DISCOVERING BUDDHISM: Death and Rebirth
(HYBRID) What happens at death-time? How can we best prepare ourselves for the onward journey? And how can we insure we achieve a positive rebirth?
It is only by reflecting on change and impermanence that we can use our present life to its fullest potential. Explore the process of death and rebirth and its impact on how we live our lives. Be guided in skilful reflection on the meaning of death and what to expect at death-time. In this way, fulfil your purpose in life, resolve conflicts, and develop the skills to help both yourself and others at the time of death. Eventually, through Buddhist practice, one can overcome fear and death altogether.
“Tibetan Buddhism teaches us to understand the death process… so when the time of crisis arrives… we’ll know what’s going on.”
Lama Thubten Yeshe
In Lama Yeshe’s teaching, death is not an ending but a transition: when the body stops, the mind does not. Consciousness continues as a stream of energy, carrying the imprint of everything we have thought, said, and done. Because of this, death immediately leads into another phase and eventually into rebirth. This process is not governed by an external force—no one sends us anywhere—but unfolds according to our own mind. As long as we remain caught in ignorance, attachment, and ego, we are propelled into what he calls “uncontrolled” rebirth, moving again and again through the cycle of existence.
What matters most, then, is the condition of the mind—especially at the time of death. The habits we have built and the state we die in shape what comes next, whether that is a fortunate human rebirth or a more difficult one. For this reason, Lama Yeshe stresses that understanding death is not abstract philosophy but practical training: by learning to recognise the mind and reduce its distortions now, we prepare for a clearer, more stable transition later. Ultimately, the cycle of death and rebirth continues only as long as its causes persist; when the mind is freed from its mistaken patterns, the cycle itself can come to an end.
Topics include:
- Disadvantages of not thinking about death and the advantages of doing so
- Avoiding the trap of the 8 worldly concerns
- Nine-part meditation on death awareness
- Eight stages of the dying process
- Process of rebirth (and how to avoid the sufferings of the lower realms)
- The role of karma in determining rebirth
- The six realms of existence
- How to help the dying
- Subtle and gross impermanence
- Dharma is the long term solution to death
“We can transform any problem, even death, into happiness. The point is not to stop the experience of problems but to stop the conditions that we call ‘problems’ from disturbing our mind, and instead use them to support the spiritual path that we practice.”
Lama Zopa Rinpoche
Event Details
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*Course Package includes both video and soundfile of each class (to catch-up or re-listen), the powerpoint slides, the reading material from FPMT as well as extras from LTC.
About Discovering Buddhism
The Discovering Buddhism is the core program of LTC. It consists of 13 units, but you are most welcome to join at any time. It takes about three years to complete the full cycle and the associated activities. Many people enjoy the program so much they attend subsequent cycles! We invite you to come along to a couple of classes and see how the program suits you. More details here.
Join Event on Zoom
This is a hybrid event, held both in-person in the gompa and online on Zoom. Zoom meeting starts 10 minutes before event start time.
