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Living in the Light of Death: On the Art of Being Truly Alive
This book presents the Buddhist approach to facing the inevitable facts of growing older, getting sick, and dying. These tough realities are not given much attention by many people until midlife, when they become harder to avoid. Using a Buddhist text known as the Five Subjects for Frequent Recollection, Larry Rosenberg shows how intimacy with the realities of aging can actually be used as a means to liberation. When we become intimate with these inevitable aspects of life, he writes, we also become intimate with ourselves, with others, with the world—indeed with all things.
192 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2000
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
July 7, 2020
Priimti mirtį į savo gyvenimą. Tinka visokio amžiaus žmonėms.
December 4, 2017
Simply written and easily understood but profound in concept with antidotes and meditation practices. Gently reminding us old age, illness and death are unavoidable and the importance of living life fully and aware. This is a re-read and has a place on my bedside table beside a very well worn copy of No Death, No Fear by Thich Nhat Hanh.
May 23, 2018
The author's main point is that most people harbor a great deal of fear and anxiety about sickness, aging, death, and the loss of loved ones. This fear robs people of their energy and vitality. The author describes the Buddhist practice of death awareness that can enable people to confront their realities as a means of liberating themselves from the attachments and cause of suffering.
The author focuses on the practical aspects of Buddhism and states that any Buddhist beliefs must be gained and verified by the practitioner's own experience (experience also can be characterized as "insight," "awakening," or "liberation). The author states that this insight can be gained by intense meditation as outlined in this book.
This is a provocative book that not only allays those fears of death, sickness and other fears in life given the proper meditation practices, but also offers the opportunity to view life and death from the prospective of the "no self" that encapsulates both states. I would highly recommend this book
The author focuses on the practical aspects of Buddhism and states that any Buddhist beliefs must be gained and verified by the practitioner's own experience (experience also can be characterized as "insight," "awakening," or "liberation). The author states that this insight can be gained by intense meditation as outlined in this book.
This is a provocative book that not only allays those fears of death, sickness and other fears in life given the proper meditation practices, but also offers the opportunity to view life and death from the prospective of the "no self" that encapsulates both states. I would highly recommend this book
February 11, 2025
Our trouble isn’t lack of perseverance, it’s that we’re not on the right road that leads to an easy death.—Louis-Ferdinand Celine, Journey to the End of the Night
I read this book to get ready for my own death. I’m not in hospice care, but it’s been a long time since middle school, so my number is bound to come up before too long.
Maybe not today. Maybe not tomorrow, but soon . . .
Larry meditates, and he brings his “mindful� attitude to the project of accepting old age, sickness and death.
It is natural for people to concern themselves with the profound and important question of whether there is life after death. But this book focuses on this question: Is there life before death? We are looking for the light that death can shed on life.
Good start, Larry.
He also brings a weight of Buddhist terminology, which I’m familiar with and thoroughly sick of. An author who wants to communicate with readers of English ought to write in English; I feel stupid saying this, but Larry needs to get the memo. English has 400,000 words. You may think your Pali or Sanskrit or Tibetan isn’t translatable, but you’re wrong. Pick an English word and move on. I know my plea will fall on deaf ears, because despite his neutral beginning, Larry’s main thrust is recruiting new Buddhists. Religion thrives on obscure language, as H.L. Mencken observed:
The ancient Assyrians and the Babylonian priests petitioned the gods in Sumerian, which was as unintelligible to their clients as the Hebrew of the holy scrolls is to the modern Jews, or the Latin of the Mass to the Catholic . . . Even among savages there appears this preference for a secret language of religion; it plainly adds to the impressiveness of ritual, and is moreover a subtle proof of the high and occult learning of the priest.—H.L. Mencken, Treatise on the Gods
So I rolled on, accumulating my useless Asian language vocabulary, until Page 32, when Larry uncorked the ridiculous Buddhist canard that human beings are something other than their bodies. Hold my beer, Larry. It sure looks to me as if we are our bodies. If not, exactly what does that mean, and what is your evidence?
There is this body, but it isn’t me or mine. . .
There is this body. No one denies it exists. It just doesn’t have the existence we think it does.
Why not?
It is an impermanent changing phenomenon.
Yes, that’s what we are, an impermanent, changing phenomenon. Um, that’s why we . . . die. Also, have you noticed? Everything is an impermanent, changing phenomenon, stars, planets, species. It’s all in motion; there is no unmoved mover.
Above all, we don’t identify it as me or mine.
Why not?
At first when we say that, it’s an ideology.
Actually, it’s an idea, not an ‘ideology.�
But if we meditate long enough, we see it as a reality. The body is definitely here. (It also definitely ages.) But no one owns it.
The sheer depth of this nonsense terrifies me, not least calling on the word ‘own,� which is meaningless in this context. Let’s skip over further dissection and take the leap with Larry. We are not our bodies, we are something else—completely undefined—but not our bodies. Then we don’t die, do we? And this book is pointless, because there’s nothing to adjust to. Yes, our bodies will cease functioning, but who cares? They’re not us.
What purpose is served by this drivel?
Philosopher Huston Smith went to practice at a Zen monastery in Japan. At the monastery, he was only permitted to sleep three hours per night, eat 900 calories per day, and other spiritual blessings.
Smith got quite worked up—as newcomers tend to do—and finally stormed in to see the head monk. “This makes you angry,� the monk said, smiling, and Smith said I am angry, . . . Smith said I will get sick . . . Finally the monk said, “What is sickness? What is health?� And that stopped the whole conversation. Smith understood the dualistic thinking that was behind everything he was saying.
This is where the ‘you’re not who you think you are� fairy tale always takes us, to the land of ‘shut up and do as you’re told, who are you anyway, you’re nobody!�
Much of human behavior is directly impelled by our survival instinct, which views all others through the dualistic! behaviors of dominance and submission. All religion functions as a tool for a minority to dominate the majority. Yes, all of them. They serve other purposes, but this one is always active. Some religions claim the opposite; they are not about domination at all. Buddhism has been particularly effective at propagating and identifying with this lie. That makes it all the more dangerous.
Conclusion
All of you Buddhists who don’t own bodies and thus will not die, I don’t know why you’d waste time reading a book about death.
To others like me, who’d like to accept that I’m physical and temporary and need help, this isn’t it, we’ll keep looking.
I read this book to get ready for my own death. I’m not in hospice care, but it’s been a long time since middle school, so my number is bound to come up before too long.
Maybe not today. Maybe not tomorrow, but soon . . .
Larry meditates, and he brings his “mindful� attitude to the project of accepting old age, sickness and death.
It is natural for people to concern themselves with the profound and important question of whether there is life after death. But this book focuses on this question: Is there life before death? We are looking for the light that death can shed on life.
Good start, Larry.
He also brings a weight of Buddhist terminology, which I’m familiar with and thoroughly sick of. An author who wants to communicate with readers of English ought to write in English; I feel stupid saying this, but Larry needs to get the memo. English has 400,000 words. You may think your Pali or Sanskrit or Tibetan isn’t translatable, but you’re wrong. Pick an English word and move on. I know my plea will fall on deaf ears, because despite his neutral beginning, Larry’s main thrust is recruiting new Buddhists. Religion thrives on obscure language, as H.L. Mencken observed:
The ancient Assyrians and the Babylonian priests petitioned the gods in Sumerian, which was as unintelligible to their clients as the Hebrew of the holy scrolls is to the modern Jews, or the Latin of the Mass to the Catholic . . . Even among savages there appears this preference for a secret language of religion; it plainly adds to the impressiveness of ritual, and is moreover a subtle proof of the high and occult learning of the priest.—H.L. Mencken, Treatise on the Gods
So I rolled on, accumulating my useless Asian language vocabulary, until Page 32, when Larry uncorked the ridiculous Buddhist canard that human beings are something other than their bodies. Hold my beer, Larry. It sure looks to me as if we are our bodies. If not, exactly what does that mean, and what is your evidence?
There is this body, but it isn’t me or mine. . .
There is this body. No one denies it exists. It just doesn’t have the existence we think it does.
Why not?
It is an impermanent changing phenomenon.
Yes, that’s what we are, an impermanent, changing phenomenon. Um, that’s why we . . . die. Also, have you noticed? Everything is an impermanent, changing phenomenon, stars, planets, species. It’s all in motion; there is no unmoved mover.
Above all, we don’t identify it as me or mine.
Why not?
At first when we say that, it’s an ideology.
Actually, it’s an idea, not an ‘ideology.�
But if we meditate long enough, we see it as a reality. The body is definitely here. (It also definitely ages.) But no one owns it.
The sheer depth of this nonsense terrifies me, not least calling on the word ‘own,� which is meaningless in this context. Let’s skip over further dissection and take the leap with Larry. We are not our bodies, we are something else—completely undefined—but not our bodies. Then we don’t die, do we? And this book is pointless, because there’s nothing to adjust to. Yes, our bodies will cease functioning, but who cares? They’re not us.
What purpose is served by this drivel?
Philosopher Huston Smith went to practice at a Zen monastery in Japan. At the monastery, he was only permitted to sleep three hours per night, eat 900 calories per day, and other spiritual blessings.
Smith got quite worked up—as newcomers tend to do—and finally stormed in to see the head monk. “This makes you angry,� the monk said, smiling, and Smith said I am angry, . . . Smith said I will get sick . . . Finally the monk said, “What is sickness? What is health?� And that stopped the whole conversation. Smith understood the dualistic thinking that was behind everything he was saying.
This is where the ‘you’re not who you think you are� fairy tale always takes us, to the land of ‘shut up and do as you’re told, who are you anyway, you’re nobody!�
Much of human behavior is directly impelled by our survival instinct, which views all others through the dualistic! behaviors of dominance and submission. All religion functions as a tool for a minority to dominate the majority. Yes, all of them. They serve other purposes, but this one is always active. Some religions claim the opposite; they are not about domination at all. Buddhism has been particularly effective at propagating and identifying with this lie. That makes it all the more dangerous.
Conclusion
All of you Buddhists who don’t own bodies and thus will not die, I don’t know why you’d waste time reading a book about death.
To others like me, who’d like to accept that I’m physical and temporary and need help, this isn’t it, we’ll keep looking.
August 10, 2009
Awesome! This book is about meditation and ways of considering old age, illness and death. It made me feel like I MUST get back to yoga and meditation.
Sorry, I guess that's not much of a book review, but being fired up and feeling good counts for a lot I think.
Sorry, I guess that's not much of a book review, but being fired up and feeling good counts for a lot I think.
August 9, 2010
A Buddhist-oriented approach to confronting death. Excellent, clear, and down-to-earth (no pun originally intended).
July 27, 2012
An excellent book on Vipassana and Zen meditations. Very readable, practical.
February 15, 2017
I definitely enjoyed reading this book back in 2015 after my Grandmother died this little tome helped me adjust to a world without her.
October 16, 2020
Book was really comforting to read as my precious Great Dane, LuLu, has Osteosarcoma.
I decided to go out to the park to meditate. I decided to lay down and this strong wind came along and a leaf🍁 smacked me in the face so I decided to sit up. Then comes along this man walking on the path who just happened to be a monk. He said the same things you said.
I decided to go out to the park to meditate. I decided to lay down and this strong wind came along and a leaf🍁 smacked me in the face so I decided to sit up. Then comes along this man walking on the path who just happened to be a monk. He said the same things you said.
September 21, 2021
It may sound strange to say a book about becoming more aware of death and impermanence is somehow comforting to read, but it’s true. This book is a breath of fresh air and authenticity.
September 5, 2023
on my mind all the time
Read
March 27, 2025Made for great discussions with meditation peeps over a few months.
Read
December 21, 2015This book is based on Buddhism’s five subjects for frequent recollection - specifically old age, sickness and death. Little did I know when I began reading it that it would be so timely, because this year I have had to face the deaths of three dearly loved people. My mother died in February, and my mother-in-law in May, followed by my brother’s death from an inoperable brain tumor in July. I don’t know whether or not having read this book made it any easier because I doubt whether anyone can ever be completely prepared for what we all know will happen eventually. But I do think it helps to have had a chance to think about these things before needing to confront them head on.
Although we live in a death-denying culture I’ve found there is great value in learning to recognize death is not something to be feared, but rather to be seen as a natural part of life along with the deep sorrow that follows in its wake when we must be parted from someone we love. And as I read this book I was reminded that the 6th century Rule of St. Benedict says monks should keep death daily before their eyes. Though worlds and generations apart, both St. Benedict and the Buddha knew that to be alive is to come face to face with what it means to die. This past year has given me plenty of opportunity to do that.
Saying those final goodbyes was not easy, and neither is the grief work that has followed. But reading this book gave me a chance to become more comfortable with the reality � and the great mystery � that surrounds death. St. Benedict and the Buddha both knew the value of recognizing the transitory nature of life and the fact that each of us will die.
I was privileged to be with my mother-in-law during the last hours of her life. And when she drew in her final breath and released it with a little raspy gasp, I was overcome by the mystery of it all. One moment she had still been with us and the next moment she had left us forever. How are we to grapple with something so deeply profound? Coming to terms with that question is one of our challenges as human creatures. And I believe, as does the author of this book, that one of the great lessons to be learned as we confront the reality of death is that life itself is a precious thing to be approached with reverence and lived with intention.
Although we live in a death-denying culture I’ve found there is great value in learning to recognize death is not something to be feared, but rather to be seen as a natural part of life along with the deep sorrow that follows in its wake when we must be parted from someone we love. And as I read this book I was reminded that the 6th century Rule of St. Benedict says monks should keep death daily before their eyes. Though worlds and generations apart, both St. Benedict and the Buddha knew that to be alive is to come face to face with what it means to die. This past year has given me plenty of opportunity to do that.
Saying those final goodbyes was not easy, and neither is the grief work that has followed. But reading this book gave me a chance to become more comfortable with the reality � and the great mystery � that surrounds death. St. Benedict and the Buddha both knew the value of recognizing the transitory nature of life and the fact that each of us will die.
I was privileged to be with my mother-in-law during the last hours of her life. And when she drew in her final breath and released it with a little raspy gasp, I was overcome by the mystery of it all. One moment she had still been with us and the next moment she had left us forever. How are we to grapple with something so deeply profound? Coming to terms with that question is one of our challenges as human creatures. And I believe, as does the author of this book, that one of the great lessons to be learned as we confront the reality of death is that life itself is a precious thing to be approached with reverence and lived with intention.
August 24, 2008
At the end of the day, this book is about being truly intimate with your life. What can be more intimate and meaningful than being present with the stark realities of aging, illness, and death. This book is life-affirming, not morbid. It's a gentle yet profound reminder to not waste our lives on avoiding what is unpleasant and instead to fully inhabit our lives and bodies, regardless of our state of health or age. It's about death reminding us to value and be open to the present moment since nothing more is guaranteed to us. We all know that but do we live that?
December 7, 2010
This book was incredibly insighful. I love love loved it! A lot of interesting meditations and really solid research and buddhist philosophy on aging, illness and death.
December 10, 2024
Rosenberg's dharma is always bracing, clear, and helpful
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