試析寧瑪派版《中有大聞解脫》

A Critical Analysis of the rNying ma pa’s edition－"The Bar do thos grol chen mo"

有名的《西藏死者之書》，正如書名所表示者，乃描述死者在接受下一次出生前的存在──中有，只聽聞在世者念誦祈禱的語詞，不需修行和學問、禪定，則可獲得解脫的書。這書名是美國人伊文思．溫慈博士（W.H.Y. Evans-Wentz, 1878-1965），在噶孜．達瓦．桑珠（Kazi Dawa-Samdup, 1868-1922）藏僧的幫助之下，而訂出的：The Tibetan Book of the Dead or the After-Death Experiences on the Bardo Plane。2 這英譯書名，其實是來自《埃及死者之書》（The Egyptain Book of Dead）的聯想。當然，這英譯書名是不正確的。
的確，在西藏葬禮進行時，本書廣為一般人所念誦而膾炙人口，不過，至少西藏最大宗派的格魯派，並不承認本書關於中有的記述是正確的。因此，依照該稱呼（略稱），宜作《中有（大）聞解脫》《Bar do thos grol (chen mo)》，或仿照英譯本，可作《寧瑪派版中有大聞解脫》。
《中有大聞解脫》具有民間信仰的要素內容而廣為流行於西藏民間，可視之為死者的枕邊念誦經典。本文則嘗試從寧瑪派歷史、思想的角度，來論述此部書是偽經。

The Bardo thos grol, which has become known in the West as The Tibetan Book of the Dead, was translated by Kazi Dawa-Samdup and W.H.Y. Evans-Wentz, which had started misnomer-- the so-called The Tibetan Book of the Dead, which was associated with The Egyptain Book of Dead. So the most common Tibetan title of the work is The Great Book of Natural Liberation Through Understanding in the Between (Bardo thos grol chen mo).
This paper has pointed out that the Bodhicitta (Tib. byang chub kyi sems/ the reality of mind) is similar to the light (Skt. Prabhāsvarā/ Tib. ’od gsal ba), but it cannot be seen. Secondly, The Bardo thos grol chen mo has misread “sngon dus srid ’byung sha tshugs can” into past life and next life. It is a seriously misunderstanding. Anyway, it is a manual of useful instructions for people who are facing their death, as well as for their relatives and friends. So, we do not wholly deny the fact that it is one of the most important books to which Tibetans have dedicated for the spiritual civilization of all mankind.