From arp42118@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu Fri Feb 11 12:47:34 1994 Date: Fri, 11 Feb 94 12:03:24 -0500 From: Lao-Tzu Reply to: maxlife@gibbs.oit.unc.edu To: Multiple recipients of list Subject: Re: Health & Quality Of Life > examined every corner of her life, "gotten her act together," and in her > mind become a better person, a better mother and a better friend. Her > philosophy is that we're all going to die sometime and she just has a better > idea of when that's going to be than most people. > > Again, I'm not saying, "So let's all go out and get horrible illnesses > so we can be better people," I'm simply saying that poor health isn't > necessarily a barrier to happiness, depending upon a person's attitude. > > Cyd > I'm currently reading a book called _The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying_ by Sogyal Rinpoche. I just started it (haven't gotten very far yet), but I can see that this book has some similar themes to the ones you've mentiond about your friend. Rinpoche says (p. 31): "I have heard of many other cases of people who were diagnosed as terminally ill and given only a few months to live. When they went into solitude, followed a spiritual practice, and truly faced themlselves an the fact of death, they were healed. . . . [W]hen we accept death, transform our attitude toward life, and discover the fundamental connection between life and death, a dramatic possibility for healing can occur. "Tibetan Buddhists believe that illnesses like cancer can be a warning. . . If we take this warning seriously and change fundamentally the direction of our lives, there is a very real hope for healing not only our bodies, but our whole being." (New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 1992) Might be a good book to take a look at. -- Andrew Peters |"The doctor of the future will give no medicine, (arp42118@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu)|but will interest his patient...in the cause and Univ. of Illinois, Urbana |prevention of disease." --Thomas Edison