The Five Invitations: Discovering What Death Can Teach Us About Living Fully

The Five Invitations: Discovering What Death Can Teach Us About Living Fully

The cofounder of the Zen Hospice Project and pioneer behind the compassionate care movement shares an inspiring exploration of the lessons dying has to offer about living a fulfilling life. Death is not waiting for us at the end of a long road. Death is always with us, in the marrow of every passing moment. She is the secret teacher hiding in plain sight, helping us to discover what matters most.Life and death are a package deal. They cannot be pulled apart and we cannot truly live unless we are aware of death. The Five Invitations is an exhilarating meditation on the meaning of life and how maintaining an ever-present consciousness of death can bring us closer to our truest selves. As a renowned teacher of compassionate caregiving and the cofounder of the Zen Hospice Project, Frank Ostaseski has sat on the precipice of death with more than a thousand people. In The Five Invitations, he distills the lessons gleaned over the course of his career, offering an evocative and stirring guide that points to a radical path to transformation.The Five Invitations:-Don?t Wait-Welcome Everything, Push Away Nothing-Bring Your Whole Self to the Experience-Find a Place of Rest in the Middle of Things-Cultivate Don?t Know MindThese Five Invitations show us how to wake up fully to our lives. They can be understood as best practices for anyone coping with loss or navigating any sort of transition or crisis; they guide us toward appreciating life?s preciousness. Awareness of death can be a valuable companion on the road to living well, forging a rich and meaningful life, and letting go of regret. The Five Invitations is a powerful and inspiring exploration of the essential wisdom dying has to impart to all of us.Review?Frank is a pioneer in mindful care at the end of life. He embodies the wisdom and compassion he shares in these magical and compelling pages. You feel it instantly, because it is real, and it is really about you and your life.? ?Jon Kabat-Zinn, founder of MBSR and author of Full Catastrophe Living and Coming to Our Senses?I love this book and its gentle, radical, charming, wild and comforting truths about how to live and die and be. It may well be the most important book you read this year.? ?Anne Lamott, New York Times bestselling author of Help, Thanks, Wow"[This] beautiful book softened my heart and taught me things I did not know I needed to learn. As The Five Invitations shows, death is more than a medical event. It happens within a web of relationships. Frank Ostaseski shows us how to act?and simply be?with a skillful heart, when supporting those in our care." ?Katy Butler, author of The Art of Dying Well and Knocking on Heaven's Door "This is a wise, lucid, beautiful book that will help you be less afraid and more alive. Read it as soon as you can; it will change you." ?Dr. Lucy Kalanithi, widow of the late Dr. Paul Kalanithi, author of the #1 New York Times bestselling memoir When Breath Becomes Air ?I keep this book by my bedside. It?s the best, most true, penetrating advice I know. How to live, how to die. Written with clear, engaging prose?it?s unbeatable. Do not waste your life?get it!? ?Natalie Goldberg, author of Let the Whole Thundering World Come Home and Writing Down the Bones "This book distills a compassionate shepherd's lifelong experience with death and dying." ?Bill Moyers, journalist, social commentator, and producer of On Our Own terms: Moyers on Death and Dying?These moving teachings can open your heart and change your life. For decades, Frank has been a compassionate guide to thousands of people facing death. In The Five Invitations, he shares his timeless wisdom, beautifully, as a blessing to all.? ?Jack Kornfield, international Buddhist teacher and author of A Path With Heart"Written from the heart, Ostaseski's experiences and observations are invaluable." ?Boing Boing?As a physician, I often work with people who view death as the ultimate isolating experience, solitary conf