Death: The End of Self-Improvement Paperback – November 1, 2019

You can tell Joan Tollifson held nothing back in this book. She let her words flow and shared all with us as the readers. At times it seems rambling or repetitive but I think it is worth it for the many gems you will find sprinkled throughout.

The book was a glimpse into Joan's personal life as never before. Very personal, as she describes her journey with cancer in particular. She walks her talk in her life with all the ups and downs and imperfections that come and go. Her "just this, here, now" way of living life shines through again and again in her book. This book is more autobiographical than her previous ones and gives the reader even more of a chance to be with and know Joan better through it all.Her perspective of death is refreshing and simple. The last chapter brought me to tears with its clarity and depth. I enjoyed the entire book. Each one of her books is filled w underlined and starred passages when something resonates deeply with me. This book is no exception.

A most amazing book. Beautifully written by a Buddhist scholar and spiritual teacher, it is a no-holds-barred graphic look at old age and dying. Navigating the turbulence and joy of aging, my husband and I read it aloud, one small section at a time. The wisdom and the compassion will stick with us for a long time.

It is beautifully laid out, font and headings. The subject matter is relevant to life right here right now in all its messiness. If intimacy can be found in books, this book will help us be more intimate with life.Joan has an inner integrity and writes with clarity, insight and compassion, about growing older, losing loved ones, depression and change. What I love most is her ability to discuss those aspects of life we usually gloss over, try to ignore or hide. There is no topic off limits. This book's honesty empowers us to be with what is as divine grace.

I thoroughly enjoyed this gem of a book. The question I have had before me for awhile is how is self-realization lived, day to day, week to week. And Joan provides an answer, each moment clear, pristine, shining in the light of consciousness. Life presents really serious problems that need to be dealt with with grace, compassion and elegance. She shows us how. And also we are human, flawed with compulsive behavior, bad habits, addictions, resentments, disappointments and so on. How do we live with that after tasted the perfection of Consciousness? Joan knows. I follow her on Facebook. She manages to dig out the more obscure and beautiful books and authors. Darryl Bailey, John Butler, Tony Packer, Robert Saltzman etc. Her books are autobiographical to a some extent and I like she was a child of the 60's and walked the road less traveled.

I have read all of Joan Tollifson’s books. She is one of the best spiritual writers of our era. Her willingness to, in a sense, show the underbelly of life, that which we don’t speak of in polite conversation and to write of it with such authentic, vulnerable and poetic poignancy makes her writing so deeply moving and powerful. I have had the good fortune to have met Joan in person. Her words on the printed page are indeed an accurate reflection of her humbleness and extraordinary depth as a human being. Her life experiences, which she speaks of without holding back, and her spiritual practice rooted in many traditions from zen to Advaita, along with a keen intellect and commitment to social and climate justice provide the foundation for her insightful and inspiring writing.This latest book of hers, “Death, the End of Self-Improvement” (a superb title!) continues to point her readers to the beauty in the immediate intimacy of life - whatever that may be - sounds of chirping birds, sun dappling on the bark of trees in winter, a bus careening down a city street, cleaning an ostomy bag, a mother’s last days, all of it is to be embraced, and recognized, as much as we human beings can, as an opportunity for revelatory transformation.I recommend all of Joan’s books, each offers the reader an opportunity to pause and really pay attention to our lives. They invite us towards greater intimacy with life itself. Perhaps there can be no better gift than this - to really fully be with our lives.

Joan Tollison is a gifted and loving communicator of non-dual living, in this book combined with the naked description of the disintegration of human existence. There is so much love in this book.

I enjoyed to read this book slowly.Joan is a nice person, even if I think she's wrong about NDE.