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Archive for the ‘Death and Dying’ Category

Practicing with the Fear of Dying

Posted in Death and Dying, tagged , , on November 14, 2009 | 10 Comments »

It is not easy to “call up” our actual fear of dying.  Like Buddhist or Christian monks of old, we can remind ourselves each morning when we wake up, “Death could come at any time.  Don’t waste time.”  This is useful, though somewhat abstract exercise, though with repetition it sinks in.  As one psychiatrist said [...]

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We Are All So Fragile

Posted in Aging and Buddhism, Aging and Meditation, Aging and Spirituality, Baby Boomers and Aging, Death and Dying, tagged , , , , on June 27, 2009 | 19 Comments »

We are all so fragile.  We are, first of all, so fragile physically.  When we are born, we can’t even feed ourselves or survive without continuous attention.  And throughout our lives there are so many things that can go wrong, but mostly do not.  It is actually amazing that the incredible intricacy of body and [...]

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You Are Not Alone

Posted in Aging and Spirituality, Baby Boomers and Aging, Death and Dying, tagged , , on April 17, 2009 | 10 Comments »

In my experience as a Buddhist teacher and spiritual guide, for many people the first time the deep truth of aging hits is when our parents become ill and die.  This tends to happen when people are in their 40s, when they themselves still feel young, still remember college and their first jobs, still are [...]

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Nothing Happens When You Die

Posted in Death and Dying, tagged , , , , on February 26, 2009 | 19 Comments »

Nothing happens when you die: Two contemporary Buddhist masters—Suzuki Roshi and the 16th Karmapa—both said this.  When the Karmapa was dying—according to people who were there—he opened his eyes and said, “Nothing happens.” And in Suzuki Roshi’s book Not Always So he says, “Don’t worry about dying.  Nothing is going to happen.” Well.  This is [...]

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