Dante’s Inferno meets the Tibetan Book of the Dead in this graphic memoir / fine-art book–the unforgettable true story of the author’s visionary excursion into Buddhist hell, with stunning color paintings that bring a modern spirit of imagination to the sacred art of Asia.

Sam Bercholz was devoting himself to teaching Buddhism after retiring from his successful publishing company, when suddenly he was blindsided by a heart attack. As he succumbed to clinical death in the hospital, he found himself entering a classic near-death experience–but the last place he expected to end up was Buddhist hell. And not just one hell, but numerous horrific hell regions, both hot and cold, where countless beings suffer unspeakable pain due to their own mental conceptions.

A sublime being appears and tells Sam- You have been brought here to witness and understand the suffering of human beings. Thus begins a nightmarish expedition that evokes both horror and awakening as Sam is guided though a gallery of hell-denizens by a feminine embodiment of wisdom, who ultimately redeems him and returns him to life.

Powerful storytelling is matched by the illustrations of master painter Pema Namdol Thaye. Comic-book drawings illustrate Sam’s life story and hospital ordeal, while fantastic color paintings of his hell experience bring a startling modern spirit of imagination to the sacred art of Asia.