Log in or sign
up to watch the full discussion. After a near-fatal accident left him with a spinal cord injury, Kabir Kadre recounts his near-death experience and the life-defining moment he was asked: “Do you want to be alive or dead?” What unfolds is a profound dialogue on death as spiritual
practice, the ordinary art of awakening, and the sacred responsibility that comes with choosing life again — not just for the self, but in service to all beings. What happens when death becomes your teacher, instead of your fear? In this continuation of their earlier dialogue
, Kimberley Lafferty welcomes back spiritual teacher Kabir Kadre for a profound exploration of death, dying, and the awakening that can follow. From tantric death meditations to near-death experiences (NDEs), this episode weaves together intimate storytelling, esoteric practice, and clear-eyed insight into the deathless nature of awareness. Kabir shares two near-death experiences — one physical, one existential — that radically altered his relationship to identity, impermanence, and meaning. In the first, he’s met with a simple, transcendent choice: “Do you want to be alive or dead?” The second comes not through injury, but despair — a moment when death seems preferable to life in a system that offers so little care for disabled bodies. It’s here that Kabir receives a deeper call — not just to survive, but to serve; not just to live, but to embody the dharma in full accountability to all beings. What unfolds is a beautiful meditation on what it means to say yes to life — again and again — as a devotional act. Together, Kimberley and Kabir reflect on the wisdom of the Tibetan tradition, the subtle body
realms, the raw ordinariness of awareness, and the sacred necessity of teachers and lineage. Whether you’ve danced at the edge of death or are simply seeking to live more fully, this conversation offers a clear transmission: There is a Self that does not die — and you can know it before you leave this body.
Death isn’t the end — it’s the doorway to who you always already are.
We fear death because we mistake the relative self for the real one. But the awareness that sees your thoughts, memories, and name is timeless — it was here before your ancestors, and it remains after your story dissolves. Practice dying before you die, and you’ll wake up to the deathless self already living you.
There is no ‘later’ — death lives between you and every postponement.
We convince ourselves we’ll live more fully later — after the job, after the healing, after the breakthrough. But the time of death is uncertain, and the invitation to live is now. If death is always possible in the next moment, what becomes most urgent is loving, serving, and being awake in this one.
The profound is hidden in the ordinary.
Awakening doesn’t require escaping into transcendent realms. It means noticing that the snowstorm, your coffee cup, or a runny nose are all arising in the same awareness that spiritual traditions call divine. Enlightenment
isn’t “out there” — it’s right here, scratched and sipped and lived.
Real spiritual practice is relational, embodied, and accountable.
It’s not about ascending above suffering or self. It’s about meeting what arises with fierce compassion and clear seeing. The most awakened beings don’t avoid life’s complexity — they show up for it, scratch the itch, pay the bills, care for the sick, and grieve what’s lost.
Death is always already here — and that makes every moment sacred.
The proximity of death isn’t tragic. It’s clarifying. Every breath might be your last. Every moment is an unrepeatable gift. This is what makes life worth living—not in spite of death, but because of it.