The Five Invitations: Discovering What Death Can Teach Us About Living Fully

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'This is a wise, lucid, beautiful book that will help you be less afraid and more alive. Read it as soon as you can; it will change you.' Dr Lucy Kalanithi Death is not waiting for us at the end of a long road. Death is always with us, in the marrow of every passing moment, a secret teacher hiding in plain sight, helping us to discover what matters most in life. So begins Frank Ostaseski's stirring book, The Five Invitations, an exhilarating meditation on the meaning of life and how maintaining an ever-present awareness of death can bring us closer to our truest selves. In his thirty-plus years as a companion to the dying, Frank Ostaseski has sat on the precipice of death with more than a thousand people. A renowned teacher of compassionate care-giving, Ostaseski has distilled the lessons gleaned over the course of his career into a powerful and inspiring exploration of the essential wisdom dying has to impart to all of us about how to forge rich and meaningful lives. The 'Five Invitations' - Welcome Everything, Push Away Nothing; Bring Your Whole Self to the Experience; Don't Wait; Find a Place of Rest in the Middle of Things; and Cultivate a Don't Know Mind - show how death can be the guide we need to wake up fully to our lives. This stunning, unforgettable book offers a radical path to transformation.


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A powerful book by my good friend Frank Ostaseski, who has brought together wisdom and compassion in his life and his long years of work with the dying. We will all be enriched, inspired, and edified by his extraordinary book on how facing death can enrich our life. -- Roshi Joan Halifax, Ph.D., founder and abbot at the Upaya Zen Center, and author of
Being with Dying
: Cultivating Compassion and Fearlessness in the Presence of Death The Five Invitations is a remarkable book, one that is deeply needed by all of us. Five invitations to live our lives fully, in the present, all the way through. Frank Ostaseski, whose journey spans over three decades of creating and participating in the hospice movement, imparts timeless wisdom that should inform our every day: How to embrace uncertainty and live with joy, peace, and acceptance. This is not a book about death, it's a book about life and living. Buy it, share it, live it?I know I will. -- Henry S. Lodge, M.D., Robert Burch Family Professor of Medicine, and coauthor of the
Younger Next Year series Frank Ostaseski is one of the great contemporary teachers of ancient Buddhist wisdom and practice. Over the years, his teachings have informed both my meditative and clinical practices. Now, through The Five Invitations a broader audience can benefit from Frank's insights, soulful perspectives, and practical guidance. What a gift! -- Ira Byock M.D., international leader in palliative care, Chief Medical Officer for the Institute for Human Caring of Providence Health and Services, and author of
The Four Things That Matter Most Stephen always had great trust in Frank's good heart. As his teacher and longtime friend he encouraged Frank to write and share his wisdom on conscious living and conscious dying. Finally, we have this gift to the world. This book is a beautiful, loving gift and a manifestation of a lifetime of selfless service and compassionate care. -- Ondrea Levine coauthor with Stephen Levine of
Who Dies: An Investigation of Conscious Living and Conscious Dying Our capacity to live and love fully awakens as we open our hearts to death. Frank Ostaseski guides us in this opening with a luminous wisdom derived from his own full immersion in the journey. Please give yourself to The Five Invitations; these teachings reveal the mystery and beauty of our essential Being. -- Tara Brach, author of
Radical Acceptance and
True Refuge As a physician, I often work with people who view death as the ultimate isolating experience, solitary confinement for eternity?the ultimate dark terror. In this extraordinary, eloquent, and powerful book, Frank Ostaseski reveal