This week, on The Conscious Consultant Hour, Sam is pleased to welcome Author and Professor, Kamla K. Kapur.
Kamla is a versatile and celebrated writer, who seamlessly weaves her Indian heritage with her experiences here in the United States to craft captivating literary works spanning plays, novels, poetry, essays, and reimagining of Indian spiritual texts. She is the author of 8 books.
Her latest book is The Privilege of Aging, Savoring the Fullness of Life.
Kamla has moved beyond her identity as an author into her identity as a crumbling old person who continues to write passionately whenever the Universe allows. At 76 she is moving from a search for meaning to an experience of existence, of the profoundly simple gifts, food, exercise, contemplation, silence, stretching, resting, her Yorkie doggie daughter sleeping on her lap, her husband holding her hand in sleep.
She is giving away possessions and property with a warm hand to live the rest of her life unencumbered, nonattached, free, affirming life even as she moves towards an affirmation of death. So far all is well.
She hopes all the tricks and techniques she diligently practices will come to her aid in the inherent uncertainty and challenges of her future.
Tune in and share all of your questions and comments about aging and death on our YouTube livestream or on our Facebook page.
Sam Liebowitz opens the show by emphasizing the importance of the journey to self-discovery, reminding listeners that finding oneself is not a destination but a continuous unfolding. He highlights how embracing curiosity, kindness, and presence can deepen our understanding of who we are, allowing us to live with greater authenticity. His guest, Kamla Kapur, expands on this theme by discussing aging as a sacred transition, encouraging individuals to release fear, attachments, and regrets in order to embrace life and death with consciousness and fulfillment.
Kamla Kapur shares how her spiritual journey, rooted in childhood, was reawakened by personal tragedy, leading her to embrace suffering as a catalyst for growth. She emphasizes that life’s wounds, when approached with awareness, can become sources of profound transformation and deeper consciousness. Through her writing, particularly in The Privilege of Aging, she explores the necessity of confronting regrets, shifting focus towards love and gratitude, and ultimately embracing the aging process as a sacred and liberating experience.
Kamla Kapur explores the deep challenges of aging, acknowledging the physical and mental struggles while offering spiritual and practical tools to navigate them. She emphasizes the importance of turning towards the spirit, embracing love without judgment, and maintaining meaningful connections to counter isolation. Through self-awareness, meditation, and cultivating supportive relationships, she highlights how aging can become a path to greater freedom, wisdom, and an expanded heart.
Kamla Kapur shares profound insights on preparing for death, emphasizing the importance of embracing it as a transition rather than an end. She discusses practices like the Yogic corpse pose and reading about near-death experiences to cultivate acceptance and peace, turning death into a sacred adventure rather than a source of fear. Ultimately, she encourages a conscious approach to both living and dying, where gratitude, presence, and trust in the universe allow us to release fear and step into the unknown with grace.
00:00:45.870 --> 00:00:55.740 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: Good afternoon, my conscious co-creators. Welcome to another edition of the conscious consultant hour awakening humanity.
00:00:55.930 --> 00:01:01.580 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: I am very, very pleased that you are all here with me today, and that you continue
00:01:02.120 --> 00:01:27.790 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: to listen and watch to the conscious consultant hour. I so appreciate your loyalty and your support for the show, and as always, please share this show with your friends, your colleagues, your relatives, anyone you feel, might gain something from our show. Like everything else.
00:01:28.080 --> 00:01:41.620 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: people only get to find out about us when people talk about us, so I hope you will indulge me and just share the show with just one person. You know, this week I'd truly appreciate it.
00:01:42.730 --> 00:01:53.059 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: So we have another wonderful show in store for you. But first, st of course, we have my blog post, which I wrote a couple of years ago.
00:01:53.310 --> 00:02:00.209 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: And yeah, I think this is a pretty good one for today's topic. And this blog is entitled
00:02:00.480 --> 00:02:06.380 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: The Journey we take to find ourselves is the most important of all.
00:02:07.330 --> 00:02:11.559 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: It is easy to go through life feeling lost and unfulfilled.
00:02:12.040 --> 00:02:15.130 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: We search for a sense of purpose and meaning.
00:02:15.410 --> 00:02:19.959 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: This is often because we have not yet discovered who we truly are.
00:02:20.410 --> 00:02:22.550 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: or what we want out of life.
00:02:23.240 --> 00:02:27.869 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: If we feel this way, we are surely not alone.
00:02:28.600 --> 00:02:34.149 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: Yet the journey to find ourselves can be a transformative experience.
00:02:37.050 --> 00:02:43.219 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: It can help us gain a deeper understanding of our own identity.
00:02:43.490 --> 00:02:47.089 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: of what we want out of life.
00:02:48.730 --> 00:02:52.899 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: 1st step in this journey is to take a step back
00:02:53.240 --> 00:03:00.460 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: and reflect on our life. So far we can ask ourselves questions?
00:03:01.172 --> 00:03:04.550 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: Such as, what are our values?
00:03:04.930 --> 00:03:06.870 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: What are our passions?
00:03:07.210 --> 00:03:09.049 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: What do we enjoy doing?
00:03:09.720 --> 00:03:11.849 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: What do we believe in
00:03:13.600 --> 00:03:24.750 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: by taking the time to reflect on these questions we can start to gain a clearer understanding of who we are and what we want out of life.
00:03:27.770 --> 00:03:33.550 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: It can also be important to step out of our comfort zone and try new things.
00:03:33.850 --> 00:03:41.809 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: This can involve taking up a new hobby, volunteering in a new community, or even traveling to a new place
00:03:42.320 --> 00:03:52.210 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: by exposing ourselves to new experiences and environments, we gain a better understanding of our strengths, our weaknesses.
00:03:52.370 --> 00:03:56.330 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: and the things that truly bring us joy.
00:03:57.480 --> 00:04:02.199 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: One of the most important aspects of this journey
00:04:02.490 --> 00:04:04.940 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: is to be kind to ourselves.
00:04:05.530 --> 00:04:13.019 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: Often we are our own harshest critics, and we put a lot of pressure on ourselves to be perfect.
00:04:14.310 --> 00:04:24.090 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: Remembering that it is okay to make mistakes, and that the journey to find ourselves is not a straight line will serve us very well.
00:04:25.010 --> 00:04:35.950 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: allowing ourselves the time and space to grow and explore without putting too much pressure on ourselves, can also help.
00:04:37.410 --> 00:04:45.739 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: Another important aspect of this journey is to round is to surround ourselves with supportive people.
00:04:46.920 --> 00:04:55.080 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: seeking out friends and family members who support and inspire us, and who encourage our journey.
00:04:56.140 --> 00:04:59.100 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: This can make a big difference.
00:04:59.600 --> 00:05:04.660 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: It can also be helpful to work with a professional, a trusted advisor.
00:05:04.830 --> 00:05:12.600 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: or a coach who can provide guidance and support as we navigate. The process finally.
00:05:12.730 --> 00:05:16.790 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: being patient and persistent, is key.
00:05:18.090 --> 00:05:22.350 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: Finding ourselves is not something that will happen overnight.
00:05:23.710 --> 00:05:28.290 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: It is a process that takes time and effort
00:05:28.890 --> 00:05:39.510 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: staying committed to our journey, and trusting that the answers will come in due time, makes it all just a little easier.
00:05:41.120 --> 00:05:45.929 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: Going on a journey to find ourselves can be a life-changing experience.
00:05:46.050 --> 00:05:52.549 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: It can help us gain a deeper understanding of our own identity, and what we want from life
00:05:53.030 --> 00:06:05.839 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: by reflecting on our values and passions, stepping out of our comfort zone, being kind to ourselves, surrounding ourselves with positive people, and being patient and persistent.
00:06:06.330 --> 00:06:13.840 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: we will be well on our way to discovering our true self and living a fulfilling life.
00:06:16.640 --> 00:06:20.080 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: You know this is this is kind of a a funny.
00:06:20.880 --> 00:06:26.090 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: a blog post for me didn't.
00:06:26.810 --> 00:06:35.410 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: I wrote it, I believe, and this was a couple of years ago, so I don't remember exactly, but I believe I was working in ceremony with somebody
00:06:35.910 --> 00:06:46.710 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: who was talking about finding themselves. They didn't know who they were. They'd been living their life, and they felt like they. They never really came to who they are
00:06:48.250 --> 00:06:49.280 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: and
00:06:51.850 --> 00:06:54.830 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: And I was just reflecting on that. And I'm like.
00:06:55.160 --> 00:07:00.659 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: you know, I hear people say that so often. Oh, I need to find myself. I need to find myself.
00:07:02.680 --> 00:07:07.620 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: But sometimes we don't ask the question of of what does that even mean?
00:07:10.400 --> 00:07:18.300 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: And I just kind of reflected on how this whole idea of finding ourselves. It's really a journey. It's not a destination.
00:07:22.010 --> 00:07:23.770 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: It's it's not a
00:07:23.910 --> 00:07:30.629 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: something we get done. It's not something we we check off the to do list.
00:07:32.920 --> 00:07:40.349 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: It's really about just taking steps along the path.
00:07:41.890 --> 00:07:46.910 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: I mean, who we are is the person who's living this life.
00:07:48.670 --> 00:07:51.880 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: It's not about finding ourselves.
00:07:52.060 --> 00:07:54.830 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: It's about being ourselves.
00:07:57.030 --> 00:08:04.599 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: It's just about being who we are when we show up in life and who we're
00:08:05.497 --> 00:08:09.539 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: looking to to be in our world.
00:08:11.400 --> 00:08:19.170 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: So this idea of of finding ourselves from this blog post, it's really something that
00:08:19.700 --> 00:08:24.929 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: if you're in the middle of trying to figure out if you're in the middle of
00:08:25.400 --> 00:08:29.370 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: this journey that you're out to really find yourself.
00:08:31.610 --> 00:08:36.389 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: Yes, it is an important journey, and it is one that
00:08:36.870 --> 00:08:39.680 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: will lead us to new and different
00:08:39.919 --> 00:08:43.610 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: things, that that we have no idea about.
00:08:44.920 --> 00:08:46.070 kamla kapur: Hi, Sam.
00:08:46.490 --> 00:08:51.580 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: Yes, Kamala, I'm just reading my blog post. I'll be with you in one second.
00:08:51.580 --> 00:08:51.980 kamla kapur: Sure.
00:08:51.980 --> 00:08:53.060 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: We're live.
00:08:56.940 --> 00:09:01.009 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: So so taking, this journey is one where
00:09:03.820 --> 00:09:11.149 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: the most important thing I've found in my own journey is to really learn to be kind
00:09:11.700 --> 00:09:18.630 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: to myself, so I can be kind to others to be present with myself, so I can be present with others.
00:09:20.950 --> 00:09:26.120 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: and I can just ask some questions along the way, and just be curious.
00:09:27.480 --> 00:09:34.100 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: Yes, sometimes we feel lost when we're on the path. Yes, sometimes we're confused, sometimes we don't know where we're going.
00:09:34.560 --> 00:09:42.549 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: and that's where, having some faith, some trust in life itself can really serve us.
00:09:42.980 --> 00:09:46.940 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: But when we're on the path towards finding ourselves.
00:09:50.290 --> 00:09:56.300 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: the one thing I just want you all to remember is, it's not a destination
00:09:56.470 --> 00:09:59.609 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: that just walking. The path itself
00:09:59.940 --> 00:10:02.940 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: is ultimately how we find ourselves.
00:10:03.910 --> 00:10:06.240 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: So that's my blog post.
00:10:06.350 --> 00:10:24.370 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: The title, again, is the journey we take to find ourselves is the most important of all. You can always find my blog on my personally branded website at theconsciousconsultant.com as well as on talk radio dot Nyc slash blog
00:10:24.980 --> 00:10:33.479 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: all right. It is now my extreme pleasure to welcome to the show author, and Professor Kamla Kapoor.
00:10:33.590 --> 00:11:02.049 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: Kamla is a versatile and celebrated writer, who seamlessly weaves her Indian heritage with her experiences here in the United States to craft a captivating literary work, spanning plays, novels, poetry, essays, and reimagining of India's spiritual texts. She's author of 8 books. Her latest book is the privilege of aging, savoring the fullness of life which is going to be our topic today.
00:11:02.850 --> 00:11:31.009 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: Kamla has moved beyond her identity as an author into her identity as a crumbling old person who continues to write passionately whenever the universe allows. At 76 she is moving from a search for meaning to an experience of existence, of the profoundly simple gifts, food, exercise, contemplation, silence, stretching, resting
00:11:31.760 --> 00:11:38.340 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: with her, with her Yorkie doggy daughter sleeping in her lap, her husband holding her hand in sleep.
00:11:38.850 --> 00:11:51.549 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: She's giving away possessions and property with a warm hand to live the rest of her life unencumbered, non-attached, free, affirming life even as she moves towards an affirmation of death.
00:11:51.740 --> 00:11:57.539 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: So far all is well welcome to the conscious. Consult. Now our Kamla.
00:11:58.130 --> 00:12:00.400 kamla kapur: Thank you for having me, Sam.
00:12:00.990 --> 00:12:29.740 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: It's my pleasure. It's my pleasure. So you've been an author for many, many years. I'm curious what sort of brought you on this path to actually talk about a topic that is not often talked about in polite company, right? That this whole idea of aging and getting old and having our bodies deteriorate. It's not something people like to talk about, is it?
00:12:30.250 --> 00:12:50.369 kamla kapur: No, it's not, and that's why it becomes all the more necessary to talk about it, because this is a very important journey that we are making towards our completion. I like to think of death as a sort of a completion.
00:12:50.530 --> 00:13:01.699 kamla kapur: and as a fulfillment actually of a life well lived, especially if you have lived that life with consciousness with.
00:13:02.230 --> 00:13:18.220 kamla kapur: and you have lived that life with the desire to experience more deeply yourself, the universe, others. So all of this if you have been on this path.
00:13:18.320 --> 00:13:23.760 kamla kapur: and I don't think it's ever too late to begin on the path.
00:13:23.760 --> 00:13:24.260 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: And.
00:13:24.260 --> 00:13:30.050 kamla kapur: You can be any age and begin because the universe is ripe and ready for us
00:13:30.540 --> 00:13:34.120 kamla kapur: anytime, we turn to it. So
00:13:34.630 --> 00:13:41.559 kamla kapur: you know, if we have been on this path, then we are not afraid of death, we welcome it.
00:13:41.710 --> 00:13:43.170 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: Right right
00:13:43.900 --> 00:14:06.989 kamla kapur: No, it's very difficult to do. I acknowledge that I acknowledge it's very difficult to give up your identity that you've lived with all your life, and you know it's hard to let go of things and people. But there are ways of making preparing ourselves for this inevitable
00:14:07.540 --> 00:14:08.650 kamla kapur: event.
00:14:08.950 --> 00:14:09.370 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: Hmm.
00:14:09.370 --> 00:14:23.210 kamla kapur: And we have to move past the fear of it, so that we could have a good death. I think I would really like to have a good death, including, and a good life, I mean. Those 2 go hand in hand.
00:14:23.210 --> 00:14:25.430 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: This in fact.
00:14:25.914 --> 00:14:31.729 kamla kapur: I don't think you can really awaken to life without confronting death.
00:14:31.730 --> 00:14:46.519 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: Very true, very true, all right, Kamala. We're going to take a quick break, and when we come back I just want to talk a little bit about more about your background. You know kind of how you became an author, and what
00:14:47.250 --> 00:14:52.489 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: kind of and and your spiritual path, maybe a little bit, and then I really want to dig into
00:14:53.160 --> 00:15:09.210 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: what people can do who are afraid of death, who have a lot of regrets, who are are kind of stuck in a way, what we can do to kind of help to move beyond those challenges so that we actually can confront this idea of death. Okay.
00:15:09.210 --> 00:15:10.060 kamla kapur: All right.
00:15:10.140 --> 00:15:35.349 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: Wonderful wonderful. So everyone, please stay tuned. You're listening to the conscious consultant hour awakening humanity. We do this every Thursday 12 noon to one Pm. Eastern, right here on Talkradio, Dot, Nyc. And all over social media. And we're talking this hour with my guest, Pamela Kapoor, author of the book, the privilege of aging, and we'll be right back in just a moment.
00:17:21.060 --> 00:17:48.510 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: And welcome back to the conscious consultant hour awakening humanity. We're speaking this hour with Author Kamla Kapoor, author of the book, The Privilege of aging. So, Kamala, you came to the United States from India. Were you raised with a very spiritual background? Was this something that has always been a part of your life? Or is this something that you came to on your own later on in life?
00:17:48.690 --> 00:18:11.459 kamla kapur: You know, I was raised in by a father and a mother who had very strong spiritual leanings, and then, when I got into my youth for about 2025 years. I just kind of forgot all about it, and continued with my life till
00:18:11.520 --> 00:18:26.229 kamla kapur: until a tragedy struck me. Actually my previous husband committed suicide, and it was very strange, because a month before this happened I
00:18:26.550 --> 00:18:38.439 kamla kapur: unconsciously, subconsciously turned towards the spirit. This was before it happened, so I felt that the universe was guiding me.
00:18:39.040 --> 00:18:55.779 kamla kapur: and every night before I went to sleep this prayer that my father and mother, my mother used to recite came to my aid, and I started saying to the universe, May your will be sweet
00:18:57.090 --> 00:19:11.670 kamla kapur: will not only be accepted, but may your will be sweet now that takes it to another level entirely, and if you take it to that level, then the tragedy.
00:19:12.365 --> 00:19:34.150 kamla kapur: You know, difficult as it is to say, this does become sweet because you grow out of it. You grow out of your ashes and you grow a new. You grow as a new human being that you weren't before much more conscious, much more aware of what it takes
00:19:34.958 --> 00:19:40.639 kamla kapur: to live life well, and to live life with consciousness.
00:19:40.640 --> 00:19:41.180 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: Yeah.
00:19:41.636 --> 00:19:42.550 kamla kapur: Is so.
00:19:43.090 --> 00:19:59.540 kamla kapur: The tragedy was actually a wound, a deep wound that healed me, and and I think that if we realize that our wounds happen to us so that we can heal ourselves. Then
00:20:00.300 --> 00:20:03.360 kamla kapur: we even welcome our wounds, because.
00:20:03.360 --> 00:20:04.020 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: And.
00:20:04.200 --> 00:20:08.040 kamla kapur: Somehow cannot grow without suffering.
00:20:08.340 --> 00:20:14.669 kamla kapur: I it's tough, is inherent in life, and we need to harness it.
00:20:14.940 --> 00:20:23.309 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: Right right, use it as as fuel for our growth, and as opposed to something that stunts our growth.
00:20:23.730 --> 00:20:25.660 kamla kapur: Yes, exactly.
00:20:26.200 --> 00:20:31.630 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: And Kamala, you you're a retired professor. What were you? A professor of? And and
00:20:31.940 --> 00:20:40.590 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: English and American literature? And and I taught creative writing courses, also in playwriting, poetry, writing.
00:20:41.250 --> 00:20:46.079 kamla kapur: And nonfiction and fiction so, and literature and composition.
00:20:46.080 --> 00:20:55.519 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: So you've written plays. You've written novels, you've written poetries and essays. Have you written other nonfiction books before this one.
00:20:56.652 --> 00:21:07.979 kamla kapur: You know. No, I haven't. But since then I have. I've been. I've completed another one, and I'm working on another one yet.
00:21:07.980 --> 00:21:08.750 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: Oh, wow!
00:21:08.750 --> 00:21:14.520 kamla kapur: So I've been very blessed with prolificity, you know.
00:21:15.639 --> 00:21:28.030 kamla kapur: I even at this age I feel pretty fertile till I'm very tired, and then I'm just tired, and I just want to rest, and I don't want to feel prolific.
00:21:28.030 --> 00:21:51.319 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: Right? Right? Right? Yeah. The levels of energy do shift as we move on in years. I've noticed that myself in my own life. I'm curious. What was there some grain of inspiration? Was there some incident, something that you experienced, that inspired you to say? You know what I want to write a book around aging and getting older.
00:21:52.531 --> 00:22:16.809 kamla kapur: Yes, and the inspiration, for that was my getting older and my being unable to handle it. And so what I do with things I can't handle and I don't have a grasp on is I write about them because the process of writing
00:22:16.940 --> 00:22:22.540 kamla kapur: reveal solutions that you didn't even know existed.
00:22:22.670 --> 00:22:23.520 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: Hmm.
00:22:23.520 --> 00:22:24.920 kamla kapur: So that.
00:22:24.920 --> 00:22:40.199 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: And when you, when you say you couldn't handle it, what do you mean? Did you start to have health problems? Was it just the way things were changing, and you just couldn't accept it. What was it that you couldn't handle about getting older.
00:22:40.200 --> 00:22:56.450 kamla kapur: Well, 2 particular things. One of them was, you know, my my body, I mean, I've got all sorts of things going on with my body, you know, 3 autoimmune diseases. And
00:22:56.570 --> 00:23:17.359 kamla kapur: you know, cancer also. So there was that, and there was the inability to do things that I used to do previously like hike things that I really enjoyed doing so. It was. It was bothering me because I
00:23:17.460 --> 00:23:27.519 kamla kapur: it. It affected my Psyche, and I knew I know, whenever my Psyche is riled up, that I have to write about it.
00:23:27.760 --> 00:23:36.529 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: Got you, Gotcha. So so a true spirit of a writer inhabits that body. It's when something bothers you. You got to write about it. I love that I love that
00:23:38.530 --> 00:23:49.470 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: so. But when you sat down to write this book, did you look for other literature around this, or did you just kind of connect. And say, let me just pour this out on onto the paper.
00:23:49.680 --> 00:24:02.180 kamla kapur: You know I don't connect with literature because I don't want to feel that something has been done before without, you know, I want to go with my passion and my thrust.
00:24:02.950 --> 00:24:10.119 kamla kapur: I want to. But I do read throughout the process of right
00:24:10.560 --> 00:24:31.760 kamla kapur: book, because, you know, reading is one of the pillars of writing you get inspired. You know. I was reading an article in the New Yorker by Mcphee, John Mcphee, and he had written a piece about
00:24:31.760 --> 00:24:44.880 kamla kapur: called Volume One, where he was talking about his old age project. And so I said, Okay, I'm going to make this book my age old, my, you know, aging project.
00:24:45.860 --> 00:24:56.599 kamla kapur: And so so there are all sorts of once you decide and commit yourself to writing a book, all sorts of inspiration come into you because
00:24:57.060 --> 00:25:02.869 kamla kapur: you you know you're turning towards the universe for help.
00:25:03.010 --> 00:25:08.490 kamla kapur: and you're saying, you know, help me with this project. Help me write this, and
00:25:08.650 --> 00:25:13.800 kamla kapur: and the universe did. It's like the book flowed out of me, you know.
00:25:13.800 --> 00:25:14.580 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: I see.
00:25:14.860 --> 00:25:25.620 kamla kapur: Obviously every every book and writing project takes its measure of labor.
00:25:25.850 --> 00:25:43.719 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: And I apologize. I have not had a chance to read the book yet. I did skim through it, but but I just wanted to ask you about, like, just the structure of it is this kind of a chronological structure like like, how did you organize it with all these.
00:25:43.720 --> 00:25:44.100 kamla kapur: Different.
00:25:44.100 --> 00:25:45.120 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: Connectors.
00:25:45.120 --> 00:25:54.790 kamla kapur: It's not chronological at all, because the mind doesn't work that way. And actually, if we realize it, the universe doesn't work that way.
00:25:54.790 --> 00:25:55.420 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: Yes.
00:25:56.050 --> 00:26:21.360 kamla kapur: You know we live in our minds where time is jumbled, but yet connected with other associations. So I just went with that the book moves forward and backwards. And I've heard from a lot of readers that it is coherent despite that shift of
00:26:21.360 --> 00:26:28.500 kamla kapur: it's the way my mind works. So the structure. I basically.
00:26:28.930 --> 00:26:39.089 kamla kapur: when I 1st started writing this book and I haven't done this before with my other projects, I just started journaling about my aging. You know.
00:26:39.090 --> 00:26:39.700 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: Oh!
00:26:39.700 --> 00:26:50.419 kamla kapur: I do? I do regular journaling. I find this very helpful for my life. And then I saw the book emerging out of my journals.
00:26:50.420 --> 00:26:51.130 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: And.
00:26:51.500 --> 00:26:58.240 kamla kapur: And then I turned to the book and I began writing it. And it just yeah.
00:26:58.650 --> 00:27:00.619 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: Yeah, wonderful. Wonderful.
00:27:00.620 --> 00:27:02.420 kamla kapur: Flowered, flowered.
00:27:02.420 --> 00:27:03.850 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: Yeah, yeah.
00:27:04.070 --> 00:27:12.629 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: did you have any challenges in writing the book? Was there any part of it of the writing process that was difficult for you?
00:27:13.360 --> 00:27:26.360 kamla kapur: Yes, it was very difficult, in the sense that I wanted to be utterly naked, utterly vulnerable, and utterly honest and open about my life and the events in it.
00:27:26.480 --> 00:27:38.740 kamla kapur: So a part of me questioned that is this narcissistic? Is this exhibitionistic? And the answer came to me
00:27:38.930 --> 00:27:45.109 kamla kapur: that it wasn't. I just have to go with my heart, and I have to reveal myself.
00:27:45.340 --> 00:27:53.239 kamla kapur: and I'm very glad I did it, because, the feedback I'm getting on the book is that it is.
00:27:53.620 --> 00:27:58.859 kamla kapur: People connect with it because of its honesty and vulnerability.
00:27:58.990 --> 00:27:59.610 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: Hmm.
00:27:59.950 --> 00:28:00.505 kamla kapur: So
00:28:01.280 --> 00:28:09.720 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: Was there anything in the process of writing the book and the things that got revealed through your writing process that surprised you?
00:28:11.090 --> 00:28:19.479 kamla kapur: Well, what really surprised me is, and I want to go back to your question about regrets in life.
00:28:19.960 --> 00:28:20.440 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: Okay.
00:28:20.440 --> 00:28:38.009 kamla kapur: You know, and I read a news article about a chaplain who talks in hospice, who talks with people who are dying, and he says there is a lot of regret at the end of life
00:28:38.190 --> 00:28:38.730 kamla kapur: and
00:28:38.730 --> 00:28:57.080 kamla kapur: things you didn't do things you did wrong things you're ashamed about, you know, about not being kind enough to people. You see, all of those and all my regrets came pouring out, and the regrets
00:28:57.530 --> 00:29:06.170 kamla kapur: after they'd been poured out, I realized that I don't want to die like one of those people who are full of bread.
00:29:06.510 --> 00:29:15.940 kamla kapur: It was a conscious decision. So what I had to do. I had to come to terms with my regrets.
00:29:16.500 --> 00:29:30.249 kamla kapur: and I'll give you an example. My biggest regret in life is that my father, who loved me unconditionally, and who I adored, you know, was dying in India, and I was in America, and
00:29:31.100 --> 00:29:42.760 kamla kapur: I was working towards the publicity of my 1st book. Ganesha goes to lunch, and he said, Why don't you come home? I don't know how I'm feeling, and I
00:29:43.450 --> 00:29:44.730 kamla kapur: ignored him.
00:29:45.010 --> 00:29:47.830 kamla kapur: I thought that I would.
00:29:48.070 --> 00:29:52.459 kamla kapur: He would survive because I was planning to go back in about a month.
00:29:54.010 --> 00:29:55.230 kamla kapur: And he didn't.
00:29:55.740 --> 00:29:57.190 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: Oh!
00:29:57.190 --> 00:30:02.810 kamla kapur: And that has been a real thorn in my heart.
00:30:03.000 --> 00:30:03.790 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: Yeah.
00:30:03.790 --> 00:30:09.940 kamla kapur: That has been a very deep wound that I haven't been able to heal.
00:30:10.110 --> 00:30:20.119 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: But in the process of writing this book, and after I'd written it I realized that I have to stay with the love that we shared
00:30:21.190 --> 00:30:24.159 kamla kapur: You know that he loved me.
00:30:24.290 --> 00:30:25.909 kamla kapur: I loved him
00:30:26.640 --> 00:30:39.410 kamla kapur: whenever we met, and were close, and even when we were not close the love was carried through over countenance, and I want to live with that.
00:30:39.780 --> 00:30:44.679 kamla kapur: and I do live with that and what it has brought back for me.
00:30:45.230 --> 00:30:49.539 kamla kapur: It's a love that continues beyond his death.
00:30:49.940 --> 00:30:50.720 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: Hmm.
00:30:50.720 --> 00:30:56.400 kamla kapur: Because the regret was obscuring my love for him and his love for me.
00:30:58.220 --> 00:30:59.410 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: I see.
00:30:59.560 --> 00:31:13.930 kamla kapur: So when you regret at the end of life about I didn't do this. I did. That I was bad, you know, is that you have to focus on all the things that were right that worked out.
00:31:14.150 --> 00:31:14.940 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: And.
00:31:15.440 --> 00:31:28.989 kamla kapur: You know, focus is everything I write about focus in privilege of aging, because you have to have a perspective that makes life
00:31:30.030 --> 00:31:31.590 kamla kapur: worth living.
00:31:32.640 --> 00:31:33.940 kamla kapur: And worse.
00:31:35.790 --> 00:31:41.890 kamla kapur: The tremendous value that life is, the tremendous gift that life is.
00:31:42.140 --> 00:31:44.990 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: Yeah, absolutely absolutely.
00:31:45.420 --> 00:31:50.680 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: All right, Kamala. I want to take a quick break here. When we come back.
00:31:50.900 --> 00:31:57.070 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: I want to dive into a little bit of the book, and and
00:31:57.300 --> 00:32:12.630 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: how people can use the book to serve them when they're having challenges dealing with getting older and and maybe talk about. You know some of the things that you discovered in writing this book that you think can really help people in this process. Okay.
00:32:12.630 --> 00:32:13.670 kamla kapur: All right.
00:32:13.670 --> 00:32:27.860 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: Wonderful. So everyone, please stay tuned. You're listening to the conscious consultant hour awakening humanity. We're speaking this hour with Kamlo Kapoor, author of the book the privilege of aging, and we'll be right back in just a moment.
00:34:04.582 --> 00:34:06.720 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: So, Kamala, when
00:34:06.960 --> 00:34:14.369 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: when you were writing this book, and you were really kind of pouring your heart out on the paper about your struggles in dealing with aging.
00:34:14.510 --> 00:34:17.030 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: I'm sure you must have found
00:34:17.170 --> 00:34:22.420 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: some universal or very common things. I mean, we talked about regrets.
00:34:22.540 --> 00:34:44.580 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: I'm probably going to get back to it a little later, because I have a question around that. But I'm curious, like what kinds of things that came up for you that you found in talking to friends and relatives, besides, regret are very common, or like, what are our real challenges around dealing with aging? And what can we do about those challenges?
00:34:45.210 --> 00:34:48.309 kamla kapur: You know everything about aging is challenging.
00:34:48.780 --> 00:34:53.989 kamla kapur: And we cannot shove aside the challenges of aging.
00:34:54.763 --> 00:35:00.019 kamla kapur: You know the body weakens, the mind weakens, but
00:35:00.140 --> 00:35:10.680 kamla kapur: I think that there are many. I don't think I know that there are many ways to pull ourselves up
00:35:10.930 --> 00:35:19.179 kamla kapur: from all our downs. And I talk about many techniques, many, many spiritual
00:35:19.924 --> 00:35:35.170 kamla kapur: and physical techniques that we can use to overcome not only the challenge of aging, but all the challenges in our life. For example, the the techniques
00:35:35.510 --> 00:35:37.520 kamla kapur: breathing deeply.
00:35:37.920 --> 00:35:38.410 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: Yeah.
00:35:38.410 --> 00:35:46.240 kamla kapur: Techniques of turning towards the Spirit. I think turning towards the spirit is the single, most
00:35:46.420 --> 00:36:04.350 kamla kapur: requirement throughout our lives. But the imperative becomes even more as we age, because that is where we have. Our hearts have lived all our lives, and that is what we are moving towards.
00:36:05.080 --> 00:36:10.449 kamla kapur: We are moving towards. You know the invisible
00:36:11.102 --> 00:36:35.520 kamla kapur: the non-material. the soul beyond the body, through the body, I would say. You know our body is an embodiment of soul, and our bodies also instruct us. We have to pay a lot of attention to our bodies needs, for example.
00:36:36.350 --> 00:36:59.409 kamla kapur: our body's needs for for exercise, for meditation, for resting, for sleeping, for connecting with people. When we are feeling down, for having a community for turning towards love. I have to tell you that. You know not. My love
00:36:59.540 --> 00:37:13.849 kamla kapur: has grown for my husband and his for me has grown, I would say, a hundredfold in the last few years, because we've both become aware that our time is limited with each other.
00:37:14.280 --> 00:37:17.640 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: Yeah, yeah, absolutely. Absolutely.
00:37:17.850 --> 00:37:30.820 kamla kapur: You know. So so turning towards love, opening ourselves up to love? Because how can we open ourselves up to love, to refrain from judgment of the other.
00:37:31.220 --> 00:37:31.620 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: Hmm.
00:37:31.620 --> 00:37:35.900 kamla kapur: To not live, not expecting others to be clones of us.
00:37:36.730 --> 00:37:46.820 kamla kapur: Recognizing that they are different from you, honoring that difference, loving them for their difference, and.
00:37:47.390 --> 00:37:50.540 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: One of the I'm I'm sorry. Go ahead.
00:37:50.540 --> 00:37:55.630 kamla kapur: And knowing that love is the most important thing in life absolutely
00:37:55.790 --> 00:37:59.919 kamla kapur: without. Compare. It's the most important thing in life.
00:38:00.040 --> 00:38:05.543 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: Loving dog, loving your sister, your mother, whoever right? Right?
00:38:07.230 --> 00:38:09.389 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: One of the things I've I've heard
00:38:09.510 --> 00:38:19.470 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: people who talk about healthy aging that seems to be a real key is community.
00:38:19.940 --> 00:38:24.820 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: It's it's having people to connect with. And as we get older, right, we
00:38:25.070 --> 00:38:31.649 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: we lose people, you know, friends pass away, move.
00:38:31.780 --> 00:38:36.759 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: and sometimes our world starts to get smaller.
00:38:39.270 --> 00:38:40.339 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: How do we?
00:38:40.630 --> 00:38:48.160 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: How do we counteract, or or how do we show up in a way that we can.
00:38:48.602 --> 00:38:53.119 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: Not not have our world get smaller, but get bigger as we get older.
00:38:53.720 --> 00:38:58.119 kamla kapur: Yes, the world does get smaller
00:38:58.310 --> 00:39:06.499 kamla kapur: like you said, our relationships fall away. We don't have energy for too many relationships.
00:39:06.940 --> 00:39:10.480 kamla kapur: So you know, so we only keep the best.
00:39:10.750 --> 00:39:17.390 kamla kapur: and we don't push ourselves or go in directions.
00:39:17.720 --> 00:39:23.919 kamla kapur: pursue people with whom there is no love connection.
00:39:24.190 --> 00:39:35.249 kamla kapur: So there is, there is that, and I personally like my world, getting smaller because I'm a hermit at heart.
00:39:35.420 --> 00:39:37.690 kamla kapur: you know, but
00:39:38.100 --> 00:39:47.719 kamla kapur: I also recognize, and I've also experienced that there are times in my life when I have had an urge for community
00:39:48.310 --> 00:39:49.150 kamla kapur: so
00:39:49.680 --> 00:40:02.160 kamla kapur: to recognize that need to recognize it at the moment. At the moment I'm feeling isolated, and at the moment I'm feeling disconnected. I want.
00:40:02.160 --> 00:40:02.610 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: Welcome!
00:40:02.610 --> 00:40:11.130 kamla kapur: I want companionship. That is the moment to take charge of your life. Call up a friend.
00:40:11.920 --> 00:40:17.080 kamla kapur: and don't just chit chat. Share your soul with them.
00:40:17.240 --> 00:40:23.769 kamla kapur: You know those are the kind of friends I like to have people I can share my soul with, and people who can
00:40:24.613 --> 00:40:29.380 kamla kapur: help me advise me. Give me a new perspective on it.
00:40:29.840 --> 00:40:35.080 kamla kapur: That's most important thing about relationships, because you get
00:40:35.310 --> 00:40:59.109 kamla kapur: a new perspective on what you're going through. Sometimes you get so bogged down by what you're going through, that you lack the perspective. And of course, meditation, breathing, stretching. All of this gives us a new perspective as well. But to stay connected. Actually, I've stayed.
00:40:59.240 --> 00:41:09.999 kamla kapur: I've developed more friends as I've aged, and only those friends who I feel that I can share some part of myself with.
00:41:10.520 --> 00:41:20.219 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: Yeah, yeah, my mom, God rest. Her soul was amazing in that. She always loved talking to people.
00:41:20.500 --> 00:41:27.270 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: and at 91 she moved to Israel to be closer to my sister and my sister's children.
00:41:27.770 --> 00:41:31.850 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: and she moved into assisted living facility in Jerusalem.
00:41:32.480 --> 00:41:36.289 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: and she lived until she was 99 and a half.
00:41:36.910 --> 00:41:44.130 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: and I believe that part of the reason why she lived that much longer was because
00:41:44.260 --> 00:42:00.760 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: 1st at 91 moving to a totally different country, and she didn't speak Hebrew. She spoke Yiddish, but she didn't speak Hebrew. There's something about doing something different, moving yourself out of your comfort zone, out of your typical environment.
00:42:01.080 --> 00:42:16.599 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: But then, meeting new people, being invited to people's homes for dinner and and making these new connections, I think really, in a way, gave her a new lease on life, and gave her the energy to keep going.
00:42:17.182 --> 00:42:21.339 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: Do you find that something that that when people
00:42:21.833 --> 00:42:29.470 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: when they're older, but but they kind of force themselves out of just their typical daily routine and do something different.
00:42:29.860 --> 00:42:30.610 kamla kapur: Yes, you just.
00:42:30.610 --> 00:42:31.839 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: That actually helps.
00:42:32.040 --> 00:42:51.210 kamla kapur: Absolutely. I don't think you need to force yourself. I think you just need to be aware, for example, that you're feeling isolated and cut off, and that there is something you can do about it. But I don't have any family in America.
00:42:52.100 --> 00:43:15.870 kamla kapur: but my husband and I have been commuting back and forth from India, where my family is you know, 6 months out of every year, except last year, when I was unwell and I couldn't travel, and during the pandemic we didn't go. But you know that gives me 6 months of connection.
00:43:16.610 --> 00:43:41.409 kamla kapur: Family time of current time. You know all the things I don't have in my life of help of, you know, just the environment of being with people who speak my language, who you know, and and friends. So I think it's it's it's quite important to stay connected.
00:43:43.140 --> 00:43:58.699 kamla kapur: We have to move towards it. I mean, if there are days and weeks when I don't want to connect with anyone, and I just want to stay holed up and write, then I indulge in that also. And so, you know.
00:43:58.810 --> 00:44:03.420 kamla kapur: old age is about being more and more free.
00:44:03.420 --> 00:44:09.799 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: Hmm, yeah, there's an old expression that the older you get, the less you care about what other people think.
00:44:09.990 --> 00:44:14.990 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: So when we care less about what other people think. Then we're more free to do what we want to do.
00:44:14.990 --> 00:44:16.770 kamla kapur: Exactly, exactly.
00:44:16.770 --> 00:44:17.370 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: I mean.
00:44:17.370 --> 00:44:30.129 kamla kapur: And and and we we can't live our lives through others. Dictations, you know other. It destroys your soul.
00:44:30.130 --> 00:44:55.690 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: Yeah, absolutely, absolutely. Okay, Kamala, we need to take one last commercial break. And when we come back I do have a couple of more questions. I would love to know some of the reactions. Also, you've gotten from your book since it's been out, and hopefully, we have a little bit of time at the end. I would love to hear about what are the next book or 2 that you've already written? That will be coming out. Okay.
00:44:56.010 --> 00:44:56.950 kamla kapur: All right.
00:44:57.010 --> 00:45:11.990 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: Wonderful. Everyone. Please stay tuned. You're listening to the conscious consultant hour awakening humanity. We've been speaking this hour with Kamala Kapoor, author of the book the privilege of aging, and we'll be right back to tie it all up in just a moment.
00:46:52.790 --> 00:47:01.229 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: Kamala, I want to ask you about one particular chapter I noticed in the book titled Preparing for death.
00:47:01.640 --> 00:47:03.530 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: How do we prepare for death?
00:47:03.530 --> 00:47:06.670 kamla kapur: That's a very important question.
00:47:08.180 --> 00:47:32.580 kamla kapur: I practiced many techniques to prepare for death. You know I was very sick last year, and I didn't know if I was going to make it so. I was confronted with my own death, and I didn't want to be fearful. I didn't want to go towards it with a lot of you know. Oh, my God! I might die, you know. So I started what I called rehearsing for death.
00:47:33.500 --> 00:47:34.149 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: Thank you.
00:47:34.150 --> 00:47:40.859 kamla kapur: Is, I would lie down, and I still do that. When I'm feeling unwell
00:47:41.040 --> 00:47:54.469 kamla kapur: I lie down in the Shavasana, which is the corpse position in Yogic system. You lie down flat on your back, with your hands by your sides, palms up, open.
00:47:54.610 --> 00:47:57.069 kamla kapur: and you
00:47:58.930 --> 00:48:11.320 kamla kapur: Rehearse the moment where you let your soul slip out of your body and go into another adventure and go towards
00:48:11.867 --> 00:48:41.160 kamla kapur: the spirit world go towards, you know, and I read a lot of books on near death experiences and life after life. Because, you know, Elizabeth Kubler-ross, Moody, and and it they were. They are very inspiring, and they are they? They let you know that you know death is not the end. And and in fact, there are many people who have experienced
00:48:42.540 --> 00:49:05.959 kamla kapur: you know the afterlife, even though briefly, and can articulate it. That gives us hope. So that is, that is another way to go, and there are so many, many in my life and in others lives. Instances like my mother said. Before she died, she said, I dreamt I died, and.
00:49:05.960 --> 00:49:06.560 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: And I'm.
00:49:06.560 --> 00:49:14.120 kamla kapur: Looking down on the family, crying and weeping, and I couldn't understand why, because I felt so happy.
00:49:14.120 --> 00:49:16.120 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: Hmm, you know.
00:49:16.240 --> 00:49:16.970 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: Yeah.
00:49:17.150 --> 00:49:31.400 kamla kapur: So it's the mindset to rehearse your death. It's the looking forward to something that may be vaster than something you've ever experienced before.
00:49:32.109 --> 00:49:40.140 kamla kapur: It is trusting the universe that whatever life and death brings us is good.
00:49:40.410 --> 00:49:41.030 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: Hmm.
00:49:41.030 --> 00:49:47.149 kamla kapur: You know. So there are many techniques that one can practice.
00:49:47.410 --> 00:49:51.119 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: So so it sounds like these techniques can help us to.
00:49:51.690 --> 00:49:54.120 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: I want to say, die more consciously.
00:49:54.320 --> 00:50:00.310 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: like, actually consciously decide. Okay, I think I'm done in this body. I'm going to step out of it now.
00:50:00.640 --> 00:50:20.989 kamla kapur: Yes, you know, I think that sometimes we have a choice, and sometimes we don't. Sometimes we get smashed in a car accident without so. But if you are fortunate to die in your own home in your bed, then I and I, and I think you have to put the wish out there that
00:50:21.640 --> 00:50:29.069 kamla kapur: you know. That's how I want to die. I don't want to die in a hospital bed. I want to die at home.
00:50:29.960 --> 00:50:50.020 kamla kapur: And who knows if that will come about? But if I put it out there, it may happen. Who knows? I believe I believe the universe is very sympathetic with the human heart. There's a deep connection, a very deep connection between
00:50:50.210 --> 00:50:57.380 kamla kapur: us and what we put out into the universe. We gets returned back to us.
00:50:57.550 --> 00:50:58.350 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: Hmm.
00:50:58.470 --> 00:51:04.919 kamla kapur: So, you know, to be positive to have a positive attitude about our dying.
00:51:04.920 --> 00:51:05.880 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: You know.
00:51:05.880 --> 00:51:19.479 kamla kapur: To be fearful, just makes our lives so difficult, and does not allow ourselves to profit from the consciousness and the awareness of death.
00:51:20.040 --> 00:51:22.470 kamla kapur: You know, because we can't profit by it.
00:51:22.470 --> 00:51:24.590 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: Absolutely, absolutely.
00:51:24.590 --> 00:51:48.409 kamla kapur: Like the growth and love the growth and beauty. We've just come back from Hawaii, and I realized that you know this might be the last time I'm seeing I saw Mount Kilauea erupting, and it was like, My God! Thank you for letting me experience this, and I may never experience this again. Thank you for letting me be in the in the water and
00:51:48.410 --> 00:51:54.769 kamla kapur: watching whales, you know. So it just it heightens life.
00:51:54.770 --> 00:51:55.270 kamla kapur: My.
00:51:55.270 --> 00:51:55.860 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: The way.
00:51:55.860 --> 00:52:03.660 kamla kapur: That I may end soon, just heightens my life, makes it intenser, makes it more joyous.
00:52:03.660 --> 00:52:06.680 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: Yeah, yeah, it makes it more precious. Right?
00:52:06.930 --> 00:52:07.825 kamla kapur: Absolutely
00:52:09.820 --> 00:52:17.400 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: In the last several years I've met more people, and I've had friends become death dealers who help
00:52:17.620 --> 00:52:23.920 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: not just the the individual, but the family prepare for someone's death.
00:52:26.330 --> 00:52:29.199 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: And do you have any recommendations around how
00:52:29.420 --> 00:52:36.310 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: we can open up the conversation around death because it's not something that most people are comfortable talking about
00:52:36.946 --> 00:52:38.930 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: yet. It's something that
00:52:39.040 --> 00:52:46.089 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: if we talk about a little bit more before it's imminent, that we can actually be better prepared for it.
00:52:47.060 --> 00:52:55.740 kamla kapur: You know. I think death dealers are a good way to go, and I don't think you have to wait till you're dying.
00:52:56.367 --> 00:53:18.620 kamla kapur: To get a death, Doodle, if you find yourself being afraid, or if you find yourself thinking that you know now everything's going to finish, and that's going to be that, and I'm going to be, you know, dust to dust, etc. And you know, if thinking like that doesn't bring any kind of joy. So.
00:53:18.620 --> 00:53:19.080 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: I mean.
00:53:19.080 --> 00:53:43.069 kamla kapur: I like to believe in things that make me hopeful and positive and positive, because, you know, they're all perspectives. Dust into dust is a perspective. It's a philosophy, you know. We don't know that. And and my thinking that death will be a great experience for me is also speculative. But it.
00:53:43.070 --> 00:53:44.140 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: Next week.
00:53:44.140 --> 00:53:46.990 kamla kapur: Makes me happier than the other alternative.
00:53:46.990 --> 00:53:47.860 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: Yeah.
00:53:47.860 --> 00:54:14.549 kamla kapur: You know so, and I think, like I have talked about, and I continue to talk about my death in my other books as well that. And and there's a chapter on in this book also about Socrates, and how he went to his death joyously. For example, you know. So I've I have mentioned all of that in the book, and I think that that might help readers
00:54:14.700 --> 00:54:20.479 kamla kapur: to confront their own inevitable end. There's no getting around it.
00:54:20.480 --> 00:54:30.200 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: Yeah, I remember hearing back when I was in college, how medieval philosophers used to keep a human skull on their desk
00:54:30.310 --> 00:54:39.619 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: so that they could look at it, and they could contemplate death every day, so that it can help them to live more, live more fully each day.
00:54:39.620 --> 00:55:05.290 kamla kapur: You know the Buddhists drink out of a skull they have. They drink out of a skull because and they prepared actually all their lives for death, you know they will spend 2 or 3 months making a mandala out of ground up precious stones, painstakingly beautiful, and then, when they're done, they sweep it.
00:55:05.530 --> 00:55:12.739 kamla kapur: they sweep it and carry the the swept pieces to the river and consign it to the river.
00:55:12.890 --> 00:55:18.740 kamla kapur: and that is a way of of living.
00:55:18.740 --> 00:55:22.530 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: Yeah, of being mindful of the impermanence of everything.
00:55:22.530 --> 00:55:23.660 kamla kapur: Exactly.
00:55:23.930 --> 00:55:25.790 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: Yeah, absolutely.
00:55:26.150 --> 00:55:34.519 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: So what do you hope people come away with after they've read your book like, what are you hoping? When someone
00:55:34.680 --> 00:55:41.040 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: sees this book. They get curious about the title. They pick it up and they read it. What do you want them to really take away from the book.
00:55:41.580 --> 00:55:44.629 kamla kapur: I want to take. I want them to take away.
00:55:46.890 --> 00:56:06.939 kamla kapur: not only like, you know, a list of things, but I would like them to enjoy reading the book because a lot of people who've read it have said they couldn't put it down because it's so honest, and it's so open, and it discusses so many things through
00:56:07.360 --> 00:56:11.380 kamla kapur: my example. I am the example that I give
00:56:11.810 --> 00:56:35.290 kamla kapur: for all my philosophy. It's not an empty philosophy, it is. I've given flesh to philosophy and my own life, and I'd like them to know that there are many ways that we can negotiate our depressions and our fears and our regrets.
00:56:35.340 --> 00:56:42.310 kamla kapur: You know that there are ways of getting over it. All you need is the desire to want to get over it.
00:56:42.520 --> 00:56:43.160 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: And to.
00:56:43.160 --> 00:56:48.600 kamla kapur: And, you know, to live with regret is a very painful way to live.
00:56:48.600 --> 00:56:49.060 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: Yeah.
00:56:49.060 --> 00:57:19.019 kamla kapur: And and to live with depression and despair is also a very, very painful way to exist. I want them to know that there are ways of thinking, of being that can help us to negotiate the difficulties of life and the difficulties, not only of aging, but the challenges of
00:57:19.360 --> 00:57:23.309 kamla kapur: all the challenges of our life from any age. You know.
00:57:25.085 --> 00:57:35.640 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: You mentioned before that you've written one or 2 manuscripts that haven't gotten published yet since this book came out. What are your next books about?
00:57:35.900 --> 00:57:54.319 kamla kapur: Well. The 1st book that I've completed is called Corona Cocoon Chronicles, which is about the pandemic, and my life through the pandemic which follows, which is actually, I consider the volume 2 of privilege of aging
00:57:54.320 --> 00:58:06.680 kamla kapur: continues in the same vein, except that the circumstances of my life have changed during the pandemic. So everything I do in the 1st book are also in the second book.
00:58:07.640 --> 00:58:18.869 kamla kapur: And the 3rd book that I'm completing I'm on the last couple of chapters is called A Journey of Self-discovery.
00:58:18.870 --> 00:58:40.170 kamla kapur: with Nanak and Nanak Guru. Nanak is the founder of Sikhism, and he is my Guru. In fact, I know that I'm his descendant. I'm his 16th generation descendant. There are many people who are descendants of his. But I take my descend
00:58:40.270 --> 00:58:41.780 kamla kapur: very seriously.
00:58:43.230 --> 00:58:43.760 kamla kapur: Oh.
00:58:43.760 --> 00:58:45.139 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: Wonderful, wonderful.
00:58:45.140 --> 00:59:04.760 kamla kapur: And I talk about that also, and I talk about how his philosophy has helped me. During last year's illness. I was writing the book, and suddenly I fell ill, and I realized that the universe was providing me fodder for the book. My illness was just
00:59:05.357 --> 00:59:14.309 kamla kapur: material for the book. So again I give flesh to Nanak's philosophy, and how he helped me negotiate my illness.
00:59:14.720 --> 00:59:38.949 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: Wonderful. Well, when that book comes out I would love to have you come back on the show and talk about it hopefully next year you're still with us. I'm praying for, because someone with your wisdom and your experience is a valuable soul to have on this planet, especially at this time. So let's keep in touch. And and when that book comes out, let's let's have another conversation. Okay.
00:59:39.120 --> 00:59:40.810 kamla kapur: Definitely Sam.
00:59:40.810 --> 00:59:57.500 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: All right. Wonderful, Kamala. Thank you so much. I so appreciate you taking your precious time to come on my show today. It was a pleasure having you, and I really honor your honesty, your bravery, your vulnerability, and the work that you're still doing, even in your golden years, as they say.
00:59:58.520 --> 01:00:03.280 kamla kapur: Thank you, Sam, for having me and giving me this opportunity to speak about my book. Thank.
01:00:03.280 --> 01:00:22.649 Sam Liebowitz | The Conscious Consultant: You're welcome. You're welcome, and of course, thank you, my loyal listeners, for tuning in every week. Remember, if you missed any part of today's show, you can always catch the replay on talkradio dot Nyc or any of the podcasting platforms. Thank you all. So much for tuning in. We will talk to you all next week.
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