The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying

“My original hope for this book was that it would help inspire a quiet revolution in the whole way we look at death and care for the dying, and so the whole way we look at life and care for the living. Our need for spiritual transformation and to take responsibility, in the truest sense, for ourselves and others has not become any less urgent these twenty-five years on. What would it mean if more and more people thought seriously about their future and the future of the world? Imagine how things would be if we could live our lives infusing them with a sacred meaning; if our end-of-life care were always lit by a sense of awe in the face of death; and if we looked on life and death themselves as an inseparable whole.”

The quote reflects Rinpoche’s intention to recalibrate societal attitudes toward death, which in turn influences the perception and value of life, underscoring a cycle where the understanding of one informs and enriches the approach to the other. It conveys an urgent call for introspection and a spiritual awakening that acknowledges the profound interconnectedness of life and death, positing that a deeper contemplation on our mortality can lead to a more purposeful and compassionate way of living. He uses rhetorical questions to direct the readers’ attention towards a subject, in this case a hypothetical scenario of a better, more wholesome life.

“I have come to realize that the disastrous effects of the denial of death go far beyond the individual: They affect the whole planet. Believing fundamentally that this life is the only one, modern people have developed no long-term vision. So there is nothing to restrain them from plundering the planet for their own immediate ends and from living in a selfish way that could prove fatal for the future. How many more warnings do we need, like this one from the former Brazilian Minister for the Environment, responsible for the Amazon rain forest?”

Rinpoche articulates the broader ecological and societal consequences of disregarding the impermanence of life, suggesting that such denial can lead to short-sighted exploitation of the earth’s resources. He implies that a singular focus on this life without consideration of broader existential cycles fosters an attitude of consumption without responsibility, thus endangering the planet’s future. The reference to the Brazilian Minister for the Environment serves as a reminder of the urgency required in addressing these issues, framing environmental action as an integral aspect of spiritual and ethical maturity.