Good Life, Good Death: Tibetan Wisdom on Reincarnation [Hardcover]

Gelek Rimpoche's book is one of the most practical and relevant books that you will ever read. If you've ever wondered about reincarnation and what happens after death, you won't be disappointed. One of the best gifts that Gelek Rimpoche has is that he can take deep material and make it accessible - this book is very readable, and you will find no pretension in the prose - it is lucid, instructive and to the point. Throughout the book, the author's refreshing sense of humor manages to shine through. After dealing with death and the Tibetan take on the subject, we are then presented with practical advice and instructions on how to live and cope with this very precious life that we have been given. The book also includes a daily practice in the appendix. Gelek Rimpoche has written a book that is brilliant and useful; it is a book that I'm sure I'll re-read numerous times in the future.

Rimpoche Nawang Gehlek's _Good Life, Good Death: Tibetan Wisdom on Reincarnation_ is a humane account of the dying process, particularly of the very subtle experiences of death when a person's consciousness dissolves. Gelhek draws upon his own personal experiences with dying persons (through sixty-plus years of life) as well as the numerous Tibetan Buddhist texts that focus on death and dying. The latter tradition has a scientific precision in its analysis of death, furnishing valuable, specific information for any person, regardless of his or her religious beliefs. Rimpoche Nawang Gehlek's mix of personal experience and Buddhist empiricism makes for a wonderful book.

Rimpoche Nawang Gehlek is incredibly humble about his experiences. He explains in a frank manner how he came to his views on reincarnation and the dying process. His style is non-dogmatic, and his writing is easy to understand. For instance, he writes early in the book, "I'm not here to try to convince you about reincarnation. That's my culture, my system--not yours. I would simply like to ask you to entertain the idea for a moment, to give it the benefit of the doubt and see how it changes your perspective on your life and your death." In this context, he discusses the anxieties he had when he began his own investigation into the dying process, first as an eleven year old novice monk in a Tibetan monastery and then later as an adult living in America.

In an early chapter, he describes how frightened he was when he first heard Buddhist teachings on the lower realms: "I was crying constantly, day and night. I was soaked in tears from the fear of falling into the lower realms--and from a slightly artificial compassion at the thought of others falling into them." With similar candor, the book then describes methods to prepare for death, both when one is healthy and when one is at the actual time of death. These instructions about death, ironically, provide a manual for living a good, productive life, where fear is replaced by a well-trained mind and a positive, loving outlook.

Rimpoche Nawang Gehlek includes a long poem, entitled "Do the Meditation Rock," by his late friend Allen Ginsburg. This poem and Gehlek's reminiscence of Ginsberg's own death offer a vivid sense of what actually happens at death. At the conclusion of the book, he offers this simple advice for achieving a clear mind and outlook: "Keep a watch on anger, attachment, and Ego all day long." This is the root of the practice of training the mind.

As a complement to _Good Life, Good Death_, another excellent book with specific information about the dying process is Geshe Kelsang Gyatso's _Living Meaningfully, Dying Joyfully: The Profound Practice of Transference of Consciousness_. Geshe Kelsang's book outlines in even more detail--like an artist's fine brushstrokes on a canvas--the actual meditation practices a person can engage at his or her own time of death or to assist loved one's during this time.

_Good Life, Good Death_ contains priceless instructions, based on the accumulated wisdom of an on-going tradition of knowledge and the depth of personal experience.

This book is excellent! If you've ever had a loved one die, have thought about death yourself, wondered if the things you do in this lifetime will follow you to the next or just feel the need for comfort lately in this world of fast paced chaos, this book is a MUST READ! I promise you'll nota only enjoy it and find it very difficult to put down once you begin reading it, but you'll also want everyone you care about to read it as well. This book is easy to read, easy to understand and very well written! This one is staying with me forever!

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