July 11, 2017
Book Event: The Five Invitations with Frank Ostaseski, CC 11/11

Saturday, November 11: Dharma Talk and Book Signing at City Center, 300 Page Street, San Francisco

10:15 am – Dharma Talk in the Buddha Hall – and on Live Stream
11:15 am – Q&A and book-signing in the Dining Room
Noon – Public lunch available by donation

Ram Dass and Frank Ostaseski

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. She is the secret teacher hiding in plain sight, helping us to discover what matters most. 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: Discovering What Death Can Teach Us About Living Fully 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. Frank has sat on the precipice of death with more than a thousand people. He has trained countless clinicians and caregivers in the art of mindful and compassionate care. In The Five Invitations, he distills the lessons gleaned over decades of selfless service offering an evocative and stirring guide that points to a radical path to transformation.

“Frank is a very dear friend. I have worked in the field of death and dying close to Frank and this book represents the distillation of many years of his efforts. He shows us that if you are to die consciously, there’s no time like the present to prepare. This book is a loving, compassionate reminder that the best preparation for death is a life fully lived.” —Ram Dass, International spiritual teacher and author of Be Here Now and Still Here: Embracing Aging, Changing, and Dying

Frank Ostaseski with Joan Halifax Roshi

“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.” —Joan Halifax Roshi, Founder and abbot at the Upaya Zen Center, and author of Being with Dying: Cultivating Compassion and Fearlessness in the Presence of Death

Frank Ostaseski is an internationally respected Buddhist teacher and visionary co-founder of the Zen Hospice Project, and founder of the Metta Institute. He has lectured at Harvard Medical School, the Mayo Clinic, Wisdom.2.0 and teaches at major spiritual centers around the globe. His groundbreaking work has been featured on the Bill Moyers PBS series “On Our Own Terms,” highlighted on The Oprah Winfrey Show, and honored by H.H. the Dalai Lama. He is the author of The Five Invitations: Discovering What Death Can Teach Us About Living Fully.