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Rev. O’Brian: You are really talking about a core practice of Kriya Yoga—

surrender of the illusional sense of being separate from the Source. In the transi-

tion process, this particular skill is paramount—being able to surrender, to let go. 

I remember when my father came to that juncture of making his transition, he 

didn’t have those tools. When he asked the attending nurse what he could do, she 

said, “You need to surrender.” He asked me, “How do I do that?” That’s always the 

question—how do I do that?  Those of us engaged in spiritual practice under-

stand that this process of surrender is a letting go and at the time of transition 

that is exactly what people must do—let go of clinging to the illusional self and 

expand into what they really are. People are afraid that surrender means losing 

the self, but it actually means finding the true Self.
Dr. Macchello: In meditation we surrender ourselves to the greater Wholeness. 

And through meditation, the fears that come from being the “doer” fall away and 

I think this is exactly the process that people go through when they die and make 

a conscious transition. They realize “I am That.” I am something much greater 

than this body. They lose the identity with the body.
Rev. O’Brian: Yogis are interested in moving through that portal fully awake and 

fully aware. Not clinging to the body but clinging to the Spirit.
Rev. Macartney: I have been with a lot of people who have been fearful and  

yet do get to this place. They get to this place because the body is not serving 

them.  It is too bad that it happens at that particular time and not sooner, but it  

is good that it happens. They have this understanding that “I am not this body; 

now what?” This is so freeing and I see the look in their eyes when they get that 

“Ah.” 

Rev. Shanti Macartney has over twenty-five years experience in supporting the ill and dying through 

end-of-life transition. She provides certification training programs for caregivers through her 

Compassionate Care Ministry at CSE.
Dr. Ronda Macchello is a General Internist at the Palo Alto Medical Foundation in California. She 

works with elderly patients with chronic and terminal illness and their families.   

To hear this conversation in its entirety, log on to: 

 www.unity.fm/program/theYogaHour