Week 5: End of Life – No Time to Waste
“Just as you were born, so you will die.
Kalindi, “Truism of Death,” Road to Freedom Series
You will leave your body behind.
Most people don’t like to talk about that subject
– what to speak of making any kind of preparation for that day. . .
Well, when you die, you are going to go on a trip.
And you don’t even know what that trip is going to be like.
And I wonder how many of you are even looking into preparing for that journey.“
The mind does everything to not think about the three dreads – old age, disease, dying – Kalindi calls it the “Grand Illusion.”
Many of us think we understand that the three dreads are inevitable; yet we don’t believe they are coming for me. Every time someone gets their end of life script, every time someone needs medical tests or biopsies to rule out cancer, we are shocked, sobered and commit to doing our end of life preparation. Then get busy with other things and forget.
To die as consciously as possible, it is critical that we prepare for our own death – that we penetrate denial.
There are two aspects to preparing for death:
- To have all our end of life documents complete. This includes having a will, an advance directive for health care, designating an agent to handle your affairs before you die when you are incapable to do it yourself, and after you die. This includes your Funeral plans, who to contact when you die, what to do with your possessions, etc. (All of these need to be done in accordance with the laws of where you live)
- Even more important than material plans is your inner preparation to die in as much consciousness and connection to God as possible, in other words preparing for a “conscious departure.”
Vince spoke about both aspects of consciousness around death at the Retreat.
“What does that mean, preparing for death?
Gourasana,”With Klarita,” 1993
It means getting a complete connection to God now.
. . . and being fully prepared to die, which means you can truly live now.
It is not about being morbid. . .
It is not about walking around in life in this morbid state,
some negative thing.
It actually is an empowering thing that fills you with life and vitality.
It is not at all a negative thing; it is a very positive thing
and it is by facing it that the problem is solved.“