comest and goest, I have not uttered lies.

Hail, Set-qesu, who comest forth from Hensu, I have not carried away food.

Hail, Utu-nesert, who comest forth from Het-ka-Ptah, I have not uttered curses.

Hail, Qerrti, who comest forth from Amentet, I have not committed adultery, I have not lain with men.

Hail, Her-f-ha-f, who comest forth from thy cavern, I have made none to weep.

Hail, Basti, who comest forth from Bast, I have not eaten the heart.

Hail, Ta-retiu, who comest forth from the night, I have not attacked any man.

Hail, Unem-snef, who comest forth from the execution chamber, I am not a man of deceit.

Hail, Unem-besek, who comest forth from Mabit, I have not stolen cultivated land.

Hail, Neb-Maat, who comest forth from Maati, I have not been an eavesdropper.

Hail, Tenemiu, who comest forth from Bast, I have not slandered [no man].

Hail, Sertiu, who comest forth from Anu, I have not been angry without just cause.

Hail, Tutu, who comest forth from Ati, I have not debauched the wife of any man.

Hail, Uamenti, who comest forth from the Khebt chamber, I have not debauched the wife of [any] man.

Hail, Maa-antuf, who comest forth from Per-Menu, I have not polluted myself.

Hail, Her-uru, who comest forth from Nehatu, I have terrorized none.

Hail, Khemiu, who comest forth from Kaui, I have not transgressed [the law].

Hail, Shet-kheru, who comest forth from Urit, I have not been wroth.

Hail, Nekhenu, who comest forth from Heqat, I have not shut my ears to the words of truth.

Hail, Kenemti, who comest forth from Kenmet, I have not blasphemed.

Hail, An-hetep-f, who comest forth from Sau, I am not a man of violence.

Hail, Sera-kheru, who comest forth from Unaset, I have not been a stirrer up of strife.

Hail, Neb-heru, who comest forth from Netchfet, I have not acted with undue haste.

Hail, Sekhriu, who comest forth from Uten, I have not pried into matters.

Hail, Neb-abui, who comest forth from Sauti, I have not multiplied my words in speaking.

Hail, Nefer-Tem, who comest forth from Het-ka-Ptah, I have wronged none, I have done no evil.

Hail, Tem-Sepu, who comest forth from Tetu, I have not worked witchcraft against the king.

Hail, Ari-em-ab-f, who comest forth from Tebu, I have never stopped [the flow of] water.

Hail, Ahi, who comest forth from Nu, I have never raised my voice.

Hail, Uatch-rekhit, who comest forth from Sau, I have not cursed God.

Hail, Neheb-ka, who comest forth from thy cavern, I have not acted with arrogance.

Hail, Neheb-nefert, who comest forth from thy cavern, I have not stolen the bread of the gods.

Hail, Tcheser-tep, who comest forth from the shrine, I have not carried away the khenfu cakes from the Spirits of the dead.

Hail, An-af, who comest forth from Maati, I have not snatched away the bread of the child, nor treated with contempt the god of my city.

Hail, Hetch-abhu, who comest forth from Ta-she, I have not slain the cattle belonging to the god."

From the Papyrus of Nu From the Book of the Dead (Translated by E.A. Wallis Budge Brit. Mus. No. 10477, Sheet 22L):

"[THE FOLLOWING] WORDS SHALL BE SAID BY THE STEWARD OF THE KEEPER OF THE SEAL, NU, WHOSE WORD IS TRUTH, WHEN HE COMETH FORTH TO THE HALL OF MAATI, SO THAT HE MAY BE SEPARATED FROM EVERY SIN WHICH HE HATH COMMITTED, AND MAY BEHOLD THE FACES OF THE GODS."

The Osiris Nu, whose word is truth, saith: Homage to thee, O great God, Lord of Maati! I have come unto thee, O my Lord, and I have brought myself hither that I may behold thy beauties.

I know thee, I know thy name, I know the names of the Forty-two Gods who live with thee in this Hall of Maati, who live by keeping ward over sinners, and who feed upon their blood on the day when the consciences of men are reckoned up in the presence of the god Un-Nefer.

In truth thy name is Rehti-Merti-Nebti-Maati.

In truth I have come unto thee, I have brought Maati (Truth) to thee.

I have done away sin for thee.

I have not committed sins against men.

I have not opposed my family and kinsfolk. I have not acted fraudulently in the Seat of Truth.

I have not known men who were of no account.

I have not wrought evil.

I have not made it to be the first [consideration daily that unnecessary] work should be done for me.

I have not brought forward my name for dignities.

I have not [attempted] to direct servants.

[I have not domineered over slaves.]

[I have not belittled God].

I have not defrauded the humble man of his property.

I have not done what the gods abominate.

I have not vilified a slave to his master.

I have not inflicted pain.

I have not caused anyone to go hungry.

I have not made any man to weep.

I have not committed murder.

I have not given the order for murder to be committed.

I have not caused calamities to befall men and women.

I have not plundered the offerings in the temples.

I have not defrauded the gods of their cake-offerings.

I have not carried off the fenkhu cakes [offered to] the Spirits.

I have not committed fornication.

I have not masturbated [in the sanctuaries of the god of my city].

I have not diminished from the bushel. I have not filched [land from my neighbour's estate and] added it to my own acre.

I have not encroached upon the fields [of others].

I have not added to the weights of the scales.

I have not depressed the pointer of the balance. I have not carried away the milk from the mouths of children.

I have not driven the cattle away from their pastures. I have not snared the geese in the goose-pens of the gods.

I have not caught fish with bait made of the bodies of the same kind of fish.

I have not stopped water when it should flow.

I have not made a cutting in a canal of running water.

I have not extinguished a fire when it should burn.

I have not violated the times [of offering] the chosen meat offerings.

I have not driven away the cattle on the estates of the gods.

I have not turned back the god at his appearances.

I am pure. I am pure. I am pure. My pure offerings are the pure offerings of that great Benu which dwelleth in Hensu.

For behold, I am the nose of Neb-nefu (the lord of the air), who giveth sustenance unto all mankind, on the day of the filling of the Utchat in Anu, in the second month of the season Pert, on the last of the month, [in the presence of the Lord of this earth].

I have seen the filling of the Utchat in Anu, therefore let not calamity befall me in this land, or in this Hall of Maati, because I know the names of the gods who are therein, [and who are the followers of the Great God].

About Papyrus of Nu (2015) In the Papyrus of Nu, a name is mentioned ’Rehti-Merti-Nebti-Maati’. These terms can be found e.g. from the books by Budge (1904; 1968) and they can be interpreted as follows: ♦ ’Rehti’ = Two women (Referring to e.g. Isis and Nephthys, together with Mary and Elisabeth) ♦ ’Merti’ = Two fighting sisters (Referring to e.g. Nebty-name and two Queens; also word ‘mer’ means ‘beloved’ and if ‘t’ and ‘i’ are considered to mark only gender and dualism, ‘merti’ would be ‘two beloved women’, and thus ‘two times beloved soul’) ♦ ’Nebti’ = Two Queens of Upper and Lower Egypt (Referring to Vulture and Cobra, Nekhebit and Uatchit; Nebti name means the ruler of the Upper and Lower Egypt, the lord of the two lands) ♦ ’Maati’ = Two goddesses who are the manifestations of Knowledge, Law and Divine Order of the Upper and Lower Egypt."

"Please notice that the Upper and Lower Egypt can be considered as ‘consciousness’ including ‘memory’ and ‘creativity’, and ‘the subconscious’ including ‘reason’ and ‘emotion’. In the end of the Papyrus of Nu we find the phrase ‘I AM Pure’ three times. This refers to the whole Way of Truth and its three baptisms. A person has turned into Great Bennu, the Phoenix born out of Fire, the Son of Father-God Nu. Also the symbolic words ‘I AM the nose of Neb-nefu’ refer to Father-God Shu and that a person has received the Breath of Life (and knows Face of God) – the mark that he/she has endured until the end in the Baptism of Fire."

"Now, a person has learned to know the different names of the One Great God. A person is also purified of his sin, limiting beliefs together with values and identity which were based on ignorance. Not until now, is Knowledge pure inside a person, and therefore it can be said that he/she wears the incorruptible cloth of Adam, or Horus, or Christ. The Soul is virgin and the body is baptized with Water. This is the beginning of the third phase of baptisms."

In the Wiki states this: "The Book of the Dead is an ancient Egyptian funerary text generally written on papyrus and used from the beginning of the New Kingdom (around 1550 BCE) to around 50 BCE. The original Egyptian name for the text, transliterated rw nw prt m hrw, is translated as Book of Coming Forth by Day or Book of Emerging Forth into the Light. "Book" is the closest term to describe the loose collection of texts consisting of a number of magic spells intended to assist a dead person's journey through the Duat, or underworld, and into the afterlife and written by many priests over a period of about 1,000 years."

"The Book of the Dead, which was placed in the coffin or burial chamber of the deceased, was part of a tradition of funerary texts which includes the earlier Pyramid Texts and Coffin Texts, which were painted onto objects, not written on papyrus. Some of the spells included in the book were drawn from these older works and date to the 3rd millennium BCE. Other spells were composed later in Egyptian history, dating to the Third Intermediate Period (11th to 7th centuries BCE)."

"A number of the spells which make up the Book continued to be separately inscribed on tomb walls and sarcophagi, as the spells from which they originated always had been. There was no single or canonical Book of the Dead. The surviving papyri contain a varying selection of religious and magical texts and vary considerably in their illustration. Some people seem to have commissioned their own copies of the Book of the Dead, perhaps choosing the spells they thought most vital in their own progression to the afterlife."

"The Book of the Dead was most commonly written in hieroglyphic or hieratic script on a papyrus scroll, and often illustrated with vignettes depicting the deceased and their journey into the afterlife. The finest extant example of the Egyptian Book of the Dead in antiquity is the Papyrus of Ani. Ani was an Egyptian scribe. It was discovered by Sir E. A. Wallis Budge in 1888 and was taken to the British Museum, where it currently resides."

"Organization: "Almost every Book of the Dead was unique, containing a different mixture of spells drawn from the corpus of texts available. For most of the history of the Book of the Dead there was no defined order or structure. In fact, until Paul Barguet's 1967 "pioneering study" of common themes between texts, Egyptologists concluded there was no internal structure at all. It is only from the Saite period (26th Dynasty) onwards that there is a defined order. The Books of the Dead from the Saite period tend to organize the Chapters into four sections: Chapters 1–16* The deceased enters the tomb and descends to the underworld, and the body regains its powers of movement and speech. Chapters 17–63 Explanation of the mythic origin of the gods and places. The deceased is made to live again so that he may arise, reborn, with the morning sun. Chapters 64–129 The deceased travels across the sky in the sun ark as one of the blessed dead. In the evening, the deceased travels to the underworld to appear before Osiris. Chapters 130–189 Having been vindicated, the deceased assumes power in the universe as one of the gods. This section also includes assorted chapters on protective amulets, provision of food, and important places."

"The spells in the Book of the Dead depict Egyptian beliefs about the nature of death and the afterlife. The Book of the Dead is a vital source of information about Egyptian beliefs in this area. Preservation One aspect of death was the disintegration of the various kheperu, or modes of existence."

"Funerary rituals served to re-integrate these different aspects of being. Mummification served to preserve and transform the physical body into sah, an idealised form with divine aspects; the Book of the Dead contained spells aimed at preserving the body of the deceased, which may have been recited during the process of mummification."

"The heart, which was regarded as the aspect of being which included intelligence and memory, was also protected with spells, and in case anything happened to the physical heart, it was common to bury jewelled heart scarabs with a body to provide a replacement. The ka, or life-force, remained in the tomb with the dead body, and required sustenance from offerings of food, water and incense."

"In case priests or relatives failed to provide these offerings, Spell 105 ensured the ka was satisfied. The name of the dead person, which constituted their individuality and was required for their continued existence, was written in many places throughout the Book, and spell 25 ensured the deceased would remember their own name. The ba was a free-ranging spirit aspect of the deceased. It was the ba, depicted as a human-headed bird, which could "go forth by day" from the tomb into the world; spells 61 and 89 acted to preserve it."

"Finally, the shut, or shadow of the deceased, was preserved by spells 91, 92 and 188. If all these aspects of the person could be variously preserved, remembered, and satiated, then the dead person would live on in the form of an akh. An akh was a blessed spirit with magical powers who would dwell among the gods. Afterlife Main article: Ancient Egyptian afterlife beliefs The nature of the afterlife which the dead people enjoyed is difficult to define, because of the differing traditions within Ancient Egyptian religion."

"In the Book of the Dead, the dead were taken into the presence of the god Osiris, who was confined to the subterranean Duat. There are also spells to enable the ba or akh of the dead to join Ra as he travelled the sky in his sun-barque, and help him fight off Apep. As well as joining the Gods, the Book of the Dead also depicts the dead living on in the 'Field of Reeds', a paradisiac likeness of the real world."

"The Field of Reeds is depicted as a lush, plentiful version of the Egyptian way of living. There are fields, crops, oxen, people and waterways. The deceased person is shown encountering the Great Ennead, a group of gods, as well as his or her own parents. While the depiction of the Field of Reeds is pleasant and plentiful, it is also clear that manual labour is required. For this reason burials included a number of statuettes named shabti, or later ushebti."

"These statuettes were inscribed with a spell, also included in the Book of the Dead, requiring them to undertake any manual labour that might be the owner's duty in the afterlife. It is also clear that the dead not only went to a place where the gods lived, but that they acquired divine characteristics themselves. In many occasions, the deceased is mentioned as "The Osiris – [Name]" in the Book of the Dead."

"The path to the afterlife as laid out in the Book of the Dead was a difficult one. The deceased was required to pass a series of gates, caverns and mounds guarded by supernatural creatures. These terrifying entities were armed with enormous knives and are illustrated in grotesque forms, typically as human figures with the heads of animals or combinations of different ferocious beasts."

"Their names—for instance, "He who lives on snakes" or "He who dances in blood"—are equally grotesque. These creatures had to be pacified by reciting the appropriate spells included in the Book of the Dead; once pacified they posed no further threat, and could even extend their protection to the dead person. Another breed of supernatural creatures was 'slaughterers' who killed the unrighteous on behalf of Osiris; the Book of the Dead equipped its owner to escape their attentions. As well as these supernatural entities, there were also threats from natural or supernatural animals, including crocodiles, snakes, and beetles."

"If all the obstacles of the Duat could be negotiated, the deceased would be judged in the "Weighing of the Heart" ritual, depicted in Spell 125. The deceased was led by the god Anubis into the presence of Osiris. There, the dead person swore that he had not committed any sin from a list of 42 sins, reciting a text known as the "Negative Confession". Then the dead person's heart was weighed on a pair of scales, against the goddess Maat, who embodied truth and justice. Maat was often represented by an ostrich feather, the hieroglyphic sign for her name."

"At this point, there was a risk that the deceased's heart would bear witness, owning up to sins committed in life; Spell 30B guarded against this eventuality. If the scales balanced, this meant the deceased had led a good life. Anubis would take them to Osiris and they would find their place in the afterlife, becoming maa-kheru, meaning "vindicated" or "true of voice".

"If the heart was out of balance with Maat, then another fearsome beast called Ammit, the Devourer, stood ready to eat it and put the dead person's afterlife to an early and unpleasant end. This scene is remarkable not only for its vividness but as one of the few parts of the Book of the Dead with any explicit moral content. The judgment of the dead and the Negative Confession were a representation of the conventional moral code which governed Egyptian society. For every "I have not..." in the Negative Confession, it is possible to read an unexpressed "Thou shalt not".

"While the Ten Commandments of Jewish and Christian ethics are rules of conduct laid down by a perceived divine revelation, the Negative Confession is more a divine enforcement of everyday morality. Views differ among Egyptologists about how far the Negative Confession represents a moral absolute, with ethical purity being necessary for progress to the Afterlife."

"John Taylor points out the wording of Spells 30B and 125 suggests a pragmatic approach to morality; by preventing the heart from contradicting him with any inconvenient truths, it seems that the deceased could enter the afterlife even if their life had not been entirely pure."

"Ogden Goelet says "without an exemplary and moral existence, there was no hope for a successful afterlife", while Geraldine Pinch suggests that the Negative Confession is essentially similar to the spells protecting from demons, and that the success of the Weighing of the Heart depended on the mystical knowledge of the true names of the judges rather than on the deceased's moral behaviour."

Here in the Wiki states of the "Tibetan Book of the Dead": "The Bardo Thodol (Tibetan: བར་དོ་ཐོས་གྲོལ, Wylie: bar do thos grol, "Liberation Through Hearing During the Intermediate State"), commonly known in the West as The Tibetan Book of the Dead, is a text from a larger corpus of teachings, the Profound Dharma of Self-Liberation through the Intention of the Peaceful and Wrathful Ones,[note 1] revealed by Karma Lingpa (1326–1386). It is the best-known work of Nyingma literature. The Tibetan text describes, and is intended to guide one through, the experiences that the consciousness has after death, in the bardo, the interval between death and the next rebirth. The text also includes chapters on the signs of death and rituals to undertake when death is closing in or has taken place."

"Bar do thos grol (Tibetan: བར་དོ་ཐོས་གྲོལ, Wylie: bar do thos grol, THL: bardo thödrol) translates as: bar do: "intermediate state", "transitional state", "in-between state", "liminal state" (which is synonymous with the Sanskrit antarabhāva). Valdez: "Used loosely, the term 'bardo' refers to the state of existence intermediate between two lives on earth." Valdez: "[The] concept arose soon after the Buddha's passing, with a number of earlier Buddhist groups accepting the existence of such an intermediate state, while other schools rejected it." thos grol: thos means hearing as well as philosophical studies. Grol means "liberation", which is synonymous with the Sanskrit word bodhi, "awakening", "understanding", "enlightenment", and synonymous with the term nirvana, "blowing out", "extinction", "the extinction of illusion".

kar-gling zhi-khro It is part of a larger terma cycle, Profound Dharma of Self-Liberation through the Intention of the Peaceful and Wrathful Ones (zab-chos zhi khro dgongs pa rang grol, also known as kar-gling zhi-khro), popularly known as "Karma Lingpa's Peaceful and Wrathful Ones." The Profound Dharma of Self-Liberation is known in several versions, containing varying numbers of sections and subsections, and arranged in different orders, ranging from around ten to thirty-eight titles."

"The individual texts cover a wide range of subjects, including meditation instructions, visualizations of deities, liturgies and prayers, lists of mantras, descriptions of the signs of death, indications of future rebirth, and texts such as the bar do thos grol that are concerned with the bardo-state. Three bardos Main article: Bardo The Bardo Thodol differentiates the intermediate state between lives into three bardos:

"The chikhai bardo or "bardo of the moment of death", which features the experience of the "clear light of reality", or at least the nearest approximation of which one is spiritually capable; The chonyid bardo or "bardo of the experiencing of reality", which features the experience of visions of various Buddha forms, or the nearest approximations of which one is capable; The sidpa bardo or "bardo of rebirth", which features karmically impelled hallucinations which eventually result in rebirth, typically yab-yum imagery of men and women passionately entwined."

"The Liberation Through Hearing During the Intermediate State also mentions three other bardos: "Life", or ordinary waking consciousness; "Dhyana" (meditation); "Dream", the dream state during normal sleep. Together these "six bardos" form a classification of states of consciousness into six broad types. Any state of consciousness can form a type of "intermediate state", intermediate between other states of consciousness."

"Indeed, one can consider any momentary state of consciousness a bardo, since it lies between our past and future existences; it provides us with the opportunity to experience reality, which is always present but obscured by the projections and confusions that are due to our previous unskillful actions."

Evans-Wentz's The Tibetan Book of the Dead: "The bar do thos grol is known in the west as The Tibetan Book of the Dead, a title popularized by Walter Evans-Wentz's edition, but as such virtually unknown in Tibet. The Tibetan Book of the Dead was first published in 1927 by Oxford University Press. Dr. Walter Y. Evans-Wentz chose this title because of the parallels he found with the Egyptian Book of the Dead. According to John Myrdhin Reynolds, Evans-Wentz's edition of the Tibetan Book of the Dead introduced a number of misunderstandings about Dzogchen."

"In fact, Evans-Wentz collected seven texts about visualization of the after-death experiences and he introduced this work collection as "The Tibetan Book of Death." Evans-Wentz was well acquainted with Theosophy and used this framework to interpret the translation of The Tibetan Book of the Dead, which was largely provided by two Tibetan lamas who spoke English, Lama Sumdhon Paul and Lama Lobzang Mingnur Dorje."

"Evans-Wentz was not familiar with Tibetan Buddhism, and his view of Tibetan Buddhism was "fundamentally neither Tibetan nor Buddhist, but Theosophical and Vedantist." He introduced a terminology into the translation which was largely derived from Hinduism, as well as from his Theosophical beliefs. Contrary to the general belief spread in the West by Evans-Wentz, in Tibetan Buddhist practice the Tibetan Book of the Dead is not read to the people who are passing away, but it is rather used during life by those who want to learn to visualize what will come after death.C. G. Jung's psychological commentary first appeared in an English translation by R. F. C. Hull in the third revised and expanded Evans-Wentz edition of The Tibetan Book of the Dead. The commentary also appears in the Collected Works. Jung applied his extensive knowledge of eastern religion to craft a commentary specifically aimed at a western audience unfamiliar with eastern religious tradition in general and Tibetan Buddhism specifically."

"He does not attempt to directly correlate the content of the Bardo Thodol with rituals or dogma found in occidental religion, but rather highlights karmic phenomena described on the Bardo plane and shows how they parallel unconscious contents (both personal and collective) encountered in the West, particularly in the context of analytical psychology. Jung's comments should be taken strictly within the realm of psychology, and not that of theology or metaphysics. Indeed, he warns repeatedly of the dangers for western man in the wholesale adoption of eastern religious traditions such as yoga."

It's states in the Bible that there are "Curses" written in the Book if the laws are not followed. Here are some excerpts:

2 Chronicles 34:24 “Thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will bring evil upon this place, and upon the inhabitants thereof, even all the curses that are written in the book which they have read before the king of Judah:”

Deuteronomy 30:7 “And the LORD thy God will put all these curses upon thine enemies, and on them that hate thee, which persecuted thee.”

Deuteronomy 29:27 “And the anger of the LORD was kindled against this land, to bring upon it all the curses that are written in this book:”

Deuteronomy 29:21 “And the LORD shall separate him unto evil out of all the tribes of Israel, according to all the curses of the covenant that are written in this book of the law:”

Deuteronomy 29:20 “The LORD will not spare him, but then the anger of the LORD and his jealousy shall smoke against that man, and all the curses that are written in this book shall lie upon him, and the LORD shall blot out his name from under heaven.”

Deuteronomy 28:45 “Moreover all these curses shall come upon thee, and shall pursue thee, and overtake thee, till thou be destroyed; because thou hearkenedst not unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to keep his commandments and his statutes which he commanded thee:”

Deuteronomy 28:15 “But it shall come to pass, if thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe to do all his commandments and his statutes which I command thee this day; that all these curses shall come upon thee, and overtake thee:”

Numbers 5:23 “And the priest shall write these curses in a book, and he shall blot them out with the bitter water:”

Based from Godfrey Higgins' "The Anacalypsis" details hidden connection between the Brahmins and the Egyptians. Perhaps based from this details why the Tibetans and the Ancient Egyptians is subtly mentioned in the movie "Indiana Jones: Raiders of the Lost Ark" (See "Changing the Bible" and "The real Aryans series"). Interesting enough, the Japanese Fire God's hair style is like that of the Egyptians side lock. It seems that Steven Spielberg knew that the Ark of the Covenant is based from Egypt, to which leads to the lands of India and China. Then to the bird symbology based on the God of fire, it's shown that in the Rig Vedas does state a small segment connecting Agni to Garuda, whereas the lamb or ram symbolism came from later depictions (which is mostly linked to Amun or Osiris).