Images From A Graphic Memoir, A Guided Tour Of Hell?

A Guided Tour of Hell: A Graphic Memoir is a graphic memoir by Samuel Bercholz, illustrated by Pema Namdol Thaye. The book takes readers on an apocalyptic journey through the infernal Buddhist hells revealed during a near-death experience. The book is a courageous and subjective account, resonant with Buddhist teachings. The author’s visionary excursion into the realms of hell is presented through a man whose temporary visitor’s pass gives him a horrifying but enlightening preview of its torments.

The book is published by Shambhala Publications in Boulder, Colorado, and is available in hardcover format. The book features 128 pages, 4-color art throughout, and is rated 3.49 by 136 ratings and 24 reviews. The story follows the man’s life story and hospital ordeal, as well as his encounter with the Tibetan Book of the Dead.

The graphic memoir offers a glimpse into the world of Buddhism and the experiences of those who have experienced it. The book is a must-read for anyone interested in the profound teachings of Buddhism and the enlightening experiences that can be gained from experiencing the infernal realms of hell.

In conclusion, A Guided Tour of Hell: A Graphic Memoir is a captivating and insightful exploration of the infernal realms of Buddhism. It offers a unique perspective on the world of hell and the lessons that can be learned from our own experiences.


📹 A Guided Tour of Hell

… Sam Bercholz on the new book A Guided Tour of Hell: A Graphic Memoir. http://www.shambhala.com/a-guided-tour-of-hell.html.


What is the guided tour of hell about?

A Guided Tour of Hell is a book by Sam Bercholz, a long-time Buddhist practitioner and teacher, that offers a harrowing and vivid account of what might await us after death. The book is a courageous and subjective account, resonant with Buddhist doctrine, that veers far from the heavenly realms of much modern NDE literature. The narrative is vividly illustrated by Pema Namdol’s brilliant artwork.

The book is praised for its courage and subjective nature, veering far from the heavenly realms of much modern NDE literature. The author’s narrative is guided with love, destroying illusion and leaving the reader in a state of discomfiting wakefulness. The book is a deeply refined and discerning spiritual view that will compel the reader to journey beyond conventional thought and never to return.

By illustrating the naked consequences of our destructive attitudes and actions, the book aims to make us mindful to become better people. Tulku Thondup Rinpoche, author of The Healing Power of Mind and Boundless Healing, thanks Sam for returning with mesmerizing descriptions of what he witnessed on the other side.

A must-read for anyone who wonders what might happen at the time of death or for most of us who wonder what might happen.

What book has 7 levels of hell?
(Image Source: Pixabay.com)

What book has 7 levels of hell?

Inferno is the first part of Dante Alighieri’s 14th-century narrative poem The Divine Comedy, which follows the journey of a fictionalized version of Dante through Hell, guided by the ancient Roman poet Virgil. Hell is depicted as nine concentric circles of torment within the Earth, representing the realm of those who have rejected spiritual values by yielding to bestial appetites or violence, or by perverting their human intellect to fraud or malice against their fellowmen. As an allegory, the Divine Comedy represents the journey of the soul toward God, with the Inferno describing the recognition and rejection of sin.

The poem begins on Maundy Thursday, March 24, 1300, shortly before the dawn of Good Friday. The narrator, Dante, is 35 years old and halfway in the journey of life. He finds himself lost in a dark wood, astray from the “straight way” of salvation. He sets out to climb up a small mountain but is blocked by three beasts: a lonza ( leopard), a leone (lion), and a lupa (she-wolf). These beasts symbolize the three kinds of sin that bring the unrepentant soul into one of the three major divisions of Hell: incontinence (the she-wolf), violence and bestiality (the lion), and fraud and malice (the leopard).

As the sun rises on Good Friday, April 8, Dante is driven back despairing into the darkness of error, a “lower place” where the sun is silent. However, he is rescued by a figure who announces his birth under Julius Caesar and lived under Augustus, the shade of Roman poet Virgil, author of the Aeneid.

Is there a 10th layer of Hell?
(Image Source: Pixabay.com)

Is there a 10th layer of Hell?

Dante’s Hell is a complex structure based on Aristotle’s ideas, with Christian symbolisms and supplementation from Cicero’s De Officiis. The three major categories of sin are Incontinence, Violence/Bestiality, and Fraud/Malice. Sinners punished for incontinence, such as the lustful, gluttonous, hoarders and wasters, and the wrathful and sullen, demonstrate weakness in controlling their appetites, desires, and natural urges. According to Aristotle’s Ethics, incontinence is less condemnable than malice or bestiality, and therefore, these sinners are located in four circles of Upper Hell (Circles 2-5).

Dante adds Circle 1 (Limbo) to Upper Hell and Circle 6 (Heresy) to Lower Hell, making 9 Circles in total. This “9+1=10” structure is also found within the Purgatorio and Paradiso. Lower Hell is further subdivided into Circles 7 (Violence) into three rings, Circle 8 (Fraud) into ten bolge, and Circle 9 (Treachery) into four regions, resulting in 24 divisions in total.

Upon crossing the Acheron, Dante encounters Virgil, who leads him to the first circle of the abyss, Limbo, where Virgil himself resides. This circle contains the unbaptized and virtuous pagans who, although not sinful enough to warrant damnation, did not accept Christ. Virgil states that Jesus descends into Limbo and takes Adam, Abel, Noah, Moses, Abraham, David, Rachel, and others into his all-forgiving arms and transports them to Heaven as the first human souls to be saved.

Dante encounters the poets Homer, Horace, Ovid, and Lucan, who include him in their number and make him “sixth in that high company”. They reach the base of a great Castle, the dwelling place of the wisest men of antiquity, surrounded by seven gates and a flowing brook. After passing through the seven gates, the group comes to an exquisite green meadow and encounters the inhabitants of the Citadel, including figures associated with the Trojans and their descendants (the Romans), such as Electra, Hector, Aeneas, Julius Caesar, Camilla, Penthesilea, King Latinus, Lucius Junius Brutus, Lucretia, Julia, Marcia, and Cornelia Africana. Saladin, a Muslim military leader known for his battle against the Crusaders, is also mentioned.

Is Hell of a Book Based on a true story?
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Is Hell of a Book Based on a true story?

Hell of a Book is a novel that blends nonfiction elements from Ta-Nehisi Coates’s Between the World and Me and Isabel Wilkerson’s Caste, creating an elegant yet whimsical world that teeters between the real and the surreal, between farce and tragedy. The novel won the 2021 National Book Award for Fiction, as it aims to tell the truth through a good story without losing hope. The story is told by an unnamed Black author on a nationwide book tour, who struggles to distinguish between reality and imagination.

Despite his grueling schedule, he is supposed to be writing a second book. A publishing representative and bizarre media expert provide farcical guidance, adding to the surreal atmosphere. The author claims to be telling a love story, but it is not the typical love story, with a few dates and a hysterically funny sexual encounters.

What is the story of hell of a book?
(Image Source: Pixabay.com)

What is the story of hell of a book?

Hell of a Book is a novel featuring two parallel narratives. The first, set in rural Bolton, North Carolina, follows a young Black boy named Soot, who is taught how to turn invisible to protect himself. The second narrative, from the first-person perspective, follows an unnamed Black author on his first book tour, grappling with hallucinations, memory loss, and the trauma of his parents’ deaths. Soot is initially hidden from his parents, but they find him and celebrate.

In the first-person narrator, he is chased naked by a man whose wife he has just slept with. At breakfast, he meets Soot, who is only visible to him. Soot learns that his father William, a great artist, stopped drawing Black people due to his father’s forbidding him from drawing Black people. William blames Daddy Henry for making him hate himself and his skin.

What are the 21 levels of Hell?
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What are the 21 levels of Hell?

The Manu Smriti lists 21 hells, including Tamisra, Andhatamisra, Maharaurava, Raurava, Kalasutra, Mahanaraka, Samjivana, Mahavichi, Tapana, Sampratapana, Samhata, Sakakola, Kudmala, Putimrittika, Lohasanku, Rijisha, Pathana, Vaitarani, Salmali, Asipatravana, and Lohadaraka. The Yajnavalkya Smriti lists 21 hells, including Tamisra, Lohasanku, Mahaniraya, Salamali, Raurava, Kudmala, Putimrittika, Kalasutraka, Sanghata, Lohitoda, Savisha, Sampratapana, Mahanaraka, Kakola, Sanjivana, Mahapatha, Avichi, Andhatamisra, Kumbhipaka, Asipatravana, and Tapana.

The Bhagavata Purana, Vishnu Purana, and Devi Bhagavata Purana enlist and describe 28 hells, but end with the claim of hundreds and thousands. The Devi Bhagavata Purana agrees with the Bhagavata Purana in most names, but some names are slightly different. The Vishnu Purana lists the 28 in order of Raurava, Shukara, Rodha, Tala, Visasana, Mahajwala, Taptakumbha, Lavana, Vimohana, Rudhirandha, Vaitaraní, Krimiśa, Krimibhojana, Asipatravana, Krishna, Lalabhaksa, Dáruńa, Púyaváha, Pápa, Vahnijwála, Adhośiras, Sandansa, Kalasutra, Tamas, Avichi, Śwabhojana, Apratisht́ha, and another Avichi.

What is the six layer of hell?

In Dante’s theological framework, the sixth circle of Hell is reserved for those who have espoused heretical beliefs. These are not limited to those who have formally renounced the Catholic faith but rather encompass any form of theological dissent that contradicts the orthodox tenets of Christianity.

Are there 7 layers of Hell?

The lowest layer of Hell is comprised of nine concentric circles, spiraling downwards until reaching the lowest point, which is situated at the furthest distance from heaven.

Is there a 10th level of hell?
(Image Source: Pixabay.com)

Is there a 10th level of hell?

Dante’s Hell is a complex structure based on Aristotle’s ideas, with Christian symbolisms and supplementation from Cicero’s De Officiis. The three major categories of sin are Incontinence, Violence/Bestiality, and Fraud/Malice. Sinners punished for incontinence, such as the lustful, gluttonous, hoarders and wasters, and the wrathful and sullen, demonstrate weakness in controlling their appetites, desires, and natural urges. According to Aristotle’s Ethics, incontinence is less condemnable than malice or bestiality, and therefore, these sinners are located in four circles of Upper Hell (Circles 2-5).

Dante adds Circle 1 (Limbo) to Upper Hell and Circle 6 (Heresy) to Lower Hell, making 9 Circles in total. This “9+1=10” structure is also found within the Purgatorio and Paradiso. Lower Hell is further subdivided into Circles 7 (Violence) into three rings, Circle 8 (Fraud) into ten bolge, and Circle 9 (Treachery) into four regions, resulting in 24 divisions in total.

Upon crossing the Acheron, Dante encounters Virgil, who leads him to the first circle of the abyss, Limbo, where Virgil himself resides. This circle contains the unbaptized and virtuous pagans who, although not sinful enough to warrant damnation, did not accept Christ. Virgil states that Jesus descends into Limbo and takes Adam, Abel, Noah, Moses, Abraham, David, Rachel, and others into his all-forgiving arms and transports them to Heaven as the first human souls to be saved.

Dante encounters the poets Homer, Horace, Ovid, and Lucan, who include him in their number and make him “sixth in that high company”. They reach the base of a great Castle, the dwelling place of the wisest men of antiquity, surrounded by seven gates and a flowing brook. After passing through the seven gates, the group comes to an exquisite green meadow and encounters the inhabitants of the Citadel, including figures associated with the Trojans and their descendants (the Romans), such as Electra, Hector, Aeneas, Julius Caesar, Camilla, Penthesilea, King Latinus, Lucius Junius Brutus, Lucretia, Julia, Marcia, and Cornelia Africana. Saladin, a Muslim military leader known for his battle against the Crusaders, is also mentioned.

What is the 7th layer of Hell?

The Minotaur is responsible for maintaining order within the seventh circle of violence. This circle is divided into three sections, each corresponding to a specific category of violent thoughts or actions. Those who transgress are subjected to a range of penalties, including being forced to traverse a river of blood, to endure the pain of thorny trees, and to walk through burning sand.

What is the 9th layer of Hell?
(Image Source: Pixabay.com)

What is the 9th layer of Hell?

The ninth circle of hell is a submerged ice chamber comprising four layers, with the most egregious betrayals located at the deepest point. The uppermost layer, Caina, named after Cain, who killed Abel, contains the souls of those who have betrayed their family.


📹 A Guided Tour of Hell

Visuals for the Trance//Furnace show of the same name.


Images From A Graphic Memoir, A Guided Tour Of Hell
(Image Source: Pixabay.com)

Debbie Green

I am a school teacher who was bitten by the travel bug many decades ago. My husband Billy has come along for the ride and now shares my dream to travel the world with our three children.The kids Pollyanna, 13, Cooper, 12 and Tommy 9 are in love with plane trips (thank goodness) and discovering new places, experiences and of course Disneyland.

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