Program Description:
We've heard how a close brush with death can make a person suddenly realize what is truly important in life. We know from those who have had near-death experiences that a life review compels us to reevaluate how we've lived. We know from holding the hands of our loved ones who pass into the beyond that there is something extremely profound going on during this transition. But do we have to wait until we die to gain the benefits we suspect lie in wait for us? Stephen Levine, who spent a year of his life as if it were his last, says no. It is through actually practicing our dying that we learn how to truly live. He tells us how to stop "hopping around on one leg, unwilling to commit to life, unwilling to complete our birth, thinking that tomorrow's going to be the day we have our life." 1 hour
Levine is a poet and teacher of guided meditation and healing techniques, co-author with his wife Ondrea of Embracing the Beloved: Relationship as a Path of Awakening (Anchor Books 1995) and author of A Year to Live: How to Live This Year as if it were Your Last (Bell Tower 1997).
Topics explored in this dialogue:
* How to practice dying and make the most of living
* Ways to develop more kindness and compassion
* How to let go of boundaries
* Using your enemies or those who've wronged you to "sink into your heart"
* Learning how to die through the common cold
* The exquisite opportunity that dying presents
* Why aging is an unparalleled opportunity for enlightenment
* How to forgive those "whose hearts cannot yet see"
* Appreciating how and why to let go of suffering
* How to move from the personal to the universal
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