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Birth, Life and Death

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Birth, Life and Death meets two needs, often considered separate or mutually contradictory: on the one hand the natural tendency of a human being to seek health and well-being in everyday life and, on the other, the ever greater yearning for an authentic and unconditioned spiritual knowledge, which gives us the means to deal with the problems of birth, life and death in a profound though concrete way.
The book has four major sections. In the first part, Introduction of Tibetan Medicine , the author enlarges on the fundamental characteristics of the human organism, based on the nature of its various physical components and their interactions, as seen by this ancient medical tradition.
The Birth section offers the particular knowledge of the Tibetan medical tradition on such topics as the function of the elements in fetal development, the secondary causes which determine the sex of the child, and the seven possible constitutions of the child and what portends for his or her future health needs.
In the Life section the author explains how each individual by cultivating a profound understanding of the three doors of the human organism - body, voice or energy, and mind - can realize physical, mental and spiritual health. The author makes clear that maintaining a constant flow of presence and awareness in each moment, an indipensable condition for practitioners on any spiritual path, enables us to relax our tensions, and live serenely in good health.
The last section, Death , initially considers the nature of death and our attitudes towards it. What follows, however, is a kind of guide on the passage through the four "intermediate states" we will experience after leaving our human body. For Each of these states the author outlines the essential instruction that enables a person to attain liberation at that time. Finally, the profound knowledge contained in the Bardo Thodrol , the Tibetan Book of the Dead , is explained.

157 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 2014

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About the author

Namkhai Norbu

90 books94 followers
Chögyal Namkhai Norbu Rinpoche (Tib. ཆོས་རྒྱལ་ནམ་མཁའི་ནོར་བུ Chos-rGyal Nam-mkha'i Nor-bu) was one of the foremost 20th century masters of Dzogchen and lead Buddhist retreats through out the world. As a child he was recognized as the reincarnation of the great Dzogchen Master Adzom Drugpa (1842-1924) and later by the sixteenth Karmapa as a reincarnation of Shabdrung Ngawang Namgyal (1594-1651), the first Dharmaraja of Bhutan. (Dharmaraja in Sanskrit and Chögyal in Tibetan are both honorific titles meaning "King of the Teachings." Rinpoche is likewise an honorific meaning "Precious One.")

In 1960, following the deterioration of the social and political situation in Tibet, he moved to Italy on the invitation of the well-known orientalist Prof. Giuseppe Tucci. There, he contributed to giving a concrete stimulus to the spread of Tibetan culture in the West. After teaching Yantra Yoga in Naples for several years, in the mid-seventies he started giving Dzogchen teachings, encountering a growing interest throughout the West.

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Profile Image for Andrea M. Cabarrús.
Author 5 books9 followers
May 21, 2022
El libro "hermano" del conocido como "libro tibetano de los muertos (Bärdo)". Es una guía de vida. Describe el proceso desde la concepción hasta la muerte (y cómo evitar la reencarnación).

Me llama mucho la atención que esta cultura desde hace milenios tenían claro algunos procesos fisiológicos que la ciencia describió siglos después. Con otros nombres y términos, pero las ideas están claras y presentes.

Para quienes quieren adentrarse al budismo este libro sería un complemento nada más.
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