What is Conscious Dying? Dale explores how the dying process can be utilized as an opportunity for profound healing and spiritual awakening.
Show Notes
Out of the Closet (Opening) – Dale shares the story of how he got involved in the conscious dying movement and founded the Living/Dying Project with Ram Dass and Stephen Levine. He reflects on the cultural taboo around discussing death and how transforming our relationship to the dying process can better help us navigate our daily lives.
“This was when nobody talked about dying, people said, ‘No that’s too scary, we don’t want to talk about it.’ Dr. Elisabeth Kübler-Ross was the first person to really bring dying out of the closet, so to speak.” – RamDev
What is Conscious Dying? (9:10) – It can be easy to confuse conscious dying with mindfulness. Dale looks at the key differences between the two and teaches ways we can bring compassion to the dying process and those suffering in it.
“To me, the main message from dying is that it can inspire us to be more awake as we are living. The first stage of conscious dying and living is to become more mindful, but then can we bring compassion? Can we not only be aware of what is going on, but also have this deeply heartfelt and spacious relationship with what is going on?” – RamDev
Reconnecting with the Heart (24:00) – We often close our hearts to suffering because of our own fears. Dale introduces a practice that helps us identify where we are closing off our hearts and begin to bring warmth and attention to that place.
“How can we transmute those feelings of separateness into the connectedness of compassion?” – RamDev
Dale speaks more about the struggles of conscious dying and shares methods of conscious dying that allow a person freedom from suffering on Ep.8 of the Healing At The Edge Podcast.
