How to Live and Die
The Transformative Power of Meditating on Impermanence
Published on 7. November 2025
Book
Paperback/Softback
308 pages
979-8-89070-001-8 (ISBN)
Description
In this authoritative account of one of the most important practices in Tibetan Buddhism, Lama Zopa shows us how facing the reality of death and impermanence can transform and enrich our life.
What death is, how we die, what minds we need at death and what happens after death—only by knowing about death and rebirth can we actually fully understand what life is and so learn how to live fully.
—Lama Zopa Rinpoche
There is arguably no truth more foundational to Buddhism than this: everything is impermanent. We can see this in the world all around us; old systems break down, relationships change. Death comes for those we love and, inevitably, for us.
In this book, the late, beloved teacher Lama Zopa Rinpoche walks us through the traditional, revelatory practices of meditating on the fact of impermanence and even—especially—on death itself. Rather than shy away from this reality, we look straight at it, and thus we learn not only how to not fear death, but how to live.
What death is, how we die, what minds we need at death and what happens after death—only by knowing about death and rebirth can we actually fully understand what life is and so learn how to live fully.
—Lama Zopa Rinpoche
There is arguably no truth more foundational to Buddhism than this: everything is impermanent. We can see this in the world all around us; old systems break down, relationships change. Death comes for those we love and, inevitably, for us.
In this book, the late, beloved teacher Lama Zopa Rinpoche walks us through the traditional, revelatory practices of meditating on the fact of impermanence and even—especially—on death itself. Rather than shy away from this reality, we look straight at it, and thus we learn not only how to not fear death, but how to live.
More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Somerville
United States
Dimensions
Height: 226 mm
Width: 152 mm
Thickness: 24 mm
Weight
626 gr
ISBN-13
979-8-89070-001-8 (9798890700018)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Zopa Rinpoche Lama | Gordon McDougall
How to Live and Die
The Transformative Power of Meditating on Impermanence
E-Book
10/2025
Simon + Schuster LLC
€19.77
Available for download
Persons
Lama Zopa Rinpoche was one of the most internationally renowned masters of Tibetan Buddhism, working and teaching ceaselessly on almost every continent. He was the spiritual director and cofounder of the Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition (FPMT), an international network of Buddhist projects, including monasteries in six countries and meditation centers in over thirty; health and nutrition clinics, and clinics specializing in the treatment of leprosy and polio; as well as hospices, schools, publishing activities, and prison outreach projects worldwide. He passed away in 2023.