Rating: 
Summary: Those who are tired of searching for the truth can rest here
Review: Being a student of T'ai chi ch'uan, I began to understand the nature of mind/body. An assignment given to me by my teacher was to read "The Secret of the Golden Flower" by Wilhelm. I did and was frustrated and confused. Little did I know I had the "truth" on my bookshelf already. I had bought the TBLD years earlier when a co-workers daughter was dying. However, I could not bring myself to open the book after I bought it so I put it away. Then, something, I do not know what, told me to go to this book again. I began reading and could not put it down. Still afraid of what I would find about this morbid thing called death, I read on. Now I read it over and over. Several months ago I bought "Secret of the Golden Flower" translated by Thomas Cleary and I was amazed at how the two books followed one another. I have found the secret of the golden flower (at least the beginnings) and a whole new way of looking at life and death. Thank you Sogyal Rinpoche for giving me the "view" -- a whole new life/death experience. I no longer shun death (or life). And when I feel negative emotions, I understand that they are just that emotions... here today, gone tomorrow -- if you just let it be.
Rating:
Summary: A true jewel
Review: This is the best book that I have ever read. It is the essence of compassion and because of it's masterful writing and the precious lessons in the book, I am a happy, content person. I cannot stress how valuable this work is and how much everyone owes it to themselves to pick up a copy as soon as possible. It will change your life if you let it. Thank you so much, Rinpoche! Metta, Robert F. O'Bryan
Rating:
Summary: Contains the seeds to bring forth the lotus flowers.
Review: Imagine my surprise as a thirty-something woman, educated and trained as an attorney, raised in the Lutheran faith, to begin to read this book full of passages I had already writen within my heart. How strange it was to at once feel "normal" in that at least one other being saw the world as I did. And inside, a smile began to glow which I find I cannot repress. That it is all possible. That it could all make sense. That visions and ideas from my earliest childhood are not symptoms to be categorized within DSM-IV. I earlier thought to write Sogyal Rinpoche a letter, to request an audience. But then, we are already friends. And he already knows me beyond the people who at my side have shared the days of this life.
Rating:
Summary: Guidebook, manual and source of inspiration
Review: For those of us fortunate enough to have heard Rinpoche teach, this book captures the energy of clarity of a spoken teaching. Readable, but dense with information and practical advice, it is a book to treasure for a lifetime, for many lifetimes. I write as a committed Buddhist, so could be seen as partial, but the main reason I am a Buddhist is this book, and the man who wrote it.
Pete Folly
Rating:
Summary: Reach to Happiness Beyond Material World
Review: The book "Tibetan Book of Living and Dying" truly reflects how an Tibetan layman view life and death. Passivity in Western culture is a negative quality, but Tibetans (including myself) practice the philosophy of passivity to attain the mental peace. All of us-- whether in West or East-- live to lead a happy and meaningful life, although very few are really happy. We are in constant struggle for material benefits, power, money, social status, etc.. The wordly struggle takes us nowhere in the journey of peace of mind. The book uses simple anecdotes and terse writing to explain how to view our lives from a new and much broader dimension. The perspective put into practice reaches far beyond the material world and could open our eyes to the true meaning of life and death
Rating:
Summary: Best Eng. Book So Far on How Tibetans View Life and Death
Review: Sogyal Rinpoche has a done an amazing job by providing a lucid interpretation of the ancient Tibet wisdom to the Western readers. Although I am familiar with the general ideas presented in the book (I am a Tibetan), Rinpoche's power of exposition and a keen understanding of the Western mindset makes the book a compulsory reading not just to anyone interested in knowing more about how to lead a more relaxed and meaningful life, but even to the younger-generation Tibetans whose lack of training in the traditional Buddhist religion makes the knowledge otherwise inaccessible. Most importantly, the book provides, among others, fundamentals of the very Tibetan psyche and, in a sense, tells the world how civilized Tibetans actually are, despite China's accusations to the contrary! (Tsering Namgyal Khortsa
Rating:
Summary: This book is revelation of the basic existential mystery
Review: Sogyal Rinpoche has managed to convey what seemed
to be the ultimate mystery of life in the most
understandable form of literary expression. It is difficult to imagine anything more efficient in making us in the West slightly more selective in
the maze of presumed priorities.
Marijan Vejvoda
Rating: 
Summary: Good book but
Review: This book was not really written by Sogyal Rimpoche. It was mainly written by Harvey mentioned as a secondary author (or someone else called Paul Harvey). This information comes to me via a Tibetan Buddhist who sponsored Sogyal Rimpoche's arrival and settling down in the UK. As a reviewer at Amazon.com and a Buddhist practitioner who has met Sogyal, I stand by the above statement. The informant was quite sure though the communication was provided under informal circumstances.Before I continue, in the publishing world it is probably not uncommon for books to be "authored" by one person but actually written by another. Jefferey Archer's editor or some other editors often may have written a book under the umbrella of a lucrative author. Sogyal Rimpoche has started Rigpa and earns a lot of money. His disciples carry cash in suitcases (I gathered from the above source and am not surprised after attending one of Sogyal's retreats). He was disowned by or he disowned Dujom Rimpoche his teacher. Sogyal is fond of quoting his familial links and relationship to Dujom or the Dalai Lama and is regarded as some sort of incarnation (aren't we all?). Sogyal Rimpoche was informed that he was not mature enough to teach in the Nyngma tradition and was asked to return to Tibet. He refused. Harvey kept the fee and Sogyal harvests the royalties. This book is a cherry picked slice of Tibet's greatest teachings with highlights on death, rebirth, compassion incorporating practices somewhat external to a principal Tibetan source text on death and rebirth which forms the basis of the book. It is recommended reading before you go on a Sogyal retreat boosting sales. The book is not especially deep and designed to appeal. Small wonder it attracts few detractors. It reads rather well I suppose and Rimpoche remains a charismatic teacher. As long as you don't swallow it lock, stock and smoking barrel.
Rating:
Summary: Entering a new realm...
Review: I consider this book a new awakening. What you know is changed by the books you read and this book is that essence. To consider the afterlife is one step, and to accept what others note about the afterlife is part of the second step. To provide the depth that Sogyal does is rewarding to the reader. I felt as if I was going through the stages Sogyal mentions. Although long, I felt as if the reading engaged me and led to me wanting to know what was next. Recommended...
Rating:
Summary: My Favorite Book
Review: This is the best book on Tibetan Buddhism I have ever read. It introduces the Western reader to all of the foundational tenets in Tibetan Buddhism - impermanence, compassion, karma, etc.
Having subsequently read numerous Tibetan Buddhist texts, I still recommend this book first to anyone interested in the topic.
It is traditionally authentic and simultaneously oriented specifically to the Western reader - this is due to the fact that Rinpoche is a Tibetan master that started out as a Tibetan-English translator for the great masters of the 1970s and 1980's and he has lived in the West and taught Buddhism to Westerners for decades.
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