Sogyal Rinpoche

The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying, written by Sogyal Rinpoche, is the ultimate introduction to Tibetan Buddhist wisdom.

The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying

The Spiritual Classic & International Bestseller; Revised and Updated Edition

nhu ⋆𐙚₊˚⊹

As Judy Tatelbaum says: Grief is a wound that needs attention in order to heal. To work through and complete grief means to face our feelings openly and honestly, to express and release our feelings fully and to tolerate and accept our feelings for however long it takes for the wound to heal. We fear that once acknowledged grief will bowl us over. The truth is that grief experienced does dissolve. Grief unexpressed is grief that lasts indefinitely.

Often nurses in busy hospitals rely on their intuition and many other factors, such as the behavior of doctors or members of the patient's family, or the state of mind of the dying person, to predict when someone might be dying. They also observe, but not at all in a systematic way, some physical signs, such as the change in skin color, a certain smell sometimes remarked on, and a noticeable change in breathing. Modern drugs, however, may well mask the signs that Tibetan teachings indicate, and there is as yet surprisingly little research in the West on this most important topic. Doesn't this show how little the process of dying is understood or respected? 

Many of the near-death experiencers reported out-of-the-body experiences, from which they were able to give surprisingly accurate detailed accounts of their surroundings and even, in some cases, of other rooms in the same hospital. This clearly shows the importance of talking positively and frequently to a dying person or to a person in a coma. Conscious, alert, and actively loving care for the dying person must go on until the last moments of his or her life, and as I will show, even beyond. 

[…] ways of improving themselves, but never taxing their brains, never confronting any complex or painful situation, never conscious of their true nature, and so anesthetized that they are never aware of what their condition really is. 

Since the dawn of history, reincarnation and a firm faith in life after death have occupied an essential place in nearly all the world's religions. Belief in rebirth existed amidst Christians in the early history of Christianity, and persisted in various forms well into the Middle Ages. Origen, one of the most influential of the church fathers, believed in the "pre-existence of souls" and wrote in the third century: "Each soul comes to this world reinforced by the victories or enfeebled by the defeats of its previous lives."

Underlying our whole outlook is a neurotic conviction of our own limitations.

Saints and mystics throughout history have adorned their realizations with different names and given them different faces and interpretations, but what they are all fundamentally experiencing is the essential nature of the mind.

hunter x hunter: “Human life is too long to devote to reproduction, yet too short to devote to learning, in the helix of time. Perhaps that is why humans succumb to desire and seek release. Despite the fact that life is complete with the sun, the land, and the poetry.” 

[…] the only truly serious goals in life are "learning to love other people and acquiring knowledge." 

One to re-read. Too bad I am such a cynic. Is the original Book of the Dead better? I want my brain back

martian1138

Andy Sporring

There's so much I think when I read this book, and it's not only a book to me it's part of the wonder of what's happening in my life right no. This book is a keeper, and I will return to it as well as I return to Happiness by HH Dalai Lama. So my friends Read it, eat it and pray with it!

garima mamgain

I like reading on a variety of subjects but even for me this book was totally out of my comfort zone. Talking about death and preparing yourself for one isn't an easy subject. We often skirt the topic of death. But irrespective of whether one is prepared or not death comes for all.

This book is reminder about impermanence of everything in life. Every chapter speaks about how to prepare yourself for dying and more importantly how to live better. 

This isn't a light read. Every chapter requires you to pause and think and absorb. It isn't a quick read either - sometimes I found myself lost in many tibetan words and practices. So read this when the time and frame of mind is right. 

I still do not believe in some things the author is convinced about - reincarnation for one. But I do agree that it hasn't been proven or disproved; thus he and I have the same probability of being right (or wrong).

After reading this book, I smile a little bit more at strangers; try and meditate everyday and look at everything with a little bit more detachment. This book will change you and make you think - only if you are willing to open your mind.

My single biggest takeaway from this book - Treat everyone with kindness. For every breath that we are taking ; we are actually dying.

The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying

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