A Story of Transformation
CONTENTS
Prelude
Death Calls Us Out of Our Comfort Zones and Into the Unknown
A Story of Transformation
How to Get the Best from This Book
CHAPTER ONE: GRIEVING
My Brother David
The Death of a Family Member is a Special Opportunity
Making the Break for Freedom
Questions for Inquiry
Practice: Transforming Reactivity into Acceptance
The Work of Grief Will Bring You to Your Knees
The Funeral and Other Rites of Passage
Questions for Inquiry
What is Grief? And Why is it Important?
The Labour of Grieving
Feel Your Loss Fully
Celebrate and Touch Souls
Experience Empathy
Forgive Yourself and Make New Choices
Cleaning Cupboards
You Don’t Have to Grieve Alone
Renewal
Questions for Inquiry
Practice: Allowing All Your Feelings
The Gifts of Grieving
Grieving Well Means Completing One of Life’s Most Difficult Tasks
Grief Deepens Our Understanding of What it Means to be Human
Death Invites Us to Develop a Greater Capacity to Love and Live Fully
Death Calls us to a Deeper Purpose
We Can Renew Ourselves
CHAPTER TWO: CONSCIOUS HEALING
Grieving for a Family Member Can Ripple Out into the Healing of Humanity
Learning to Grieve Well is Essential to the Conscious Healing Process
Transformation Means Letting Go of Who You Thought You Were
A Bigger Perspective Will Support and Motivate You Through Hard Times
Questions for Inquiry
CHAPTER THREE: SOUL WORK
The Soul Journey
The Life Review as a Tool for Transformation:
Soul Chapter 1, Childhood, Family and the Cultural Thesis
Soul Chapter 2, Young Adulthood, Individuation and Creative Expression Soul Chapter 3, Mid-life, the Spiritual Quest and Transformation
Soul Chapter 4, Eldership and Being of Service to the Whole
Make Your Soul Choices Conscious
An Invitation to Complete Your Life Review
The Practice of Life Review
CHAPTER FOUR: EXISTENTIAL CRISIS AND TRANSPERSONAL GRIEF
Shock Can Be an Opening into the Transformational Process
Walk the Edge Between Life and Death
When the Earth Moves Take Your Stand
Bringing Death to the Table
Questions for Inquiry
CHAPTER FIVE: SITTING WITH DEATH
The Healing Process
Adopting a Simple Transformational Practice
Practice: Becoming an Unconditionally Loving Container for All Emotions
Submit to Being Stripped to the Bone
Let Go
Enter the Great Re-Cycling
What Happens to Consciousness After the Body Dies?
CHAPTER SIX: TRANSFORMATION
Gather Your Tools for Transformation
Allow Your Soul Work to Emerge Through You
Hold the Creative Tension
Remember We are in a Collective Transition
Transmute Suffering by Being Present with Everything that Arises
CHAPTER SEVEN: CHOOSING LIFE
Harvest the Fruits of the Conscious Healing Process
Your Soul Basket
Practice: Connecting
Practice: The Art of Receiving
Choose Life
The Quiet Patience of Crafting a Life
What Does it Mean to Choose Life?
Practice: Choosing Life
CONCLUSION: IN OUR ENDING IS OUR NEXT BEGINNING
Next Steps
References