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Earth dissolves into water. Water dissolves into fire. Fire dissolves into air. Air dissolves into space. Space dissolves into consciousness.
Dying, in many cases, does not happen all of a sudden. It is a gradual process of withdrawing from life in form. When I speak of the four elements dissolving, I am not speaking exactly of physical form. Rather, I am pointing to the ineffable but observable animating qualities that are so apparently missing when we are left only with the heaviness of the corpse after death. There is something beyond the four elements—the spirit, soul, or animating presence. Our instruments and devices can certainly measure the physical disintegration, but the inner dissolution that happens simultaneously is subtle and still.
They are all dissolving—the elements and their associated states, and as a result, the self is dissolving, as well. This is happening all the time, we just see it at the surface at the time of dying.
Now who are you?
—Frank Ostaseski
The Five Invitations
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Awesome photos! I may pilfer them :) LOLOL
ReplyDeleteIntrigued by the post as well... Will check out his book...
oh yes, always pilfer away! the book is lovely, as is Frank. if you read it because of my post i will feel that i really have done something of value.
ReplyDeleteI ordered the kindle version yesterday and started reading right away! :) It's lovely! Am compelled to read it and getting so much out of it already... So thank you!
Deletehmmm ... i am taking an end-of-life companion (they call it doula, as in mid-wife) course right now. if you feel called to read Frank perhaps i am supposed to mention it, in case it is your path too. :)
ReplyDeleteThank you... I will have to see if that calls to me... Right now I just feel compelled to explore this whole subject of death. However, what you're doing sounds fascinating and very needed... I would definitely want an end-of-life companion. My mother was under Hospice Care at home during her 3 month dying process, but they were not really *there* - not midwifing. Us 3 kids did all the caregiving... It was very stressful. A nurse came in once a week to check her vital signs, and an aide came in twice a week to do a bath... They also believe in heavily medicating the dying with morphine. I found the whole process to be rather traumatizing, which surprised me actually... I think Stephen Jenkinson addresses this in his book. So now I get to come to terms with my own mortality. :) Not that I'm dying *from* anything at the moment, that I know of... but being in my 70's now I can feel my body and mind winding down, so want to come to terms with the process... I guess my way of being more conscious when the time comes...
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