Tibetan Book of Living and Dying: The Spiritual Classic and International Bestseller

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More About This Book

Overview

This acclaimed spiritual masterpiece is widely regarded as one of the most complete and authoritative presentations of the Tibetan Buddhist teachings ever written. A manual for life and death and a magnificent source of sacred inspiration from the heart of the Tibetan tradition, The Tibetan Book Of Living and Dying provides a lucid and inspiring introduction to the practice of meditation, to the nature of mind, to karma and rebirth, to compassionate love and care for the dying, and to the trials and rewards of the spiritual path.

Editorial Reviews

Los Angeles Times
Rinpoche's teachings have much to offer.... His down-to-earth tone, peppered with songs and poetry from Buddhist sages, takes away much of the intense fear of death and makes it seem like an old friend.
New York Times Book Review
Sogyal Rinpoche...has delivered the Tibetanequivalent of 'The Divine Comedy.' One could imaginethat this is what Dante might have written had he beena Buddhist metaphysician rather than a Christian poet.
More Reviews (3) Fewer Reviews
San Francisco Chronicle Book Review
A magnificent achievement. In its power to touch the heart, to awaken consciousness, it is an inestimable gift.
Publishers Weekly
This modern interpretation of the Tibetan Book of the Dead outlines a path for spiritual growth. (May)
Library Journal
Holding that the modern belief that there is no afterlife is responsible for much ecological destruction, and inspired by The Tibetan Book of the Dead, Sogyal discusses Tibetan Buddhist teaching . The author also discusses Tibetan Buddhism's implications for this life and for the spiritual path, its aid to the dying, and its relevance to contemporary issues such as euthanasia, near-death experience, suicide, and the hospice movement. Sogyal teaches the practice of mindfulness, meditation, and involvement in contemporary life. His background in traditional Buddhism, Western religion, and scientific traditions make him a helpful guide eager to help the world attain peace. Recommended for academic and public libraries with collections in interfaith dialog.

Product Details

  • ISBN-13: 9780062508348
  • Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
  • Publication date: 3/28/1994
  • Edition description: Revised and Updated Edition
  • Pages: 441
  • Sales rank: 62,617
  • Product dimensions: 5.37 (w) x 9.25 (h) x 1.04 (d)

Meet the Author

Sogyal Rinpoche was born in Tibet and raised by one of the most revered spiritual masters of this century, Jamyang Khyentse Chökyi Lodrö. With the Chinese occupation of Tibet, he went into exile with his master, who died in 1959 in Sikkim in the Himalayas. After university studies in Delhi and Cambridge, England, he acted as translator and aide to several leading Tibetan masters, and began teaching in the West in 1974. Rinpoche sees his life's task in transplanting the wisdom of Buddha to the West by offering training in the vision set out in The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying. This training can enable those who follow it to understand, embody, and integrate Buddhist teachings into their everyday lives.

Rinpoche's reputation as an authority on the teachings associated with The Tibetan Book of the Dead and his dialogue with leading figures in the fields of psychology, science, and healing make him a sought-after speaker at international conferences and lectures. He travels extensively, teaching in Europe, North America, Australia, and Asia, and is the founder and spiritual director of Rigpa, a network of Buddhist centers and groups around the world.

Read an Excerpt

Chapter One



In the Mirror of Death

My Own First Experience of death came when I was about seven. We were preparing to leave the eastern highlands to travel to central Tibet. Samten, one of the personal attendants of my master, was a wonderful monk who was kind to me during my childhood. He had a bright, round, chubby face, always ready to break into a smile. He was everyone's favorite in the monastery because he was so good-natured. Every day my master would give teachings and initiations and lead practices and rituals. Toward the end of the day, I would gather together my friends and act out a little theatrical performance, reenacting the morning's events. It was Samten who would always lend me the costumes my master had worn in the morning. He never refused me.

Then suddenly Samten fell ill, and it was clear he was not going to live. We had to postpone our departure. I will never forget the two weeks that followed. The rank smell of death hung like a cloud over everything, and whenever I think of that time, that smell comes back to me. The monastery was saturated with an intense awareness of death. This was not at all morbid or frightening, however; in the presence of my master, Samten's death took on a special significance. It became a teaching for us all.

Samten lay on a bed by the window in a small temple in my master's residence. I knew he was dying. From time to time I would go in and sit by him. He could not talk, and I was shocked by the change in his face, which was now so haggard and drawn. I realized that he was going to leave us and we would never see himagain. I felt intensely sad and lonely.

Samten's death was not an easy one. The sound of his labored breathing followed us everywhere, and we could smell his body decaying. The monastery was overwhelmingly silent except for this breathing. Everything focused on Samten.

Yet although there was so much suffering in Samten's prolonged dying, we could all see that deep down he had a peace and inner confidence about him. At first I could not explain this, but then I realized what it came from: his faith and his, training, and the presence of our master. And though I felt sad I knew then that if our master was there, everything would turn out all right, because he would be able to help Samten toward liberation. Later I came to know that it is the dream of any practitioner to die before his master and have the good fortune to be guided by him through death.

As Jamyang Khyentse guided Samten calmly through his dying, he introduced him to all the stages of the process he was going through, one by one. I was astonished by the precision of my master's knowledge, and by his confidence and peace. When my master was there, his peaceful confidence would reassure even the most anxious person. Now Jamyang Khyentse was revealing to us his fearlessness of death. Not that he ever treated death lightly: He often told us that he was afraid of it, and warned us against taking it naively or complacently, Yet what was it that allowed my master to face death in a way that was at once so sober and so lighthearted, so practical yet so mysteriously carefree? That question fascinated and absorbed me.

Samten's death shook me. At the age of seven, I had my first glimpse of the vast power of the tradition I was being made part of, and I began to understand the purpose of spiritual practice. Practice had given Samten an acceptance of death, as well as a clear understanding that suffering and pain can be part of a deep, natural process of purification. Practice had given my master a complete knowledge of what death is, and a precise technology for guiding individuals through it.


After Samten died we set off for Lhasa, the capital of Tibet, a tortuous three-month journey on horseback. From there we continued our pilgrimage to the sacred sites of central and southern Tibet. These are the holy places of the saints, kings, and scholars who brought Buddhism to Tibet from the seventh century onward. My master was the emanation of many masters of all traditions, and because of his reputation he was given a tumultuous reception everywhere we went.

For me that journey was extremely exciting, and has remained full of beautiful memories. Tibetans rise early, in order to make use of all the natural light. We would go to bed at dusk and rise before daybreak, and by first light the yaks carrying the baggage would be moving out. The tents would be struck, and the last ones to come down were the kitchen and my master's tent. A scout would go ahead to choose a good camping place, and we would stop and camp around noon for the rest of the day. I used to love to camp by a river and listen to the sound of the water, or to sit in the tent and hear the rain pattering on the roof.

We were a small party with about thirty tents in all. During the day I rode on a golden-colored horse next to my master. While we rode he gave teachings, told stories, practiced, and composed a number of practices specially for me. One day, as we drew near the sacred lake of Yamdrok Tso, and caught sight of the turquoise radiance of its waters, another Lama in our party, Lama Tseten, began to die.

The death of Lama Tseten proved another strong teaching for me. He was the tutor to my master's spiritual wife, Khandro Tiering Chodron, who is still alive today.

The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying. Copyright © by Sogyal Rinpoche. Reprinted by permission of HarperCollins Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved. Available now wherever books are sold.

Table of Contents

Foreword
Preface
Pt. 1 Living
1 In the Mirror of Death 3
2 Impermanence 15
3 Reflection and Change 28
4 The Nature of Mind 41
5 Bringing the Mind Home 56
6 Evolution, Karma, and Rebirth 82
7 Bardos and Other Realities 102
8 This Life: The Natural Bardo 111
9 The Spiritual Path 127
10 The Innermost Essence 150
Pt. 2 Dying
11 Heart Advice on Helping the Dying 173
12 Compassion: The Wish-Fulfilling Jewel 187
13 Spiritual Help for the Dying 209
14 The Practices for Dying 223
15 The Process of Dying 244
Pt. 3 Death and Rebirth
16 The Ground 259
17 Intrinsic Radiance 274
18 The Bardo of Becoming 287
19 Helping after Death 299
20 The Near-Death Experience: A Staircase to Heaven? 319
Pt. 4 Conclusion
21 The Universal Process 339
22 Servants of Peace 356
Appendix 1: My Teachers 367
Appendix 2: Questions about Death 371
Appendix 3: Two Stories 378
Appendix 4: Two Mantras 386
Notes 392
Selected Bibliography 406
Acknowledgments 409
Index 415

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See All Sort by: Showing 1 – 20 of 25 Customer Reviews

  • Anonymous

    Posted November 23, 2000

    Cliff Notes for The Tibetan Book of the Dead

    After reading the Tibetan Book of the Dead I found this book. It was a great addition to and I found it far better reading than The Tibetan Book of the Dead. Sogyal Rinpoche puts the teachings into a human and humorous voice. I love all his stories; they make the teachings personal just like they should be. I don't know how after reading this book one would not be affected by it in a positive way in some way.

    3 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted February 24, 2008

    Enlightenment

    As, perhaps, a lost soul of the western beliefs and the loss of a soul mate I looked to buddhism to find some answers. This book certainly lightens the blow of our impending inevitable. I enjoyed the read and the personal touch with great stories. Well recommended to anyone interested in the other side.

    1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted December 26, 2005

    BBC

    Rinpoche's teachings have much to offer.... His down-to-earth tone, peppered with songs and poetry from Buddhist sages, takes away much of the intense fear of death and makes it seem like an old friend. Sogyal Rinpoche...has delivered the Tibetanequivalent of 'The Divine Comedy.' One could imagine that this is what Dante might have written had he been a Buddhist metaphysician rather than a Christian poet.

    1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

    Was this review helpful? Yes  NoThank you for your feedback.   Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.

  • Anonymous

    Posted September 26, 2004

    Highly recommend it!

    This book was my introduction to Buddhism and what got me hooked. Read it, you'll love it.

    1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted August 3, 2000

    Dzogchen Essentials

    Sogyal Rinpoche has brought a modern psychological - medical understanding to the hospices and hospitals in the form of ' The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying '. More than an instructional text - this writing is a Dzogchen masterpiece with the author aptly trained in transmission of the difficult subject of Buddhism. With his Western experiences and the endowment of his master teachers Jamyang Khyentse Chokyi Lodro - Dudjom Rinpoche - Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche - Khandro Tsering Chodron - Sogyal Rinpoche has explored the sublime aspects of Vajrayana Buddhism. This Diamond Way is practiced as a method for Living. The Art of Dying is practiced by all true adepts as the only meditation that can bring about true Guru Yoga and instill in the practioner the compassion necessary for enlightenment and ultimate transcendence. The understanding rendered to the teachings of the bardos is particularly poignant - and Rinpoche takes much of the fear and uncertainty away from the process of familarization with phenomenon of Mind. The very reading is a Dzogchen empowerment. Om mani padme hum - Om ah hum Vajra Guru Padma Siddhi hum - Hail the Jewel in the Lotus !

    1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted February 1, 2012

    Awesome

    A great read for any buddhist

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  • Anonymous

    Posted October 10, 2009

    Tibetian Book of Living and Dying

    An excellent explanation of the traditional book of Living and Dying. Geared for Americans who are looking for a book complete with more in depth explanations of the tradition/belief system/context orientation of the Buddist religion.

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