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What if thinking about death could help you live more fully?

In this episode of Self Talk, Rachel Astarte explores death, mortality, death anxiety, and the practice of remembering that life is temporary. Drawing from nature, memento mori traditions, Buddhism, and non-dual philosophy, Rachel invites us to look beneath our fear of death and ask a deeper question: What are we actually afraid of losing?

Through the lens of the Foundation of Self, death becomes an opportunity to explore the difference between our temporary human identity and our deeper nature as Pure Consciousness and Awareness. Rachel also introduces a simple death practice designed to cultivate presence, clarify what matters, and help us live more consciously.

This isn't about proving what happens after death. It's about becoming willing to look at mortality, question our identification with the ego, and discover how remembering death can teach us to live awake—with a foot in both worlds.

EPISODE TIMELINE

• 00:00 Opening poem and Rachel’s dream about facing death
• 02:20 Death as part of nature’s cycles
• 05:35 Fear of death, the ego, and the loss of individual identity
• 09:00 What the first law of thermodynamics says—and doesn’t say—about death
• 12:20 Sri Ramana Maharshi and self-inquiry
• 14:10 The wave and ocean metaphor for non-duality
• 17:00 Memento mori and the value of remembering mortality
• 18:55 A simple death practice and questions for reflection
• 22:05 Living with a foot in both worlds; the closing reflection and next episode Teaser

Got a question about your self?
Send it to me at rachel@selftalkpodcast.com and it may be featured on a future episode. 

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Music:
"Ave Marimba"
Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0