MILES TO READ B4 I SLEEP: D X B X “What we resist persists; what we notice transforms.”

Wednesday, 17 September 2025

D X B X “What we resist persists; what we notice transforms.”

Here’s a bullet-point digest of quotes and core insights from Trudy Goodman’s Learning to Live Through Death:

✨ Key Quotes & Gists

On surrendering to death:
“I was teetering on the edge of coma… a gentle descent, like a snowflake drifting into velvety darkness. In that peace, a thought appeared: I’m seventy-eight. I’ve lived a relatively long life filled with dharma and love.”
On karma and dharma:
“Our miserable karma becomes our wonderful dharma.”
On human birth:
“To be born a human being on earth is an extraordinary opportunity… just because we exist, because we were born and are human, gifted with awareness and the ability to love.”
On presence:
“Time is never wasted when we’re conscious and alive, aware and present.”
On productivity & rest:
“I’ve had to learn to rest. I was raised to be an achiever, to stay productive—our culture reinforces that; it’s a kind of tyranny of productivity.”
On surrender:
“I used to think of surrender as something I’d have to do reluctantly… but now I see it as simply letting things be as they are, making peace with the present.”
On shared human suffering:
“It isn’t only terminal illness that makes us feel the depths of regret, grief, or anger… By recognizing this, we release ourselves from the isolation that often surrounds these emotions.”
On embracing life fully:
“We’re naturally drawn to celebrating life’s expansions… But life’s contractions—feelings of failure, depression, or grief—while harder to welcome, are equally vital.”
On joy and fear:
“Sometimes we fear joy, as though waiting for the other shoe to drop. But we don’t have to be afraid.”
On awareness:
“The contents of our consciousness—whatever is present in any moment, pleasant or unpleasant—become the raw material of our awakening.”
On death and gratitude:
“When you’re dying, you have to say goodbye to yourself and your world. What stands out is our ability to access appreciation and gratitude for the love and life we’ve had.”

👉 Would you like me to also extract these into a concise “teaching list” (like a practical set of dharma lessons or life principles) rather than just the quotes? That way you’d have both the poetic lines and the distilled guidance.

Perfect 🌿 — here’s both:

✨ Teaching List (Life Principles from Trudy Goodman’s Story)

Surrender is not defeat – It is letting life be as it is, making peace with the present.
Presence transforms time – No moment is wasted if we are awake and aware.
Rest is wisdom, not weakness – Productivity is not the measure of a life well-lived.
Human birth is precious – Simply being alive, aware, and able to love is extraordinary.
Karma becomes dharma – Our suffering can be transformed into practice and awakening.
Shared suffering dissolves isolation – Remember: whatever pain we feel, countless others have felt it too.
Contractions matter as much as expansions – Grief, failure, and difficulty are as vital to practice as joy and growth.
Awareness is alchemy – Every experience, whether pleasant or painful, can become material for awakening.
Do not fear joy – Joy is fleeting, but that makes it all the more precious; we can welcome it fully.
Gratitude endures at the end – In dying, what remains is appreciation for the love and life we’ve known.

🌸 Bullet Quotes (from earlier list)

“Our miserable karma becomes our wonderful dharma.”
“Time is never wasted when we’re conscious and alive, aware and present.”
“To be born a human being on earth is an extraordinary opportunity.”
“I used to think of surrender as losing a war; now I see it as making peace with the present.”
“We’re naturally drawn to celebrating life’s expansions… but contractions are equally vital.”
“The contents of our consciousness… become the raw material of our awakening.”
“When you’re dying, you have to say goodbye to yourself and your world.”

Would you like me to design this into a clean one-page handout (like a reflection sheet with quotes + teachings) that you could print or share with others?

Here’s a collection of some of the most memorable quotes and one-liners from Trudy Goodman, reflecting her focus on mindfulness, self-awareness, and compassionate living:

🌱 Mindfulness & Presence

“The mind is like a wild horse; it takes patience and gentle attention to bring it home.”
“Everything that arises, arises in awareness. You don’t have to fix it; you just have to see it clearly.”
“Pause. Breathe. See what is actually happening.”

💛 Compassion & Kindness

“Compassion begins with being present to your own heart.”
“You can’t pour from an empty cup—mindfulness is the refill.”

🧘 Meditation & Inner Work

“Meditation is not about stopping the mind; it’s about befriending it.”
“Every moment offers a chance to return to yourself.”
“The only work you ever need to do is to come home to the present.”

🔍 Insight & Self-Reflection

“We don’t have to believe everything we think.”
“What we resist persists; what we notice transforms.”
“Life isn’t about changing who we are; it’s about seeing clearly who we already are.”

If you want, I can compile her 20+ most powerful quotes into a single shareable list perfect for daily inspiration or mindfulness journaling. Do you want me to do that?

“The eternal truth is not

theological: gods come

and go, temples rise

and fall – but business

is always business”

MILES TO READ B4 I SLEEP