Author Description

Never, since Padmasambhava's teachings of the Bardo Thodol ("Liberation by Hearing in the Bardo"), has such a authoritative and enlightening account on the dying process been documented. In Grand Master Sheng-yen Lu's 163rd book, Crossing the Ocean of Life and Death, all conceivable questions are answered about the most crucial moment in a person's life - leaving this world. With utmost sincerity, Grand Master Lu writes this book to help readers understand the reality of dying. When a person dies, his spirit enters the bardo realm, a phase between death and rebirth. Grand Master Lu teaches readers how to properly approach death through the Dream Yoga, one of the Six Yogas of Naropa, a practice heavily emphasized in Vajrayana Buddhism. If a person is able to train and control his mind in the dream state, which is very similar to dying, he will be able to reach the Western Paradise, or even Buddhahood, while in the bardo realm. In this book, Grand Master Lu describes his personal experiences of facing death. He documents in detail the sensory experiences of dying, the illusions emerging at death, and the methodology to avert rebirth into one of the six realms. Ultimately, this book illuminates the path to Buddhahood, that transcends life and death. About the Author Grand Master Sheng-yen Lu was born on the eighteenth day of the fifth Lunar month, 1945, in Chia-yi County, Taiwan. He currently resides in Redmond, WA in the United States. His religious background includes Christianity, Taoism, Sutrayana and Tantric Buddhism. Grand Master Lu has been practicing yoga and meditation every day for over thirty-eight years and carries the lineages of Nyingma, Sakya, Kagyu, and Gelug. He is a guru of the Buddhist Tripitaka as well as the knowledge of the Supreme Consciousness of the Universe.