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

Ostaseski, Frank

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1509801847 ISBN 13: 9781509801848

Publisher: Bluebird, 2017

Synopsis

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, a secret teacher hiding in plain sight, helping us to discover what matters most in life.

So begins Frank Ostaseski's stirring book, The Five Invitations, an exhilarating meditation on the meaning of life and how maintaining an ever-present awareness of death can bring us closer to our truest selves. In his thirty-plus years as a companion to the dying, Frank Ostaseski has sat on the precipice of death with more than a thousand people. A renowned teacher of compassionate care-giving, Ostaseski has distilled the lessons gleaned over the course of his career into a powerful and inspiring exploration of the essential wisdom dying has to impart to all of us about how to forge rich and meaningful lives. The 'Five Invitations' - Welcome Everything, Push Away Nothing; Bring Your Whole Self to the Experience; Don't Wait; Find a Place of Rest in the Middle of Things; and Cultivate a Don't Know Mind - show how death can be the guide we need to wake up fully to our lives. This stunning, unforgettable book offers a radical path to transformation.

About this title

Review

I have worked in the field of death and dying close to Frank and this book represents the distillation of many years of his efforts. He shows us that if you are to die consciously, there's no time like the present to prepare. This book is a loving, compassionate reminder that the best preparation for death is a life fully lived (Ram Dass, author of the bestseller Be Here Now)

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 Author, Full Catastrophe Living and Coming to Our Senses)

Frank Ostaseski has brought together wisdom and compassion in his life and his long years of work with the dying. We will all be enriched, inspired, and edified by his extraordinary book on how facing death can enrich our life (Joan Halifax Roshi, Ph.D., Founder & Abbot, Upaya Zen Center)

Exquisitely profound and gut-wrenchingly real, I'm not sure a wiser book has been written in the digital age. Frank's storytelling helped me to see that to step fully into life we need to embrace death as an adventure rather than an adversary (Chip Conley Author, The New York Times bestseller, Emotional Equations Head of Global Hospitality & Strategy, AirBnB)

The Five Invitations is a remarkable book, one that is deeply needed by all of us. Five invitations to live our lives fully, in the present, all the way through. Frank Ostaseski, whose journey spans over three decades of creating and participating in the hospice movement, imparts timeless wisdom that should inform our every day: How to embrace uncertainty and live with joy, peace and acceptance. This is not a book about death, it's a book about life and living. Buy it, Share it, Live it - I know I will (Henry S. Lodge M.D. Robert Burch Family Professor of Medicine co-author Younger Next Year series)

Frank inspires us to live with joy by fully embracing all facets of life including our dying. With heartfelt compassion and wisdom gathered over 30 years as a Buddhist teacher and hospice founder he helps us understand that love matters most (Chad-Meng Tan, Google's "Jolly Good Fellow” and author of Joy on Demand and Search Inside Yourself)

Frank Ostaseski speaks with clear wisdom and deep compassion. Sharing stories and insights from his decades of working with people at the very end of their lives, his ultimate revelation has to do with how meaningful, in both our living and our dying, is the capacity to be open to and present in grace. His words offer much worthy of contemplation and his service to all of us is worthy of deep respect (Kathleen Dowling Singh Author, Grace in Dying: How We Are Transformed Spiritually As We Die and The Grace in Aging: Awaken As You Grow Old)

As a physician and neurosurgeon, I have learned that those who have truly lived are those that understand death as an integral part of life. In Frank Ostaseski's profound book, The Five Invitations, he shares this reality, giving us insights and wisdom on the nature of dying but more importantly on how to truly live (James R. Doty, M.D., Professor of Neurosurgery, Founder and Director of the Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education, Stanford University School of Medicine and New York Times bestselling author of Into the Magic Shop: A Neurosurgeon’s Quest to Discover the Mysteries of the Brain and the Secrets of the Heart)

This is a gem of a book! With a lifetime of inspiring service and deep spiritual wisdom to draw from, Frank Ostaseski has given us all a gift straight from the heart. The lessons shared in The Five Invitations are valuable to people at any phase of life. Whether facing your own imminent death or that of a loved one, coping with crisis, or simply looking to embrace and enjoy life more fully, you will find the wisdom offered in these pages inspiring and enlightening (James Baraz, Author of Awakening Joy: Ten Steps to Happiness, Co-founding teacher, Spirit Rock Meditation Center)

How to die and how to be with the dying are questions everyone faces. Here are sharp, insightful answers from one of the great end-of-life counselors (Stewart Brand, Creator, Whole Earth Catalog)

Book Description

The co-founder 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.

Edition details

• Publisher: Bluebird
• Publication date: 2017
• ISBN 10: 1509801847
• ISBN 13: 9781509801848
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 304