Summary of Sogyal Rinpoche's The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying

Everest Media

Description

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book.
Sample Book Insights:
#1 My first experience of death was when I was seven. I was preparing to leave the eastern highlands to travel to central Tibet. Samten, one of the personal attendants of my master, was dying. The monastery was saturated with an intense awareness of death, but it was not at all morbid or frightening.
#2 The death of my master, Samten, shook me. I had just started understanding the power of the tradition, and I began to understand the purpose of spiritual practice.
#3 The death of Samten taught me the purpose of spiritual practice: to understand the reality of death. The death of Lama Tseten taught me that it is not unusual for practitioners of his caliber to conceal their remarkable qualities during their lifetime. I understood that night that death is real, and that I would have to die.
#4 I had to face many deaths during my lifetime. The most devastating was the death of my master Jamyang Khyentse, in 1959, the year of the fall of Tibet.

Sujets

• Buddhism
• Tibetan

Informations

• Publié par: Everest Media LLC
• Date de parution: 27 avril 2022
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781669393559
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

Insights on Sogyal Rinpoche's The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying
Contents Insights from Chapter 1 Insights from Chapter 2 Insights from Chapter 3 Insights from Chapter 4
Insights from Chapter 1

#1

My first experience of death was when I was seven. I was preparing to leave the eastern highlands to travel to central Tibet. Samten, one of the personal attendants of my master, was dying. The monastery was saturated with an intense awareness of death, but it was not at all morbid or frightening.

#2

The death of my master, Samten, shook me. I had just started understanding the power of the tradition, and I began to understand the purpose of spiritual practice.

#3

The death of Samten taught me the purpose of spiritual practice: to understand the reality of death. The death of Lama Tseten taught me that it is not unusual for practitioners of his caliber to conceal their remarkable qualities during their lifetime. I understood that night that death is real, and that I would have to die.

#4

I had to face many deaths during my lifetime. The most devastating was the death of my master Jamyang Khyentse, in 1959, the year of the fall of Tibet.

#5

Modern society has no understanding of death or what happens in death or after death. People are taught to deny death, and they believe that simply mentioning death is to risk wishing it upon ourselves.

#6

The most affluent and powerful countries of the developed world are like the realm of the gods described in the Buddhist teachings. The gods are said to live lives of fabulous luxury, reveling in every conceivable pleasure, without a thought for the spiritual dimension of life.

#7

Death is a fact of life that we must learn to accept. We only begin to appreciate our life when we are on the point of dying. Most people die unprepared for death, having lived unprepared for life.

#8

In the Buddhist approach, life and death are viewed as one whole. Death is seen as the beginning of another chapter of life. Death is a mirror that reflects the entire meaning of life.

#9

The bardos are the four stages of death and dying, and the book provides a comprehensive account of all of them. The teachings on the nature of mind and meditation are the only way to understand what these bardos are and where they come from.

#10

The bardo teachings are the result of a thorough and comprehensive knowledge of reality, and they reveal what will happen if we prepare for death and what will happen if we do not. They show us the possibility of an astounding and finally boundless freedom, which is ours to work for now in life.

#11

We live in such fear of death because our instinctive desire is to live and go on living, and death is a brutal end to everything we know. We feel that when we die, we will be plunged into something completely unfamiliar. We imagine that we will find ourselves lost and bewildered, in a foreign country with no knowledge of the land or language.

#12

We live according to a pre-determined plan. We spend our youth being educated, then we find a job, meet someone, and marry. We buy a house and try to make a success of our business. We aim for dreams like a country house or a second car.

#13

We all have a tendency to become swept away by an active laziness. It consists of doing lots of compulsive activity, so that there is no time to confront the real issues in life.

#14

In Tibet, people did not distract themselves by spending all their time trying to make their external circumstances more comfortable. They were satisfied if they had enough to eat, clothes on their backs, and a roof over their heads.

#15

Samsara, the modern world, is a celebration of all the things that lead away from the truth and make it difficult for people to believe that it exists. It feeds off an anxiety and depression that it fosters and trains us all in.

#16

The main festival of the Tibetan calendar is the New Year, which is like Christmas, Easter, Thanksgiving, and your birthday all rolled into one. We need to ask ourselves what if we were to die tonight. We do not know whether we will wake up tomorrow, or where.

#17

Taking life seriously does not mean spending our lives meditating like monks in the Himalayas or in Tibet. In the modern world, we have to work and earn a living, but we should not get entangled in a nine-to-five existence.

#18

The truth of impermanence is the only thing we can hold on to, and it is the foundation of our lives. We ignore the truth of impermanence because we so desperately want everything to continue as it is. But this is only make-believe.

#19

We are all dancing on the tip of a blade, constantly changing and nothing more. Our life is a dance of transient forms, and what we call our basic character is only a mindstream, nothing more.

#20

Impermanence is one of the Five Skandhas, the elements of existence that make up our daily lives. It is the basis of all our experiences, and it is essential to understand and accept it. If we can remember at every moment that we are dying, and understand and accept that everything is impermanent, we can truly live life to the fullest.

#21

The story of Krisha Gotami, a young woman who had the good fortune to live during the Buddha’s time, illustrates the importance of reflecting on the truth that all things are impermanent.

#22

The story of Krisha Gotami shows us that a close encounter with death can bring a real awakening, a transformation in our approach to life.

#23

When we can finally accept our death, we will find ourselves more receptive to spiritual instructions and spiritual practice. When we accept death, transform our attitude toward life, and discover the fundamental connection between life and death, a possibility for healing can occur.

#24

The purpose of reflecting on death is to make a real change in the depths of your heart, and to come to learn how to avoid the hole in the sidewalk and how to walk down another street. You will find yourself becoming more and more free as you realize the futility of your old habits.

#25

We must work with impermanence in our lives. As changes occur, we must learn to accept them with a new understanding. As we become more accepting of change, we become more relaxed and less intense about it.

#26

We can overcome attachment by realizing its impermanent nature. As we try to follow the masters’ advice and are released from attachment, a great compassion is released in us.

#27

The path to real freedom is to let go of things. When you fall from a great height, there is only one place to land: on the ground, the ground of truth. And if you have the understanding that comes from spiritual practice, then falling is not a disaster but the discovery of an inner refuge.

#28

When we look at everything in the universe, we see that everything is empty. When we look at ourselves, we find that we have no more reality than a dream.

#29

When we truly see the emptiness and interdependence of all things, we can have compassion for them. The world becomes brighter and more sparkling, and we no longer have to protect ourselves or pretend.

#30

Spirituality is to be aware that if we are interdependent with everything and everyone else, even our smallest, least significant thought, word, and action have real consequences.

#31

Impermanence has already taught us many truths, and it has a final treasure still in its keeping. As we continue to let go and explore the truth of impermanence, we begin to realize that behind all the changes and deaths in the world, there is something that survives them all.

#32

My master, Jamyang Khyentse, introduced me to the essential, original, and innermost nature of my mind when I was six or seven years old. He took me by surprise when he gave me a huge kiss on the side of my face. I was taken completely by surprise, and my mind shattered. There was no mind at all.

#33

The method of introduction is the same one that has been used by the masters of the past to attain realization. It is a method that involves the presence of three authentic elements: the blessing of an authentic master, the devotion of an authentic student, and the authentic lineage of the method of introduction.

#34

When you have fully recognized that the nature of your mind is the same as that of the master, you and the master can never be separate because the master is one with the nature of your mind, always present.

#35

Dudjom Rinpoche was a master who taught me the nature of mind. He would inspire me to realize the nature of mind through the words of the teaching he gave, which would then lead to glimpses of the real experience.

#36

The first is the ordinary mind, which is the basis of all experience. It is the mind that thinks, plans, desires, and manipulates. It is the mind that flares up in anger and creates waves of negative emotions and thoughts. It is the mind that has to go on and on asserting, validating, and confirming its existence.

#37

The buddha nature is the birthright of every sentient being, and it is the same nature that all religions believe exists. It is the nature of mind, and it is within the reach of all to become enlightened.

#38

We should always try to remember that our buddha nature is in the sky-like nature of our mind. It is open, free, and limitless, and it is fundamentally so simple and so natural that it can never be complicated or stained.

#39

The nature of mind is too close to be recognized. It is too profound for us to fathom, and we have no idea how deep it could be. It is too easy for us to believe in its existence, and we are actually educated into believing that nothing is real beyond what we can perceive with our ordinary senses.

#40

The difference that a slight shift in orientation can make is enormous. When more people know the nature of their minds, the