Live Beautifully, Die Beautifully

A luminous guide to aging, illness, and loss—field-tested Zen wisdom rooted in the core teaching of the Five Remembrances, offering intimate life stories that show us how to live with clarity, courage, and compassion

These are field notes from a life lived in radical presence. In this tender, deeply insightful book, a Buddhist nun who has spent decades living a life of contemplation offers a compassionate, practical, profoundly human exploration of the Five Remembrances, core Zen meditations that transform fear into freedom and empower us to meet aging, sickness, and death with grounded grace. Writing from the edge of impermanence—where illness, aging, and loss reveal what matters most—Sister Dang Nghiem meets readers in the raw places where change becomes unavoidable and illuminates how impermanence becomes an invitation to live more intentionally, honestly, and beautifully. 

• Mindfulness practices for fear, grief, anxiety, and physical pain
• Ground-truthed stories of healing, loss, insight, and transformation
• Ways to cultivate fearlessness and live beautifully in each moment, caring for the body as a spiritual practice

With spare language and a keen understanding of life's vulnerability, the author accompanies readers through life’s thresholds as they navigate uncertainty, grief, and the universal questions: How do I live well? How do I love well? How do I die without regret?"Sister Dang Nghiem integrates the neuroscience of trauma, effective treatments, and the penetrating insights of mindfulness training. She writes with such clarity and heart that you feel comforted and supported by her presence on every page.”
—Rick Hanson, PhD, author of Buddha's Brain: The Practical Neuroscience of Happiness, Love, and Wisdom

“While Nghiem’s techniques can be valuable to anyone seeking personal growth or comfort for pain, those who have experienced severe traumas will find those treated here with sensitivity and compassion, and may find reasons to hope.”
—Publishers Weekly
Sister Dang Nghiem is a disciple of the revered Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh. After losing her mother at the age of twelve, she moved to the United States with her brother at the age of seventeen, where she learned English and went on to earn a medical degree from the University of California-San Francisco. After suffering further tragedy and the loss of her partner, she quit her practice as a doctor to travel to Plum Village monastery in France, founded by Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh, where she ordained as a nun in 2000. Her writing draws on her unique experiences as a physician, a nun, and an individual navigating diverse worlds. She is the author of four books: a memoir, Healing: A Woman's Journey from Doctor to Nun (2010), Mindfulness as Medicine: A Story of Healing and Spirit (2015), Flowers in the Dark: Reclaiming Your Power to Heal from Trauma with Mindfulness (2021), and The River in Me: Verses of Transformation (2024).