THE TIBETAN BOOK OF THE DEAD FOR BEGINNERS

This manual explores Tibetan Buddhist teachings on how to prepare for a peaceful and positive death.

Aimed at a general audience, this brief guide addresses the question, “Is it possible that death can be a celebratory empowering event?” Rinpoche and Levine answer a resounding yes, drawing on their expertise in Vajrayana Buddhism as director and president of the Jigme Lingpa Center in San Diego, California. Their perspective is engaging and approachable whether or not readers consider themselves practicing Buddhists. In the preface, they discuss differences between Western and Eastern cultural attitudes about death and dying and how the Covid-19 pandemic has meant that far too many people died alone and unprepared. The first two chapters focus on how to live a joyful life that leads to a peaceful death, presenting basic concepts such as karma, the self, and the nature of consciousness that will be familiar to many who have an interest in or practice meditation. Bardo Thodol, the Tibetan name of the centuries-old Buddhist guide to death and rebirth known in the West as the Tibetan Book of the Dead, can be translated as “liberation through hearing in the intermediate state.” Chapters 3 and 4 explain the bardo—consciousness that continues to exist between one life and the next—and how a person’s life and surviving loved ones can influence it through meditation and prayer. The next two chapters provide specific mindfulness and meditation practices for attaining compassion and wisdom, the keys to a good life, and rebirth. The text also covers supporting the dying, exploring the Buddhist death practice of phowa, helping distant loved ones, and preparing for a good death, ending with a brief discussion of rebirth as a natural phenomenon. The writing style is simple, succinct, and straightforward, packing a wealth of information into just under 80 pages. An appendix provides seven pages of helpful instructions for loving/kindness meditations and practices to develop wisdom about the self, the “no solid self,” and the interconnectedness of all things. Another appendix offers a handy three-page summary of the contents of the Tibetan Book of the Dead. Overall, this manual offers plenty of helpful insights, whatever one’s religious beliefs.

An accessible and empowering guide to Buddhist philosophy and practices on death and dying.