6 Limiting Beliefs We (Can) Have as Modern Humans

Shiva, the destroyer…

Here are six of the limiting beliefs that our current culture can give us about what it means to be (and what our potential really is in being) a human being, as outlined in a recent Gaia (formerly GaiamTV) article. 

The book: How to Survive Life (and Death), A Guide To Happiness In This World and Beyond is now available everywhere, but ask for it it at your local bookstore–It does make a great gift!

Happy Thanksgiving

I'm grateful to sit here…and I'll miss it till Spring…with gratitude for the holiday.

A HTSL&D Interview – Link to Celestial Broadcasting

Here's a cover rough that didn't make it to press, it must've taken a wrong turn...  

Listen to this fun and informative hour-long chat with Peter Kelly, about the nature of life, death, life after death, consciousness, Love, and much more, on "Peter the Healer, Celestial Broadcaster," only on BBS Radio. We go deep into 'death,' and have a good time doing it!

A "How to Survive Life (and Death)" Excerpt from the Chapter "The Last Time I Checked (Out), I Was in Arizona"

Perhaps the scariest, but most awe-inspiring (and comforting), realization I finally reached—long after all my bumps and bruises had subsided—has also been the hardest one for me to wrap my head around and to actually learn to live with. It's the part I mentioned earlier that has to do with really never getting any privacy (in a way that has probably crossed everyone's mind at one time or another).

Years later, when I came to the point where I could turn the corner on all the pain I'd suffered and caused in my life, I was hit by something I'd known all along—something very, very moving: Someone had been with me each time I nearly died. Someone had gently shepherded me away from my wrecked car; someone had shown me those scrupulously selected scenes of great significance from my life; and someone had gently, but forcefully, pushed me back into this life to tell you what I'm telling you now. I've realized now that it was one someone—my guide, my guardian, my angel—whom I have finally come to know personally (like a lost and loving aunt). I'm certain that we all have one, and that we are all receiving that same kind of personal attention. We are never alone.

Now, we all know why that's scary. I mean, really, somebody's watching me all the time? That's right. But it's no big deal because, fortunately, I'm not particularly important, and neither are you. Nobody is, yet everybody is.

And "all the time" is nothing really. I believe that our angels observe us from a perspective apart from time. I believe they can see every one of those life moments eternally, as they happen, like discreet panes of time suspended in space—in much the same way that those moments can suspend themselves in our memories. All of this is happening now. All of it has always been happening now, and always will. Being human makes this impossible to see. Yet, in our hearts, each of us knows the cause and effect of all these moments strung together, especially when we concede to this intimate exposure of the truth. We know the parts of our lives that need mending, the edges that need smoothing, the loose ends that need to be bound.

Who really wants a witness to all their stuff, regardless of how forgiving that witness may be? It's been said that "your sickness lies in your secrets"—your misdeeds, selfishness, hostile thoughts, and all that stuff we "safely" hide in our little compartments. Being human makes us want to believe that no one can see it written on our faces, or veiled in our desires, or behind our actions. But, of course, they do. That's who we are, on the outside. The question is, who are we really; and who are we going to be? Those self-revealing secrets shouldn't cause us fear, because we're actually keeping them so we can learn from them. Life doesn't happen to you. . . 

Our angels (and angelic people) immediately forgive our misdeeds because they, too, know them so well. In this way, our fears can be dissolved into the reality of that profound intimacy—that shared knowledge of our greater selves. The Sufis call it fana, the dissolving of the human self into Eternal Love. That's nice, isn't it?

I think it was a great Swami named Maharshi who said that we don't fear death because of the painful end of life. By that time, many of us are ready for it. What we're never ready for is that painful accounting for what we've been up to, that golden interview. It's an embarrassment we naturally wish to avoid, again. So death is a blissful relief, but it can be made even more blissful by the way we live.

All of this helps me describe the hidden, but always available, "technology of the heart" that I've been talking about. It's all part of that greater reality that we're actually occupying—the realm of the spirit that constantly enfolds, supports, and directs us—and to which we and all of Life belong. But you already knew that.

 Still, I hope they haven't been watching everything. . .

Not to scare you any more than the idea of being watched all the time, but in the context of my last moments in Arizona, it is clear to me that there are real consequences to being bad—both now and later. It just simply is not good. Being self-centered, cruel, violent, even just unconscious will deliver us to a "darker" place, in this life or the next, than where we might be able to live otherwise. How much darker is up to you, what you've done in Life, and how hard you're willing to look at yourself–and don't fool yourself, everything is accounted for.

It comes as no surprise, does it? There simply are better ways to live and better ways to die, and one has everything to do with the other. And as I've found out about ways to die, exiting on a bad note is not the best way to get there. 

The way this physicality is imbued with life energy—the means of our animation and of our sensual awareness—is all achieved by a pretty particular set of forces. And it won't do to go about releasing it all willy-nilly, or without some consideration and some proper well-deserved reason. It may require effort. 

Personally, along with the very clear lessons I've learned through my own experiences, I find a lot of resonance in the wisdom of the ancient masters when it comes to the possibilities for our future, our past, and our present. And how can you go wrong with the good old ancient masters, for crying out loud? So, as best I can (and preposterous as it may seem), I'm going to try to describe what the three "fatal" experiences I've had have taught me about what may actually be the best way to go about "dying"—which (at the risk of sounding like a broken record) I don't believe is really dying, but actually just changing forms from this matter into a form of energy that grows out beyond our current constraints into an entirely different dimension of being. 

I hope that, by now, you see that this is the central message of this whole book—what my experiences taught me and what I want to pass on to you: Simply that there's nothing to fear about dying. It's really a logical and beautiful culmination of Life, and quite a fluid process. And once you get past the rough patches you may have to cross to get there, you'll see, as well, that there is no Death. 

The book: How to Survive Life (and Death), A Guide To Happiness In This World and Beyond is now available everywhere, but ask for it it at your local bookstore!

How "Polishing the Mirror" Helps You Reflect the Miraculous

Although I'm an avowedly non-violent kind of guy, it's not beyond me to ruthlessly torture a metaphor along with the best (or worst) of 'em, and seeing as this is a session that requires lots of spiritual elbow grease–nearly everyday–you have my permission to cover your eyes. You won't need them to look into this mirror.

"Our life is shaped by our mind, for we become what we think."

                    Buddha, The Dhammapada 1:1

In Zen Buddhism, where meditation is called sitting zazen, they use this marvelous housecleaning metaphor of "polishing the mirror" when they talk about how to think about not–thinking. It's like this: If the way we think is just an incomplete reflection of a greater, more blissful consciousness (based on how healthy our connection to it), then the best way to perceive more of that blissful Source is to do some housecleaning, so to speak—starting with the "inner mirror" that serves as our doorway into the limitless potential of Life.

That mirror stands for the surface of something unfathomably deep that we can only reach by entering our imaginations. In the reflection of Life that we are, we see ourself only on its surface. We'd like to feel more a part of it—to become more a part of it—and sometimes we can momentarily reach into that depth, but we, ourselves, are what's reflecting that profound reality so poorly. All of the fogginess and flaws are a result of own misperceptions; our conscious and subconscious designs. The obscurities are all of our own making.

 So, naturally it stands to reason that if we can improve the quality of the reflector, we'll improve the reflection.

To start that process, we need to sit in stillness and roll up our 'inner sleeves' to ready ourselves for housecleaning. Everything goes better when it's picked up a bit: straightened, inventoried, and organized. Most—if not all—of the mess on the surface of the mirror are simply all the stuff we're thinking about. Thoughts about who we are, about what we don't have, about what we think we should have, about what we think we need to be happy, and what we need to feel whole.

We need to stand back a bit, and clean up our streaky, smudgy thoughts.

"The deluded, imagining trivial things to be vital to life, follow their vain fantasies and never attain [bliss]; but the wise, knowing what is trivial and what is vital, set their thoughts on the goal, and attain [bliss]."

                     Buddha, The Dhammapada, 1:11, 12

In a recent article ("Sitting in the Wilderness," at The Mindful Word.org) I tried to simplify the three "temptations," met and overcome, by both Jesus and The Buddha as they sat and faced their 'devils'—temptations that can stand in quite nicely for the surface-obscuring stuff that clouds our internal mirrors. Simply put, they are:

1) The deep wish to control things to be just the way we want them to be.

2) The superficial, or material, or physical desires we desire to have gratified, and 

3) Our fears – usually having to do with numbers one and two.

 Our fears are the basic filmy schmutz (that's Yiddish) that "as through a glass darkly" obscure our ability to perceive our brightest potential—and they should be the easiest to simply wipe away, seeing as how most of our fears aren't even real. The shadows they cast over the way our daily life appears to us are largely the product of our own negative imaginations. Most of what we fear comes and goes with little or no real consequence, and even when it does impact on our life, it is still only Life, doing what it will do. Usually, we learn our greatest lessons that way, by facing our reflected fears.

Polishing that inner mirror puts us directly in touch with the surface of an ocean of underlying support and serenity. There's a quality of contact with the depth of all that potential that allows us to see through those simple fears to the calm sanity and intelligence that stands behind them, and beneath everything. You gain a purpose that lets you patiently wipe away the default negative inventions that obscure your underlying potential—those feelings that you some how don't measure up, or the resentments you get against others (who are simply doing their best to reflect consciousness too). Just a crumpled-up newspaper, and a little ammonia works wonders.

And then, as long as you're inventing things to think about, invent something wonderful—visualize the miraculous coming true for yourself and others. That ought to lighten up your life quite a bit, and allow you to reflect the sanity that lies at your true Source.

There, in the clarity of that improved reflection, we realize the funhouse mirror distortions our ego causes us to see—the illusion that we're much taller or wider, that our head is so much bigger than everyone else's (when really, we're all just about the same size). It's not the mirror that causes the distortions, it's only our distorted ego. Smooth that surface out flat with a calm, deliberate, repetitive circular motion, until the reflection invites you in— through and beyond your ego illusions. Feel the freedom of becoming that truth that lives beneath your fearful projections.

"To identify consciousness with that which merely reflects consciousness, this is egoism."

                      Patanjali, The Yoga Sutras, II.3

There will always be little surface smudges, and underlying distortions, but the more you experience the sense of transcendent being—that expansion of Consciousness into our deeper dimension of being that occurs when we lose "our self" in the act of polishing, the greater ease you'll experience in every other moment too, and the better you'll feel about reflecting your true potential—which is only limited by your imagination.

With the mirror cleaner, you need never obsess on the flaws again, because you'll see—clearly at last—that your reflection is something of unimaginably great beauty. You are a perfect expression of the greatest, deepest, and most beautiful mystery of all…a perfect expression of Life's Consciousness that all of this world will reflect back to you. 

Sit, and if you "polish the mirror" patiently, soon you'll be able to step right into it, and into a whole new world, where all you need is to simply be who, and what you really are—a remarkable reflection of the miraculous.  

  

Read about this and much more in: How to Get to Heaven (Without Really Dying), Wisdom From a Near-Death Survivor  from Llewellyn Worldwide available direct or online. The first book: How to Survive Life (and Death), A Guide To Happiness In This World and Beyond is available the same ways – but ask for it it at your local bookstore!

"Gnosis" is a New Life: Occupy a Resurrection at GaiamTV

Read Part Two in my series on Gnosis, for GaiamTV, about how we can bring this search and state of being into a new life. 

What is Gnosis? Occupying a Spiritual Rebellion, at Gaia.com

Did you ever wonder, what is "Gnosis?" Then you may have been on your way to it already... Read about the uneasiness, rebellion, searching, and realization of this way to "Occupy" spirituality, and find real happiness…Part 1 of 2, 

at Gaia this month.

Are Women (Spiritually) Superior To Men? A Call To Action!

In a recent article about the Gnostic myth of Sophia, I explored the ancient ascendence of the "Feminine Divine," and was reminded of a piece from a while back that managed to ruffle a few feathers. It was this particularly touchy question I asked back then, that still begs to be asked, I believe – especially when we consider the worsening conditions of our embattled planet, and their causes and propagators.

In posing a provocative question like this, I realized that I needed to be more careful and considerate – gentle, in fact – in order not to evoke confrontational reactions. Asking it in a more appropriate way requires that I get in touch with my feminine side, the part of me that's more conscious to the sensitivities of other people (in this case, mostly men). And as it turns out for me, getting in touch with my feminine side is the best way to do a lot of things.

It probably comes as no surprise that the question in question is the title of this piece, namely: Are women spiritually superior to men? And if so, why? 

Most feathers are ruffled by my answer, both then and now, which is simply: Yes, they are. I believe women are generally superior to men in terms of their spiritual alignment, so to speak, and that there's plenty of evidence to support that belief – and that the spiritual inferiorities of men implied are the subject of continual denial, at tremendous cost and consequence to all of life on our planet.

The clear-cutting of virgin rainforests, dumping toxins into the environment, commercial eradication of endangered species, conscious obstruction in developing clean energy sources, sexual assaults and improprieties, and profiteering from war and acts of terror are pretty exclusively–with very few exceptions–in the domain and by the designs of men. Approximately 90% of murders are committed by men. If any other single group of people were responsible for such mayhem, there'd be quite an uproar.

Denial is the acceptance of ignorance as truth, through the force of will.

Take note, I'm speaking in patently general terms, because there clearly are, and always have been, amazing male spiritual leaders throughout human history; and there are many men everywhere, full of Love, who possess expansive, compassionate consciousness. Still, in the broad context of the damage done to our planet (and our potential) that predominantly male intellect and energy causes, we really need to consider what it is that's missing in so many men, and what we can possibly do about it, before it's just plain too late. 

Exploring these attitudes, one has to become infuriatingly anecdotal. I don't like having to parade out a bunch of stereotypical characteristics as defined by "evolution" and history to make the point, but I trust that the shared experiences of Life (and honest intentions) will justify the effort at increasing some awareness about this issue that just isn't talked about enough.

So here goes: The average man's psychic concerns often tend to be of a less conscious, and more physical or material nature. Forgive the clichés, but (as usual, clichés often exist largely to soften the painful reality of our spiritual faults) men are traditionally regarded to be more dominant, forceful, willful, proud, stubborn, ingenious, competitive, emotionally unavailable, and willfully dismissive than women. They often have a persistent need to be right (even in the face of clear evidence to the contrary) as well as the need to feel "in charge." Unfortunately, most of these characteristics run directly counter to human spiritual perception.

Women (by the same stereotypical turn) possess those same qualities, but at a far lower volume. Instead, they tend to be more gentle, nurturing, acquiescent, considerate, cooperative, tenacious, empathetic, emotional, intuitive, and engaging – all characteristics of a greater spiritual connection. Characteristics of a higher consciousness.

Ego is the enemy; Compassion is the cure.

Men often operate primarily by ego and intellect, which have their place, but can be very problematic, as many of the most impulsive, violent, and destructive courses of action are demanded as spontaneous responses by ego, or are otherwise extremely "well reasoned" – that is, relying entirely on intellect. Peculiarly, many of the most destructive ideas are very well thought out.

Women are more often guided by compassionate identification, and what may be called intuitive intelligence – both of which are solid bedrocks of spirituality, so much so that they are the two essential components most men need to acquire to ever hope to become whole. You may say they're the dot in the Yang side of the Tao symbol.

We also tend to suffer from patriarchal definitions of human progress, whether  culturally, like in our financial system, resource management, energy production, and political structures; or scientifically, like the [largely male] misconception of Darwinism as a "survival of the fittest" that can mean survival of the most selfishly impulsive, instead of as the evolutionary reality that it demonstrates, that is: survival of the most cooperatively adaptable.

From health and biomedical sciences, to the search for a Unifying Theory, man (men) consistently ignores the single most important factor in humanity's true successes – spiritual consciousness – especially critical since it's the actual answer to all of the world's emerging crises; as well as questions of origin, overall well-being, direction, and purpose.

Is it because women are really interdimensional portals, so to speak – mediums of divine passage and actual living channels to the Source of Life? Is it this completely different wiring – a more intuitive, Right Brain connection to our shared spiritual reality that women come by naturally, and the collective male ego's inability to recognize, respect, and utilize it that's led the world into it's present chaotic state? The answers seem painfully obvious, but haven't always been so overlooked. 

Here's where the Gnostic myth of Sophia (Wisdom) becomes so meaningful. In the past, The Divine Feminine has been recognized as the key to our collective story; and the feminine [Mother] nature has been respected and served, with more balanced results for all.

In Sophia's search for greater union with the Source of light, she accidentally gets stuck in the chaotic realm of macho earthly demigods she inadvertently brought to life (especially Yahweh, "God" of The Bible fame), and she must slowly and painfully climb her way back up through layers of destructive, arrogant self-will, surrender, and renewed purpose to reunite with her higher self, and become whole again in heaven. There, after leaving consciousness on earth in the form of Eve, she is reunited with her male twin in a kind of sacred, balanced androgyny. In this sense, like all of us in a way, she becomes an exile in this chaotic world, seeking reunion with her true Source and direction, that can only be found by the merging of our opposites.

So the answer is both hard, and easy. Men, who possess the compassionate consciousness of Sophia, must work on instigating a psychic shift in their less conscious brothers, and ally themselves with women who are already there, so to speak. Women must gather in the sanity and clarity of their own Feminine Divine, truly emerge from the shadow of unconscious men (particularly those who tend to seek wealth and power), and assert that divine energy and connection they possess, in remaking more spiritually-based ethics. To start changing hearts and minds. 

The growing understanding of a kind of sacredness of transgenderism, increased discrimination in health and purity of food and water sources, a more equal distribution of the earth's resources to all of "God's Children" – even petty cultural realizations like the rejection of social media hook-ups as spiritually degrading – all of these are the purview of Mother Nature, and at the heart of a new Feminism, where women can shine their light on the darker corners of modern maleness. (In fact, instead of referring to feminism, let's just put it in terms of sexism from now on.)

The recipe for saving the world lies in this "Sacred Androgyny." Women must locate more of their "macho" insistence, and willfully assert the power inherent in their true, divine direction (Wisdom); and men must learn to concede to the compassion of intuitive intelligence, and educate less conscious men about their blindness to their own destructive tendencies. This is a call for real unity, within each and every man and woman.

And here's the thing – we gotta start right now! To merge those two sides into one, and dramatically expand spiritual consciousness, if we want to save the world as we know it. 

"When you make the two into One…and say: Mountain move! It will move."

                         The [Gnostic] Gospel of Thomas, Logion 106

Read about this and much more in: How to Get to Heaven (Without Really Dying), Wisdom From a Near-Death Survivor from Llewellyn Worldwide is available direct on this page, or online. The first book: How to Survive Life (and Death), A Guide To Happiness In This World and Beyond is available the same ways – but ask for it it at your local bookstore!

Feminine Divine – The Myth of Sophia, at GaiamTV

Here's early feminism, the birth of Gaia and Mother Nature, and the precursor to modern psychology. all in the Gnostic myth of Sophia, this month at Gaia.

"...for it's only in the feminine–the channel of creation into the world–that humanity finds the power and compassion necessary to overcome the darkness of ignorance."

The book: How to Survive Life (and Death), A Guide To Happiness In This World and Beyond is now available everywhere, but ask for it it at your local bookstore!

"What is Consciousness?" On Consciously Speaking, Co-Hosting with Michael Neeley

Join Michael Neeley and me, co-hosting his 

excellent iTunes podcast, Consciously Speaking, 

as we take up the fascinating question:

"What is Consciousness?"

Find out about how I came to my ideas about our relationship to Consciousness in my book, How to Survive Life (and Death), from Conari Press, based on my three near death experiences and what I learned about living (and dying) from them. It's available everywhere books are sold (so ask for it at your local Mom n' Pop bookshop). 

Thank You! For More Than 100,000 Visitors!

A milestone was very gratefully surpassed this weekend – Thank You! To all of my readers, and curious others. Cheers&Blessings!

"The Play of Life, Through a Glass Darkly" at Soul Life Times

"…There is light within people of light, and they shine it upon the whole world. If they don't shine it, how dark it gets!"   Yeshua, Logion 24, The Gospel of Thomas

 Head over to Soul Life Times Magazine, for my latest article about the nature of "reality," shining a light on being a being of light, the thin veil of nature, and how to look in a different way.

The Art of Dying 5 at the New York Open Center – A Review

We live in a rather confusing time when our commercial and cultural institutions willfully force us forward towards a difficult future, while insisting on remaining ignorant to our past – or our actual present. 

Fortunately, along the same timeline, there are spiritual institutions springing up everywhere – evidence of the deep wave of consciousness being newly perceived in our world…once again, and always. These schools are providing us with opportunities to reestablish ourselves in the deeper real and miraculous world we occupy. To reach back and realize a limitless potential that's been constrained and monopolized by materialism and technology for far too long.

One such school is the New York Open Center, in Manhattan, which last month hosted "The Art of Dying 5: Spiritual, Scientific & Practical Approaches to Living & Dying," a conference devoted to everything we are currently learning about death and dying, everything our ancestors knew, and everything our current culture apparently tries to hide, make us forget, or inappropriately profit from.

Brilliantly curated by Messrs. Ralph White and Tom Valente, and expertly produced by the staff of the Open Center, the three day event featured a range of expert speakers, qualified to address every aspect of our (inevitable) sacred passage: from the care of those at the end of their lives, and options for their more consciously humane treatment; to possibilities of the 'afterlife,' as suggested by 'near death' and 'end-of-life' experiences, and the timeless wisdom of the Tibetans; to explorations into the very nature of consciousness itself, and our relationship to it, in this life and  beyond. All profound and necessary topics which can pull our myopic, self-obsessed culture back towards the more graceful state of being, and "ending," that's been understood and practiced by ancient and indigenous people the world over for thousands of years.

For me, some brief highlights, gleaned only from the plenary sessions and the talks I was able to attend (among a terrific menu of choices), included:

The opening keynotes by Robert Thurman, expert teacher of Tibetan Buddhism (and his following seminar on "The Tibetan Book of the Dead"), and psychotherapist Thomas Moore, author of Care of the Soul;  both of which introduced us to the larger ideas of death, the life of the soul, and the obstacles to our understanding the subject that have been unconsciously advanced culturally, in the light of our growing need to return to a kind of sacred practicality. 

A rousing retelling by Eben Alexander, M.D., of his remarkable near death experience, and the Harvard-trained neurosurgeon's follow-up seminar on "Transcendent States of Conscious Awareness," where he ventured into one of the conferences many strong areas – the exploration of consciousness as a kind of field that we participate in, through whatever form we happen to be taking. (This is one of my favorite themes, having experienced Consciousness in this way myself, a few too many times perhaps…)  

This exploration of Consciousness, as it is related to by 'near death' and 'end-of-life' experiencers was beautifully expounded upon in excellent presentations by the Dutch physician Pim Van Lommel, whose many years of hospital-based research into the phenomenon of transpersonal (out-of-body) consciousness provide powerful evidence for the skeptic; and as well by Dr.Peter Fenwick (the author of the book bearing the same title as the conference), a neuropsychiatrist with stacks of data from his hospice studies in the UK and Holland, proving likewise profoundly convincing that our lives do carry on beyond "this mortal coil." 

Along with the establishment of The Art of Dying Institute, the Center and it's conference designers offer a Certificate in Integrative Thanatology, which enables recipients to learn how to further explore and exercise a range of options in compassionate end-of-life care – including the "Working With the Dying" tools and techniques of becoming an end-of-life "doula," or compassionate mediator to the terminally ill and dying, as practiced by another excellent presenter, Henry Fersko-Weiss.  

The compassionate options for end-of-life care were also provocatively and comprehensively explored in presentations by both Judith Kennedy Schwarz, R.N., with "Suffering & Choice at the End-of-Life," focusing on 'death with dignity' options, like Voluntary Stopping Eating and Drinking (VSOD), and assisted suicide; and Stephen Ross, M.D., of the NYU Psilocybin Project, with his talk about the efficacy of psychedelic palliative therapy, death anxiety, and addiction treatment.

With all the risky, and what could (or should) be criminal forms of potentially killing ourselves that this crazy culture encourages us to participate in, from poor diet to motorcycling to Second Amendment insistence, it's particularly crazy that this culture criminalizes the act of actually killing ourselves (in a responsible manner), when called for by protracted and undignified end-of-life conditions. Ms. Schwarz's talk shined a light on this fallacy of our 'freedom,' and called for solutions that have already been proven effective where they've been made legal.

Dr. Ross' presentation was also very provocative in it's exposure of how really effective psychoactive drugs (like LSD or psilocybin) can be in the treatment of depression and death anxiety by giving the recipient a sense of the the ineffable – an experience and lasting connection with a spiritual reality that practically eliminates all of the fear, and much of the pain that dying can bring us. Ironically, these harmless, non-addictive drugs are a crime to possess or prescribe, while the two most destructive drugs statistically, alcohol and nicotine, are legally available (and advertised) everywhere. (Watch my FB, Twitter, and GaiamTV pages for an upcoming article on this subject for GaiamTV)

The fear, greed, and collective ego at the root of the destructive cultural ignorance these two talks exposed are exactly what the Open Center stands to confront and reform with programs like those featured at The Art of Dying 5 Conference, and in many of their other course and event offerings.

Probably the most meaningful moment (in a weekend that played like one long meaningful moment), came when Mr. White asked the audience how they came about their interest in the usually-to-be-avoided subject of death and dying. Somewhere in the neighborhood of two-thirds of those attending were people who worked with the dying – people who gave of themselves to carry out this sacred pact we are all called upon to be present for, at some time in our life (or death). It's a sacred pact that the Open Center certainly kept in this all too short, very meaningful weekend. 

I look forward to the next incarnation of The Art of Dying 6; and give my eternal thanks to the staff of the Open Center for extending me a special invitation. 

You can find out about the nature of my own involvement in my book, How to Survive Life (and Death), from Conari Press, based on my three near death experiences and what I learned about living (and dying) from them. It's available everywhere books are sold (so ask for it at your local Mom n' Pop bookshop). 

Excerpt (On Loss) from "The Hardest Part is the Parting Part"

      At some point in our lives, we all may have to inhabit that peculiar bubble of time where we're called upon to witness the passage of a life. It's possibly the most difficult, but most essential, thing we have to do—showing up for an event we dread and knowing how to conduct ourselves through this unmistakably sacred time. A lot of odd feelings may get kicked up when we're called upon to be caregivers, or to be taken care of. Feelings like powerlessness and blame, or even resentment and anger at the "unfairness" of it all. But really, it is the fairest part of Life, that moment when we must come to terms with mortality. Intuitively, we know that we must be there for that—that we must surrender into our circumstances, experience our grief, and rise above our self-centered feelings. Our feelings are, after all, just feelings. They are directing us to our truths, but they aren't necessarily the truth themselves.

      It's just hard to find your footing, to find your proper place at that time, suspended in that sort of grace. But here's what you can always do to face the pain, to put your conflicting feelings in their proper place and make your role and purpose clear and comfortable: Push everything else aside, and join your heart to Love. Within the fundamental understanding that there is no death, Love will always provide you intuitively with sure sanity, support, purpose, and direction.

      Compassionate identification with one another is our connection to that healing power as part of the circuit—the circular, mutual, spiritual agreement between the person who needs the healing most and the person who has the chance to bring it to them. The truth is that everyone needs the healing, and so it's that identification we experience with one another that is the real key to supplying the aid and comfort—the "spiritual medicine"—that can only be passed from one being to another. We are the vehicles of this powerful spiritual energy. Like waterwheels, as we collect the energy of Love and compassion in our lives, Life brings us around into position to pour it out for another.

      You may just call it the Golden Rule, because that's what it is. (When something's given a name like "the Golden Rule," it's usually earned the name). We're always being given the chance to become the person who does unto another the very things that we'd be most grateful to receive ourselves. And given the circular nature of Life, we'll get our chance for that as well. Meanwhile, what might be considered one of Life's most painful episodes is really the opportunity to provide one of its greatest rewards—the fulfillment of that most sacred agreement that we’ve made with each other, somewhere, someplace in time.

      When we willingly (or even sometimes not so willingly) take part in this eternal cycle of caring, I think we become intuitively aware of the invisible spiritual machinery at work in the world and in our lives here on this planet. As so many revered spiritual texts have told us, giving—being of service to another, setting aside all selfish concerns we may naturally have—gives us more of Life's precious intangible rewards than anything else possibly can. Healing and comfort, and—here it is again—Love. And it works both ways—to care and to be cared for. 

      The Universe (God, if you will) suspends us in this bubble of grace at those times, especially at the end of one or another's life, when all materiality fades into insignificance and the pure spirit owns us completely and irrevocably. We are connected to the divine magic of Love and Life when we bear witness to that transition of the spirit out of the painful body, and back into that joyful light of being and bliss. 

The latest book: How to Get to Heaven (Without Really Dying), Wisdom From a Near-Death Survivor from Llewellyn Worldwide can be ordered direct on this page or online; and the first book: How to Survive Life (and Death), A Guide To Happiness In This World and Beyond is available the same ways – but ask for them it at your local bookstore!