Ready to begin or deepen your meditation practice? Join Dan Harris and world-class meditation teachers on the 10% with Dan Harris app here: https://app.danharris.com/membership Buddhism, famously, has a lot to say about aging, sickness, and death. The practices are explicitly designed to help you look at these hard truths head-on, with the premise that facing them is less stressful than spending your life ducking them. Dan buys that premise and still finds the actual facing of it pretty hard. Today’s returning guest, who has already lived through more loss than most of us, has written a whole book that’s genuinely helpful on this. Sister Dang Nghiem — known to her students and friends as Sister D — is a medical doctor turned Zen Buddhist nun practicing in Thich Nhat Hanh’s Plum Village tradition. Her new book is Live Beautifully, Die Beautifully. A note up front: Sister D speaks openly about losses she has lived through, including her partner’s sudden death and her own history of suicidal ideation beginning in childhood. The conversation is tender but direct. In this episode: – Why Buddhism makes you face hard truths (even when you’d rather not) – The Five Daily Remembrances — a 2,500-year-old practice you can do in two minutes – “We live as if we’ll live forever — and we die as if we’ve never lived” – Apoptosis — the biological fact that your cells are already programmed to die – The sudden loss that reshaped Sister D’s whole understanding – Lovingly massaging your own hands — a very simple practice she returns to daily – Gratitude for your aging body (yes, including a word to your ovaries) – The real problem isn’t aging — it’s resistance to aging – Thay’s “wisdom of the non-toothache” – Why 80% of your feelings are actually neutral, and what to do with that – The Chinese character for gratitude — and interbeing – Why living and dying are not separate – How to work with the small moments of despair that count as “death every day” – Dan admits that despite all his practice, he’s still pretty scared of death – Sister D: fear is natural, an old friend, built into every newborn – “Our actions are our true continuation” — the Fifth Remembrance – Dan on taking “ashes to ashes, dust to dust” seriously for the first time – Grief as a process without a finish line – The night Sister D’s hair turned white – Her grandmother — a humble, unschooled woman whose peaceful death remains the greatest teaching of her life Subscribe to watch more 10% Happier videos: https://www.youtube.com/tenpercenthappier Follow Dan Harris on Social Media: https://www.instagram.com/danharris/ https://www.tiktok.com/@danbharris https://www.facebook.com/DanHarrisABC https://twitter.com/danbharris https://www.linkedin.com/in/dan-harris-91ba5716b/ #10PercentHappier #SisterD #LiveBeautifullyDieBeautifully This episode is sponsored by: Tin Can: Go to tincan.com/HAPPIER to get $10 off your first order.