Books & Media

Item Description

"The more we reflect on old age and death, the more we see it as a natural process. It is nothing extraordinary.  If we prepare ourselves in this way, then when such events actually happen, the work of accepting them as a very normal part of our life is already done. We can simply think, ‘Now is the period where my life’s end is coming.’ I think that is a better approach.” - His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Imagine All The People

This set of books from Wisdom Publications will help address the concerns we all face when confronted with death, whether our own or of someone we love.

How to Enjoy Death: Preparing to Meet Life’s Final Challenge without Fear by Lama Zopa Rinpoche

“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. This made me think that knowing how to help others at the time of death is such important education to have. By providing the right support, the right environment, you can help your loved one die peacefully, with virtuous thoughts, and thus have a good rebirth.”—Lama Zopa Rinpoche

For years Lama Zopa Rinpoche has envisioned a practical book to inform students of how to help loved ones have a beneficial death. How to Enjoy Death has been compiled from years of Rinpoche’s teachings and has been lovingly edited by Venerable Robina Courtin.  Here Lama Zopa Rinpoche provides detailed advice on how best to prepare ourselves to face the inevitable end of our own and our loved one’s lives with courage, grace, and a mind free of fear. With great care, Rinpoche explains what to do in the months, weeks, and days that precede death, as well as how to handle the moment itself and the mantras, prayers, and meditations that must follow the death of a loved one.  All of the practices one needs to be prepared to face death are handily included between the covers of this thoroughly pragmatic volume, making this an essential reference for Tibetan Buddhist practitioners, caregivers, hospice workers, or chaplains.

This limited edition book includes:

• 16 full color images, including the Wheel of Life, Buddha Shakyamuni, and more
• 2 pull-out cards printed with mantras requested specifically by Lama Zopa Rinpoche 
• the full text of essential prayers and rituals
• 2 ribbon page markers to mark common practices and keep place in your process
• Beautiful and durable faux leather flexible cover
• 2-color interior to help you navigate the different practices

Dying With Confidence: A Tibetan Buddhist Guide to Preparing for Death by Anyen Rinpoche and Allison Choying Zangmo

Anyen Rinpoche’s wise and reassuring voice guides readers through the Tibetan Buddhist teachings on death and dying, while providing practical tools for end-of-life and estate planning.  Dying with Confidence reads like a remarkable how-to guide, laying out in clear and straightforward language the preparations we must make and the best practices to use while dying to further our goal of enlightenment.

Buddhist Care for the Dying and Bereaved edited by Jonathan S. Watts and Yoshiharu Tomatsu

Since its beginning, Buddhism has been intimately concerned with confronting and understanding death and dying.  Indeed, the tradition emphasizes turning toward the realities of sickness, old age, and death—and using those very experiences to develop wisdom and liberating compassion.  In recent decades, Buddhist chaplains and caregivers all over the world have been drawing on this tradition to contribute greatly to the development of modern palliative and hospice care in the secular world at large.  Specifically Buddhist hospice programs have been further developing and applying traditional Buddhist practices of preparing for death, attending the dying, and comforting the bereaved.

Buddhist Care for the Dying and Bereaved contains comprehensive overviews of the best of such initiatives, drawn from diverse Buddhist traditions, and written by practitioners who embody the best of contemporary Buddhist hospice care programs practiced all over the world today.

Contributors include Carl B. Becker, Moichiro Hayashi, Yozo Taniyama, Mari Sengoku, Phaisan Visalo, Beth Kanji Goldring, Caroline Prasada Brazier, Joan Jiko Halifax, and Julie Chijo Hanada.

Item Special Note

"How to Enjoy Death" will be shipped to the winning bidder upon its release in February, 2016.

Shipping:  Winning bidders are responsible for the cost of shipping and handling.  The shipping and handling fee will be added to the winning bid amount and items will be shipped by USPS priority mail.  

Winning bidders can also arrange to come by Maitripa offices to pick up their items.