Tibetan Book of Life and Death

This phenomenal work can be understood as an introduction to the Buddhist view of spiritual reality. It acquaints the reader with meditation techniques, explains the phenomena of karma and rebirth, and advises on how to prepare for the journey towards death. Above all, however, the text deals in detail with the transitional state of consciousness and unconsciousness after death, the so-called "bardo", and thus unravels a number of questions that humanity has been asking since time immemorial. The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying represents a unique synthesis of Buddhist tradition and Western thought. Although Sogyal Rinpoche was born in Tibet and was a student of the spiritual master Jamyang Khyentse Chökyi Lodrö, after the Chinese invasion of Tibet, like the Dalai Lama, he went into exile and from the 1970s began to pass on Tibetan teachings in the West.