The Five Remembrances Buddha urged his disciples to meditate upon the five remembrances. When I first heard them, I thought, Wow! This is harsh! But I shouldn’t have been surprised; they are straightforward reminders of the teaching of impermanence. Here is Buddhist teacher Thich Nhat Hanh’s translation.  I am of the nature to grow old. [...]

Thich Nhat Hanh on Dying...and Living For more from Thich Nhat Hanh, who passed away on January 22, 2022, see his author page with books, audiobooks, cards, as well as anthologies where his teachings are included. Becoming Truly Alive What would you do if your doctor told you that you only had three months to [...]

Buddhist End-of-Life Care An excerpt from Living Is Dying What can we do for our dying loved ones, especially if they are not spiritually minded, let alone Buddhist? Does encouraging the dying and the dead to take refuge and arouse bodhichitta really help? And can non-Buddhists understand the bardo teachings? These are very good questions. Confidence [...]

“I don’t think I can do this!” Excerpt from Present Through the End “I don’t think I can do this!” Perhaps this was the first thought that went through your mind when you heard the sad news and you are about to visit for the first time. That’s okay. Most of the time, by simply [...]

Guiding Questions Introduction Inspired by decades of experience caring for the dying and years teaching contemplative care around the world, Kirsten DeLeo shares down-to-earth advice and offers short, simple, on-the-spot tools to help you handle your emotions, deal with difficult relationships, talk about spiritual matters, listen fully, and practice self-care. Present Through the End shows [...]

Caring as a Practice of Mindfulness An excerpt from Contemplative Caregiving “In the beginner’s mind there are many possibilities, but in the expert’s there are few.” This pithy teaching from Shunryu Suzuki’s Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind offers a powerful reminder of the need for flexibility and receptivity in compassionate care.1 Many hospice caregivers will tell [...]

The Lotus of Mutual Belonging by Radhule Weininger, author of Heartwork “If the world is to be healed through human effort, I am convinced it will be by ordinary people, people whose love for life is even greater than their fear. People who can open to the web that called us into being.”—Joanna Macy The [...]

“This is something that needs explaining, how light emerges from darkness, how comfort wells up from sorrow. The Earth holds every possibility inside it, and the mystery of transformation, one thing into another. This is the wildest comfort. That's what this book is about.” (xi) In an effort to make sense of the deaths in [...]

by Brett Campbell Nobody asks for the chaplain in the good moments. This is an unspoken rule I realized early in my career. Nobody thinks of the chaplain after they’ve delivered a healthy child or they take their first steps following an accident that left them bedbound for weeks. These are the times when life [...]

Steve Buscemi and Sam Bercholz on the new book A Guided Tour of Hell: A Graphic Memoir A Guided Tour of Hell$24.95 - HardcoverBy: Samuel Bercholz & Pema Namdol Thaye Add to Cart