Thoughts about ‘The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying’
Jeroen
Not all those who wander are lostNetherlands Veteran
I’ve never read very far into this book, but considered that now was the right time for me to tackle it, after hearing that for many people it helped them with the loss of a loved one. I am still working through the death of my father, all the things he meant to me are only very gradually becoming clear. I’m reading the revised 10th anniversary edition, printed in 2002.
One section from the first chapter that made an immediate impact on me is where Sogyal talks about the effect of people’s belief in reincarnation on their willingness to care for the planet, and on their relations with others. He says one of the first questions asked by a high lama of new visitors is about their belief of an afterlife and what happens after death, because it determines so many other views.
To me, for undefinable reasons this solidified my belief in reincarnation.
Comments
It’s interesting how the book teaches about death, and through death it tackles the subject of impermanence. It reminds me a lot of Atisha’s nine point contemplation on death, which also talks about the uncertainty of when death will come. Teaching Buddhist principles from this standpoint gives a new poignancy to its wisdom.
I’m now on chapter three.
I was just reading chapter five, on ‘bringing the mind home’, which is about meditation and builds on previous sections on the nature of mind. I found it useful, to gain a clearer understanding of what to do with the mind while meditating on the breath.
I’m now on chapter six, on reincarnation, karma and rebirth, and one sentence I came across which echoed in my understanding was ‘karma can be both a friend and a teacher.’ It is so that a lot of people see karma as something to be escaped, or a bringer of suffering from previous lives. But in reality karma teaches you goodness, and can also bring blessings from previous lives. Namaste and a good morning to you.
In the section on the natural bardo of living, there is a piece on doubts. In it there is written ‘in today’s society, there are few people who examine doubts with the care they deserve, to slowly unravel, dissolve and heal them.’ I thought it was very pregnant, in that often doubts are considered enough reason to abandon a position. It calls to mind the retreat of animist thinking in the face of Christianity, and the retreat of Christianity in some parts of the world in favour of materialist thinking.
Ezra Klein just had on Stephen Batchelor to talk about his new book Buddha, Socrates, and Us: Ethical Living in Uncertain Times where he emphasizes a practice based on doubt and wonder. Not sure how related it is, but I found it interesting and had thought to make a post on it.
Stephen Batchelor looks happier and older in that picture than I’ve seen him before, I guess not being a monk agrees with him. Although it’s been a few years since he made that change…
I just came across a section in which there was talk of how anybody in the West could declare themselves a spiritual teacher and start talking about enlightenment and gather followers. This isn’t true in Tibetan culture, where much attention is paid to the lineage of your teachers. This then functions as a safeguard on the purity of the teachings.