Synopses & Reviews
Synopsis
Most of us try to avoid thinking about death until the moment it stares us in the face. But as Tina L. Staley and Edward W. Bastian have discovered, when we engage with our inevitable mortality at this moment, we open the door to fearlessness, joy, and the complete experience of being alive. In Living Fully, Dying Fully, these two healers present a guide for bringing an open mind and heart to the final challenge we all must face. Integrating scientific and spiritual perspectives from around the world, this collection of teachings includes: Life review exercises to access the liberating deathbed revelation at any stage of your life; Practices for easing the suffering of a terminal illness; Essential teachings about gratitude, the key practice for living life fully at any age. Featuring the wisdom of Joan Halifax, Dr. Ira Byock, Tessa Bielecki, Dr. Marilyn Schlitz, and more, Living Fully, Dying Fully is an illuminating, informative and even exciting guide to consciously embracing our mortality. Readers will discover that when we prepare to cross the final threshold with honesty and courage, we enrich every day we live in this world.
Synopsis
"How can you take the fear of death and turn it into something profound, something positive? What is the alchemy that allows someone who is in a metaphorical desert to turn around and see a flower?"--Tina L. Staley
"Death--the last sleep? No, it is the final awakening."--Sir Walter Scott
Most of us try to avoid thinking about death until the moment we come face-to-face with it. But when we have the courage to accept our inevitable mortality--and even to contemplate it actively, as a spiritual practice--we open the door to living fully, joyfully, and in complete presence. Living Fully, Dying Well is an investigation into the challenge each of us faces--to embrace all of life, from the beginning to the end.
When death approaches, many of us undergo a profound transformation--we let go of old distractions and focus with new clarity on what gives our life meaning. Yet we can invite these profound "deathbed revelations" at any point in our lives by engaging in an honest inquiry into our own mortality. Living Fully, Dying Well provides a doorway to begin your own exploration of the mysteries of death--from the cultural myths about dying, to the personal fears we all share, to the question of what becomes of us beyond this life.
Living Fully, Dying Well unfolds as a dialogue between spiritual leaders and medical healers, each of whom brings their own unique perspective to the universal human experience of death. These luminaries offer their stories, their insights, and their most valuable practices, all to transform death from a source of fear to an opportunity to reveal the true richness of your life.
Living Fully, Dying Well has received the following awards:
- 2010 Gold Independent Publishers Award (IPPY)--Aging/Death & Dying
- 2010 Gold Nautilus Award--Grieving/Death & Dying
- 2010 Gold Living Now Award--Grieving/Death & Dying