Mirabai Bush joins Chris for a raw conversation on dying and shares wisdom on how we can grieve in a healthy way and learn from the lessons death has to teach us.
Show Notes
A Short Story is Still Complete (Opening) – Two of the essential truths about this life is that death comes for us all and that we have no idea when that journey will begin. Even when we accept this truth, dealing with death can still be very difficult. Chris reflects on the recent death of a close friend, Kate Bartolotta, and opens a discussion with Mirabai around dying and the grieving process. Mirabai shares the teachings of Neem Karoli Baba around death and its relation to our karma in life.
“One of the great gifts of our friends dying before us is that we get close to it in a way. It’s like you are almost touching it in those hours and days after it happens, that’s the closest we get.” – Mirabai Bush
You can still experience the light, love and wisdom that Kate Bartolotta had to offer the world via her blog and books which can be found at katebartolotta.com
Allowing Death (13:35) – Chris shares how Kate’s death made him briefly question some of his strongest beliefs. He and Mirabai talk about the slow struggle to find peace and acceptance around a death that is particularly difficult to rationalize.
“Just know that it takes time. It is something that people have gone through for thousands of years and each person has to go through it in their own way. Just because so many have been through it before doesn’t make it any easier.” – Mirabai Bush
RamDev explores how the acceptance of death allows us to live and die more consciously on Ep.16 of the Healing at the Edge Podcast.
Walking Eachother Home (29:50) – Recently, Mirabai finished working with Ram Dass on his final book – Walking Each Other Home: Conversations on Loving and Dying. She shares what that experience was like and discusses the lessons learned from the uncomfortable thoughts around death that writing the book brought up for her.
It’s All Just Us (39:40) – Mirabai talks about her work over the years bringing mindfulness and meditation into the mainstream culture. She shares the important lessons this work have taught her about how similar we all are at our core, despite our surface differences. Chris and Mirabai talk about the trickiness of connecting on a deeper level with others and penetrating the armor we sometimes throw up over our hearts.
“After doing this for years, working with the military, Silicon Valley, lawyers, judges, and ex-gang leaders I have realized – it’s all just us.” – Mirabai Bush
Dedicated to the loving memory of Kate Bartolotta
