"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.
How to Enjoy Death: Preparing to Meet Life's Final Challenge Without Fear, Lama Zopa Rinpoche, Wisdom Publications, , 464 pp., $49.95

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.

List of Illustrations		xi
How to Use This Book		xiii
Preface: We Must Prepare for Death		1
PART I: Advice on Preparing for Death and Rebirth
1.	How to Think about Death and Reincarnation	9
	What Happens after Death?	9
	Everyone Dies, So There's No Need to Be Afraid	16
	Death Is Easy When We've Given Up Attachment	19
	Get Ready for Death by Living Life with a Good Heart	24
	The Best Way to Live and Die: Practice the Five Powers	29
2.	How We Go from One Life to the Next	43
	What Happens at Death?	43
	The Twelve Links of Dependent Arising	47
	The Stages of Death, Intermediate State, and Rebirth	50
	Death Is What the Yogis Have Been Waiting For	60
3.	Practices to Do during the Months and Weeks before Death	65
	Helping Others at the Time of Death Is a Big Responsibility	65
	Create a Conducive Environment for a Peaceful Death	68
	What to See and Touch	70
	What to Think About	76
	What to Hear	81
	What to Meditate On	90
	What to Do to Purify Negative Karma	98
	And Finally, What to Do during the Hours before Death	102
4.	Practices to Do during the Hours and Days after the Breath Has Stopped	109
	What to Do As Soon As the Breath Stops	109
	If Your Loved One Is at Home When They Die	112
	If Your Loved One Is in Hospital When They Die	118
	If Your Loved One Has Offered Their Organs	121
	If Your Loved One Dies Suddenly	124
	If Your Loved One Has High Realizations and Is Meditating at the Time of Death	126
	Make Sure the Mind Has Left the Body before You Touch It	130
5.	Practices to Do after the Mind Has left the Body	133
	How to Prepare Your Loved One's Body for Cremation or Burial	133
	The Funeral Service	134
	How to Bless and Incorporate Your Loved One's Ashes in Holy Objects	136
	Practices to Do during the Forty-Nine Days after Death
6.	What to Do to Escape the Cycle of Birth and Death	149
	We Cannot Escape the Cycle of Birth and Death by Achieving a Good Rebirth	149
	We Must Understand the Cycle of Birth and Death	149
	Karma and Delusions Trap Us in the Cycle of Birth and Death	155
	How Do We Escape the Cycle of Birth and Death?	157
	Using Your Life for Practice, You Prepare for Death Every Day	160
PART II: Practices for Preparing for Death and Rebirth
Table of Contents for Part II		165
1.	Ritual Objects to Keep Nearby	169
	Statues and Pictures	169
	Liberation Card	169
	Visible Mantras	170
	Texts	172
	Stupa	173
	Prayer Wheel	173
	Blessed Cord	173
	Blessed Seeds, Water, Etc.	173
	Recordings or Videos of Teachings	174
	Lights	174
	Flowers, Water Bowls, Etc.	175
	Phowa Pills, Mani Pills, Etc.	175
2.	Reflecting on Amitabha's Pure Land or heaven	177
3.	Mantras	195
	The Ten Powerful Mantras	195
	The Five Great Mantras	199
	The Four Dharmakaya Mantras	202
	Amitabha Mantra	204
	Rinchen Tsuktorchen Dharani	204
	Arya Mahamani Dharani	204
	Mantra Taught by Buddha Droden Gyalwa Cho	205
	Mantra for Alleviating Fear or Pain	205
	Name Mantra of His Holiness the Dalai Lama	205
	Names of the Thirty-Five Buddhas of Confession	205
	Names of the Seven Medicine Buddhas	207
4.	The Eight Prayers to Benefit the Dead	209
	The King of Prayers	209
	Shantideva's Dedication Prayer	217
	Prayer to Be Reborn in Sukhavati	224
	Prayer of the Virtuous Beginning, Middle, and End	231
	Until Buddhahood	235
	A Daily Prayer to Maitreya Bodhisattva	236
	Prayer for a Statue of Maitreya	240
	Prayer for Spontaneous Bliss	241
5.	Sutras	245
	Sutra for Alleviating Pain	245
	Heart Sutra	258
	Diamond Cutter Sutra	260
6.	Ritual Practices	285
	Medicine Buddha Practice	285
	Amitabha Phowa	293
	The Thirty-Five Buddhas of Confession	304
	Vajrasattva and the Four Opponent Powers	315
	Samayavajra (Damtsik Dorje)	321
	Abbreviated Tsog	322
	Vajrasattva Tsog	324
	Guru Puja	335
	Vajradaka (Dorje Khandro) Fire Puja	352
	Sur	356
	Jangwa	367
7.	Meditations	409
	Stupa Meditation	409
	Giving and Taking ( Tonglen)	410
	The Death Process	413
	The Process of Going to Sleep	418
	Sleep in the Lion Posture	421
Acknowledgments		423
Glossary		425
About the Author		449