This master's thesis examines the processes of dying, death, and postmortem states of consciousness in early Buddhism and Tibetan Buddhism. The introductory section discusses the concept of the five aggregates (skandhas) as the foundation of the Buddhist understanding of the human being and its impermanent nature. It then addresses death in early Buddhism and examines the meditation practices of maranasati and asubhabhavana, which serve as important means of confronting impermanence and bodily decay. The central part of the thesis focuses on Tibetan Buddhism, particularly its understanding of the body and bodily practices, with special emphasis on the yoga of the illusory body and the yoga of the intermediate state between life and death. Through an analysis of the Tibetan Book of the Dead, the thesis provides a systematic chronological overview of three key postmortem states: chikhai bardo, chönyid bardo, and sidpa bardo. The thesis concludes with an overview of Tibetan death rites and rituals, which illuminate the practical and spiritual dimensions of the transition through death.
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