Comments for The Way of Conscious Death

Comment on Awakening to Heaven: What Maundy Thursday Can Teach Us About Sitting Vigil by Tenaya Asan

Tenaya Asan — Sat, 20 Apr 2019 15:33:39 +0000

I love how you bring your tradition and wisdom to everyday understandings….

Comment on Storytelling as Grief Care by Amy Agape

Amy Agape — Mon, 13 Aug 2018 18:42:43 +0000

In reply to Barbara Breslau. Barbara, I'm happy you connected with this piece. Grief demands that we tell our stories, again and again and again. And it is sometime so challenging to find people who can truly listen to those stories. I am glad you have support. David sounds like a lovely man. I'm sorry he died. I pray for peace and comfort for all who loved him.

Comment on Storytelling as Grief Care by Amy Agape

Amy Agape — Mon, 13 Aug 2018 18:40:28 +0000

In reply to Cindy. Thank you for reading, Cindy. I'm glad you found something of value here. I send you and your family blessings on your journey.

Comment on Storytelling as Grief Care by Cindy

Cindy — Thu, 09 Aug 2018 17:05:20 +0000

Hi Amy! I wandered into this blog post through a night-time internet meander, and find it so lovely and helpful; relevant to my family this week so I shared it with them. Blessings to you and gracias for your offerings.

Comment on Storytelling as Grief Care by Barbara Breslau

Barbara Breslau — Thu, 09 Aug 2018 16:42:10 +0000

Thank you, Amy,
This is beautiful. I am still telling the story of my son, David, in my support group for people who have lost family members to suicide. We consider ourselves a “tribe” that listens to each other’s stories and gives support when we feel overwhelmed by the grief. This is the anniversary month of David’s death. It will be two years on August 30. I feel more fragile at this time this year than I did last year. David suffered from depression for most of his life. He worked hard to overcome it, reading everything he could find on the subject, going to therapists and psychiatrists for talk therapy and meds. He even tried iwaska at a sanctuary in Peru. And he was better after that, but it didn’t last. Four months before his 50th birthday, David shot himself. I realized this week that his was an act of power. Like a person with painful terminal cancer, he wanted to end the suffering and he didn’t want to be a burden to others. I didn’t mean to go on and on with my story. Buy David is the only one from the 40 or 50 who have passed through my support group that did not kill himself at home or jumping off a bridge. He want to a remote hiking trail, again not wanting to be a burden to anyone.

Comment on Losing Stories: Ways Dementia Affects Our Narratives by Amy Agape

Amy Agape — Sat, 20 Jan 2018 13:07:47 +0000

In reply to Christine Connor. Thanks for reading, Chris! It is indeed a harsh reality; and it is an opportunity for ever more love.

Comment on Losing Stories: Ways Dementia Affects Our Narratives by Christine Connor

Christine Connor — Sat, 20 Jan 2018 08:04:45 +0000

Beautifully written… touched my heart. I loved Amy’s grandparents, both of them, after reading this. I have not traveled this road with a loved one so her article presented more insight into this harsh reality

Comment on Contemplative Practices and Conscious Dying III: Illuminative Practices by Tenaya Asan

Tenaya Asan — Fri, 17 Nov 2017 04:33:41 +0000

It seems to me that these illumined states are actually an aspect of the total realm of what it means to be human. But, we have forgotten this aspect of our selves. I have not had the “help” of a death process to help me access them but most of my adult life has been the study and personal exploration of how to experience those states. It is only after many years of letting go of psychological baggage that I am starting to have access to them. It is interesting to me how frightening it can be to let go so deeply into the peace that is always present.

Comment on Contemplative Practices and Conscious Dying I: Views from my Deathbeds by Amy Agape

Amy Agape — Wed, 15 Nov 2017 02:02:36 +0000

In reply to Craig Bergland. Yes, Craig! That is exactly my experience. Hopefully, we can change that. Thank you for reading and replying.

Comment on Contemplative Practices and Conscious Dying I: Views from my Deathbeds by Craig Bergland

Craig Bergland — Wed, 15 Nov 2017 01:45:30 +0000

I love your statement that “information does not change us: practice changes us.” This is so true, and so needed in an overly intellectual culture that prefers to read more and think more rather than feel more.