Woetoe’s Reviews > The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying > Status Update

‘Modern industrial society is a fanatical religion. We are demolishing, poisoning, destroying all life-systems on the planet. We are signing bills our children will not he able to pay. We are acting as if we were the last generation on the planet. Without a radical change in heart, in mind, in vision, the earth will end up like Venus, charred and dead.’

‘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 from living in a selfish way that could prove fatal for the future.’

‘La Gen, we are travelers. We’re pilgrims. We don’t have the time to wait that long. Come on, I’ll guide you.’ Transfixed, I watched what happened next, and if I hadn’t seen it myself I would never have believed it. Lama Tseten came back to life. Then my master sat by his side and took him through the phowa, the practice for guiding the consciousness at the moment before death.’

‘Immediately she turned to run out of the tent, but he caught her by the sleeve. ‘Where are you going?’ he asked. ‘I’m going to call Rinpoche,’ she replied. ‘Don’t bother him, there’s no need,’ he smiled. ‘With the master, there’s no such thing as distance.’ With that, he just gazed up into the sky and passed away.’

‘Practice had given Samten an acceptance of death, as well as a clear understanding that suffering and pain can be part of a deep, natural process of purification.’