In Love with the World: A Monk's Journey Through the Bardos of Living and Dying

This book is great for a first hand account of how a Buddhist "master" applies his lifelong practices and teachings to real life adversity. By his own recounting, he lived his whole life in safety and abundance with attendants and reverence wherever he went. He did not even know how to handle money because his attendants did that for him and he always stayed in four or five star hotels. Needless to say, becoming a homeless wandering yogi was a major shock to his system. The book covers his first several weeks of his four year retreat, up to the immediate aftermath of his near-death experience and glimpse of enlightenment at the end of the book. The book is very heavy on his mental techniques of dealing with his struggles and the lessons he learned growing up in a monastic community. I have meditated a few years now and use the Healthy Minds app which he is connected to and if you are familiar with the app then his teachings will seem extremely familiar and easy to grasp. Or, if you are into Zhuangzi (who I personally identify with more) then a lot of what he says should be easy to grasp. So all that said, this was not a lifechanging book for me like it is for many other reviewers. It felt more like a review of what I had read and practiced many times, but the difference was this book shares a first person perspective of actually applying these lessons outside of ones comfort zone. It reminded me a ton of my own thoughts when I encounter struggles (though not his post-enlightenment state). I also came from a privileged upbringing and then moved across the world with minimal plans and was a total fish out of water. I started off very judgey and eventually grew with meditation practices, so I understood him very well. Maybe that is another reason this book wasn't a big revelation to me, because it is SO familiar. All in all I think it was a very interesting book. Not life changing if you've been meditating a few years or are into Daoist philosophy, but I can see it being helpful for someone early in their journey. For someone totally new to Buddhism, I can see the teachings he shared being difficult to fully appreciate.

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.

Excellent Book. Well written, practices are valuable, doable. I respect and trust this writer.

This is a wonderful mix of Tibetan Buddhist philosophy and a monks coming of age. I enjoyed his description of enlightenment. Very inspiring!

In this book Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche talks a lot about breaking free from the conceptual mind and talks about the bardos of dying and becoming. He has a lot of good insights and there is a lot to be learned from his book. I will probably read the book again because it has some good teachings. One irony, is that although Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche talks so much about letting go, his description of a near-death experience proves that he is EXTREMELY attached to the Tibetan Buddhist concepts of the bardos and reincarnation, which are clearly just invented ideas, with no valid empirical proof. His proof consists of a very meaningful mind state, which was a hallucination while under severe physical duress. I don't doubt that he had a very meaningful revelation, but I think he has misinterpreted what it implies about reality.

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.

The quote on the cover about this book being life changing is not an exaggeration.

I have delved into Buddhism years ago and did my vows with Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche (online, unfortunately never met in person). This book is an exiting description of his pilgrimage, leaving the "luxury" of a monetary behind during his years of wandering. I would read this book over and over again. The way he writes and talks about his experiences is a teaching for us all.

Brillante. Una gran experiencia leer este libro y "acompañar" a Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche en esta etapa de su viaje espiritual.

Grateful to have come across this book. I will read it again & again.

outstanding and fascinating book, the best I've read in 2019

Un libro muy bien escrito que cuesta trabajo dejar a un lado. Leerlo es un agasajo.

Highly recommended !!!