Luminous Awareness: A Guidebook to Natural Awakening in Life and in Death

"I am confident readers will find this book, Luminous Awareness: A Guidebook to Natural Awakening in Life and in Death, interesting and useful in understanding the way it explains the Buddhist approach to the end of life."
His Holiness the Dalai Lama, from the foreword

"Luminous Awareness asks "What does the Buddha mean by rouse and correct ourselves? And how exactly do we look to our true nature?" This book is about providing the answers and offering a variety of practices to bring us closer to our true selves. Written with clarity and dedication to the dharma, Pema Duddul embraces the possibilities of an awakened life."
Sharon Salzberg, author of the books Loving Kindness and Real Happiness

"That no one is exempt from death and the dying process is a central truth to the Buddhist tradition. Luminous Awareness offers a clear and approachable path to better understand the transformational power created in developing an engaged, contemplative relationship to the dying process. Pema Düddul skilfully distils this wisdom in a way that makes this rich work accessible, relatable and applicable to a varied readership."
Lama Justin von Bujdoss, author of Modern Tantric Buddhism: Embodiment and Authenticity in Dharma Practice.

"Luminous Awareness holds within it everything one needs to awaken in this lifetime, or at the time of death. Full of essential practice instructions, inspiring words from great masters and clear explanations of the fundamentals of the Buddha-Dharma, I could not recommend this book more highly. It is a joy to read. Dudjom Pema Düddul is an exceptional Dharma teacher."
Jamyang Tenphel, author of Resting in Stillness and The Awakening Heart: 108 Pith Instructions for Buddhist Practice.

A guidebook to natural awakening or enlightenment, this book lays out a path of simple, unrestricted practices leading to the exact same result as the revered tradition of Tibetan Dzogchen - total awakening. Luminous Awareness translates the mystical and complex rituals and practices of The Tibetan Book of the Dead into a path of simple daily actions we can all apply right now.

Luminous Awareness is about life and death, but it is also about much more. Its true focus is how we can all awaken to our true or enlightened nature, which is the ultimate nature of all. This single, easy to read book contains everything you might need on the Buddhist path.

Inspired by the spirit of simplicity and openness of the Tibetan Dzogchen or Great Perfection tradition, Luminous Awareness is a comprehensive guide to living and dying with purpose and heart. The book contains easy to apply guidance on the practices related to The Tibetan Book of the Dead that lead to complete liberation in our own lifetimes.

In this book you will find simple meditations and contemplations to transform your experience of daily life into one of awakening, as well as lucid descriptions of the processes of dying, the after-death states (or bardos) and rebirth or reincarnation.

Pema Düddul, a Buddhist chaplain, poet and scholar, is a student of Dudjom Rinpoche (1904-1987), Chogyal Namkhai Norbu Rinpoche (1938 - 2018), Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo, Lama Karma Lhundup Rinpoche and Dungse Namgyal Dawa Rinpoche. He has decades of experience teaching the Dharma in the modern world and teaches with great clarity and simplicity. With Luminous Awareness he shows how to apply the mystical bardo teachings to our everyday experience and bring purpose and joy to both living and dying.