Book Report

[beauty_cat]

——The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying


by Sogyal Rinpoche

[beauty_cat]

I cannot stop think of this world after reading the book. So many people passed away in one moment. However, how many of them died in peace? Some of them died with great pain of cancer. Some of them died under the wheels of vehicles which rush to sideway by accident. Even, some jumped from the skyscraper and left everything behind.

Normally, we are afraid of death. For we don’t know where are we going. It seems that we will go to an unknown world without language, money and friends. There are only vast and hazy. Yes, we can imagine. In the book it says, “If people believe in a life after this one, their whole outlook on life will be different, and they will have a distinct sense of personal responsibility and morality. What the masters must suspect is that there is a danger that people who have no strong belief in a life after this one will create a society fixated on short-term results, without much thought for the consequences of their actions.” For example, people think that committing suicide jumping down the rise can solve all the troubles. They are so naïve and muddleheaded that considering there is a reason to let death settle all their problems. So they don’t need to worry about anything after death. Unfortunately, they not only bring more troubles to other people, but also create the karma for their future lives. Therefore, it is so urgent for us to know the meaning of death. But, nowadays, most people don’t really understand the full meaning of these revelations about death and dying. They went to the extreme of glamorizing death, and I have heard of tragic cases of young people who committed suicide because they believed death was beautiful and an escape from the depression of their lives. But whether we fear death and refuse to face it, or whether we romanticize it, death is trivialized. Both despair and euphoria about death are and evasion. Death is neither depressing nor exciting. It is simply a fact of life.

Since it is a fact, nobody is able to avoid it. So another very important conception in The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying is “impermanence”. Life is impermanent, so is destiny. Impermanence means no one can control or predict. Just think about there are how many people died from accident or calamity. Switch on the television or glance at a newspaper: You will see death everywhere. Yet did the victims of those plane crashes and car accidents expect to die? They took life for granted, as we do. How often do we hear stories of people whom we know, or even friends, who died unexpectedly? We don’t even have to be ill to die: our bodies can suddenly break down and go out of order, just like our cars. We can be quite well one day, then fall sick and die the next. As a Tibetan saying goes, “Tomorrow or the next life----which comes first, we never know.” So many spiritual Gurus never think about tomorrow. They consider themselves might pass away anytime. Because of the impermanence, the life is so fragile. Only people who understand this will cherish their lives. Once a Tibet Master said, “I am now seventy-eight years old, and have seen so many things during my lifetime. So many young people have died, so many people of my own age have died, so many old people have died. So many people that were high up have become low. So many people that were low have risen to be high up. So many countries have changed. There has been so much turmoil and tragedy, so many wars, and plagues, so much terrible destruction all over the world. And yet all these changes are no more real than a dream. When you look deeply, you realize there is nothing that is permanent and constant, nothing, not even the tiniest hair on your body. And this is not a theory, but something you can actually come to know and realize and see, even, with your very own eyes.” Yes! The only eternal thing of the universe is changing. Why everything is changing? The only answer is that all the lives are impermanent.

[beauty_cat]

Another important theme of this book is Karma.
In simple terms, what does karma mean? It means that whatever we do, with our body, speech, or mind, will have a corresponding result. Each action, even the smallest, is pregnant with its consequences. It is said by the masters that even a little poison can cause death and even a tiny seed can become a huge tree. And as Buddha said, “Do not overlook negative actions merely because they are small; however small a spark may be, it can burn down a haystack as big as a mountain.” Similarly he said, “Do not overlook tiny good actions, thinking they are of no benefit; even tiny drops of water in the end will fill a huge vessel.” Don’t do nothing due to the benefit is little. Don’t do it due to the evil is little. Karma does not decay like external things, or ever become inoperative. It cannot be destroyed “by time, fire, or water.” Its power will never disappear, until it is ripened. Whatever is happening to us now mirrors our past karma. If we know that, and know it really, whenever suffering and difficulties befall us, we do not view them particularly as a failure or a catastrophe, or see suffering as a punishment in any way. Nor do we blame ourselves or indulge in self-hatred. We see the pain we are going through as the completion of the effects, the fruition, of a past karma. Tibetans say that suffering is “a broom that sweeps away all our negative karma.” We can even be grateful that one karma is coming to an end. We know that “good fortune,” a fruit of good karma, may soon pass if we do not use it well, and “misfortune,” the result of negative karma, may in fact be giving us a marvellous opportunity to evolve.

[beauty_cat]

This book provides us many practical ways, including heart advice on helping the dying. It is worth to learn that how to look on person who comes to a close. Look at the dying person in front of you and think of that person as just like you, with the same needs, the same fundamental desire to be happy and avoid suffering, the same loneliness, the same fear of the unknown, the same secret areas of sadness, the same half-acknowledged feelings of helplessness. To my opinion, this method not only use for dying people, but can be used to the social life. Do not do to others what you don't want to be done to you. There will be less conflict between people if we understand this. It is so necessary to help people in the last moment correct their mistakes and cure their suffering. Even at the very end of a life, the mistakes of a life can be undone.

Everything in the book about caring for the dying could be summed up in two words: love and compassion. What is compassion? It is not simply a sense of sympathy or caring for the person suffering, or a sharp clarity of recognition of their needs and pain, it is also a sustained and practical determination to do whatever is possible and necessary to help alleviate their suffering. So our first response on seeing someone suffer becomes not mere pity, but deep compassion. We feel for that person respect and even gratitude, because we now know that whoever prompts us to develop compassion by their suffering is in fact giving us one of the greatest gifts of all, because they are helping us to develop that very quality we need most in our progress toward enlightenment. That is why we say in Tibet that the beggar who is asking you for money, or the sick old woman wringing your heart, may be the buddhas in disguise, manifesting on your path to help you grow in compassion and so move towards buddhahood.

[beauty_cat]

People always think that all troubles end when the life ends. However, the Tibetan Book of Living and Dying tells me that death will not end all troubles. People not only lose their right to liberate, but hardly get a good result for their next life. The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying provides us a spiritual comfort. This book firmly tells us that death is the beginning of another life. We cannot ignore every single life because we already know the theory of reincarnation. I am not a Buddhist. But I really appreciate this book. For me this book shows the care and love for all human beings. It also includes many suggestions about medicine, science and humanism. We should not turn a blind eye to death. So many people have left this world. What can we grasp now? We can only hold “now” in this life. We are living in the present. How can we understand death if we don’t know life? Also, we will gain new lives if we understand death.

[GOOODGUY]

Sogyal Rinpoche 是你吗？？？？:

好好看看

[宋祖德]

作者: GOOODGUY

Sogyal Rinpoche 是你吗？？？？:

好好看看

你看他拿着枪,那么暴力.能是他么

[beauty_cat]

作者: GOOODGUY

Sogyal Rinpoche 是你吗？？？？:

好好看看

我写的是book report，Sogyal是西藏生死书的作者。我是跟心理学板块那位研究西藏生死书的老大探讨呢，所以才贴出来的～～

[beauty_cat]

作者: 宋祖德

你看他拿着枪,那么暴力.能是他么

这篇东西是我写的，这本书不是我写的，你明白了吧？
拿枪就暴力啊？战斗如果是你的职责，你就不应该放下武器～～

[GOOODGUY]

其他的我不知道，对庄子，他和那位上师都是一知半解， 竟然用俗见俗识去解读庄子， 倒～～～～～～～

作者: beauty_cat

我写的是book report，Sogyal是西藏生死书的作者。我是跟心理学板块那位研究西藏生死书的老大探讨呢，所以才贴出来的～～

是猫写的，她是画风的神妞～～～鬼神妖魔的问题要问她， 别问我哈。我不懂

作者: 宋祖德

你看他拿着枪,那么暴力.能是他么

[beauty_cat]

作者: GOOODGUY

其他的我不知道，对庄子，他和那位上师都是一知半解。

每个人都有自己的观点和视角，他只是从不同的方向看庄子而已～～

[宋祖德]

作者: beauty_cat

这篇东西是我写的，这本书不是我写的，你明白了吧？
拿枪就暴力啊？战斗如果是你的职责，你就不应该放下武器～～

那我就先顶再看.

有问题再问你.

[beauty_cat]

作者: 宋祖德

那我就先顶再看.

有问题再问你.

写的时间已经很长了，哈哈，书的许多内容我都忘了～～

[GOOODGUY]

不是不同试点问题，是混淆是非和曲解。佛陀不当王子，他们理解成是为了更高的精神理想。 而庄子不当相国，同样是为了更高的精神追求。 但他们却大加嘲讽！真是够双重标准。
日本禅宗界早就承认禅宗的东西一半来自庄子， 他们却用那种俗不可耐的世俗观点去看待污蔑庄子，，， 没水平。

作者: beauty_cat

每个人都有自己的观点和视角，他只是从不同的方向看庄子而已～～

[beauty_cat]

作者: GOOODGUY

不是不同试点，是对庄子的不懂装懂

普通人的没问题。 日本禅宗界早就承认禅宗的东西一半来自庄子， 他们却用那种俗不可耐的世俗观点去看待污蔑恩人， 没水平。

所以这就是猫不偏向这些宗教的原因，他们都有偏见～～
猫喜欢用共荣共存的眼光来看待这些学说和教义～～

[宋祖德]

作者: beauty_cat

所以这就是猫不偏向这些宗教的原因，他们都有偏见～～
猫喜欢用共荣共存的眼光来看待这些学说和教义～～

比较认同

[beauty_cat]

作者: 宋祖德

比较认同

啊，老宋，知音啊，很少有人思想向你我这样开放的·~~

[GOOODGUY]

希特勒的学说也是一种学说，“存天理灭人性”也是一种学说啊， 你也用共荣共存的眼光来看待？

学说有对错之分，有高低之分，
关键要实事求是，故意去歪曲就显得很低级～～～

我说那几个人对庄子的认识没水平，是仅指着这一点而言。 其他方面，对禅宗本身，我没什么意见。

作者: beauty_cat

所以这就是猫不偏向这些宗教的原因，他们都有偏见～～
猫喜欢用共荣共存的眼光来看待这些学说和教义～～

作者: beauty_cat

啊，老宋，知音啊，很少有人思想向你我这样开放的·~~

[beauty_cat]

作者: GOOODGUY

希特勒的学说也是一种学说，“存天理灭人性”也是一种学说啊， 你也用共荣共存的眼光来看待？

学说有对错之分，有高低之分，
关键要实事求是，故意去歪曲就显得很低级～～～

我说那几个人对庄子的认识没水平，是仅指着这一点而言。 其他方面，对禅宗本身，我没什么意见。

锅盖，我这里都没想到过希特勒的学说啊，你别挑我刺啊～～
希特勒有报道泄密说曾经跟梵蒂冈共荣共存过，所以有些事情是很难说的～～

[piaoliang2005]

"We can only hold “now” in this life. We are living in the present. How can we understand death if we don’t know life? Also, we will gain new lives if we understand death. "

叹一个，严重同意LZ的观点。