Dying to Be Me:  My Journey from Cancer, to Near Death, to True Healing by Anita Moorjani

This is one of the best books I have ever read!  I have enjoyed reading about Anita’s life and learning all the life lessons her near-death experience taught her.

Summary

Anita battled cancer for almost 4 years.  When her body began shutting down, she entered a near death experience (NDE) where she discovered the cause of her disease.  She realized she was dying because of all of her fears.  She was afraid to express her true self, which caused her own energy to manifest as cancer.  When she chose to return to her body, she realized she had the power to heal herself.  She knew she would be healed quickly because the root cause of her disease was taken care of.

The book is divided into 3 parts.  Part 1 talks about Anita’s childhood and how she grew up at the intersection of multiple cultures that held contradictory beliefs.  She was exposed to different religious and cultural customs, some of which she did not agree with.  She had to deal with the disapproval of her family and her culture as she stayed true to herself and did not conform to some of their traditions.  Part 2 talks about her NDE, and Part 3 talks about the wisdom and new understandings she gained as a result of her NDE.  The experience completely changed her perspective on life.

My Favorite Quotes From the Book:

“I had the choice to come back…or not.  I chose to return when I realized that ‘heaven’ is a state, not a place…”

“I believe that the greatest truths of the universe don’t lie outside, in the study of the stars and the planets.  They lie deep within us, in the magnificence of our heart, mind, and soul.  Until we understand what is within, we can’t understand what is without.”

“In that state, I somehow knew that in some way, I was meant to inspire thousands…I just had to be myself and enjoy life, and to allow myself to be an instrument for something much greater to take place.”

“We all have our own way of recognizing that infinite space within us.  For some it may be prayer.  For others, it can be music, art, being in nature, or even pursuing knowledge and technology – whatever brings out our passion, creativity, and purpose for living.”

“To be me is to be love.”

“In sharing my experience and my insights, my only purpose is to ignite the spark of magnificence that lies within you.”

“When we know that we are love, we don’t need to work at being loving toward others.  Instead, we just have to be true to ourselves, and we become instruments of loving energy, which touches everyone we come into contact with.”

“For people to commit unloving acts, they must really be full of confusion, frustration, pain, and self-hatred.  They have to be diseased (like having cancer).  Treating them with contempt only allows the “cancer” to grow in our society.”

“Go out and live your life fearlessly.”

“We all have the capacity to heal ourselves as well as facilitate the healing of others.”

“When we get in touch with that infinite place within us where we are whole, then illness can’t remain in the body.  When we heal others, we also heal ourselves and the planet.  There’s no separation except in our own minds.”

“Our world at any time is a tapestry made up of all our thoughts, feelings, experiences, relationships, emotions, and events up to that point.”

“True joy and happiness can only be found by loving yourself, going inward, following your heart, and doing what brings you joy.”

“Religion is just a path for finding truth:  Religion is not truth.  It is just a path.  And different people follow different paths.” p.18

“I then understood that even if my physical body stopped, everything is still perfect in the greater tapestry of life, for we never truly die.” p.5

My Recommendation/What I Learned

I would absolutely recommend this book!  It is a quick read (only 189 pages) and I found it very interesting.

This book taught me the importance of being true to myself always.  It taught me that physical death is not something to fear, and it taught me the importance of letting go of all fears and enjoying life to the fullest…now!!  This book reinforces the belief that we are spiritual beings having a human experience and that we are all connected.

These are the main messages she is trying to relay:

1.  We are all one.

2.  We are love at our core.

3.  We are magnificent.

Anita is trying to let us know that we all need to love and accept ourselves just as we are.  She shared her story to remind us all of our own magnificence and the importance of being able to fully trust our inner guidance.

For more reviews, check out http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12291050-dying-to-be-me.