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more peacefully. They seemed to be more ready and present to their own death. 

That intrigued me, and I felt I had some work to do on myself. 

I also noticed that those with a spiritual practice had thought about their 

transition long before the day it arrived. What people find comforting at the end 

is the idea that the real Self is eternal and exists beyond the mortal body that 

they are about to leave. Their body is done; it may be full of disease or have aged 

naturally, but it can be shed, taken off, and they can move forward. 

I love the teachings of Paramahansa Yogananda that say we are like the waves 

that come to the shore and then go back to the sea. The body may vanish, but the 

soul essence will never cease to exist. 
Rev. O’Brian: Everybody survives transition from the body because we are spiri-

tual beings. That is the truth of all of us. But the fine point to understand is that 

we are looking for a fully conscious, illumined life that is eternal and awake. 

Ronda, how does meditation and yoga impact your point of view, as a medical 

doctor, in your interventions with your patients? 
Dr. Macchello: The impact of my own spiritual life has brought me to my knees 

as a doctor. Viewing my patients with humility and reverence for their whole-

ness is very different from the training we go through as physicians. The medical 

model is basically, “find out what’s broken, name it, and then fix it.” This is very 

seductive to physicians and patients as well.  The ego can be drawn into the 

illusion that, “I’m the doer.” In yoga, we acknowledge the wholeness—that is, 

holiness—of the person. My role is to bear witness to this wholeness rather than 

the brokenness of the body. I try to stay in a place of “being an instrument”—