Graceful Exits: How Great Beings Die (Death stories of Hindu, Tibetan Buddhist, and Zen masters) [Paperback]

Sushila Blackman (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 10, 2005

Death is a subject obscured by fear and denial. When we do think of dying, we are more often concerned with how to avoid the pain and suffering that may accompany our death than we are with really confronting the meaning of death and how to approach it. Sushila Blackman places death—and life—in a truer perspective, by telling us of others who have left this world with dignity.

Graceful Exits offers valuable guidance in the form of 108 stories recounting the ways in which Hindu, Tibetan Buddhist, and Zen masters, both ancient and modern, have confronted their own deaths. By directly presenting the grace, clarity, and even humor with which great spiritual teachers have met the end of their days, Blackman provides inspiration and nourishment to anyone truly concerned with the fundamental issues of life and death.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Blackman narrates the death stories of over 100 Tibetan, Hindu, and Zen masters, ancient and modern. The striking element in these accounts is a sense of being fully prepared to meet death. Blackman grappled with lung cancer and came to peace with her own fears about death as she compiled this book, completed only a few months before she died. As Blackman notes, the Judaeo-Christian perspective of death is not represented here, but this fills a demand for inspirational books about death and Eastern spirituality.
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

"The striking element in these accounts is a sense of being fully prepared to meet death. Blackman grappled with lung cancer and came to peace with her own fears about death as she compiled this book, completed only a few months before she died."—Library Journal

"Written in lucid prose, the book is a training manual for making graceful exits from this life."—Publishers Weekly

"Not since the ground-breaking work of Kubler-Ross on death and dying has there been such a much needed compilation of inspirational stories and examples of how to prepare oneself for the inevitable."—Midwestern Book Review

"This beautiful little book is a gem. It contributes to our understanding that we are truly timeless."—Deepak Chopra, M.D.

"A magical little volume. It reveals with simplicity and lucidity how wise and compassionate living leads to a wise and compassionate death."—Glenn H. Mullin, author of Death and Dying: The Tibetan Tradition

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 160 pages
• Publisher: Shambhala; 1st Shambhala Ed edition (May 10, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1590302702
• ISBN-13: 978-1590302705
• Product Dimensions: 5.9 x 0.4 x 8.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #125,529 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

34 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Extraordinary Resource, July 6, 2005

By 

Michael P. McGarry (San Francisco, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Graceful Exits: How Great Beings Die (Death stories of Hindu, Tibetan Buddhist, and Zen masters) (Paperback)

Koans and stories of the deaths of Masters are scattered throughout the sacred texts of the East. This book is remarkable in that it brings those many stories together in one place. By focusing a book on the theme of "death stories", the stories illumine each other, and the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. The stories reveal a wonderfully refreshing way to think about death (and hence, to think about Life!) Many are solemn, but some are quite humorous. In each, we see the presence of someone who embraces all of human experience, who says "Yes!" to all of Life, including death. Many of the Masters give one final gem of wisdom, summarizing their life's teaching, as their last word. The many photographs of the Masters are heart-warming. For anyone ready to think about death and mortality in terms of their spritual meaning, this book is ideal. Ironically, through looking at how the Masters die, we can implicitly understand their teaching on how to be ever more fully alive.

31 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars MUST READING FOR EVERYONE WHO IS GOING TO DIE, July 13, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Graceful Exits: How Great Beings Die: Death Stories Of Tibetan, Hindu And Zen Masters (Paperback)

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.

34 of 35 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A most unusual book on spirituality, May 16, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Graceful Exits: How Great Beings Die: Death Stories Of Tibetan, Hindu And Zen Masters (Paperback)

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.