Preparing to Die: Practical Advice and Spiritual Wisdom From the Tibetan Buddhist Tradition by Andrew Holecek

Author:Andrew Holecek
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Tags: Death, Religion, Bereavement, General, Grief, Family & Relationships, Buddhism, Self-Help
ISBN: 9781559394086
Publisher: Snow Lion
Published: 2013-07-09T00:00:00+00:00

Part Three

Heart Advice fr om Spiritual Masters

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Heart Advice from Spiritual Masters

The following words of wisdom are from Tibetan Buddhist mas-

ters who have taught in the West. I asked these teachers some version of the three questions that structure this book—three questions that strike the vital point:1 (1) What is the best thing to do before death? (2) What is the best thing to do during death? (3) What is the best thing to do aft er death?

When I had the time, I asked these questions in terms of what to do for ourselves, and then what to do for others. I gave each master the option of sharing whatever they felt was important. I didn’t want to limit them with my formulated questions. Th

e answers were directed to students of Buddhism,

but many of these responses could be shared with anyone. Since Tibetan Buddhism is virtually synonymous with Vajrayana Buddhism, some of the answers emphasize the Vajrayana.

Th

ere is wonderful counsel in the following pages. I recommend reading

and contemplating just one teaching at a time, to allow the depth of these words to soak in. In reading this treasure-trove of wisdom again and again, I fi nd that my entire being relaxes. It’s like being bathed in the liberating words of the Buddha himself. I know that if I have the luxury to die with my dharma friends around me, I will have them read these teachings to me repeatedly. I fi nd the following advice to be the very embodiment of these masters. It feels like they’re embracing me—the perfect spiritual holding environment.

Anam Thubten Rinpoche

Anam Th

ubten was raised in Tibet and received academic and spiritual

monastic training in the Nyingma tradition. His main teachers include Khenpo Chopel, Lama Garwang, and the yogi Lama Tsurlo. Anam Th

ubten

is fl uent in English—he commands a prodigious vocabulary—and teaches Preparing to Die_Interior.indd 275

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276 B heart advice

frequently throughout America. He is the founder of the Dharmata Foundation, based in Point Richmond, California, and is the author of No Self, No Problem and Th

e Magic of Awareness. Th

is interview was conducted at

Naropa University, in Boulder, Colorado.

What’s the best thing to do to prepare for death? How would you

advise your students?

Well, I don’t know whether there’s a Buddhist perspective versus a Hindu perspective, but the basic idea is that what you’ve got now is what you’re going to get when you die. I’m very much a believer in this statement. Th is is

what Buddhism says. Th

ere’s an expression in Tibetan Buddhism that says,

“Where you are going into the future can be known by looking at the color of your mind now.” So I don’t think there is a preparation for death separate from that of life. My advice is to become awakened as soon as possible, then at the time of death everything is taken care of. Th

ere is no advice separately

for death and for life. Same advice for life and for death. If you don’t know how to live then you don’t know how to prepare for death either.

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