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If you’ve ever wondered what it would be like to abandon everything — name, fame, robes, and comfort — to discover the true nature of mind, In Love with the World by Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche offers a rare and radical glimpse into that journey.

In today’s busy, hyper-connected world, even seasoned practitioners can feel distant from the simplicity and power of traditional Buddhist renunciation. We might read about monks meditating in caves or wandering through forests, but those lives feel like relics of the past. Mingyur Rinpoche, however, brings this tradition vividly into the present.

This book is not just a spiritual teaching. It is an intimate memoir of a high lama who secretly left his monastery to live as an anonymous wandering yogi — facing fear, illness, ego-death, and ultimately, profound realization. As you read this article, you’ll not only understand what this journey entailed, but also uncover powerful lessons for your own path — whether you’re a beginner seeking peace or an advanced meditator facing stagnation.

📖 What This Book Is About

A Living Lama on a Living Pilgrimage

In Love with the World: A Monk’s Journey Through the Bardos of Living and Dying was published in 2019 and quickly became a celebrated modern Dharma text. Written by Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche with Helen Tworkov (founder of Tricycle magazine), it reads like a novel, flows like a dream, and cuts like a sword.

Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche is a recognized tulku — a reincarnated lama — and holds lineage in both the Karma Kagyu and Nyingma schools of Tibetan Buddhism. He was groomed to be a great teacher from a young age, and indeed he became one: internationally renowned for his books (The Joy of Living, Turning Confusion into Clarity), public teachings, and leadership of meditation communities.

But in 2011, at age 36, Rinpoche did something astonishing. Without informing his students or attendants, he quietly walked out of his monastery in Bodh Gaya, India, dressed as a layperson, to live as a beggar. No money. No identity. Just a small bag and a deep vow: to practice as a wandering yogi.

A Narrative Structure That Mirrors the Path

The book is divided into clear sections, but its deepest structure follows the traditional Tibetan concept of the bardos — transitional states of being, including the bardo of dying, dreaming, and dharmata (the true nature of reality).

Mingyur Rinpoche uses his near-death experience — early in his retreat, from food poisoning and dehydration — as a doorway into these bardos, allowing him to explore them not just as metaphysical concepts but as direct, lived realities.

We follow him as he moves from a train station to a cremation ground, through markets, alleyways, and forests. But this is not a travel book — it’s an inner journey, marked by moments of deep meditation, crippling doubt, and luminous insight.

☸️ Core Teachings in the Book

1. The Illusion of Identity

“We mistakenly believe that our name, our story, our personality is who we are.”

From the moment Rinpoche walks away from his monastery, he begins to confront the crumbling of the “self.” No longer seen as a master, he is just another poor man on the street — invisible, even suspicious.

The humiliation he experiences is a direct teaching. Without the buffer of status or reputation, he is forced to meet the raw edge of existence — where ego clings and suffers.

He invites us to reflect: How often do we rely on our roles, our accomplishments, or even our spirituality to feel secure?

This teaching echoes the Buddhist doctrine of anatta, or no-self. But here, it is not abstract. It is lived.

2. Death as the Ultimate Teacher

“In that moment, I realized I was not the body, not the thoughts, not the fear.”

Early in his journey, Mingyur Rinpoche falls violently ill. As his body weakens, he believes he might actually die. And in that brink-of-death experience, something astonishing happens: he lets go — fully — and awakens into the luminous awareness beyond self.

This section offers a stunning teaching on the bardo of dying. But more than that, it speaks to our daily fears — of death, yes, but also of failure, loss, and impermanence.

He teaches that every moment can be a bardo, a threshold into awakening, if we are willing to let go.

3. The Power of Direct Experience

“We think realization is some grand attainment. But the moment you’re fully present, you’ve already arrived.”

Throughout the book, Mingyur Rinpoche emphasizes that awakening is not somewhere else. It’s in the direct experience of mind — even in discomfort, fear, or ordinariness.

His encounters with beggars, drunks, and shopkeepers become koans. Sitting in train stations, he practices shamatha and vipashyana not as techniques, but as ways of being with life as it is.

This reflects a core teaching of Mahamudra and Dzogchen: that the nature of mind is already pure and aware. Our job is not to fabricate awakening, but to recognize it.

4. Freedom Beyond Comfort

“True freedom is not doing whatever you want. It is being at peace with whatever is.”

By stripping away all comforts, Mingyur Rinpoche tests his own practice. Can he be free without tea, cushions, robes, or a name?

His answer is not heroic, but humble: there are moments of joy, and moments of misery. And yet — a deep, abiding freedom grows, rooted not in outer ease but inner clarity.

For modern readers, this challenges us to look at how we define freedom. Is it more pleasure? Or is it release from clinging?

🪷 Why This Book Matters

For Anyone on the Path — Beginner or Advanced

Whether you’re new to Buddhism or have sat countless retreats, In Love with the World offers something precious: a reminder that awakening is possible — and that it comes through honesty, surrender, and direct encounter with life.

Rinpoche does not pose as a saint. He reveals his fears, confusions, even his pride. That transparency is itself a teaching — encouraging us to bring compassion and courage to our own messy journeys.

Practical Ways to Apply the Teachings

Here are a few reflections inspired by the book:

  1. Start small with renunciation
    You don’t have to leave home — but you can notice what you cling to. Try giving up one comfort for a day. Watch your mind. What does it reveal?
  2. Treat discomfort as a teacher
    Next time you’re stuck in traffic, or sick, or anxious — pause. Ask: What am I believing right now? Can I be with this, just as it is?
  3. Reconnect with direct experience
    Before turning to a podcast, book, or phone — take 3 breaths. Look around. Feel your body. This is the gateway to awareness.

🧘 Strengths and Challenges of the Book

Strengths:

Considerations:

But for those ready to feel into the teachings, it is a gem.

🔗 Your Journey Through This Book Begins Here

In Love with the World is more than a book — it’s a mirror. It reflects the fears we carry, the freedom we crave, and the luminous awareness always available beneath our grasping.

Read it not to learn “about” Buddhism, but to meet the Dharma in motion — messy, radiant, and real.

If this book speaks to you, read it slowly. One chapter per morning. Let it steep like good tea.

As Rinpoche writes:

“Even when everything else falls away, the mind remains. Luminous. Knowing. Free.”

And if your heart yearns for more, consider pairing this book with The Joy of Living — Mingyur Rinpoche’s earlier work on meditation and neuroscience. Together, they form a path: from understanding the mind, to dissolving into its nature.

May your own path unfold with clarity, courage, and love for the world.