Who Dies?: An Investigation of Conscious Living and Conscious Dying

The book “Who Dies?“ offers me a life-changing experience, the most important book I have ever read. I wish I had discovered it twenty or thirty years ago. But again, better late than never. This book makes me confront with the reality that our bodies are fragile and short-lived, and forces me to face life and death head on with a sense of urgency. Like a lost child trying to find a way home, this book provides me insight to hopefully someday, find my true self to the eternal home. As the author put it, “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.” I can almost hear someone whispering in my ear while reading it. Beautifully written, packed with profound ideas and subtle meanings. Some passages are quite subtle and deep that I have to read it and re-read it several times, and still not quite sure if I fully understand the true meaning of them.

Easy to read, but frank it's discussion as to why often overlook the need to come to terms with death; to prepare for it. Before we get to the gate! We often block this effort with the phrases, "it's a morbid", or "I've got my religion". What we often do not know, is that we really don't know anything for certain, and this can make death terrifying, even for those who are buoyed by religion. Steven Levin's point seems to be that life gets better when we make peace with death ahead of time. By learning to embrace and accept the unknown as it is, we change our attitude. Who knows, maybe we can join other cultures in making death a natural part of life, instead of hiding and denying it for as long as possible, like we do in the West. Life takes on a clarity and joy gets deeper when we know that we must make the most of our lives. Written in small, topicalized, chapters, it makes a great reference guide as well. It has a Buddhist/Zen flavor, but is still applicable to all, and very down to earth. Five stars for sure!

Stephen Levine's books are "go-to" reading in my life and especially Who Dies? I have owned this book for decades, have recommended it to others and recently bought a copy for my Kindle. It is comfort reading for me when I am experiencing, anticipating, or grieving the loss of a loved one. Stephen Levine's wisdom and compassion currently help me to stay present as I sit beside my mom, who has experienced a significant stroke. His words guide me as to ways I might "help" a loved one pass and at the same time prepare for my own passage whenever that may be. I am one who throughout my life has been motivated to contemplate and study death. In my contemplation and readings I have come to believe that preparing for a conscious death is an important and worthy goal. Stephen Levine is a fine teacher.

Having read Levine's Meetings at the Edge I wanted to pursue /try to understand more fully what he was refering to in that first volume of interviews.... I find him to be clear, honest, compassionate.... and, so I am told, he and his wife/partner are both quite ill and yet.... still doing their blog... living their life in their dying with great grace and love....These two books are not easy just to scan.... they take some real patience and work to grasp a whole new approach to live and death....frankly, anyone who might die ( you realise that many people don't really think that they are going to do ! ) would profit in all sorts of wondrous ways.... so here's to dying and living !

Written in the style popular in the 80's, with a psychological/pulpit tone. Stories from the bedside by two people who ultimately love people and seek to distill from their stories deep levels of compassion and understanding. While the writing and storytelling style is a bit dated and can tire due to that guru-esque tone, telling you what everything means instead of allowing you to distill it for yourself, it is deeply touching at times and a good book of its own time.

Read the first chapter before losing my father and it already started helping me wrap my mind around what was happening. Our society is made to believe death is the reason to try living and this book has and is still shaping my perspective in the most positive ways. So thankful to have had this book recommended to me by a friend.

Death is an uncomfortable and frightening topic to most people. Levine's book "Who Dies ?" will put an end to this fear and will help you confront death and make peace with it. Life and death are one. Fear of dying is only a reflection of the fear of living. Death is not some external Ogre that we must conquer and defeat. We must embrace death to enjoy and appreciate life. This book will guide you toward this gentle and final embrace."Who dies?" is poetic, eloquent, soothing, and reassuring.This book is a must read for anyone that struggles with matters of life and death!! It is worth every penny...

Although this book is written from a Buddhist philosophic view of death and dying, it can be helpful to anyone. I found it very helpful when my mother was dying from dementia and again when I had a 4 month illness that they claimed was a virus, but I felt like I might be dying myself. Comes from a very compassionate and loving place toward those who are dying and their relatives. Talks about ways to help those in coma or who are near death. Stephen Levine worked as a hospice chaplain for many years.

I was referred to this for its meditations, specifically the deep relaxation/pain meditation and am not disappointed with the rest of the content!

I would like to have read this book before acquiring the label of an 'aging baby boomer', but I am grateful to have read it at all (as well as other works by this author). Can there be a more important focus than the open discussion that points us to investigate "who" dies? So many words come up to be said, but none of these words could really describe how important I think this work is, so I will just give it five stars and mention that I would be open to this book being in audio-book form for those who's eyes cannot read anymore.

The book is about death. About dying. Coming from a Buddhist background the author who I think was a scholar of Mrs Kübler-Ross, will find access to life. His position can help the Western mind find some consolation with regards to an after-life. Yet what is most precious about the book is that Mr Levine directs the reader towards life, to the "Now" which everybody seems to talk about, and that is very insightful. Therefore, a very interesting read and I recommend you do.

Un libro bellissimo, che ti apre veramente il cuore e ti porta vicino alla grande anima di Stephen,a quella dei suoi malati e anchealla tua.....CHI MUORE????.........a livello mentale lo so,ma a livello di esperienza non ho ancora avuto la benedizione di averne un lampo!!!! è stato tradotto anche in italiano ma è introvabile.....scrive comunque in un inglese semplice,i termini medici si possono trovare su vocabolario............BUONA LETTURA A TUTTI E AUGURI affinchè riusciate a trovare "QUELLO CHE NON MUORE MAI" OM SHANTI;SHANTI;SHANTI !!!!

Bien que ce livre ne soit absolument pas récent, il a le grand mérite de parler de la mort, de la regarder en face, de la dédramatiser et de nous inciter à l'intégrer à notre vie. Un des maux les plus problématiques de notre société est de refouler l'idée même de mourir et de vivre notre vie comme si nous étions éternels ce qui rend la mort finalement encore plus terrible qu'elle ne l'est et ne nous prépare absolument pas à ce Grand Passage.Nous laissons nos personnes âgées dans des hôpitaux ou des mouroirs affronter seules ce moment qui peut être terrorisant parce que rien dans notre culture ne nous apprend à nous familiariser avec notre finitude. Et pourtant chacun d'entre nous aimerait rendre son dernier soupir chez lui, entouré de ses proches: ce livre nous aide à accompagner les mourants et à accepter l'idée de notre mortalité sans tomber dans le morbide.