Life and death are a package deal. They cannot be pulled apart and we cannot truly live unless we are aware of death. The Five Invitations is an exhilarating meditation on the meaning of life and how maintaining an ever-present consciousness of death can bring us closer to our truest selves. As a renowned teacher of compassionate caregiving and the cofounder of the Zen Hospice Project, Frank Ostaseski has sat on the precipice of death with more than a thousand people. In The Five Invitations, he distills the lessons gleaned over the course of his career, offering an evocative and stirring guide that points to a radical path to transformation.

Originally published in 2017.

The first invitation: Don't wait. The doorway to possibility ; At once here and disappearing ; The maturation of hope ; The heart of the matter -- The second invitation: Welcome everything, push away nothing. As is ; Turn toward your suffering ; Love heals -- The third invitation: Bring your whole self to the experience. Don't be a role, be a soul ; Taming the inner critic ; The raging river ; Hearing the cries of the world -- The fourth invitation: Find a place of rest in the middle of things ; The calm in the storm ; Mind the gap ; Courageous presence -- The fifth invitation: Cultivate don't know mind. The story of forgetfulness ; Not knowing is most intimate ; Surrender to the sacred.