Lessons from the Dying

by Rodney Smith

Book Overview

Are a person's perceptions and values altered when facing the end of life? Do the dying see the world in a way that could help the rest of us learn how to live? This book takes us into the lessons of the dying. Through the words and circumstances of the terminally ill, we become immersed in their wisdom and in our own mortality. The dying speak to us in direct and personal ways, pointing toward a wise and sane way to live. In everyday language we...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0861711408
• ISBN13: 9780861711406
• Release Date: September 1997
• Publisher: Wisdom Publications
• Length: 224 Pages
• Weight: 1.35 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 6.1" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

Rodney Smith is a great teacher

Rodney Smith has such a calming voice, there is a peaceful reflective tone contained within it. He spent a total of 8 years in monastic life, both at the Insight Meditation Society in Massachusetts and several years as a monk in Asia. He was ordained a monk in Burma, then practiced for 3 more years in Thailand. In 1983 he left life as a monk to come back to the world and, after coming back to the West, started working in hospice and teaching vipassana meditation. He is currently the head teacher of The Seattle Insight Meditation Society, whom you can find on the web and listen to a plethora of online dharma talks he has given. Truly magnificent site.Rodney has dedicated much of his life to helping those who are dying, a point made clear considering his work in hospice management for the last 16 years. This book is wonderful in it's presentation. As another reviewer points out, this is a book about living above all else. Rodney has pulled together here several eye opening accounts about the diverse ways folks have handled their last moments. Here Smith relates us all to death with reflection on becoming unguarded and vulnerable. On learning from our experiences while living so that we can overcome this fear of the unknown. So that we can listen to others more clearly, more succinctly and perceive their suffering as well as our own. Purchase this book, it's a Dharma Gem.

This book is about living - not dying

This book is a compelling and inspiring read for anyone willing to be introspective about the way they live their lives. Rodney Smith writes a very readable book that guides us into appreciating the very profound yet simple concept of being alive. Once we truly face the fact that our lives will come to an end and we will die - then we become free to experience the joy of life. And he gives us some case studies of people facing imminent death in hospices. In the final days and moments of life many of those people come to recognize what life is really about - and it's not about the stuff they've accumulated, nor about the power and prestige they used to enjoy. It's about the quality of life itself and the love they've shared with people, animals and nature. He shows us that life is a journey, not a series of destinations. Reading this book has made a profound impact on my life.

Beautiful and powerful

-this book is written with the heart. Every word is necessary and chapter by chapter it all falls into place. Each sentence can be the subject of hours of meditation. Read it and practice it every day.

The philosophy of the dying should be for us all.

Rodney has articulated a way for all of us to live. Through the lives of the dying we gain insight into our own fears. Are we willing to learn these lessons or continue to fear every ending we face?

The dying teach us how to live.

How should I live now? That is the question which Rodney Smith seems to answer for all through the stories of the dying.