Since time immemorial, people have perceived religion and spirituality as the path to a meaningful life. The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying by Sogyal Rinpoche is a guide to leading an engaging and fulfilling existence.
This thought-provoking book will help you see death as a new possibility instead of the end of the road. The lessons that you can draw from this book are endless. This article presents a few of them and offers a few thoughts that may complement them.
About the Tibetan Book of Living and Dying
1. You make Your Happiness
The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying offers support for coping with the end-of-life. But its lessons extend beyond this. It provides perspectives on living the happiest existence possible and shows how life and death are entities that interact. Spiritual guru Sogyal Rinpoche explains how happiness is up to you.
This book is the perfect spiritual manual. It connects with your soul and awakens your consciousness. Further, it explores the mind and trains it with meditation. It teaches kindness and explains compassion, a much-needed concept in this modern world.
2. Death is Peace
Celebrated Buddhist teacher Sogyal explains his philosophy on dying a peaceful death. He teaches how it is a normal part of the circle of life. Dying in peace is impossible if your life has been full of anxiety and violence. The route to a peaceful death is a good life.
7 Life-Lessons from the Tibetan Book of Living and Dying
The inspirational teachings of this profound, detailed manual are numerous. These seven are examples of what it has to offer.
1. Free yourself from the noose of stress and anxiety.
Life’s rigors make us anxious and tense. A look at the unhappy people on a train affirms this. As society progresses, the opportunity to rest and relax decreases. The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying explains how to come to a relaxed state, and just savor the moment.
The book advises that you should think of your anxious, worry-ridden self as ice or butter lying in the sun. The sunlight that your meditation provides will melt the rigidity of the ice, and free you of negativity. You will focus and collect your thoughts.
2. Practice Self-Awareness
Buddhism emphasizes self-knowledge. It advises you to uncover what is underneath the self you project to the world and to stay in touch with your actual consciousness. Being quiet and self-aware will create opportunities for healing.
Sogyal Rinpoche advises you to let go of life’s familiar trappings and connect with your real self. You cannot do this if you fill your life with noise and activity.
3. Spirituality is a simple, down-to-earth concept
The author suggests that spirituality is a simple concept and insightful common sense. All you need to do is connect with your humanity. It is living without confusion, unhappiness or other mental baggage, and being content.
4. Unravel the mind with meditation
The book advocates that meditation frees the mind. Sogyal teaches that confusion is addictive and enslaves the mind. The discipline of meditation can release it over time.
5. Everything is unpredictable
Sogyal explains that making plans causes unnecessary stress. The one thing you can expect from life is the unexpected. You should make plans for your death instead.
6. Accept that everything is temporary and practice humility
Sogyal elaborates that what you accumulate on this Earth comes to naught when your life ends. A profound sense of humility overcomes you once you realize that the one certainty of life is death.
7. Separateness is a Delusion
Sogyal urges you to connect with the Universe, of which you are a part. Human experiences may delude you, making you think of yourself as a separate entity. To break free of this delusion, show compassion to others.
Other thoughts on life and death
As Sogyal Rinpoche has shown, life and the end of it are reachable concepts. But it is by embracing them that you can decipher their meaning. Being close to death can cause you to develop an awareness and urgency that you forget when the business of living envelopes you.
Being present in the moment is the key to a fulfilled existence. It is essential to stop worrying and realize how remarkable life, stripped to its barest, is. To embrace life and death, grant each moment the respect it deserves. By celebrating our experiences, we can live life to its fullest.
Life and death are reachable entities. As The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying suggests, free yourself, and you will realize that peace is at their center.
Sogyal Lakar, who is really only the name on this book and not the author – he is disgraced for abuse. I would avoid this text, it just leads into cult – find something more serious.