Who Dies? Quotes

“When we recognize that, just like the glass, our body is already broken, that indeed we are already dead, then life becomes precious, and we open to it just as it is, in the moment it is occurring. When we understand that all our loved ones are already dead — our children, our mates, our friends — how precious they become. How little fear can interpose; how little doubt can estrange us. When you live your life as though you're already dead, life takes on new meaning. Each moment becomes a whole lifetime, a universe unto itself.

When we realize we are already dead, our priorities change, our heart opens, and our mind begins to clear of the fog of old holdings and pretendings. We watch all life in transit, and what matters becomes instantly apparent: the transmission of love; the letting go of obstacles to understanding; the relinquishment of our grasping, of our hiding from ourselves. Seeing the mercilessness of our self-strangulation, we begin to come gently into the light we share with all beings. If we take each teaching, each loss, each gain, each fear, each joy as it arises and experience it fully, life becomes workable. We are no longer a "victim of life." And then every experience, even the loss of our dearest one, becomes another opportunity for awakening.

If our only spiritual practice were to live as though we were already dead, relating to all we meet, to all we do, as though it were our final moments in the world, what time would there be for old games or falsehoods or posturing? If we lived our life as though we were already dead, as though our children were already dead, how much time would there be for self-protection and the re-creation of ancient mirages? Only love would be appropriate, only the truth.”
― Stephen Levine, Who Dies? : An Investigation of Conscious Living and Conscious Dying

“To be whole we must deny nothing. We think we have something to lose, and the reinforcement of that feeling that there is something to protect cuts us off from life, leaves us a fractured reality through which we attempt to express our naturalness. But life becomes confusing when we eliminate the truth. And we wonder, how do I live my life or die my death with room for the whole being, no matter what is arising in the mind. Because we see that when we wish not to experience certain qualities in ourselves, our heart closes whenever these qualities arise.”
― Stephen Levine, Who Dies?: An Investigation of Conscious Living and Conscious Dying

“Death is not the tragedy, but the ten million times we deaden and close our hearts because experience doesn't reflect what we consider acceptable.”
― Stephen Levine, Who Dies? : An Investigation of Conscious Living and Conscious Dying

“Occasionally, in deep introspection, in meditation, or in a moment of quiet, we open beyond our clinging and the mind becomes so unclouded that nothing blocks its inherent joy. Its expanse is so great that waves of energy wash through the body making any satisfaction we’ve ever had, even our profoundest sexual gratification, pale by comparison. The natural energy of the mind is released. Grasping has stilled long enough so that we experience the immensity and intensity of our deepest nature. We experience the joy of what in Zen is called the One Mind, shining through.”
― Stephen Levine, Who Dies?: An Investigation of Conscious Living and Conscious Dying

“When reading this book,
Listen to it
with your heart.
Let it be a mirror
of your own great nature. Understanding is the
ultimate seduction of the mind.
Go to the truth
beyond the mind.
Love is the bridge. 1”
― Stephen Levine, Who Dies?: An Investigation of Conscious Living and Conscious Dying