Speaking of the Tibetan Book of Living and Dying, I just wanted to mention that Sogyal didn't write it. Andrew Harvey, who was a graduate student in Buddhist Studies at the time, and also a devoted follower of Sogyal's, wrote it along with a colleague, and presented it as a gift to their spiritual mentor. If you read it, you'll notice there are many references to Western cultural phenomena, quotations of Rilke, parallels with Greek mythology, and so forth, that Sogyal couldn't possibly have known about, nor had the intellectual wherewithal to put together.
Sogyal didn't understand much of the material, so when the book was published and media interview requests came in, Harvey had to accompany Sogyal to the interviews, to help him answer questions about the text. So even the very core foundation upon which Rigpa is built, which relates to hospice work and counseling the bereaved, is a sham. Their own figurehead and organization founder doesn't know anything about it, except for a few bits the actual author was able to coach him on, and whatever insights he may have gleaned over the years from Tibetan tradition, that he's come to parrot, as any given situation required.
Sogyal didn't understand much of the material, so when the book was published and media interview requests came in, Harvey had to accompany Sogyal to the interviews, to help him answer questions about the text. So even the very core foundation upon which Rigpa is built, which relates to hospice work and counseling the bereaved, is a sham. Their own figurehead and organization founder doesn't know anything about it, except for a few bits the actual author was able to coach him on, and whatever insights he may have gleaned over the years from Tibetan tradition, that he's come to parrot, as any given situation required.