Lion's Roar

  • Our Magazines
    • Bd Buddhadharma
    • LR Lion’s Roar magazine
  • Teachings
  • Life
  • How to Meditate
  • News
  • About Us
  • More +
    • Store
    • Online Learning
    • Events
    • Buddhist Directory
    • Mobile App
    • Subscribe
    • Give a Subscription
    • Magazine Archive
    • Help
    • Donate

Lion's Roar

SUBSCRIBE
  • Our Magazines
    • Bd Buddhadharma
    • LR Lion’s Roar magazine
  • Teachings
  • Life
  • How to Meditate
  • News
  • About Us
  • More +
    • Store
    • Online Learning
    • Events
    • Buddhist Directory
    • Mobile App
    • Subscribe
    • Give a Subscription
    • Magazine Archive
    • Help
    • Donate

The Tibetan Comic-Book of the Dead

by Rod Meade Sperry| September 19, 2016

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)

The Tibetan Book of the Dead ComicIt’s fun! It’s visionary! It features Donald Trump as Yama Raja, the Lord of Death. It’s “The Comic Bardo Thodol” (aka The Tibetan Book of the Dead), as created and executed by writer/artist Thomas Scoville.

How nice to see it making the rounds online again, since it’s now been posted on UltraCulture.org. It first surfaced in 2008, and I reached out to Scoville, who explained how it came to be:

“I’m kind of amazed by how much coverage it’s gotten. It was just some background research I’m doing for a novel — I’m trying to use the BT as a guide text for a pop culture novel. Though I’d read bits and pieces of the BT for years, I realized I’d never gotten my mind around the whole thing — it’s not very ‘sticky’ to a western mind like mine, I guess. So I had the idea of dumbing it down: if I were a teen, how would I explain it to me? — comic book form, with pop culture figures and images to make it stickier and less threatening. So I tried that. An hour a day for about a week. I’m just tickled that so many people found it entertaining and/or informative.”

See The Comic Bardo Thodol for yourself, here.

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)

Thank you for reading Lion’s Roar. Now can we ask for your help?

Lion’s Roar is a nonprofit. Our mission is to share the wisdom of the Buddha’s teachings—to inspire, comfort, support, and enlighten readers around the world. Our aspiration is to keep LionsRoar.com available to everyone, providing a supportive, inspiring Buddhist community that anyone can access, from curious beginners to committed meditators. Do you share our aspiration? We can’t do this without your help.

Lion’s Roar reaches more readers like you than ever before. Unfortunately, advertising and other revenues are falling for print and online media. We know we have something deeply precious to share with the world, and we want to continue this important work. Can you help support our efforts now?

Lion’s Roar is independent, unbiased, not-for-profit, and supported by readers like you. Please donate today and help the lion’s roar echo for readers around the world.

SUPPORT LION’S ROAR

Rod Meade Sperry

About Rod Meade Sperry

Rod Meade Sperry is Editorial Director of Lion's Roar's Special Projects and of LionsRoar.com. He is, with Miguel Chen, co-author of I Wanna Be Well: How a Punk Found Peace and You Can Too and The Death of You: A Book for Anyone Who Might Not Live Forever. Rod also edited the Lion's Roar book, A Beginner’s Guide to Meditation: Practical Advice and Inspiration from Contemporary Buddhist Teachers.

Topics: Comics & Anime & Cartoons, Contemporary Art, Death & Dying, Tibet, Tibetan Book of the Dead

Related Posts...

Two peopleAlong Came a Tigress
by Sara Lewis
Yeshe Dhonden, famed Tibetan doctor and physician to Dalai Lama, dies at age 93
by Sam Littlefair
What are some good Buddhist books about death and dying?
by Lion's Roar Staff

Welcome to LionsRoar.com

By Lion's Roar Staff

We’re glad to have you here. But first: who are “we”? You may very well know us as the publishers of two Buddhist magazines, the Shambhala Sun and Buddhadharma. Then again, you may not know us at all. Either way, please allow us to re-introduce ourselves: We’re the Shambhala Sun Foundation. We [...]

  • Contact
  • Donate
  • Advertise
  • Subscriber Services
  • Privacy
  • BUDDHIST DIRECTORY
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • YouTube
TEACHINGS
  • Guides
LIFE
  • Love & Relationships
  • Practice in Everyday Life
  • Wellness & Psychology
  • Wisdom for Difficult Times
HOW TO MEDITATE
  • Learn about Buddhism
NEWS
  • Arts & Culture
  • Teachers & Centers

© 2019 Lion's Roar | Email: [email protected] | Tel: 902.422.8404 | Published by Lion's Roar Foundation