In Love with the World: A Monk's Journey Through the Bardos of Living and Dying

4.7 4.7 out of 5 stars | 1,291 ratings

Price: 15.75

Last update: 12-24-2024


About this item

A rare, intimate account of a world-renowned Buddhist monk’s near-death experience and the life-changing wisdom he gained from it

“One of the most inspiring books I have ever read.” (Pema Chödrön, author of When Things Fall Apart)

“This book has the potential to change the reader’s life forever.” (George Saunders, author of Lincoln in the Bardo)

At 36 years old, Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche was a rising star within his generation of Tibetan masters and the respected abbot of three monasteries. Then one night, telling no one, he slipped out of his monastery in India with the intention of spending the next four years on a wandering retreat, following the ancient practice of holy mendicants. His goal was to throw off his titles and roles in order to explore the deepest aspects of his being.

He immediately discovered that a lifetime of Buddhist education and practice had not prepared him to deal with dirty fellow travelers or the screeching of a railway car. He found he was too attached to his identity as a monk to remove his robes right away or to sleep on the Varanasi station floor, and instead paid for a bed in a cheap hostel. But when he ran out of money, he began his life as an itinerant beggar in earnest. Soon he became deathly ill from food poisoning - and his journey took a startling turn. His meditation practice had prepared him to face death, and now he had the opportunity to test the strength of his training.

In this powerful and unusually candid account of the inner life of a Buddhist master, Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche offers us the invaluable lessons he learned from his near-death experience. By sharing with listeners the meditation practices that sustain him, he shows us how we can transform our fear of dying into joyful living.

Praise for In Love with the World:

“Vivid, compelling... This book is a rarity in spiritual literature: Reading the intimate story of this wise and devoted Buddhist monk directly infuses our own transformational journey with fresh meaning, luminosity, and life.” (Tara Brach, author of Radical Acceptance and True Refuge)

“In Love with the World is a magnificent story - moving and inspiring, profound and utterly human. It will certainly be a dharma classic.” (Jack Kornfield, author of A Path with Heart)

“This book makes me think enlightenment is possible.” (Russell Brand)


Top reviews from the United States

  • Michael Erlewine
    5.0 out of 5 stars From the director of the Heart Center Karma Thegsum Choling Dharma Center
    Reviewed in the United States on May 26, 2019
    This is a different sort of book by Mingyur Rinpoche than he has written before. I have met Mingyur Rinpoche and seen him a number of times, both in person at an interview at our monastery (KTD Monastery) in upstate New York, and here and there. I remember standing with Mingjur Rinpoche in Toronto as a fierce storm, perhaps a small tornado, passed just about half a block away. My wife and I stood in a small bookstore with doors open to the outside where it poured rain and fierce winds howeled, with Mingyur Rinpoche, Thrangu Rinpoche, Lama Namse Rinpoche, and my own teacher Khenpo Karthar Rinpoche, while the storm raged around us. I experienced Mingyur rinpoche “up close and personal.”

    I had always been attracted to Mingjur Rinpoche. He seemed ultra-sensitive, very bright, kind, and open, and (from my point of view as an elder) young. I have read some of his teachings and listened to some You-Tube videos of his teachings. And I had identified enough with him enough to add him personally to my daily prayers as I recite the Precious Garland of all the key teachers of the Kagyu Lineage each day in succession. One of our retreat lamas had pointed out to me that Mingyur Rinpoches did not exactly belong in that list. I understand, but I always add him anyway. Why?

    Because I have learned from his teachings in a very direct, grab my gut, manner. Most of these teachings were from before he went on his three-year wandering retreat documented in this book, but the teachings after he returned were even more inspiring. He turned up the volume. I feared for his life when I heard of his journey and felt sadness that he would not be around to hear about or see for some time. Yet I understood. I had seen up close how very sensitive he was and how he almost clung to those rinpoches that were around him during that storm. Here, thought I, was another type of rinpoche, a type I had never experienced.

    I am a experienced close-up photographer and one of the mythical photography terms is what is called micro-contrast. Some say it does not exist and others, like me, feel it is imperative. Micro-contrast is variably described, but one such definition by Yannick Khong is “Micro-contrast is the ability of the lens to communicate the richness and vibrancy of the inter-tonal shifts between the brighter to darker part of a very same color onto the sensor. A lens with a great micro-contrast has much richer colors and tone transitions compared to a weaker one. “

    My point here is the Yongey Mingyur Rinpoches new book “In Love with the World,” IMO, is an example of verbal micro-contrast. It’s almost recursive in that its paragraphs seem to fold in on each other, causing the reader to slow way down until one is almost static, almost non-dual. I tried my best to skim over this volume, to get an idea of its scope and merit and found myself unable to do so. You have to actually read it and it is filled with micro-tonality. The book is just as sensitive and subtle as Mingyur Rinpoche himself appeared when I first met him.

    And, as a Mahamudra student and practitioner of some 30 years, this book is absolutely filled with short comments and insights that are self-insightful and cut to the quick. I would go so far as to say that this is not even a book as you and I know it. It’s a time bomb or like making pickles: the book works on you and changes you.

    Of course, the story of a wandering monk is wonderful, but to me that is not what interested me most. It is this, as mentioned, recursive writing style, that by its very language transforms your mind as you read it. At least, that is how I have received it. At first, it seemed so involved and ingrown that I didn’t have time to read it and then, as I sampled any part, it did. I found the time (or it created the time I needed) and then it changed me. In other words, if you can stand to slow yourself down enough to read it, the book is self-instructing. It’s not a book, but a teaching.
  • romance fantasy book
    5.0 out of 5 stars Best book of Rinpoche yet!
    Reviewed in the United States on December 19, 2021
    This is my favorite book by Rinpoche!!! It's so well written. It's full of wisdom but also woven into the realistic details of his retreat journey's beginning. So it's so much easier to understand and relate to my daily life. He details his struggles, his thoughts, his feelings and experiences. He also told his memories, reflected the lessons and walked us through his reasoning to how he understood the wisdom. That's tremendously helpful to see his train of thoughts.

    This is definitely his best book yet!! Packed full of wisdom and yet easy for lay people to understand and apply to their ordinary lives.
  • Sydney
    5.0 out of 5 stars inspiring
    Reviewed in the United States on February 25, 2024
    bought for a friend after a friend bought for me. very good book
  • Alan
    5.0 out of 5 stars Interesting book about Tibetan Buddhism
    Reviewed in the United States on May 19, 2024
    In this book Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche talks a lot about breaking free from the conceptual mind and talks about the bardos of dying and becoming. He has a lot of good insights and there is a lot to be learned from his book. I will probably read the book again because it has some good teachings.

    One irony, is that although Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche talks so much about letting go, his description of a near-death experience proves that he is EXTREMELY attached to the Tibetan Buddhist concepts of the bardos and reincarnation, which are clearly just invented ideas, with no valid empirical proof. His proof consists of a very meaningful mind state, which was a hallucination while under severe physical duress. I don't doubt that he had a very meaningful revelation, but I think he has misinterpreted what it implies about reality.
  • Brett
    4.0 out of 5 stars Lovely journey
    Reviewed in the United States on June 11, 2024
    This is a wonderful mix of Tibetan Buddhist philosophy and a monks coming of age. I enjoyed his description of enlightenment. Very inspiring!
  • Kindle Customer
    5.0 out of 5 stars Book was in fantastic shape
    Reviewed in the United States on October 7, 2024
    I liked how quickly I received this book. And am anticipating sharing the book with a friend to get some feedback.
  • maheswari moksha
    5.0 out of 5 stars Lo amé
    Reviewed in the United States on August 24, 2024
    Hermoso libro
  • Amazon Customer
    5.0 out of 5 stars One the most interesting books about Buddhism I have read so far
    Reviewed in the United States on April 3, 2024
    I have delved into Buddhism years ago and did my vows with Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche (online, unfortunately never met in person). This book is an exiting description of his pilgrimage, leaving the "luxury" of a monetary behind during his years of wandering. I would read this book over and over again. The way he writes and talks about his experiences is a teaching for us all.

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