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Lama Zopa Rinpoche, Kopan Monastery, Nepal, April 2020. Photo by Ven. Lobsang Sherab.
Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s newest book, How to Face Death without Fear: A Handbook by Lama Zopa Rinpoche, was recently released by Wisdom Publications. The 400-plus page paperback book has been compiled from years of Rinpoche’s teachings and carefully edited by Ven. Robina Courtin, an FPMT registered teacher.
Students can use How to Face Death without Fear: A Handbook to help loved ones prepare for the end of their life with courage, acceptance, and a mind free of fear. Rinpoche explains how to think about death and reincarnation, how we go from one life to the next, what to do before death, in the moment itself, after the breath has stopped, and after the mind has left the body. Much of the advice included in the book can be adapted to benefit non-Buddhists and animals too.
How to Face Death Without Fear: A Handbook by Lama Zopa Rinpoche.
As Rinpoche says in the book’s introduction, “When suddenly one day one of your loved ones dies and you don’t know what to do to help, you’ll feel so confused, so lost. Recently a Buddhist student of mine told me that this is what happened for her when her father died unexpectedly. That made me think that knowing how to help others at the time of death is such important education to have.”
Rinpoche provides the mantras, prayers, and meditations appropriate for each stage of the dying process. This new edition of Rinpoche’s 2017 book How to Enjoy Death makes it easy for the reader to find the right practice at the right time.
Ven. Robina Courtin explained in the preface, “Because for most of us death is a difficult thing to come to terms with—our loved one’s or our own—working out which practices to do can be daunting. Therefore Rinpoche’s actual advice, the things to do—contained in parts 3, 4, and 5, the heart of the book—have been identified as eighty-seven distinct practices, numbered and structured chronologically to help us know what to do when.”
How to Face Death without Fear: A Handbook is an invaluable resource not only for Tibetan Buddhist caregivers, hospice workers, and chaplains but for all of us.
Liberation Box, Protection Tools for a Fortunate Rebirth
The FPMT Foundation Store continues to offer the Liberation Box, which is a collection of tools to be used at the time of death assembled according to Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s advice. It contains powerful methods for ensuring a fortunate rebirth for those who have died or are in the process of dying, including a stupa, hardcopy booklets and cards, MP3 audio files, a phowa pill, and a blessed cord. The Liberation Box can compliment the practices in Rinpoche’s book How to Face Death without Fear. The Foundation Store also offers a French and Spanish hardcopy version of the Liberation Box, as well as a digital version.
For more information, visit Wisdom Publications’ page for How to Face Death without Fear: A Handbook by Lama Zopa Rinpoche:
https://wisdomexperience.org/product/how-to-face-death-without-fear/
You can also find links to many resources for time of death on FPMT.org/death.
FPMT.org and Mandala Publications brings you news of Lama Zopa Rinpoche and of activities, teachings, and events from over 160 FPMT centers, projects, and services around the globe. If you like what you read, consider becoming a Friend of FPMT, which supports our work.