Posts tagged Dying
The Imprisoned Soul

At the last, tenderly,

From the walls of the powerful, fortress'd house,

From the clasp of the knitted locks—from the keep of the well-closed doors,

Let me be wafted.

Let me glide noiselessly forth;

With the key of softness unlock the locks—with a whisper

Set ope the doors,

O soul! Tenderly! be not impatient! (Strong is your hold, O mortal flesh! Strong is your hold, O love!)

—Walt Whitman

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Lie Back—and the Sea Will Hold You

Lie back daughter, let your head

be tipped back in the cup of my hand.

Gently, and I will hold you. Spread

your arms wide, lie out on the stream

and look high at the gulls. A deadman’s

float is face down. You will dive

and swim soon enough where this tidewater

ebbs to the sea. Daughter, believe

me, when you tire on the long thrash

to your island, lie up, and survive.

As you float now, where I held you

and let go, remember when fear

cramps your heart what I told you:

lie gently and wide to the light - year

stars, lie back, and the sea will hold you.

-- Philip Booth

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Tibetan Dying Prayer

Through your blessing, grace, and guidance, through the power of
the light that streams from you:
May all my negative karma, destructive emotions, obscurations,
and blockages be purified and removed,
May I know myself forgiven for all the harm I may have thought
and done,
May I accomplish this profound practice of phowa, and die a good
and peaceful death,
And through the triumph of my death, may I be able to benefit all
other beings, living or dead.

-- Tibetan Book of the Dead

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Alternative Lord's Prayer

Great Spirit, Divine One, Creator
Who is heaven earth rock wind insect tree fox
Human of every size shape color
Holy are your infinite names chanted sung whispered
We will midwife the rebirth of Gaia
As best we can
Restoring the Great Law of Peace.
Guide our hands to the soil and seed
Honoring the alchemy of food.
Let us remember your abundance
And share the bread of life with any who hunger.
We are for giving
And giving and giving.
We trust in the give-away.
We give and receive.
Let us be humble before the darkness and the light
Walking in harmony amidst them.
Give us courage to know them intimately
Both within and without.
For you have breathed it all---
The behind, the above, the below, the beyond.
Your awesome power courses in our veins
And animates our hearts.
You are the Great Drum.
We thank you.

-- Caudia L'amoreaux from "King James to Gaian"

  

 

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John, Chapter 14

“Do not let your hearts be troubled.  Trust in God; trust also in me. In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you.  

 I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going.”   

 Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don't know where you are going, so how can we know the way?” Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through me.” 

 “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you.  I do not give to you as the world gives.  Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” 

-- verse 1 to 6 and verse 27

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On Death

You would know the secret of death.
But how shall you find it unless you seek it in the heart of life?
The owl whose night-bound eyes are blind unto the day cannot unveil the mystery of light.
If you would indeed behold the spirit of death, open your heart wide unto the body of life.
For life and death are one, even as the river and the sea are one.

In the depth of your hopes and desires lies your silent knowledge of the beyond;
And like seeds dreaming beneath the snow your heart dreams of spring.
Trust the dreams, for in them is hidden the gate to eternity.
Your fear of death is but the trembling of the shepherd when he stands before the king whose hand is to be laid upon him in honour.
Is the shepherd not joyful beneath his trembling, that he shall wear the mark of the king?
Yet is he not more mindful of his trembling?

For what is it to die but to stand naked in the wind and to melt into the sun?
And what is it to cease breathing, but to free the breath from its restless tides, that it may rise and expand and seek God unencumbered?

Only when you drink from the river of silence shall you indeed sing.
And when you have reached the mountain top, then you shall begin to climb.
And when the earth shall claim your limbs, then shall you truly dance.

-- Kahlil Gibran

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Prayer of Passing

Know that everything you do and everything you have done has been a contribution to The Whole. Bless-ed be who you are.

When the time comes for your Eternal Spirit to leave this Earthly body …

Your wings will unfurl, the breath of the wind will uplift you, and you will be born anew without effort. For where you are going there is no pain, no fear, no heartache. There is only love.

You will breathe one last breath while your spirit occupies your physical body, and with the next in-breath you will breathe a breath of great Light. You will feel more love than you have known for a long, long time. For you are going Home.

In the turning of the seasons, the love within your heart, the love of your being has expanded into fullness and now settles in peace to rest.

In the dawn of ages, your spirit has celebrated your essence which, once again, is to be made new.

In the flowing of the rivers, know beyond a doubt of doubts the truth that your spirit is truly one with the Divine Whole.

One Heart … One Mind … One Spirit … One.

You are the blessing. You are the peace. You are the love.

You are the Light within the holiness.

You are the Flight within the freedom.

You are the Essence in the center of the blossom.

This is who you are, and much, much more.

Much, much more.

-- Anara Solray
Healing Potentials Unlimited, Copyright 1999

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The Jewish Viduy Prayer

I acknowledge before You, Lord my G‑d and the G‑d of my fathers, that my recovery and my death are in Your hands. May it be Your will that You heal me with total recovery, but, if I die, may my death be an atonement for all the errors, iniquities, and willful sins that I have erred, sinned and transgressed before You, and may You grant my share in the Garden of Eden, and grant me the merit to abide in the World to Come which is vouchsafed for the righteous.

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