Iñaki Sánchez, from Madrid writes: “Before finding The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying, my state of mind could be described as follows: I was carried along by life, finding some degree of ‘fulfilment’ or entertainment in activities such as working, being with my family, watching football, playing sports and drinking beer. As for my spiritual interest, I always felt there had to be something more ‘out there’, but I had never tried to pursue or investigate that side of things. Perhaps it was because I had rejected Catholicism, after having a rather bad experience with it.

As for Buddhism, I had no idea what it was. The only reference I had was a fat figure of the Buddha that my mother kept in her living room. Some sangha companions (and especially women, who are more ready to share these things) have told me how they were touched by The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying. Some felt it to be like love; for others it was like finding the truth, and so on. In my case it was quite experiential and practical.

The book came to me by accident. Mariano, who is more than just my doctor, and who has become my link with Rinpoche, advised my ex-wife to read The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying. She was going through a bleak moment in her life, and he thought the book could be of help to her. We used to go together to see Mariano, but he did not recommend it to me. He must have thought that it was not the right time for me, or that I did not need it, or maybe he knew that it was going to reach me eventually anyhow.

In the end, The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying come to our home as a Christmas present.My ex-wife did not even open the book, but I started reading it at nights. I cannot remember why; it must have been out of curiosity. From the first moment I was hooked. The first few chapters showed me another world and another way of viewing and living life. I was utterly astounded. The most important chapter was Chapter 5, on meditation. I’ve always looked for the practical side of things, and so I started meditating on my own, or rather what I thought was meditating.

A few days later I realized that I needed something more, because I could not handle all that was moving inside of me. Then I searched on the Internet and found that there was a small, newly-formed group in Madrid. I attended the second session of that group, which was very different from the sangha that exists now, but as I felt that Rinpoche was present there, I continued to attend the sessions. Had it been otherwise, I would not have stayed.In short, The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying saved my life. It woke me up.”

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