The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying: The Spiritual Classic & International Bestseller; Revised and Updated Edition

Rating:
Summary: A Deeper Meaning to Meditation & Aid In Dying
Review: I have found this a substantial book, one of valuable information, worth the time invested. I am not a person of formulas, recognizing the ambiguity in existence, differentiating from stagnation in frozen logic in blue prints of absolutes and that of relativity, which dwells in values but with the ability to adjust in flexible variations according to the particular and continually changing positions. And yet here is a formula, however I put a degree of value in such as to other sources that in relative ways confirm this. First, the fact that near-death experiences from both patients and doctors, both Eastern and Western, have similar relational interpretations to this book appears to confirm it's value, as opposed to formulas based on mere speculation.. I would like to cite its antiquity and that of my admiration for Buddhist concepts, but that is speculative and such arguments are used in many erroneous concepts which support contradicting teachings. However, along with near-death experiences, there are also the recorded experiences of psychedelic plant users, both observed objectively and experienced subjectively, which appear to conform to much of the bardos written about in the Tibetan Book of the Dead. The Doctors Timothy Leary, Richard Albert and Ralph Metzler had also connected such experiences with this and in their book, The Psychedelic Experience, along with various other intellectuals, spiritual and divinity students, psychologists and various other students in the discovery of the mind. And third, the application which Sogyal Rionpoche has given to the different bardos applied to the processes of sleep and dreaming and that of the thought process itself in human thinking, I think brings forth much value to this writing, to be taken in serious considerations, within degrees of course. So with these three factors, I find this book extremely enlightening and beneficial for the studies in science, spirituality and anthropomorphic interpretations on the death experience.

This book reveals the Tibetan guru disciple culture, far apart from charlatan practices of religious cults so prevalent in Western culture. This guru-disciple relationship is crucial in the Tibetan culture, joined in with years of spiritual practice in meditation and mind recognition comparable to western psychology that emulates Eastern Buddhist thinking. Sogyal Rinpoche writes of the impermanence of human life and how death is so crucially important as a part of life and the denial of such in the Western culture. His analysis of the nature of the mind, the Rigpa, and different meditative methods, mantras, objects, posture & etc., of bringing the mind back home, out from its habitual karmic thoughts into the "gaps" or spaces between thoughts into the true nature of the mind, the silent unchanging pure awareness of true self behind all thoughts, the delicate balance and paradox of relaxation and awareness.

In this, there is karma, the laws of cause and effect based on both individual and collective intentions which result in actions, the intensions or motivations behind them as their strength and how karmic creativity determines how we as artists dance to life in either positive or negative thoughts. It is here we must take full responsibility as this will determine our future lives and habitual thinking.

Ultimately, the book goes into the bardos and other realities and there are four, the bardo of this life, the bardo of dying, the bardo of dharmata and the bardo of becoming. It is through meditation in this life, awareness of the gaps, that will enable us to take advantage of the opportunities the subsequent bardos will enable us to achieve in enlightenment to rebirth in higher realms than humanity. It is also our lack of awareness and/or aversion and grasping that will bring us back to the same human life in samsara or of lower realms in rebirth. If we can see as Blake did the world in a grain of sand, we can open our perception to the Rigpa, apart from our conceptual ideas. Despite our gurus, the wise guide is as Socrates had once said, ourselves, to "know thyself," in listening, reflection and meditation, letting go of the ego in the gaps to the Rigpa, bringing the mind home. To see the Rigpa is to see the innermost essence. The bardo of dying relates advice on how to let go and simply enter in peace and acceptance, surrendering, non-grasping.

In the bardo of dying we loose all habitual perceptions and obtain a momentary glimpse of naked consciousness, the Ground Luminosity. However only experienced meditators, or those that have achieved degrees of mental awareness in the gaps beyond habitual thought of grasping and aversion during their life will even recognize this, for the rest it is as though we are unconscious and never become aware to this, the opportunity is lost. We then enter in the bardo of dharmata, also a fleeting and momentary glimpse, of our energy body with dazzling array of colors and patterns. There are instructions as to what the various colors mean and actions to take, which points to our attachments of grasping and aversions and fears. Most of us also are anaware of what is happening and enter into the bardo of becoming, where we exist as a mental body. It is here we are extremely vulnerable to our thoughts, where our life training determines how we think and what happens to us. One positive thought can immediately send us to bliss, one negative to hell. We can witness our bodies, other people and roam about. We can deny we are dead, are hungry thinking we have a body, where incense or smoke can act as pleasures to whatever sense is still remaining as a mental body.

There are the practices of tonglen and phowa, consisting of mental visualizations and mantras for ourselves, the dead and all sentient beings. There are the methods of increasing compassion and the definition of what that really means. Sogyal instructs us not only how to die, but how to help others that are dying, the relatives and those who wish to help those dying and those who have already died. Sogyal also goes into the near death experiences as written about by Raymond Moody and Kenneth Ring and the thoughts on dying of Elizabeth Kubler-Ross.

I particularly enjoyed how Sogyal compares the processes of the bardos as the same processes in our thinking we do every day, as well as the process of sleeping and dreaming we also perform daily. At the culmination of the process of dying, we experience the Dharmakaya, after the dissolution of elements, senses, and thought-states, the ultimate nature of the mind, the Ground Luminosity, is for a moment laid bare. We are empty, perceive the unconditioned truth. Then we experience the fleeting nature of energy in bardo of dharmata, the Samhogakaya, displayed in colors, sounds and lights, the dimension of complete enjoyment beyond dualism and space and time. And then we awaken in the bardo of the becoming, the Nirmanakay, as we attach ourselves again to our habits of thinking, clinging to our illusionary perceptions as real and solid when in reality it is only our mind, not external reality. Much of this occurs in certain degrees when we sleep and when we think. Like the Ground Luminosity, unaware we enter into a gap, the Rigpa where thoughts arise. If we are aware, we can let the thoughts go and rest in awareness. Yet, it is here, simliar to existing in the bardo of becoming, where most of us then cling, grasp and attach to the thoughts produced, carrying us into mental and conceptual activity.

Sogyal also goes into science and physics comparing thoughts of David Bohm, which I found truly enlightening and substantial in the ideas endorsed in this book and the teachings of Tibetan Buddhism in general. This book has much more information that cannot be all explained in a short review. I was pleasantly surprised at how well Sogyal Rinpoche conveyed his subject and I found this book wonderful in the spiritual exploration of the mind, meditation and ultimately the realm of death and our preparation for it.

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Summary: Mindful revelations
Review: This is one of the best books I have read since reading the black and red book on The tibetan book of the dead in the 60's. Insightful and up there with sorting out what is this from what is that. Not for the timid, nor someone who is out of touch with Tibetian ethics in my opinion. I have studied for some years and had a little trouble,but it came around when I seriously dug in. I myself am in the midst of suffering a deadly disease(a lone buddhist at that in this town) that I must say this book has lifted my spirits and set straight the path I was taking in a better light. I especially like the part about how we can create duality ourselves or not. Finally an in- depth book on recognizing exactly when thoughts and emotions arise,how to avoid creating duality, and about accepting thoughts or rejecting them and why. I feel it is one of the more important books out there for the dying or those who tend to the dying(wish more Drs would read this),or suffering. Insightful, has become permanent part of my library.thank you Sogyal Rinpoche and all enlightened beings.

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Summary: One of a kind commentary
Review: This is a great book; a modern classic. However, it is not for everyone. I'd say its a mid-level Tibetan Buddhist text. For the most part, it is a commentary on the famous Tibetan Book of the Dead (that Evans-Wentz translated into English). The original text is dramatically Tibetan (more than Buddhist) and (for those not intimate with Tibetan Buddhism = Vajrayana) very obtuse. It assumes agreement on lots of things including the most basic one: reincarnation. Actually, it might be better described as transmigration because the Tibetans (as opposed to Western mystics) believe people can be reborn as animals or other (mythical) beings such as gods, demi-gods, etc. The orginial book takes a dying person (it's read aloud to the dying and dead person by his or her master or someone else) through the Tibetan-believed stages of death. This is not unlike the Egyptian Book of the Dead except that there the stages are more external and spacial whereas here they are internal and concern how the dying person will fare after death (reincarnation, birth into a Buddhaland, hell, god realm, etc.). Obviously, one's belief (if one truly does believe) in death will affect one's life. Sogyal Rinpoche (Rinpoche is a title not a name and it means "precious one") does the world a service by providing considerable notes and commentary upon the difficult-for-Westerners text. Indeed, he provides enough generic material on living and dying to broaden the appeal of his text to many others beyond those interested in Vajrayana or ancient texts. It should also be noted that Sogyal Rinpoche has taken as his mission to work closely with dying people. So, he seems to practice what he preaches. Pretty impressive!

Rating:
Summary: Disappointingly Dogmatic
Review: I was disappointed with this book because it wasn't what I had expected. Facing the imminent death of a loved one, I had been referred to it by a friend who said that it would make me more comfortable with the concept of death.

For purposes of full disclosure, I am not religious, nor am I familiar with Eastern philosophy or interested in adopting Buddhism. So I had approached this book looking for philosophical rather than religious insights, and had been very encouraged by the excerpts I read on the publisher's website.

But while the book starts off promising, it soon delves into an incomprehensible and mostly irrelevant guidebook encompassing such topics as the proper role of your master in the dying process and a technical explanation of the Buddhist realms of the afterlife (or between lives). For an aspiring Buddhist, perhaps that would be relevant, but for me it wasn't.

So I would decline to recommend this book to any but those interested in Buddhism itself. If you're looking for universal philosophical insights to inform and comfort you on the dying process, this isn't the book for you.

Rating:
Summary: A remarkable book
Review: There is no other book like this one in any bookstore or library that deals with the meaning of life and death with such an astounding simplicity and depth. Not that the topic is simple (it is rather complex), just the way the author wrote about it.

It deals not only about death and the dying, but also about living our lives to the fullest in a most meaningful way. It also suggests that if there is sorrow and sadness in losing our loved ones, there is also joy in knowing there is an afterlife where they would live happily forever.

Although this book suggests means to help the dead and dying, a major portion of it is devoted to the living. The author advises us that by accepting the impermanence of life, we can also realize its beauty and the need for us seek enlightenment and to care for other beings in order to gain happiness now and in the afterlife.

The writing is very personal, deep and meaningful. It reflects the joy and inner happiness of someone who has reached enlightenment.

I have read the book many times and have always come out with a deep appreciation for this impermanent life.