Lama Zopa Rinpoche is one of the most internationally renowned masters of Tibetan Buddhism, working and teaching ceaselessly on almost every continent. He is the spiritual director and cofounder of the Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition (FPMT), an international network of Buddhist projects, including monasteries in six countries and meditation centers in over thirty; health and nutrition clinics, and clinics specializing in the treatment of leprosy and polio; as well as hospices, schools, publishing activities, and prison outreach projects worldwide.

A Buddhist nun since the late 1970s, Venerable Robina Courtin has worked full-time since then for Lama Yeshe and Lama Zopa Rinpoche's FPMT. Over the years she has served as editorial director of Wisdom Publications, editor of Mandala Magazine, executive director of Liberation Prison Project, and as a touring teacher of Buddhism. Her life, including her work with prisoners, has been featured in the documentary films Chasing Buddha and Key to Freedom.

Editor's Preface: How to Use This Book vii

Introduction: We Must Prepare for Death xi

Part 1 How to Think about Death and Reincarnation 1

1. What Happens after Death? 3

2. Everyone Dies, So There's No Need to Be Afraid 9

3. Death Is Easy When We've Given Up Attachment 13

4. Get Ready for Death by Living Life with a Good Heart 19

5. The Best Way to Live and Die: Practice the Five Powers 23

6. Pray to Be Reborn in Amitabha Buddha's Pure Land 31

Part 2 How We Go from One Life to the Next 37

7. What Happens at Death? 39

8. The Twelve Links of Dependent Arising at the Time of Death 43

9. The Stages of Death, Intermediate State, and Rebirth 47

10. Death Is What the Yogis Have Been Waiting For 57

Part 3 Practices to Do in the Months and Weeks before Death 61

11. Helping Others at the Time of Death Is a Big Responsibility 63

12. Create a Conducive Environment for a Peaceful Death 67

13. The Practices: What to See and Touch 69

14. The Practices: What to Think About 75

15. The Practices: What to Hear 81

16. The Practices: What to Meditate On 89

17. The Practices: What to Do to Purify Negative Karma 97

18. Finally, What to Do in the Hours before Death 103

Part 4 Practices to Do in the Hours and Days after the Breath Has Stopped 109

19. The Practices: What to Do as Soon as the Breath Stops 111

20. The Practices: If Your Loved One Is at Home when They Die 115

21. The Practices: If Your Loved One Is in the Hospital when They Die 121

22. The Practices: If Your Loved One Has Offered Their Organs 125

23. The Practices: If Your Loved One Dies Suddenly 131

24. If Your Loved One Has High Realizations and Is Meditating at the Time of Death 135

25. Make Sure the Mind Has Left the Body before You Move It 141

Part 5 Practices to Do after the Mind Has Left the Body 143

26. How to Prepare Your Loved One's Body for Cremation or Burial 145

27. The Funeral Service 147

28. How to Bless Your Loved One's Ashes and Include Them in Holy Objects 149

29. Practices to Do During the Forty-Nine Days after the Mind Has Left the Body 153

Part 6 The Practices in Numerical Order 161

Hospice Services 389

Picture Credits 391

Glossary 393

Index of Practices by Category and Their Numbers 411