Alive until you're dead : notes on the home stretch

Alive until you're dead Notes on the home stretch

Susan Moon, 1942-

Book - 2022

"Aging isn't easy. But it can still be filled with joy-maybe even more joy than expected. Described by the New York Journal of Books as "a Buddhist Anne Lamott," Zen teacher and writer Susan Moon explores both the losses and the gifts that come with the final years. Joining levity with tenderness, Moon shares stories from her own life including knee replacements, cornea surgery, Zoom chats with grandchildren, and dementia. Moon illustrates the strength that can come from within, sometimes unexpectedly, even as our bodies fail. Our radiant aliveness can be discovered and rediscovered any time up to the last moment. Alive Until You're Dead offers a Zen approach to aging.. Moon's stories explore being present with... what is, not turning away from what's difficult, wishing for and working for the wellbeing of others, and being willing not to know what's next. Moon writes of her most personal vulnerabilities in the service of connecting with everyone. These field notes from an old human being invite us to feel more alive in the final stretch, whatever it holds"--

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Subjects
Aging > Religious aspects > Buddhism.
Death > Religious aspects > Buddhism.
Published
Boulder, Colorado : Shambhala Publications, Inc [2022]
Language
English
Main Author
Susan Moon, 1942- (author)
Edition
First edition
Physical Description
xiii, 205 pages : illustrations ; 23 cm
Bibliography
Includes bibliographical references (pages 203-204).
ISBN
9781611809633
  • Introduction
  • Joyful Effort
  • Watcher at the Gate
  • Getting Over Myself in the Monastery
  • Make Your Body a Sundial
  • Knowing How to Be Satisfied
  • We Will Be Ancestors, Too
  • Friendship Abides
  • Could I Be the Teacher They Expected?
  • Going and Coming
  • If I Can Still Love
  • Will I Ever Wake Up?
  • Grandma's Diary Sutra
  • Some of My Favorite Practices for Contemplating Death
  • The Sorting Sisters
  • Sentient Beings Are Numberless, I Vow to Save Them
  • The Great Matter
  • Tears
  • Meeting the Final Deadline
  • Acknowledgments
  • Credits and Permissions
  • About the Author
Review by Booklist Review

Zen Buddhism encourages followers to live in the moment. In these musings on birth, death, and just about everything in between, Buddhist teacher Moon (What Is Zen?, 2016), looks back in her late seventies at events in her life and turning points in her spiritual journey. Although the text is infused with references to Buddhist practices, terminology, teachings, and koans, Moon asserts that readers don't necessarily need to be practitioners to relate to what she has to say. She addresses universal aspects of aging, touching on physical limitations, declining memory and cognitive skills, loss of friends and family members, financial and self-care concerns, and facing that final transition with insightful and thoughtful reassurances that have broad appeal, whether she's quoting an ancient ancestor or sixties icon Lesley Gore. There's no shying away from tough topics, but Moon's graceful urgings to accept the inevitably of aging and death, along with her easy-to-swallow spiritual guidance and everyday, practical tips (read obituaries, visit cemeteries) provide a calm, clear path to help readers enjoy life, until they're dead.

From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.

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