In an interview before his passing, Centering Prayer pioneer Fr. Thomas Keating shared his thoughts on dying to encourage others to engage the “small deaths” of contemplation:
Most of our troubles are in the brain. Those are the habits of thinking that are unquestioned, or that have been habits of years. When the brain dies, all of the background material and context, or the unconscious [and other] influences, everything is gone. So for the first time in our conscious life, we can make a totally free choice. If that choice is made in the presence of God, there’s only one answer, that one will plunge into that immensity of love, irresistibly.
What is separating us from God, primarily, is the thought that we’re separated from God. When that dies, there’s no more separation, is there? That’s my reasoning….
[Death is] the exchange of energy that is not well-known to us yet, but there are lots of breakthroughs. There’s a doctrine in the Catholic communion at least, which is called the communion of saints, which means that the difference of those who have gone before us and us is probably very small, and that there’s a constant interaction perhaps going on, more clear in some people. The fact that one’s loved one dies isn’t the end at all, it’s just a call for a new relationship, somewhat like the death of one of our roles is an invitation to form a new relationship, and a new role that is more mature.