Since it was first published in English in 1927, The Tibetan Book of the Dead has proved to be the most popular book on Tibetan Buddhism in the Western world. At present, there are at least 21 translations in multiple languages and formats. There are also multiple expert commentaries, ranging from scholarly discussions to Buddhist practice guides. Am very much afraid to comment on the contents of this book because only a learned person who have decades of education from his master can grasp at least what it really meant, let alone practice it of his own. Besides illuminating insights into some of the most persistent questions of what it means to be a human being, it's written in extremely conversational and accessible language. Read it now!! The birth of a man is the birth of his sorrow. The longer he lives, the more stupid he becomes, because his anxiety to avoid unavoidable death becomes more and more acute. What bitterness! He lives for what is always out of reach! His thirst for survival in the future makes him incapable of living in the present. CHUANG TZU” Stay with us, for more on this life-altering book. Who Should Read “The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying”? And Why?

A magnificent achievement. In its power to touch the heart, to awaken consciousness, [ The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying] is an inestimable gift.” If you bear a grudge against the concept of death, the third part will open the doors to a new way of thinking. Death is only a new beginning, a liberation, which the ego considers a threat to its survival . It’s only that the personhood is trapped in a time-frame and it’s afraid to see the big picture.This book is all about death, dead and dying. Buddhism doesn't see death as unfortunate or mysterious or painful but an opportunity. Opportunity for achieving a higher metaphysical realm. And all their life they are preparing themselves for this. Whatever happiness and comfortableness we see in this life is nothing compared to the 'state' if we able to achieve after our death. An excellent book which doesn't have anything to do with religion Buddhism but everything with compassion and humanity with which it shows how can we transform ourselves and this world while living our life and even after that.

Spiritual truth is not something elaborate and esoteric, it is in fact profound common sense. When you realize the nature of mind, layers of confusion peel away. You don’t actually “become” a buddha, you simply cease, slowly, to be deluded. And being a buddha is not being some omnipotent spiritual superman, but becoming at last a true human being.” In 1983, Rinpoche participated in the ‘New Dimensions in Death and Dying’ conference in California. This brought Rinpoche in touch with the work of Dr. Elisabeth Kübler-Ross and Professor Kenneth Ring in the fields of hospice care and near-death research." The eastern hemisphere has always been more on the mysterious and the spiritual side of things, unlike the westerners who were more of materialistic nature. Rinpoche, Sogyal (2002). The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying. New York: HarperCollins. pp. 13. ISBN 0-06-250834-2.I’ve been watching my friends face the loss of their parents. As a community, we have of course also been confronted by the deaths of siblings, friends, partners, children. As a community of practitioners, we have tried to translate the reality of change and loss into an awakened love and compassion. Also there was a lot of mysticism in these stories and just over dramatics like I was watching a Hollywood film with these spiritual teachers who are all knowing who spread their teachings, like Yoda. This world can seem marvelously convincing until death collapses the illusion and evicts us from our hiding place.” ~ Sogyal Rinpoche, The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying Sogyal Rinpoche’s work is a stunningly lucid presentation of the ancient Tibetan teachings. It serves as a vital spiritual beacon in the growing darkness of our age.”

Sigh, I'm not so keen on this whole belief in literal reincarnation business (even with the nuances he throws in).I cannot recommend the Tibetan Book of Living and Dying highly enough. I believe it is one of the most important books for anyone in the modern world to read. Planning for the future is like going fishing in a dry gulch; Nothing ever works out as you wanted, so give up all your schemes and ambitions. If you have got to think about something— Make it the uncertainty of the hour of your death . .” The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying isn’t the only book inspired by the Book of the Dead, another well known book is The Psychedelic Experience: A Manual Based on the Tibetan Book of the Dead by Timothy Leary.

Sogyal unravels the cause for writing an easy-to-absorb but thoughtful book, which is filled with information and abstract meaning. According to him, it’s about time the people get out from the circle of suffering, and accept life with all its elements. the message of impermanence (1. In the Mirror of Death, 2. Impermanence, 3. Reflection and Change); A human being is part of a whole, called by us the “Universe,” a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings, as something separated from the rest—a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circles of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in” The English title was thought up by Walter Evans-Wentz (1878–1965) as a nod to The Egyptian Book of the Dead, a popular book among spiritualists at the time. Wentz, a theosophist determined to link the Tibetan text to his own fanciful spiritualist philosophy, was credited as the translator of The Tibetan Book of the Dead, but he did not actually do the translating. The translation was done by Kazi Dawa Samdup (1868–1922), the headmaster of a boarding school in the Sikkimese capital of Gangtok and a one-time interpreter for the British Raj. The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying ” cannot be recommended to one particular group, because it covers a topic that concerns us all.

This section revolves around the concept of death and questions the human nature to be overly afraid of an effortless transition – from one state of beingness to the other. If your moral and religious beliefs don’t overlap, you’ll also be dreaded by the thought of transformation.