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In Love with the World

Written by: Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche,Helen Tworkov
Narrated by: Feodor Chin
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Publisher's Summary

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)

©2019 Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche (P)2019 Random House Audio

What the critics say

"With this book, we enter into the interior life of a remarkable young Buddhist teacher. After setting off by himself on a wandering retreat, he immediately encounters fear, aversion, sickness, and near death. Yet the same emotional and physical difficulties that would throw the average person for a loop become opportunities for Mingyur Rinpoche to work with his mind, and to deepen his commitment to transforming adversity into awakening. His willingness to describe this process in such intimate detail has been an immense help to my own path, and makes this one of the most inspiring books I have ever read.” (Pema Chödrön, author of When Things Fall Apart)

“Readers seeking a deep exploration of Buddhist philosophy will be richly rewarded by Rinpoche’s thought-provoking and ultimately inspiring story.” (Library Journal)

“Part thriller, part deeply personal autobiography, and part Buddhist teachings on how to live a meaningful life, this is an extraordinary book. It has something profoundly important to teach each of us.” (Richard J. Davidson, author of The Emotional Life of Your Brain)

What listeners love about In Love with the World

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Great book, poor reading

It hurts me to give this book only three stars. The book itself is excellent but the narration is very poor. It’s not that the reading is bad, per se, it’s just that the tone is all wrong. Some of the material is incredibly profound, but the narrator reads it as if he is reading The Hungry Caterpillar. It is jarring and makes the book hard to stick with.

1 person found this helpful

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Real life dharma

A great book full of practical and real life dharma teachings. Full of wisdom and insight

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Perfect

So perfect for what I’ve come to know. I am n longer alone. I am “in love with the world.” Thank you both for making this information available!

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Trustafarian recounts his weekend trip?

Tried hard to get into this but kept having the feeling I was listening to a privileged public school boy playing at homelessness on their year out trip to India.

Reminded me too much of going to Goa in my 20's

Now of course I'm not qualified to judge the experiences of recognized Tulkus. So it's probably just my deluded mind.

But it's easy to walk away from things when you know there is a safety net to catch you when you change your mind.

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A relatable adventure through the mind

This book was recommended to me by someone else in my sangha to help me with the loss of a friend. I wasn't sure what to expect but I am very happy to have read this. The chapters have a lot of relatable moments of judgments or reassessing our own thoughts. The last portion of the book was a very interesting deep dive into death. I'm not really sure how to describe it's impact on me, so I will just say I highly recommend reading it.

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Life changing advice

I generally don’t say this about most ‘Dharma’ books but Mingyur Rinpoche’s deeply personal journey intertwined with the essential aspects of the Buddhist teachings is, at least for a beginner - life and mind changing. Thank you for this gift of Dharma Rinpoche.

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Inspiring

A wonderful and inspiring story from a great but humble and very honest Tibetan monk. Hard to put down.

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  • Reader001
  • 2019-05-22

A great story cut short

I was really, REALLY looking forward to this story of Mingyur Rinpoche's four (plus)-year walking retreat, but this book only includes about the first month of the retreat. My rating of the book would have been higher had I known that the book focused on his near-death experience within a few weeks of starting the retreat, and what preceded this life-changing event. While this was very enlightening, I was expecting and wanting a review of the entire retreat, as hinted at in the book's description. Now I want to hear about the remainder of his retreat!

31 people found this helpful

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  • Martin Fierro
  • 2019-06-07

An Amazing Story Shared with Profound Perspective

This is the third book I have read by this author. Although I would highly recommend all of them, from the reader's point of view, this may be the best.

I enjoyed it so much that I made it a point to seek out a chance to meet the author on his teaching tour explaining aspects of his retreat experience which is shared in the book's pages.
Interwoven with this story (of his life and near-death experience as a voluntarily homeless person) is a typically direct and clear explanation of spiritual principles.

If you're thinking about getting the book, stop thinking, and buy it.

And, by the way, the Audible presentation is also superb.

17 people found this helpful

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  • Belladoni
  • 2020-10-05

Not a personal story.

I bought this book because it was described as a personal account of the author’s near death bardo experience. It is not. In fact, it is a lot of preaching where he shares some personal experiences to make a point. Maybe people who are new to the practice would like it better. I did enjoy the narrator who had good pacing and a pleasant, resonant voice.

9 people found this helpful

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  • veba
  • 2019-11-17

Great story unaffordable narrator

Loved the story and teacher but the narrator was horrible. It/he sounded like a computer and the monotone voice was distracting. I hope they will redo this audible with another voice because the story of his dying and becoming is inspiring and moving.

9 people found this helpful

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  • Queen
  • 2019-07-25

Fascinating story

This book is fascinating precisely because the narrative is so very slight. For this Rinpoche, the ‘story’ is all about how his training manifests when he heads out into the world. The narrator is very disappointing. Couldn’t someone have told him how to say Tibetan, Sanskrit or Hindu words? Very hard to listen to al times.

6 people found this helpful

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  • Kim
  • 2019-06-25

A story for teaching doctrine...

Being a long time practitioner of secular Theravada Buddhism, I was intrigued with the story (which, by the way, contained only about a week’s worth, or so, of his journey) and I certainly heard a few gems, but I’m not such a fan of all the ritualistic practices, lineage beliefs and other metaphysical aspects that Tibetan Buddhism holds true and the book contained many of those those teachings. However, it was still a worthy listen. But do know that it contains many teachings from the Tibetan Buddhist path, the story Itself was more of a vehicle to teach Tibetan doctrine.

6 people found this helpful

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  • Rob Myers
  • 2020-10-11

Not a great message

Don't get me wrong: I really like Mingyur Rinpoche, and what he's done for the neuroscientific study of meditation's effects on us. I've also seen videos of him describing meditation, and he's very funny and approachable.

I had two problems with this book:

1. The nit-picky problem: The description suggests that this is the story of his adventures while he was gone for three years. It's not. I think it covers about a month or two at the most. Almost immediately, he gets very sick, and it's mostly a story about that illness. Nothing more.

2. The very serious issue: He jumps back and forth between a gradual telling of his experience the first few weeks of his journeys, and the Buddhist topics that come up for him regarding those events. That's great, except that, as he's close to dying, he spends a lot of time thinking about whether he should die or not (as though it was ever up to him to choose), rather than seeking out medical assistance. SPOILERS: He survives (okay, maybe that's not a spoiler, since--had he died--he wouldn't have written the book), but only due to the intervention of a new friend that he made along the way. He then describes this near-death experience as an awakening. And, I rather believe him. But would it not have then been prudent to explain other paths? Say...4 decades of diligent dharma-study and meditation? Instead, his story could be interpreted by some (e.g., younger, at-risk readers) as promoting very risky, near-death experiences as a quick path to awakening. Not a good message AT ALL.

5 people found this helpful

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  • Amazon Customer
  • 2019-06-07

Amazing

Brought me to tears many times. This is a book every practitioner should read. What a journey home.....

4 people found this helpful

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  • kona’s touch
  • 2019-07-10

Perfect Just As It Is.

In love with the world and also so in love with this book. Thank you Rinpoche.

2 people found this helpful

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  • nicholas
  • 2019-06-06

Incredible

A masterpiece This is both a story that is engaging and a set of some of the most profound teachings that we can bring to heart

2 people found this helpful