Death Divinations

Death Divinations (gshin rtsis)

• As explained in Part IX of the present work, divinations may be made to determine family members who are susceptible to an impending death, to determine the fate of bereaved relatives, or to comprehend matters associated with death. The last category includes the themes of timely and untimely death ('chi dus), the faults and retributions associated with death (snyad dang le lan), demonic influences ('dre gdon sus khyer ba), the appropriate funeral status ('dur thang), subsequent rebirth (phyi ma'i skye gnas), compatible modes of Bon and Buddhist funerals (ra mdar dge rtsa bzang bas 'dur ba'i lugs), the many distinctive types of corpse (ro rigs dbye ba), the five types of elemental funeral ('byung lnga sil bu'i rtsis kyi dur thob), the accoutrements of the corpse and the mode of its disposal (ro chas dang ro rdzongs), the risk of the recurrence of death (ro zlos pa), the eye of death (shi mig), the appropriate direction for corpse disposal (gshin po'i phung po gtong rim), the important means of warding off irritations associated with death, which may end the family line (shi 'grams sgab bcad par bya ba'i thabs gnad), the public funeral ceremonies (shid kyi ston mo khrom rtsis), and funeral processions, along with the selection of the funeral site, and the appropriate words for funeral oration (dur rdzongs dang sa 'tshol dur lnga'i smrang sgo). GD (from the Glossary to Tibetan Elemental Divination Paintings)