In Love with the World: A Monk's Journey Through the Bardos of Living and Dying Hardcover – May 7, 2019

I just got the book I ordered and it is in pristine condition - also recevied it earlier than expected.Don't hesitate to buy from this dealer. thank you

This is a different sort of book by Mingyur Rinpoche than he has written before. I have met Mingyur Rinpoche and seen him a number of times, both in person at an interview at our monastery (KTD Monastery) in upstate New York, and here and there. I remember standing with Mingjur Rinpoche in Toronto as a fierce storm, perhaps a small tornado, passed just about half a block away. My wife and I stood in a small bookstore with doors open to the outside where it poured rain and fierce winds howeled, with Mingyur Rinpoche, Thrangu Rinpoche, Lama Namse Rinpoche, and my own teacher Khenpo Karthar Rinpoche, while the storm raged around us. I experienced Mingyur rinpoche “up close and personal.”I had always been attracted to Mingjur Rinpoche. He seemed ultra-sensitive, very bright, kind, and open, and (from my point of view as an elder) young. I have read some of his teachings and listened to some You-Tube videos of his teachings. And I had identified enough with him enough to add him personally to my daily prayers as I recite the Precious Garland of all the key teachers of the Kagyu Lineage each day in succession. One of our retreat lamas had pointed out to me that Mingyur Rinpoches did not exactly belong in that list. I understand, but I always add him anyway. Why?Because I have learned from his teachings in a very direct, grab my gut, manner. Most of these teachings were from before he went on his three-year wandering retreat documented in this book, but the teachings after he returned were even more inspiring. He turned up the volume. I feared for his life when I heard of his journey and felt sadness that he would not be around to hear about or see for some time. Yet I understood. I had seen up close how very sensitive he was and how he almost clung to those rinpoches that were around him during that storm. Here, thought I, was another type of rinpoche, a type I had never experienced.I am a experienced close-up photographer and one of the mythical photography terms is what is called micro-contrast. Some say it does not exist and others, like me, feel it is imperative. Micro-contrast is variably described, but one such definition by Yannick Khong is “Micro-contrast is the ability of the lens to communicate the richness and vibrancy of the inter-tonal shifts between the brighter to darker part of a very same color onto the sensor. A lens with a great micro-contrast has much richer colors and tone transitions compared to a weaker one. “My point here is the Yongey Mingyur Rinpoches new book “In Love with the World,” IMO, is an example of verbal micro-contrast. It’s almost recursive in that its paragraphs seem to fold in on each other, causing the reader to slow way down until one is almost static, almost non-dual. I tried my best to skim over this volume, to get an idea of its scope and merit and found myself unable to do so. You have to actually read it and it is filled with micro-tonality. The book is just as sensitive and subtle as Mingyur Rinpoche himself appeared when I first met him.And, as a Mahamudra student and practitioner of some 30 years, this book is absolutely filled with short comments and insights that are self-insightful and cut to the quick. I would go so far as to say that this is not even a book as you and I know it. It’s a time bomb or like making pickles: the book works on you and changes you.Of course, the story of a wandering monk is wonderful, but to me that is not what interested me most. It is this, as mentioned, recursive writing style, that by its very language transforms your mind as you read it. At least, that is how I have received it. At first, it seemed so involved and ingrown that I didn’t have time to read it and then, as I sampled any part, it did. I found the time (or it created the time I needed) and then it changed me. In other words, if you can stand to slow yourself down enough to read it, the book is self-instructing. It’s not a book, but a teaching.

Powerful, meaningful…it gives me a whole new depth to meditate upon…I am still learning and will continue to learn from reading this book.

Highly recommended.Just read it.

This is the most profound and deeply beautiful account of enlightenment I have ever read, experienced and completely immersed my Self in. What a wondrous gift. Thank you, thank you, thank you Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche for the journey.

Despite a bit of a slow start (to my taste anyway) the wisdom embodied in the story of Youngey Mingur Rinpoche's spiritual journey comes through clearly. His description of the Bardo stages that he experienced during his near death experience is one of the most clear descriptions of pure awareness that I have heard.

In a spiritual way, of course!I was not familiar with Rinpoche's teachings and am not a Buddhist in the Tibetan tradition either, so this book was for me like one giant Dhamma talk. I struggled with the bardo stuff because we (Theravadans) don't go there, but learned a lot and the way he applies the concept to this life has actually been very helpful to my practice.He was on retreat for four years--I think this book covers about the first four weeks of it--but I gather that there's no sequel coming to tell us about the rest of his time on the road. Which is a shame. I would totally read that.This is like reading the canon: You should probably consider reading it straight through the first time, not highlighting or taking notes, then immediately start again at the beginning and really study it this time. It's what I wish I had done.You'll be hooked on the first page. I plan to avail myself of his teachings on line in future.

This is my favorite book by Rinpoche!!! It's so well written. It's full of wisdom but also woven into the realistic details of his retreat journey's beginning. So it's so much easier to understand and relate to my daily life. He details his struggles, his thoughts, his feelings and experiences. He also told his memories, reflected the lessons and walked us through his reasoning to how he understood the wisdom. That's tremendously helpful to see his train of thoughts.This is definitely his best book yet!! Packed full of wisdom and yet easy for lay people to understand and apply to their ordinary lives.

Couldn’t put this down. Completely engaging and philosophically profound. The best book i’ve read on meditation because it was so personal. Wonderful.

Great book on applied Buddhism. Practical observations out in the field.Eloquent / inspiring. Insight into the life of a Tibetan Lama - background & insights.

I finished reading In Love With the World by Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche, written with Helen Tworkov, a disciple. This monk is the son of a long line of Buddhist monks and has already made himself known for other books that I have not read. His most recent book intrigued me. Under the title, it reads A Monk’s Journey Through the Bardos of Living and Dying.The story is simple, modeled on that of the Buddha. Rinpoche, a monk, already well established in his functions as a wise man, decided to leave everything to reach his full potential. We quickly get to the heart of the matter. The monk leaves on the sly because he knows very well that no one would have let him do it. He is a tulku, a reincarnation, and although his teaching was rigorous and ascetic, he was no less elevated in the cotton wool. Like Buddha. Poor, he remains rich, used to fine fabrics and impeccable food. His teaching is revered; Rinpoche never travels without his helper. Leaving all this to live in misery is madness, yet necessary according to the monk, in order to achieve the ultimate enlightenment that all Buddhists seek.The book is exciting for this aspect. Having been around priests, but also theology students, I was able to feel the same detachment from the religious folklore that surrounds all religions, including Buddhism. Rinpoche is a frank intellectual, and the reader follows the slightest meanderings of his thought, very generous.I had previously read an equally interesting book on the parallel between psychoanalysis and Buddhism, how these two ways of approaching liberation were both united and at the opposite ends of the spectrum, each taking a different approach to reach the center of oneself undoubtedly.Rinpoche’s book is in line with this reflection. The man is at the same time imbued with certainties, but not without questions. The adventure he embarked on quickly put him to the test, and it is fascinating to read it. We learn a lot in a very few pages about what Buddhism is. This book is, therefore, valuable in this regard.So I was thrilled for the first third of my reading. Then, an impatience, sometimes dissatisfaction began to emerge. The author makes great digressions to explain this, that. We often leave the adventure itself, an experience that lasted four years, but which will only be described for the first three or four weeks of the journey.The story could be summarized as follows. After a week of walking from one train to another, experiencing some discomfort, but still living in minimal comfort, because he could still afford a room and food, Rinpoche finally decided to leave his monk’s robe, put on that of a poor man and, for lack of money, beg for his food.The food he eats, leftovers from restaurants, gives him a fever, dengue fever. For two or three long chapters, he becomes delirious, resists, he’s in India and that it’s normal to have diarrhea. But things get worse, the fever increases, he starts to delirium, sees himself die consciously, learns to enjoy his consciousness. His explanations are both fascinating and... intellectual. He quickly approaches death, nothing exists anymore, everything exists, words clash. Obviously, knowing that the author is still alive and that he is telling his story, we know very well that he will get by... We would like him to succeed and move on to something else... I’m starting to skip pages, the text becomes a little repetitive. Always well written, of course, but nothing is learned anymore. Rinpoche is rescued by a good Samaritan who pays for the care at the hospital. The monk will leave two days later, eager to continue his journey. And that’s the end of the book.I had the impression while reading this book that I was listening to my own questions again, to rub shoulders with some of my personal reflections and discoveries. They certainly do not have the depth and finesse of what is written in this book, but nevertheless, I have been through it a little bit, even if it does not necessarily lead me to somewhere. Kind of like that monk?Make no mistake about it, this book is a good read. Buddhism is a journey between certainty and uncertainty. There is understanding only in learning to be aware of everything, and being aware of everything cannot be explained. It is the unspeakable, but since everything is strongly intellectualized and reasoned in this book, we end up abandoning ourselves to our lack of knowledge. It’s like the Big Bang of physicists. There is no before the Big Bang, there is only after. Understand who can. Mathematics, although a human invention, speaks louder than we do.The book, therefore, deals, of course, with reincarnation, with more finesse and less esotericism to which we may have been accustomed, but this concept escapes me more than anything. I don’t understand the mechanics behind it. Consciousness would be pure, disembodied, the body is only a passage, and the logic of our conscious experience leads us to believe that the ego is not and is. In short, cul-de-sac and development. Impermanence reigns. But what else? Since the human race multiplies abundantly, how is the balance achieved in what is transformed since nothing is lost, nothing is created?I remain almost hungry, left to myself once again. My daily life may not be an abandonment, an adventure that could be written in a book. Rinpoche would say it’s perfect that way. All you have to do is live your life, to be fully conscious second after second. It’s the only gift we have. There does not seem to be a donor. But the gift is there.

Mingyur Rinpoche has written a very candid account of his experience during the first few weeks of being a mendicant monk. I don't want to give too much away, because reading the book is such a thought-provoking and contemplative experience as the story unfolds. Mingyur reveals all of his thoughts, hopes, and fears to us as he embarks upon his wandering retreat and encounters difficulties from the outset. Some of these difficulties are caused by his own conditioning, and some are of a more practical and severe nature. What makes the book stand out is Mingyur's honesty - he doesn't try to hide behind a facade of perfect enlightenment, but instead shares with us the highs and lows of his experience. We are treated to many passages of spiritual reflection and insight, and also some descriptions of the Tibetan Buddhist views of life and death.One thing to note - the book does only cover the initial few weeks of Mingyur's wandering retreat. This may not be what you are expecting, but don't let that put you off as the story as told reaches a very satisfactory conclusion.The book will have obvious appeal to those interested in Tibetan Buddhism, but it should also satisfy any reader with an interest in spirituality. As we follow Mingyur's experience we see how his own wisdom and insight is deepened, and in the process ours is too. Probably destined to become a spiritual classic.

This is a great spiritual book on the Buddhist and Meditation path. I highly recommend this book for seekers who practice meditation in their spiritual journey. The contents in the book is a great refresh in a precise manner if you're already practicing any form of Buddhist meditation.