HomeMedia/BooksThe Tibetan Book of Living and Dying: The Spiritual Classic & International Bestseller; Revised and Updated Edition |
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 Interesting information told through the story. Jul 26, 2010
I enjoyed this book. THe characters are colorful and the story is very good. Lots of information.
 Rigpa Jul 19, 2010
I read where the "skeptic" said that while the concepts in this book are interesting, this book is about faith but rigpa (direct experience or perception).
This is complete malarkey. If you wish to experience the bardo you only need to do one of 2 things.
First is the traditional Buddhist way known as dark room. You have to go to a retreat ( like the Chamma Ling Retreat Center in Colorado) in complete light isolation for a period of a few weeks. In this light isolation your brain chemistry radically changes allowing the consciousness to exit and enter different states of consciousness much easier.
It is believed that in light isolation for a number of days (around 12-14) the brain chemistry begins to rapidly change and produce endogenous DMT. DMT is known as one of the world's most powerful entheogens. DMT is the chemical key that is supposedly responsible for allowing the astral body to enter and exit the physical body, it's also what allows for dreams (dreams are hallucinogenic projections of the mind). This process of creating DMT inside is internal alchemy while the shamanistic elixir of ayahuasca is considered external alchemy. In Buddhism DMT is called Amrit. In Buddhism Amrit is an alchemical elixir that gets rid of the fear of death, ayahuasca is an external alchemical elixir from the shamans of South America does this EXACTLY. It's known as the vine of the dead.
Ayahuasca is a shamanistic alchemical elixir that creates bio-available DMT to cross the blood brain barrier. In this state you can utilize this book while you are tripping. I have been to all 6 bardos while spirit walking under ayahuasca, they are very real, but you could only know that through rigpa.
For more information on how to do this check out Timothy Leary's book on using this book in combination with psychedelics. Or you can do a dark room retreat, either way produces results, it's just that many of us in western society do not have the money or time to take a month away from work for a dark room retreat so ayahuasca is a second best choice.
Be warned, you will face your demons (wrathful deities) in the dark room or on ayahuasca. But you can use this book as a way to gain transcendence through listening, as it was intended. In truth, you have to die while living to understand this book. Without the experience of death this book remains as pure conjecture, that is not the Buddhist way.
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We Don't Die Jun 13, 2010
Anyone who has an interest in living forever should read this book. It's not just living but also the quality of living as our Creator intended - read about it.
 Marvellous, but might be discouraging and perplexing Jun 03, 2010
In my view, some parts of this book are just marvellous. I was particularly caught by Chapter 4 "The Nature of Mind". It points to the "deathless and unending nature of (absolute) mind" (p. 41). Rinpoche reassures us that death does not concern our true identity. Once we realize that "the very nature of mind, its innermost essence, is absolutely and always untouched by change and death" (47), we are liberated. Death can no longer terrify us. "Whatever our lives are like, our buddha nature is always there. And it is always perfect. It is the sky-like nature of mind. Utterly open, free, and limitless, it is fundamentally so simple and so natural that it can never be complicated" (50). But the problem is: "though we have the same inner nature as Buddha, we have not realized it because it is so enclosed and wrapped up in our individual ordinary minds." (49)
How can we solve this problem of life and death? How can we recognize our true nature? "All the teachings and training in Buddhism are aimed at one single point: to look into the nature of the mind, the ground from which all expressions arise. ... It is very simple. ... Let us now look in. ... But we are terrified to look inward, because our culture has given us no idea of what we will find." (52/53) What we will find is "not something extraordinary. Being a buddha is not being some omnipotent spiritual superman, but becoming at last a true human being." (54)
The crucial question now is: "what is the best, quickest, and most efficient way to set about it?" (56) The author's answer is: "practical training of the Dzogchen Path" which is "traditionally and most simply described in terms of View, Meditation, and Action." "To see directly the absolute state, the ground of our being, is the View; the way of stabilizing that View and making it an unbroken experience is Meditation; and integrating the View into our entire reality, and life, is what is meant by Action." (156)
Rinpoche makes very clear that we have to face huge obstacles on this Dzogchen Path: we need to find a Master who has realized truth; before the Master can introduce us to the View, we have to engage in "deep practices of purification"; "all these practices build up to and center around the Guru Yoga, which is indispensable for opening the heart and mind to the realization of the state of Dzogchen"; it can easily be the case that we have to follow our Master for 18 years before even being introduced to the View (see 159) let alone beginning to stabilize the View. This stabilization is even more difficult: "Don't assume, whatever you do, that this is, or could possibly be, easy. It is extremely hard to rest undistracted in the nature of mind, even for a moment." (168) "The extraordinary, unique method of Dzogchen requires enormous discipline and is generally practiced in a retreat environment. It cannot be stressed too often that the path of Dzogchen can only be followed under the direct guidance of a qualified master." (171) And as if all this was not enough: "A teaching as high and powerful as Dzogchen entails an extreme risk." (168)
Reading this I asked myself how many people would be willing to follow this risky and burdensome Dzogchen path. My impression is: if this were the "quickest and most efficient way to come to know our true nature", realizing truth would be reserved to very few people. And here lies the great contradiction of the book and its approach: the complexity of the proposed path stands in sharp contrast to Rinpoche's statement "Enlightenment is real; and each of us can realize the nature of mind. This is the promise of all the mystical traditions of the world. The wonder of this promise is that it is something not exotic, not fantastic, not for an elite, but for all of humanity" (54). Whoops! For all of humanity, following this path? With direct guidance of a realized master in a retreat environment?? Patiently waiting, if necessary, many many years or even decades for the first glimpse??? To then face, with enormous discipline, the real challenges???? Sorry, but this path falls way short of the stated promise. And all other paths are, according to Rinpoche, not "best, quickest and most efficient", making it even more difficult to realize our true nature. The situation seems to be rather hopeless.
But on the other hand, Rinpoche points out over and over again how simple, natural and ordinary the truth is. "Sometimes, because we are so unnecessarily complicated, when the nature of mind is introduced by a master, it is just too simple for us to believe." (55) For me this means that there must be other, less complex ways to establish the View, to stabilize it (Meditation) and to integrate it into our daily life (Action). The moment of realization "is like taking a hood off your head. What boundless spaciousness and relief! This is the supreme seeing." (161) Interested readers might want to refer to Douglas Harding, the man without a head, and his seeing experiments to quickly get a glimpse of what this could possibly mean. Stabilisation of "seeing" is not easy on Harding's path, the headless way, either, but it is simple, almost "too simple for us to believe".
To put the other parts of the book in perspective, I recall what Rinpoche says: "All the teachings and training in Buddhism are aimed at one single point: to look into the nature of the mind, the ground from which all expressions arise."
Why, then, are all those intricacies, rituals and beliefs explained in other parts of the book so important? I do not know, and, to be honest, I am not interested. So, I am silent on these more "Tibetan" aspects.
0 of 1 found the following review helpful:
must read for all spiritual quests May 30, 2010
Amazing look into ones self.
A new way to see the world awaits you and a peace and calm when you internalize the concepts.
A book for anyone of any religion, as he calls upon experiences with the Dali Lama, Hospice workers, and many others. He is constantly referring to other masters and modern authors to help explain some of the aspects of the older version of this book (Tibetan Book of the Dead), in a modern more easily digestible fashion. Modern science, religions, philosophies all intertwine here to paint a picture how this book can help anyone understand the fact of our coming end, and its importance in part of a process we must all venture through. It not only helps ones self come to this realization, to live a fuller life, but also to understand what others are going through. To understand what they think, and fear, and how to help others through a most difficult time.
It would be nice to consider it an instant classic, and mandatory reading for all colleges. It gives us more value to every day to understand these concepts and can enrich-en lives and love ones around each of us.
The book combines old verse, well translated, and then applied to more current situations. How to balance a job and still grow spiritually. The old and new seem combined here seamlessly in poetic prose at some moments.
I found myself thinking often, that I wish I had read this book earlier in life, to start the processes to understand more about life, and enjoyment of everyday.
Read this book, then share it with others, it can and will change many many lives.
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