Five Meditations on Death

Five Meditations on Death PDF Author: François Cheng
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 162055495X
Category : Body, Mind & Spirit
Languages : en
Pages : 122

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Book Description
Philosophical discussions on the ways that death makes life meaningful and sacred • Reveals how being conscious of death gives our fate its full meaning, inviting the reader to contemplate life in the light of their own death • Examines the author’s experience of ancestor worship in his native China and the beliefs that underlie it • Explains how death is a transition in a longer living process not visible from the modern “black and white” view of life and death • Translated by award-winning translator Jody Gladding Born from intimate discussions with friends, these five meditations on death from poet-philosopher François Cheng examine the multiple ways the prospect of death significantly shapes life and is, in fact, what makes life meaningful and sacred. Written at the age of 84, in the twilight of life, these meditations each approach the human understanding of death from different yet intertwined perspectives, effortlessly returning to certain themes and ideas, questioning them again more deeply with each passing. The author shows that death is a transition in a longer living process not visible from the modern “black and white” view of life and death. He examines his experience of ancestor worship in his native China and the beliefs that underlies it: Our ancestors are alive in another form, that what is living can never die and what is dead has never lived. Cheng looks at the consequences of a world that has abandoned the sacred and avoids the mention of death, a world now blindly staggering through the chaos it has created, yet which can return to balance if we once again embrace the essential sacredness of life as well as death. Throughout these five heart-baring meditations, Cheng invites us to contemplate life in the light of our own death. He reveals that to be conscious of death gives our fate its full meaning. Our death is an integral part of our great adventure in becoming. For if birth is a seed, then death is the fruit--the final sacred product of a life well lived.

Five Meditations on Death

Five Meditations on Death PDF Author: François Cheng
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 162055495X
Category : Body, Mind & Spirit
Languages : en
Pages : 122

Get Book Here

Book Description
Philosophical discussions on the ways that death makes life meaningful and sacred • Reveals how being conscious of death gives our fate its full meaning, inviting the reader to contemplate life in the light of their own death • Examines the author’s experience of ancestor worship in his native China and the beliefs that underlie it • Explains how death is a transition in a longer living process not visible from the modern “black and white” view of life and death • Translated by award-winning translator Jody Gladding Born from intimate discussions with friends, these five meditations on death from poet-philosopher François Cheng examine the multiple ways the prospect of death significantly shapes life and is, in fact, what makes life meaningful and sacred. Written at the age of 84, in the twilight of life, these meditations each approach the human understanding of death from different yet intertwined perspectives, effortlessly returning to certain themes and ideas, questioning them again more deeply with each passing. The author shows that death is a transition in a longer living process not visible from the modern “black and white” view of life and death. He examines his experience of ancestor worship in his native China and the beliefs that underlies it: Our ancestors are alive in another form, that what is living can never die and what is dead has never lived. Cheng looks at the consequences of a world that has abandoned the sacred and avoids the mention of death, a world now blindly staggering through the chaos it has created, yet which can return to balance if we once again embrace the essential sacredness of life as well as death. Throughout these five heart-baring meditations, Cheng invites us to contemplate life in the light of our own death. He reveals that to be conscious of death gives our fate its full meaning. Our death is an integral part of our great adventure in becoming. For if birth is a seed, then death is the fruit--the final sacred product of a life well lived.

Five Meditations on Death

Five Meditations on Death PDF Author: François Cheng
Publisher: Inner Traditions
ISBN: 9781620554944
Category : Body, Mind & Spirit
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
Philosophical discussions on the ways that death makes life meaningful and sacred • Reveals how being conscious of death gives our fate its full meaning, inviting the reader to contemplate life in the light of their own death • Examines the author’s experience of ancestor worship in his native China and the beliefs that underlie it • Explains how death is a transition in a longer living process not visible from the modern “black and white” view of life and death • Translated by award-winning translator Jody Gladding Born from intimate discussions with friends, these five meditations on death from poet-philosopher François Cheng examine the multiple ways the prospect of death significantly shapes life and is, in fact, what makes life meaningful and sacred. Written at the age of 84, in the twilight of life, these meditations each approach the human understanding of death from different yet intertwined perspectives, effortlessly returning to certain themes and ideas, questioning them again more deeply with each passing. The author shows that death is a transition in a longer living process not visible from the modern “black and white” view of life and death. He examines his experience of ancestor worship in his native China and the beliefs that underlies it: Our ancestors are alive in another form, that what is living can never die and what is dead has never lived. Cheng looks at the consequences of a world that has abandoned the sacred and avoids the mention of death, a world now blindly staggering through the chaos it has created, yet which can return to balance if we once again embrace the essential sacredness of life as well as death. Throughout these five heart-baring meditations, Cheng invites us to contemplate life in the light of our own death. He reveals that to be conscious of death gives our fate its full meaning. Our death is an integral part of our great adventure in becoming. For if birth is a seed, then death is the fruit--the final sacred product of a life well lived.

The Five Invitations

The Five Invitations PDF Author: Frank Ostaseski
Publisher: Flatiron Books
ISBN: 1250074665
Category : Family & Relationships
Languages : en
Pages : 305

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Book Description
The cofounder of the Zen Hospice Project and pioneer behind the compassionate care movement shares an inspiring exploration of the lessons dying has to offer about living a fulfilling life. Death is not waiting for us at the end of a long road. Death is always with us, in the marrow of every passing moment. She is the secret teacher hiding in plain sight, helping us to discover what matters most. Life and death are a package deal. They cannot be pulled apart and we cannot truly live unless we are aware of death. The Five Invitations is an exhilarating meditation on the meaning of life and how maintaining an ever-present consciousness of death can bring us closer to our truest selves. As a renowned teacher of compassionate caregiving and the cofounder of the Zen Hospice Project, Frank Ostaseski has sat on the precipice of death with more than a thousand people. In The Five Invitations, he distills the lessons gleaned over the course of his career, offering an evocative and stirring guide that points to a radical path to transformation. The Five Invitations: -Don’t Wait -Welcome Everything, Push Away Nothing -Bring Your Whole Self to the Experience -Find a Place of Rest in the Middle of Things -Cultivate Don’t Know Mind These Five Invitations show us how to wake up fully to our lives. They can be understood as best practices for anyone coping with loss or navigating any sort of transition or crisis; they guide us toward appreciating life’s preciousness. Awareness of death can be a valuable companion on the road to living well, forging a rich and meaningful life, and letting go of regret. The Five Invitations is a powerful and inspiring exploration of the essential wisdom dying has to impart to all of us.

Living in the Light of Death

Living in the Light of Death PDF Author: Larry Rosenberg
Publisher: Shambhala Publications
ISBN: 0834824701
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 134

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Book Description
This book presents the Buddhist approach to facing the inevitable facts of growing older, getting sick, and dying. These tough realities are not given much attention by many people until midlife, when they become harder to avoid. Using a Buddhist text known as the Five Subjects for Frequent Recollection, Larry Rosenberg shows how intimacy with the realities of aging can actually be used as a means to liberation. When we become intimate with these inevitable aspects of life, he writes, we also become intimate with ourselves, with others, with the world—indeed with all things.

Our Greatest Gift

Our Greatest Gift PDF Author: Henri J. M. Nouwen
Publisher: Harper Collins
ISBN: 0060663553
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 148

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Book Description
From the author of The Wounded Healer and Letters to Marc About Jesus comes a critically acclaimed and deeply moving look at human mortality that reveals the essential gifts the living and the dying can give to one another.

Meditations on Death and Eternity

Meditations on Death and Eternity PDF Author: Heinrich Zschokke
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Death
Languages : en
Pages : 434

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Book Description


The Five Invitations

The Five Invitations PDF Author: Frank Ostaseski
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781525247903
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 500

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Book Description
This beautiful book is at home in an energising genre that finally allow us to talk about death, other examples of which include The Last Lecture and When Breath Becomes Air. Death is not waiting for us at the end of a long road. Death is always with us, in the marrow of every passing moment. She is the secret teacher hiding in plain sight, helping us to discover what matters most in life. So begins Frank Ostaseski's stirring book, The Five Invitations, an exhilarating meditation on the meaning of life and how maintaining an ever-present awareness of death can bring us closer to our truest selves. In his thirty-plus years as a companion to the dying, MD Frank Ostaseski has sat on the precipice of death with more than a thousand people. A renowned teacher of compassionate care-giving, Ostaseski has distilled the lessons gleaned over the course of his career into a powerful and inspiring exploration of the essential wisdom dying has to impart to all of us about how to forge rich and meaningful lives. The 'Five Invitations' show us how to accept and embrace dying in the midst of a death-denying era and explain how death can be the guide we need to wake up fully to our lives. This stunning, unforgettable book offers a radical path to transformation.

Being with Dying

Being with Dying PDF Author: Joan Halifax
Publisher: Shambhala Publications
ISBN: 1645472876
Category : Self-Help
Languages : en
Pages : 233

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Book Description
Inspiring teachings, personal stories, and meditations for those near death and their caregivers, by a respected Zen teacher who has worked with the dying for over 30 years. Everyone who lives must inevitably face death. Inspired by traditional Buddhist teachings and decades of work with the dying and their caregivers, this landmark work on death and dying by beloved Buddhist teacher Joan Halifax is a source of wisdom for all those who are charged with a dying person’s care, facing their own death, or wishing to explore and contemplate the transformative power of the dying process. Relevant and powerful for people of all backgrounds, her teachings affirm that all of us can open and contact our inner strength even in the face of death, and that we can help others who are suffering to do the same. Halifax observes that millions will have to deal with the loss of parents and loved ones and that we are largely unprepared emotionally for their deaths. She presents the notion that the process of dying is a rite of passage. Halifax offers stories from her personal experience as well as guided exercises and contemplations to help readers contemplate death without fear, develop a commitment to helping others, and transform suffering and resistance into courage. Topics and exercises include: Learning to see death as a rite of passage The guiding principles of bearing witness and how self-awareness can help us to relate more fully with others How to take care of ourselves when we’re taking care of others Contemplation on the universality of death How to transform pain and fear with lovingkindness And much more Coupled with a new foreword by Frank Ostaseski, a leader in the field of death and dying palliative care, the guidance and experiences represented in Being with Dying are invaluable in supporting and instilling peace as the journey of life unfolds and inevitably reaches not only an end, but also a new beginning.

Meditations for the Passages and Celebrations of Life

Meditations for the Passages and Celebrations of Life PDF Author: Noela N. Evans
Publisher: Harmony
ISBN: 9780517593417
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 190

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Book Description
A collection of daily affirmations and meditations that articulate the often unspoken emotions experienced at important moments in our lives. These poignant, often beautiful short prayers or acknowledgments are designed to be read at the same time each day when our lives are changing dramatically--perhaps a loved one is dying, someone is being born, or we are leaving home.

O Death, Where Is Thy Sting?

O Death, Where Is Thy Sting? PDF Author: Hoover, Joe
Publisher: Orbis Books
ISBN: 1608338568
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 136

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Book Description
"A thorough exploration, through personal stories and artistic/academic meditations, of the bleakest and most fearful questions around God's presence in human suffering and death"--