Heart Practices for Dying and Death
Lama Zopa Rinpoche recommends various heart practices to perform when someone is dying or has died. The Medicine Buddha Puja, the Wish-Fulfilling Jewel and Eight Prayers to Benefit the Dead are the most essential practices to do.
- Eight Prayers to Benefit the Dead, a collection of common prayers recited by Gelug monasteries for those who have recently died.
Additional practices suggested by Lama Zopa Rinpoche to benefit the dead
Ten powerful mantras for the time of death
Mantras to place on the body of someone who is dying or had died
Practicing the Five Powers Near the Time of Death, Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s commentary on integrating the five powers into one lifetime as the best preparation for the happiest death. The Importance of Reciting the Rinchhen Tsugtor Verse for the Dead and Dying, during the 2010 Light of the Path retreat, Rinpoche advised that this verse is the very first thing to recite in a person or animal’s ear when they are dying or dead.
Heart Advice for Death and Dying, an education course in various formats for individuals and centers that provides practical instructions for the time of death to students who are interested in learning about death and dying from the Tibetan Buddhist perspective.
Heart Practices for Death and Dying, includes the practices above and many more for assisting others at the time of death. Request prayers for the dead, give the names of students who have died to His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Lama Zopa Rinpoche, and FPMT Sangha communities, with the request for their prayers.
- Most essential practices
Additional Advice
In addition to the above, Lama Zopa Rinpoche has given extensive advice on preparing for death and caring for others at the time of death.
