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In this book that meets the needs of the times, Soja Rinpoche deeply discusses how to know the true meaning of life, how to accept death, and how to help the dying and the dead.
There is life, there is death naturally, and everyone needs to face death sooner or later. When we are still alive, we can deal with death in two ways: ignoring death, or facing up to our own death, and reducing the possible pain caused by death through sober thinking about death. However, neither of these methods can really defeat death.
As a Buddhist, I regard death as a normal process. As long as I live on this earth, death will inevitably happen. After I know I can't escape death, I don't see anything to worry about. I'd rather see death as a worn-out dress that must be put on new clothes than the end. However, death is unpredictable: we don't know when or how we will die. Therefore, before death really happens, it is necessary for us to do some preparatory work.
Most of us naturally want to die peacefully, but if our life is full of violence and our hearts are always controlled by emotions such as anger, persistence or fear, we obviously can't expect to die peacefully. Therefore, if we want to die well, we must learn how to live well; If we want to die peacefully, we must cultivate peace in our hearts and daily life.
As you will read in this book, from the Buddhist point of view, the actual experience of death is very important. Although how and where we will regenerate depends largely on karma, our mentality at the moment of death can affect the quality of our next life. Therefore, at the moment of death, although we have accumulated all kinds of karma, as long as we strive to produce a good attitude, we can still strengthen and stimulate good karma and create a happy cycle.
The moment of death can also produce the deepest and most favorable inner experience. Through repeated understanding of the process of death in meditation, an accomplished meditator can gain high consciousness through his own actual death. This is why all the old monks died in meditation. Their bodies often begin to rot long after being declared dead in medicine, which symbolizes their spiritual achievements.
Helping others die peacefully is as important as preparing for their own death. Each of us is born lonely. If we are born without care and care, we can't survive. Because dying people can't save themselves, we must do everything possible to alleviate their pain and anxiety and help them die peacefully.
The most important thing is to avoid making the dying person's heart more disordered. Our primary goal of helping dying people is to calm them down. There are many ways. The dying who are familiar with the practice method can be encouraged and enlightened if someone reminds them; But if we can restore the confidence of dying people in a friendly tone, even ordinary people can have a serene and calm mind.
Tibetan Life and Death Book provides the intersection of Tibetan Buddhism and modern science. I believe that both of them have provided considerable benefits to each other in terms of understanding and practice. Soja Rinpoche is the best person to promote this Expo. He grew up in Tibetan tradition and studied with our greatest Lama. He also benefited from modern education, lived and taught in the west for many years, and knew the western way of thinking like the back of his hand.
This book not only provides readers with a theoretical description of death and dying, but also provides practical methods, which can be used to understand the truth of death and dying and help themselves and others die peacefully and fully.