Rebirth reading list
from my favorite authors on the topic
(scroll down for Western books on transitions)
These are some of my (Claire's) favorite books on the topic of rebirth and transitions. If you've taken a course with me or attended a workshop and you want more details on what we discussed, you'll find more depth in these books.
simple introduction with Tibetan "near death experience" accounts
If you only read one book on Tibetan teachings about the death and rebirth process, make it this one! It’s easy to understand, it talks about the bardo states in detail, and it uses Tibetan near death experience accounts to illustrates the various bardos.
all the technical details about the bardo states
The most technical book, this one is better for folks with some background in Tibetan Buddhism – but if that’s you (or you’re willing to skip a few sections or be confused sometimes), this book is a very thorough introduction to traditional teachings on the bardo states.
Western books on transitions
a simple, secular model of transitions
This book, based on Bridges’ experience teaching as a literature professor and offering workshops and other trainings for people in transition, is full of examples from Greek mythology and modern people’s lives. Bridges writes about a three-stage process of transitions: endings, the “neutral zone” or in-between space, and new beginnings.
data on real people's transitions
Feiler largely follows Bridges’ three-stage model, and he adds something unique to this list: data. He and a research team interviewed 225 people in all kinds of transitions for the book, and as a result he can tell us what percentage of people interviewed had the hardest time with endings [data], the in-between state [data], and new beginnings, for instance.
