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| Acknowledgments | |
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| About This Book | |
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| Introduction: Death Is Not the End | |
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| What Happens at Death? | |
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| Karma, the Natural Law of Causality | |
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| The Cycle of Life, Death, and Afterdeath | |
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| Glimpses of the Bardo | |
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| Taking Rebirth | |
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| Transforming Our Future | |
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| Ceremonies for the Dead and Dying | |
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| The Death of a Great Teacher | |
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| Human Life: Our Precious Days | |
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| What Is Our Real Nature? | |
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| Why Meditate? | |
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| Precious Human Life Is Rare | |
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| Life Is Impermanent | |
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| Using Impermanence to Dissolve Negative Emotions | |
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| Life Is Created by Karmic Causality | |
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| The Root of Karma Is Grasping at "Self" | |
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| How Does Karma Form? | |
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| Going Beyond Karmic Causality | |
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| Is Life an Illusion? | |
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| The Importance of Understanding Karma | |
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| Life Is Full of Miseries | |
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| Suffering: The First Noble Truth | |
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| The Great Potential of Life | |
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| Dying: The Crucial Hour of Life | |
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| The Process of Dying | |
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| The Elements and Energies of the Human Body | |
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| The Dissolution of the Elements | |
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| Three Inner Dissolutions | |
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| What Should We Do When Dying? | |
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| Delog Accounts of the Experience of Dying | |
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| Dissolving Energies: The Experience of Karma Wangdzin | |
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| Make Merits for Me: The Experience of Lingza Chokyi | |
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| Have the Lords of Death Come to Fetch Me?: The Experience of Denma Sangye Seng-ge | |
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| Cloudless Sky-Like Luminosity: The Experience of Dagpo Trashi Namgyal | |
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| Perceptions of Dying: The Experience of Samten Chotso | |
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| Unique Among Delogs: The Experience of Dawa Drolma | |
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| Mind Traveling without Hindrance: The Experience of Gyalwa Yungtrung | |
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| Intrinsic Awareness: The Experience of Tsophu Dorlo | |
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| Her Wisdom-Mind Became Clear: The Experience of Shugseb Jetsun Lochen | |
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| The Dark Demon Departs: The Experience of Tagla Konchog Gyaltsen | |
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| Don't Panic!: The Experience of Changchub Seng-ge | |
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| Don't Be Afraid-Be Prepared | |
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| The Ultimate Nature: Glimpses of the Luminosity | |
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| The Ultimate Nature Experienced at Death | |
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| Delog Accounts of the Passage of Ultimate Nature | |
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| Spontaneously Present Light: The Experience of Lingza Chokyi | |
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| A Bodiless Body of Light: The Experience of Dagpo Trashi Namgyal | |
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| Visions of Ultimate Nature: The Experience of Tsophu Dorlo | |
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| In the Womb of a Body of Light: The Experience of Samten Chotso | |
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| Instructions to Helpers: The Experience of Changchub Seng-ge | |
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| A Supremely Blissful State: The Experience of Dawa Drolma | |
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| A Feeling of Sadness: The Experience of Karma Wangdzin | |
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| Our Sublime Potential | |
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| The Bardo: The Momentous Transitional Passage | |
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| Experiences of the Bardo | |
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| The Court of Judgment and Verdict | |
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| Hints of the Rebirth Awaiting Us | |
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| What Should We Do in the Bardo? | |
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| Our Future Journey | |
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| Tales of the Bardo: Afterdeath Experiences of Tibetan Delogs | |
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| Let Her Remember All That She Sees: The Experience of Lingza Chokyi | |
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| What Judgments Await Me?: The Experience of Karma Wangdzin | |
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| No Fear of the Foes: The Experience of Denma Sangye Seng-ge | |
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| Visits to the Eighteen Hell Realms: The Experience of Tagla Konchog Gyaltsen | |
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| Distracted into Delusion: The Experience of Dagpo Trashi Namgyal | |
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| Crossing the Field of the Dead: The Experience of Gyalwa Yungtrung | |
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| Purified by Streams of Nectar: The Experience of Samten Chotso | |
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| Don't Be Discouraged: The Experience of Changchub Seng-ge | |
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| Hell Is the Unexcelled Pure Land: The Experience of Tsophu Dorlo | |
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| Form Inseparable from Wisdom: The Experience of Dawa Drolma | |
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| Let Everyone Be Liberated: The Experience of Shugseb Jetsun Lochen | |
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| Nothing to Accept or Reject: The Experience of Do Khyentse Yeshe Dorje | |
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| Rebirth: The Ineluctable Karmic Cycle | |
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| Liberation or Rebirth? | |
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| The Causes of Rebirth | |
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| The Six Realms of Worldly Existence | |
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| Six Emotions: The Seeds of Rebirth in the Six Realms | |
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| Choosing Your Next Rebirth Could Be in Your Hands | |
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| Blocking the Wrong Birthplaces | |
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| Choosing the Right Birthplace | |
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| The Buddha of Infinite Light and His Blissful Pure Land | |
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| Sources of the Pure Land Tradition | |
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| The Three Aspects of the Pure Land | |
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| The Power of the Buddha's Vows | |
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| The Power of the Buddha's Name | |
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| What Is the Pure Land Like? | |
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| The Buddha of Infinite Light and His Disciples | |
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| Rebirth in the Blissful Pure Land | |
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| How to Help the Dying and the Dead | |
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| Maintaining Positive Thoughts and Behavior | |
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| Performing Prayers and Rituals | |
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| Making Merits | |
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| Buddhist Rituals for Non-Buddhists | |
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| Universal Meditation for All | |
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| Instructions for Buddhists and Those Open to Buddhism | |
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| Meditations for Buddhists and Other Meditators | |
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| Meditation for Highly Trained Helpers | |
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| Instruction for Helpers of Dying Meditators | |
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| In Helping Others, We Help Ourselves | |
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| Some Important Observances | |
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| Ritual Services for the Dying and the Dead | |
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| The Tradition of Death Rituals | |
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| Religious Services for the Dying | |
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| Purification | |
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| Merit Making | |
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| Empowerments | |
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| Dedication and Aspiration Prayers | |
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| Religious Services at the Time of Death | |
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| Instructions for Ordinary People | |
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| Instructions and Death Services for Accomplished Meditators | |
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| Religious Services after Death | |
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| A Summary of the Thirteen-Step Death Ritual | |
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| Other Ceremonies | |
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| Concluding Thoughts | |
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| Some Simple Buddhist Death Rituals | |
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| Meditations on the Four Causes of Taking Rebirth in the Blissful Pure Land | |
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| Preliminary Practices | |
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| Going for Refuge | |
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| Developing Enlightened Attitude (Bodhichitta) | |
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| The Four Causes of Taking Rebirth in the Blissful Pure Land | |
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| The First Cause: Remembering the Pure Land | |
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| The Second Cause: Accumulation of Merits | |
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| The Third Cause: Developing Enlightened Attitude | |
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| The Fourth Cause: Dedication and Aspiration | |
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| The Liturgies of the Four Causes | |
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| The Mantra and the Name-Prayers | |
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| The Mantra of the Buddha of Infinite Light | |
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| Name-Prayers to the Buddha and Bodhisattvas | |
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| Concluding Practice: Dedication and Aspiration Prayer | |
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| Eight Esoteric Buddhist Rituals for the Dying and the Dead | |
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| Introduction to the Eight Rituals | |
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| The Performance of the Eight Rituals | |
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| Preliminary Practices | |
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| Going for Refuge | |
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| Developing Enlightened Attitude (Bodhichitta) | |
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| Visualization and Contemplation of Oneself as the Buddha of Compassion | |
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| The Mantra of the Buddha of Compassion | |
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| Making Offerings to the Buddha of Compassion | |
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| Offering of Praise to the Buddha of Compassion | |
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| Aspiration Prayer | |
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| Summoning the Consciousness of the Deceased and Giving Teachings | |
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| The Sur Offering to the Deceased | |
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| Dharma Instructions to the Deceased | |
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| The Meditation and Prayers of Phowa: Transference of Consciousness to the Blissful | |
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| Pure Land | |
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| Meditation | |
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| Prayers | |
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| Chanting the Name-Prayers to the Buddha and Bodhisattva | |
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| The Main Meditation of Phowa | |
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| Prayer and Meditation on the Buddha of Infinite Life | |
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| Cremation of the Effigy | |
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| Dedication and Aspiration Prayer | |
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| Notes | |
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| Glossary | |
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| References: Sources Cited and Key to Abbreviations | |
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| Index | |