Saturday 30 June 2012

THOUGHTS ON DEATH

I've just been reading some of Nora Ephron's thoughts on death in an extract from her book I FEEL BAD ABOUT MY NECK, published in today's DAILY MAIL. Nora, who died on Tuesday aged 71, was, of course, the award-winning screenwriter whose credits include WHEN HARRY MET SALLY and SLEEPLESS IN SEATTLE.

It was thanks to her that my daughter won a luxury long weekend in New York (and took me with her!) a few years ago. How did that happen? One Saturday morning there was a quiz about WHEN HARRY MET SALLY on Capital Radio and Caroline rang in (it being her all-time favorite film back then), answered all the questions correctly - and WON first prize.

So I was sad to learn of Nora's death, but loved reading these thoughts of hers as she faced her own mortality: 'As for instructions for my funeral, I suppose I could come up with a few. For example, if there's a reception afterward, I know what sort of food I would like served: those little finger sandwiches from this place on Lexington Avenue called William Poll. And champagne would be nice. I love champagne. It's so festive.

But otherwise, I don't have a clue. I haven't even worked out whether I want to be buried or cremated - largely because I've always worried that cremation in some way lowers your chances of being reincarnated. (If there is such a thing.) (Which I know there isn't.) (And yet ... )

In a few minutes I will have finished writing this piece, and I will go back to life itself. Squirrels have made a hole in the roof, and we don't quite know what to do about it. Soon it will rain; we should probably take the cushions inside. I need more bath oil.

And that reminds me to say something about bath oil. I use this bath oil I happen to love. It's called Dr Hauschka's lemon bath. It costs about £15 a bottle, which is enough for about two weeks of baths if you follow the instructions. The instructions say one capful per bath. But a capful gets you nowhere. A capful is not enough. I have known this for a long time.

But if the events of the last few years have taught me anything, it's that I'm going to feel like an idiot if I die tomorrow and I skimped on bath oil today.

So I use quite a lot of bath oil. More than you could ever imagine. After I take a bath, my bathtub is as dangerous as an oil slick. But thanks to the bath oil, I'm as smooth as silk.

I'm going out to buy more, right now. Goodbye.'

Thursday 21 June 2012

FINDING DIVINE BLISS



How do we set about finding divine bliss? In at least one previous blog post I've mentioned James van Praagh's bestselling book TALKING TO HEAVEN (available via my Spiritual Store). Now I'd like to share with you his thoughts on meditation:

'It gives one solace to know that in a cold, disheartening world, where tragedy and intolerance appear to dominate, and the reasonable and rational self is nothing but a dream, a refuge exists where love stands supreme. It is a world of unlimited potential intermingled with divine bliss. This world of delight is available to everyone who chooses to open that door. Where is this place of contentment and love? This domain of peace is found in SILENCE. It is the silence of being ... just being. For it is in the golden silence of our own selves that the divine is found.

When we center ourselves and listen to that still small voice within, we are tapping into the silence of being.  This self-knowingness can be utilized in every aspect of life to ripen and enrich every experience. So many people go through their daily lives in search of their purpose for living. They bemoan their fate and suffer so. If they would just take a simple moment to stop and listen to their inner voice, they would begin to open themselves up to a level of indefatigable understanding. But how do we get to this SILENCE? How do we tap into our inner knowingness? How do we discern our inner voice? The answer to these questions, and the best way I know, is through meditation.

What is meditation? Simply, meditation is a focus of consciousness from one state of being to another. In essence, we turn off the outside, everyday world and tune in to, or become aware of, our inside world. When we sit in silence and begin to focus our attention inwardly, the awareness of self is strengthened and the spiritual dimensions of the soul are revealed ... '

I strongly recommend that you read TALKING TO HEAVEN and find out more about finding divine bliss and about a medium's message of life after death from James van Praagh direct. As for actual guided meditations that I can wholeheartedly suggest - here are some that I use and love: MEDITATIONS.

Monday 11 June 2012

AFTER A DEATH - Animal Help

In his bestselling book TALKING TO HEAVEN, James Van Praagh tells us this inspiring story:

'Animals are often used by spirit. Many times spirit beings can influence a bird or small animal to come by us to get our attention in some way. It is another sign of their nearness to us. A good friend of mine died in February. I went to New York, which was buried under two feet of snow, to visit her outdoor crypt.

I had trouble locating it when suddenly a truck pulled up and a groundskeeper stepped out. "You're staring right at it," he said. I thanked him, and he went back to his truck and drove away. I thought it strange that he just happened to come by at that very moment. After he left, I looked up to her niche and next to it, a bright blue jay perched itself on the branch of a tree. Mind you, it was very cold with snow everywhere. I didn't think it so unusual until later that afternoon when I visited her husband, Jack, at their home.

I walked in the door and Jack's first words were, "If you want anything of Connie's, please take it." I turned my head to the right and there on a shelf was a glass bluebird staring back at me.'

Saturday 9 June 2012

DEATH



On my Facebook page a month or so ago, I gave a short extract about death from Kahlil Gibran's THE PROPHET. It has now occurred to me that you might like to see the extract in its entirety. So here it is:

'Then Almitra spoke, saying, We would ask now of death. And he said:

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 honor. 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, than shall you truly dance.'

 The Prophet is now obtainable from My Spiritual Store ...