"Everyone dies, but no one is dead," goes the Tibetan saying. It is with these words that Advice on Dying takes flight. Using a seventeenth- century poem written by a prominent scholar-practitioner, His Holiness the Dalai Lama draws from a wide range of traditions and beliefs to explore the stages we all go through when we die, which are the very same stages we experience in fife when we go to sleep, faint, or reach orgasm (Shakespeare's "little death"). The stages are described so vividly that we can imagine the process of traveling deeper into the mind, on the ultimate journey of transformation. In this way, His Holiness shows us how to prepare for that time and, in doing so, how to enrich our time on earth, die without fear or upset, and influence the stage between this life and the next so that we may gain the best possible incarnation. As always, the ultimate goal is to advance along the path to enlightenment. Advice on Dying is an essential tool for attaining that eternal bliss.
目次
Foreword by Jeffrey Hopkins, Ph.D. 1. Awareness of Death 2. Liberation from Fear 3. Preparing to Die 4. Removing Obstacles to a Favorable Death 5. Gaining Favorable Conditions for the Time of Death 6. Meditating While Dying 7. The Inner Structure 8. The Clear Light of Death 9. Reacting to the Intermediate State 10. Taking a Positive Rebirth 11. Daily Reflection on the Poem Appendix: Outline of the Poem and Summary Advice Selected Readings