What does it mean to complete a life?
A student said to Yunmen, “I’m reaching for the light. Please help me.
Yunmen replied, “Forget about the light, give me the reaching.”
Zen Koan
Our final conversation was recorded on July 18, 2018. Doug died on July 30th. The full conversation with only minimal editing is presented below.
July 18, 2018
0:00 - What does it mean to complete a life?
2:35 - Unfinished-ness
7:35 - Completion, grief, attachment
12:40 - Birth
15:12 - The death I intend to have
18:00 - Trusting reality
20:00 - The body knows how to die
25:00 - Letting go is here
27:15 - Completeness and incompleteness are always here
30:12 - Training to participate with incompleteness
32:30 - Habits of departure
36:46 - The courage to suffer
38:12 - Intensity and presence
40:40 - Goodbye
Questions to consider on your own
How do you say goodbye?
What is your way of responding to heartbreak?
What do you believe a “good life” is?
How would you intend to complete your life?
How can you be peaceful in the face of life being incomplete and undone?