Death and Dying: Heart Practices and Advice

Lama Zopa Rinpoche with a copy of ‘How to Enjoy Death,’ Osel Labrang, Sera Monastery, India, December 2015

Heart Practices |  Additional Advice

Heart Practices for Dying and Death

Lama Zopa Rinpoche recommends various heart practices to perform when someone is dying or has died. The Medicine Buddha Puja, the Wish-Fulfilling Jewel and Eight Prayers to Benefit the Dead are the most essential practices to do.

• *Medicine Buddha Puja, the Wish-Fulfilling Jewel
• *Eight Prayers to Benefit the Dead, a collection of common prayers recited by Gelug monasteries for those who have recently died.
• Additional practices suggested by Lama Zopa Rinpoche to benefit the dead
• Ten powerful mantras for the time of death
• Mantras to place on the body of someone who is dying or had died
• Practicing the Five Powers Near the Time of Death, Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s commentary on integrating the five powers into one lifetime as the best preparation for the happiest death.
• The Importance of Reciting the Rinchhen Tsugtor Verse for the Dead and Dying, during the 2010 Light of the Path retreat, Rinpoche advised that this verse is the very first thing to recite in a person or animal’s ear when they are dying or dead.
• Heart Advice for Death and Dying, an education course in various formats for individuals and centers that provides practical instructions for the time of death to students who are interested in learning about death and dying from the Tibetan Buddhist perspective.
• Heart Practices for Death and Dying, includes the practices above and many more for assisting others at the time of death.
• Request prayers for the dead, give the names of students who have died to His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Lama Zopa Rinpoche, and FPMT Sangha communities, with the request for their prayers.

*Most essential practices

Additional Advice

In addition to the above, Lama Zopa Rinpoche has given extensive advice on preparing for death and caring for others at the time of death.

• Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s latest book on death and dying, How to Enjoy Death: Preparing for Life’s Final Challenge without Fear. This book takes much of the material also found in Heart Practices for Death and Dying and radically restructures and reorganizes it into an easy-to-use handbook.
• How to Help Your Loved Ones Enjoy Death and Go Happily to Their Next Rebirth: A Handbook by Lama Zopa Rinpoche
  
• Practicing the Five Powers Near the Time of Death, available in print or as a digital ebook
• How to Make Your Possessions Most Meaningful at the Time of Death
• Caring for the Dying (Letter)  (A4)
• Liberation Box, a collection of tools to facilitate a fortunate rebirth

List of FPMT Hospice Services

FPMT Hospice Services and Other FPMT Centers, Projects, and Services

Additional practical information and advice is available in the “Death and Dying Resources” section of the FPMT Affiliates Area.