Graceful Exits : How Great Beings Die: Death Stories Of Tibetan, Hindu And Zen Masters

Rating:
Summary: MUST READING FOR EVERYONE WHO IS GOING TO DIE
Review: I read an excerpt of this book in a magazine and had to read the whole thing. The author, for reasons unknown to her, was compelled to collect death stories of Hindu, Buddhist and Zen masters. The stories she reports are awe inspiring. These men and women faced died with poise and courage, inspirations to all who must die. The book has a deeper message: Sushila Blackman was herself dying as she wrote the book. A trip to the emergency room while compiling the stories revealed that she wasn't suffering a mild heart attack as she thought. She was dying from incurable lung cancer. This is the story of a remarkable woman who used the material in this book to guide her own death. It gives me chills.

Rating:
Summary: A most unusual book on spirituality
Review: My favorite story was about the 97-year-old Zen nun Nogami Senryo who wanted to, and did, die standing up. What a great story! There are many little gems throughout the book, though it is kind of morbid and I could only read a page or so at a time. The stories from India are pretty fantastical and hard to believe, though. I found the afterward to be stunning, how Ms. Blackman discovered she had advanced lung cancer and was going to die. It was the captstone of the whole volume. This book makes sobering but good reading for anyone, even those who are in the bloom of health and are young.