“The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying” by Sogyal Rinpoche is a spiritual masterpiece. The simple description for the book is: a manual for life and death, and a touching and inspiring message right from the heart of the Tibetan Buddhism tradition. But, for me it’s more than that. Having a relatively narrow interpretation of dying and “after death” expectations based on my Roman Catholic faith, I’m finding this book to be a soothing influence, that removes the fear humans tend to associate with death.

Sogyal Rinpoche’s book introduces the reader to the practice of meditation, to karma and rebirth, to the nature of mind and rewards of pursuing the spiritual path. Above all, and that’s where even the absolute “non believers” can greatly benefit, the book shows how important it is to compassionately love and care for the dying.

After reading this book, it became obvious to me how far away from our busy lives the subject of death and dying is. Only when faced with the imminent end, we try desperately to find some security and insurance in religion, spiritual pursuits or… a total denial that even we ourselves seem to regard as akin to keeping a head in the sand.
Perhaps, the time has arrived for someone to provide a platform where all “those in need” and others who want to do “it” when there’s no hurry, could find helpful info, directions and like-minded souls…