The Tibetan Book of the Dead for Beginners: A Guide to Living and Dying by Lama Lhanang Rinpoche & Mordy Levine

Author:Lama Lhanang Rinpoche & Mordy Levine [Rinpoche, Lama Lhanang & Levine, Mordy]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: REL007050 RELIGION / Buddhism / Tibetan, REL007020 RELIGION / Buddhism / Rituals & Practice, REL007000 RELIGION / Buddhism / General (see also PHILOSOPHY / Buddhist)
Publisher: Sounds True

The realizations of emptiness and impermanence are critical ingredients to our own happiness in this life—as well as in the time period approaching our death (the Bardo of This Life), as we die (the Bardo of Dying), and beyond (the Bardo of Luminosity).

Practice Developing Wisdom

Contemplating the impermanent nature of our life, our body, our environment, our friends, our loved ones, and our possessions helps to reduce our grasping nature. The more we are able to reduce our clinging to what is impermanent, the happier our life will be, and the easier our death will be.

Meditation on our breath can help our mind to absorb the impermanence of our world. We can observe our breath as it rises and falls, comes and goes, and changes from one moment to another. A sitting meditation that observes our breath helps develop the realization of emptiness and impermanence.

Observing our breath, and all of its uniqueness, and observing our thoughts passing through our minds helps us to see that everything is always changing. And that’s reality, and that’s okay.

With eyes closed or looking softly down, spine tall (lying down is okay if sitting is uncomfortable or painful), and body relaxed, we simply observe our natural breathing. As we inhale, we observe the air coming into our body. We can observe the air coming into our nose, or the rise of our abdomen. We can observe the air exiting through our nose or the gentle collapse in our abdomen.

When thoughts come into our mind and interrupt our observation—and they will—we simply go back to observing our breathing, without any judgment whatsoever.

We play this “game” of observing our breath, being interrupted and distracted, and going back to observing our breath. We can start with five minutes a day and gradually, over weeks, increase to fifteen to twenty minutes a day. Maybe even twice a day!

With study, contemplation, and meditation, over time, our mind calms and begins to accept the reality of emptiness and impermanence. We can read books that inspire us and make us think about our lives, their meaning, and our direction in life. We can have conversations with other like-minded individuals. We can spend time digesting the teachings on love and wisdom from the great teachers of any religion.

Change is not bad or good. It just is. It does not mean that everything falls apart for the worst. Inevitable change simply means that everything is possible. As we realize this more and more, we are not surprised by change, and may even enjoy it. Ignorance of this reality is not bliss—only suffering.

Additional practices that we can incorporate into our daily lives to develop our understanding of wisdom are found in appendix A.

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