In mid-December 1996, to the delight of many readers, Sogyal Rinpoche, author of The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying finally came to Taiwan.

As he travelled through Taiwan from north to south, and east to Hualien, he spoke about reflection on life, terminal care, the meaning of death, and self-cultivation in life. Everywhere he was surrounded by crowds of people seeking autographs, putting questions, and asking for blessing.

Is Taiwan in a period of thirsting for great spiritual teachers? Even as its people revel in democracy and prosperity, the nagging disquiet hidden in their hearts is bubbling away in the background, and the spate of recent cases of corruption and violent crime have filled people with unease. But just as people in their thousands and tens of thousands have sought a mantle of faith in which to clothe their souls, a succession of religious fraud scandals have emerged.

Individual life and death, social change, or national upheaval-Buddhism describes all these as "impermanence." But in the midst of impermanence, how can ordinary people in this world live their lives in peace? Perhaps the "bardo" teachings of this latter-day Tibetan guru who has won wide popularity in the West can give us a new perspective.

Great Tibetan master Sogyal Rinpoche toured Taiwan like a whirlwind. His week's stay in Taiwan included four speeches, a two day retreat, an autograph signing session and a press conference. A crowd awaited him wherever he went. Speaking halls were packed with people whose questions and answers made it difficult for him to finish. Organizers once even had to pay an indemnity for overrunning the time booked at the venue.

In Sogyal Rinpoche's impression Taiwan is an extremely busy place. Rinpoche, however, said he was "surprised and delighted" when he realized that people here were "genuinely interested in knowing about spiritual matters." He was surprised to see the enthusiastic response from his Taiwanese readers. While his book The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying took a while to become well known in the West, it became an immediate bestseller in Taiwan. Sales of the Taiwan edition have already jumped to fourth place among the 17 different editions of the book worldwide, only four months after it was published.

"People are rich, but spiritual insecurity is still there," Rinpoche says, obviously having heard about recent crises in Taiwanese society. In fact, this is also what he sees as a common issue facing both Eastern and Western societies.

The 13th Dalai's teacher

Sogyal Rinpoche can be regarded as one of the best-known Tibetan Buddhist masters alive. He was born in Tibet but moved to India at a very young age. After receiving a complete education in the Nyingmapa tradition of Tibetan Buddhism, he went to Cambridge University in the UK in 1971. He has been teaching and translating Buddhism in the West for nearly 20 years now.

He moves swiftly, rushing like the wind, though his chubby build makes him look a small mountain. His round face always wears a jovial look. This easygoing and vigorous personality contrasts sharply with the seriousness characteristic among most of the Buddhist teachers in Taiwan. In fact, Rinpoche even played a role in the movie Little Buddha, directed by the Italian director Bernardo Bertolucci.

One reason why Rinpoche has won such fame (particularly in the West) is that when he was a child he was recognized as the reincarnation of one the 13th Dalai Lama's teachers. But a more important factor contributing to his success is his humorous personality and down-to-earth style of teaching, which easily inspires people.

"What I am actually trying to teach is not 'Buddhism,' but the laws of nature," he says. And to understand these laws, one must begin with understanding life and death-death in particular. "Death is not the greatest tragedy of life, but an opportunity of transition from life." Everyone has to confront death eventually, and many people struggle on the brink of death due to a serious sickness or accident. So our attitudes towards death and life are the cause of everyone's ignorance and suffering. And this book The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying is the testament of his more than 20 years of teaching in the West.

The fruit of many centuries' experience

An increasing number of people are beginning to realize that Buddhism is not a "religion" but a "science of mind." According to Sogyal Rinpoche, "For many centuries, the Tibetan way of training the mind has been developed in the Himalayan laboratory." Along with many spiritual masters who left Tibet in 1960, this ancient tradition spread to the Western world from the land of snow.

When Rinpoche went to England in 1971, the Hippie movement, with its rejection of materialism and search for spiritual values, was at its height. It was a time of great demand for Eastern wisdom, and in fact this demand has continued to this day.

"In Western society, material acquisition and scientific development have always been the most important priority, and spiritual tradition has somewhat declined. People do not look at life and death as a whole; they not only deny death but also tend to grasp strongly to their present life," he says. "This has resulted in a very near-sighted and materialistic society."

From a Buddhist point of view, life and death form a cyclic whole; there is no permanent "existence" or "extinction." What actually occurs is a transformation of the state of consciousness. Although most people suffer as they lack freedom and are bound to samsara (the cycle of death and rebirth) due to their respective karmas, it is still possible to realize the real nature of life and to be liberated from the sufferings of samsara.

Tibetan Book of the Dead (also translated as The Great Liberation Through Hearing in Bardo), which was written by Guru Padma-sambhava in the 12th century, describes in detail the ways in which the human soul leaves the body after death. This process is called bardo in Tibetan. Bardo teaching forms an important part of Tibetan Buddhism. Even now, many Tibetan yogins practice special yogas to prepare for liberation at the time of death.

However, those who do not practice Buddhism and are engrossed in their daily lives may not be able to perceive what sort of changes bardo (or confronting death) can bring in their lives. "What changes is people's attitude towards life," Rinpoche says. Sogyal Rinpoche believes life exists at a permanent, absolute level and at a temporary or relative level. The important thing, however, is from which angle one chooses to look at life.

Realization and meditation

"The basic cause of today's materialism, selfishness, environmental destruction and countless other problems is the fact that people only accept this life," he says. Hence, they tend to care only about a few years of short-term benefits. But when they make the profound realization that life is a continuous cycle, it will help them look beyond short-term benefits and be more broad-minded, and will instill in them a heart of compassion. This will help people clearly prioritize the various interests in their daily lives.

Moreover, death can strike us any time. "Death is a major event of impermanence. When it comes, we have to let go of everything, including our names, families, jobs, houses and friends," he says. When one really understands "impermanence," and when one feels impermanence taking place in one's daily life, bringing changes in every moment, it will help lessen the suffering and attachment, helping purify life as well as the emotions. "Whether you succeed or fail in your job, that is not the end of the world. This sort of mentality will help reduce suffering and you will not be so likely to get a heart attack," he says, bursting into a big laugh.

Nonetheless, realizing impermanence is not to live a passive life, but most importantly, to live "with a goal but without attachment." As a result it is more important to purify emotions by practicing meditation and self-cultivation. "Practicing Buddhism can help people face various challenges in life with a mind which is at once peaceful, confident, courageous, compassionate and wise."

He observes that according to statistics, nearly 13% of people in the US have some sort of mental disorder. This clearly illustrates the famous words of Jesus Christ: "Man does not live by bread alone." The ancient religious practices of meditation and contemplating the impermanence of life can positively help modern people, who are undergoing immense changes in social relations and also witnessing rapid transformations both at work and their private lives.

Such practices can not only help people train their spiritual power, but also help them withstand even enormous national disasters, and make them less likely to fall prey to emotional downturns. Sogyal Rinpoche says that when the Tibetans lost Tibet, many older Tibetans looked at this as "an opportunity to reveal the real meaning of life," and a proof of impermanence!

Understanding emotional changes

When it comes to helping people solve emotional problems, Buddhism shares many similarities with modern psychiatry. "In fact, the whole Buddhist system deals with mind; the Buddhist way of arousing compassion and the strong emphasis on mental training are extremely helpful in treating emotional problems." Rinpoche also says that Buddhist training had a big influence on the recent bestseller Emotional Intelligence. And Buddhism is also being gradually applied to modern psychology.

"However, Western psychology takes people's experiences of suffering as its starting point, while the Buddhist way is to first teach people to look at the happiness of life." From this, we can understand the impermanence of happiness and reveal the impermanence of emotional ups and downs, which is to understand the illusion and meaninglessness of what we know as "self." This will help develop "a healthier attitude towards oneself-which is also called 'selflessness.'" Once one firmly adopts this attitude, suffering basically becomes nothing more than a change in our emotional status.

Buddhism and Western psychology are similar in their functions, but differ in the means and methods adopted. It is not a matter of one being right and the other wrong-they are simply different choices available to individuals in a pluralistic society. In fact, how to better cope with emotional ups and downs is actually the topic of Sogyal Rinpoche's next book.

As a modern-day spiritual master, Sogyal Rinpoche wants people to experience the meaning of life from their day-to-day life, and to understand death from the death of their nearest and dearest. Equipped with examples of near-death experiences described by Western medicine, and the laws of quantum physics, he strives to prove the survival of the consciousness and the existence of life after death.

The greater science of the spirit

According to bardo teachings, human beings pass through three different phases of dissolution: first the dissolution of flesh and body, then the inner dissolution, and lastly the dissolution of consciousness. Finally, the "most basic primeval state" of the consciousness is fully revealed, in a realm of pure light and energy.

Rinpoche says he has had the chance to exchange ideas with many Western scientists over the past several years. "I was fascinated to discover that Buddhism and scientific findings are extremely similar," he says.

He has also found that many quantum physicists are increasingly in support of the view that there is no such thing as a smallest molecule in the world, because when atoms are further disintegrated, what is left is energy and light. Whilst we need to have proofs to reveal the truth, this view seems to correspond with the Tibetan Buddhist idea. Rinpoche says: "Science can be divided into a smaller science which deals with technical matters, and a greater science which deals with spiritual matters. One day, the greater science may help explain this convergence." In fact, Albert Einstein did find a relationship between Buddhism and physics. Hence, Rinpoche believes, Buddhism will help provide solutions to many scientific and cultural problems in the future.

Meanwhile, near-death experiences have helped prove the relevance of bardo teachings as well. Such a close relationship between ancient religion and modern science has inspired Sogyal Rinpoche to preach the importance of "confronting death" and more importantly of caring for the dying.

"Silence and peace are extremely important before death; one must let the terminally ill understand that suffering is a process of purification. This understanding will help their soul leave without any attachment and make it less likely to suffer distress as a result of grasping and resentment during bardo," he says.

Sogyal Rinpoche says he supports organ donation after death, because, he believes, it is an act of love. But to prevent such a move causing shock and suffering to the dying person during bardo, he suggests phowa practice (which helps the transition of consciousness) before surgery to pacify the dying person's soul.

But how can the victims of Taiwan's recent spate of murders manage to attain peace after death? "What the dying most need is love, and after they are dead they still need the compassionate prayers of the living. Because one should not forget that the living can communicate with the dead on a spiritual level."

A book sows seeds

The search for spiritual fulfillment is seen by many futurists as the next global movement, and in fact this movement has already begun. In the post-industrial society, spiritual masters are equally sought after in both East and West. As a result, however, a lack of spiritual tradition in society has given rise to many "spiritual charlatans."

"This is extremely unfortunate. Many people set themselves up as great religious masters, but their actions are quite at odds with their own teachings," Sogyal Rinpoche says. He says a real master must be of a certain "lineage" through which teachings are transmitted to him. He must have a flawless character, and most importantly, has to be "selfless," "compassionate" and "wise." If people observe carefully, they should be able to tell the difference.

Shortly before leaving Taiwan, Sogyal Rinpoche visited the Tzu Chi Hospital in Hualien and its founder Buddhist Master Cheng Yen. Rinpoche expressed his tremendous respect for her selflessness and compassion. Rinpoche told Cheng Yen, "You are already practicing Buddhism, while I am only preaching it." To express his highest respect, Rinpoche lifted Master Cheng Yen's hand and placed it on his head.

After nearly 20 years in the West, Rinpoche has come back to the East through his book The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying. With the world getting smaller and smaller, he believes, every individual or cultural tradition has a responsibility towards the world. And in a sense, the Tibetan spiritual tradition belongs not just to Tibetans but to the whole of mankind.

A single book has sown seeds in tens of thousands of Taiwanese souls. As these seeds germinate, what new ideas and creativity may they help generate in the future? All in all, the Buddhist law of cause and effect in life is certainly worth studying.

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Life and death are uncertain, so who can remain unaffected? The brisk sales of The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying suggest that in this era of rapid change there are many unsettled minds looking for peace. (photo by Vincent Chang)

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Natural barriers long cut off Tibet from the outside world, so that its people evolved a unique form of Buddhism. (photo by Wang Chih-hung)