Analysis Of The Bardo Of Seeking Rebirth

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Jewish and Buddhist sacred texts are similar in reverence and significance and have immense importance for the beliefs and practices of each respective religious community. Sacred texts are important as they underpin the beliefs and practices of every religion. The Bardo of Seeking Rebirth from the Tibetan Book of the Dead is a Buddhist sacred text written in the narrative genre; and acts as a guide for those who have died as they transition from their living life to a new destination. Chapter 8, verses 22-31 from the Book of Proverbs is a Jewish sacred text written in the genre of poetry; and acts as a guide to conducting and living a wise life. These texts display specific links between the beliefs of their respective religion and the social …show more content…

The Bardo of Seeking Rebirth was written in the genre of a narrative. The structure of a narrative was used for this sacred text to describe the emotions and feelings of God. The style manipulates the language and beliefs of the time in history to carry on the message of birth and rebirth according to the Lord. Many key words and symbols are used in this text to link the social beliefs of the 8th Century to religious beliefs. Key words, such as the ‘The Lord of Death’ are used to describe the fact that God has designed humans to die, however when using ‘The Good Spirit’, this describes the way sins can be forgiven and humans can be reborn free from sin. In comparison, Chapter 8 verses 22-31 from the Book of Proverbs, was written in the poetic form. Poetic devices that are used in this excerpt are: repetition, metaphor, personification, and rhyme. Repetition is displayed by repeating these phrases, ‘When there we no,’ and ‘When he.’ A metaphor is used in this quotation from the text, ‘Then I was beside him, like a master workman’. Personification is used in this quotation from the text, ‘waters might not transgress his command’, to give human characteristics to nature. The poetic devices assisted in creating structure, new meaning and importance of specific sections of the text to highlight importance and significance. The written genre of each sacred text influences the emotions and meaning to understand the significance of the pieces to Buddhism and

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