'Consciousness and Dying' Interview

Author of several books including 'The Art Of Dying,' 'The Truth In The Light' and 'The Hidden Door,' neuro-psychiatrist Peter Fenwick talks about his research into End of Life Experiences and deathbed phenomena and what these mean in the greater picture of who we really are.

Dan Winter, The Science of Death

Helping After Death

“In Tibet we say that just as it is the nature of fire to burn and of water to quench thirst, the nature of the Buddhas is to be present as soon as anyone invokes them, so infinite is their compassionate desire to help all sentient beings. Don’t for one moment imagine that it would be less effective for you to invoke the truth to help your dead friend than if a “holy man” prays for them. Because you are close to the person who has died, the intensity of your love and the depth of your connection will give your invocation an added power. Call out to them, and the Buddhas will answer you.”

Sogyal Rinpoche
The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying
Ch 19 “Helping After Death”

TOP 5 REGRETS OF THE DYING

Bronnie Ware, who worked for many years in palliative care, tells about the most common five regrets:

1. I wish I'd had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me.

2. I wish I didn't work so hard.

3. I wish I'd had the courage to express my feelings.

4. I wish I had stayed in touch with my friends.

5. I wish that I had let myself be happier.

Life is a choice. It is YOUR life. Choose happiness.

Ashes to Ashes

ashes to ashes
once living, now dead
nothing but a memory

***

ashes to ashes
who I was
I no longer am

**
dust to dust
I am not

*
only eternal becoming

Alan’s first T’ai Chi book

By a twist of fate, I became a “copyright owner.” That means I can give you the freedom to share and to remix the written material contained in Alan Peck’s first T’ai Chi book as long as you attribute the work and share-alike. As U.G. Krishnamurti once said, “you are free to reproduce, distribute, interpret, misinterpret, distort, garble, do what you like… without my consent or the permission of anybody.”

Introduction to Tai Chi, Alan Peck

Kahlil Gibran, On Death

Then Almitra spoke, saying, We would ask now of death.

And he said:

You would know the secret of death. But how shall you find it unless you seek it in the heath of life? The owl whose night-bound eyes are blind unto the day cannot unveil the mystery of light. If you would indeed behold the spirit of death, open your heart wide unto the body of life. For life and death are one, even as the river and sea are one.

In the depth of your hopes and desires lies your silent knowledge of the beyond; and like seeds dreaming beneath the snow your heart dreams of spring. Trust the dreams, for in them is hidden the gate to eternity.

Your fear of death is but the trembling of the shepherd when he stands before the king whose hand is to be laid upon him in honor. Is the shepherd not joyful beneath his trembling, that he shall wear the mark of the king? Yet is he not more mindful of his trembling?

For what is it to die but to stand naked in the wind and to melt into the sun? And what is it to cease breathing, but to free the breath from its restless tides, that it may rise and expand and seek God unencumbered?

Only when you drink from the river of silence shall you indeed sing. And when you have reached the mountain top, then you shall begin to climb. And when the earth shall claim your limbs, then shall you truly dance.

Joan Halifax: Being With Dying

Tami Simon speaks with Joan Halifax, who is an anthropologist, Buddhist teacher, and the author of The Human Encounter with Death, co-written with Dr. Stanislav Graf. In 1994, Joan created a project called “Being with Dying” to help health care professionals learn how to care for dying patients in a compassionate, mindful fashion. Here, Joan speaks about the powerful insights on living that she has learned from her years of caring for the dying—including the greatest gift that we can give another person.

Listen now (67 minutes)

Tibetan Buddhist Funeral: A Sky Burial

Death and caring for the dying

Ven. Tenzin Kacho teaches this retreat on death and caring for the dying. She draws on her experiences as a hospice chaplain working with people going through the death process to share the Dharma.


Death and Caring for the Dying 2
Death and Caring for the Dying 3
Death and Caring for the Dying 4
Death and Caring for the Dying 5

Helping Tibetan Children in India

I am helping Tibetan Children in India in memory of Alan.
Find out more on my JustGiving page.
Thank you

When I am lying on my deathbed

One regret, dear world,
That I am determined not to have
When I am lying on my deathbed
Is that I did not kiss you enough.

~ Hafiz

Be a light unto yourself

When Buddha was on his death bed he noticed his young disciple Anan was weeping.

'Why are you weeping, Anan?' he asked.

'Because the light of the world is about to be extinguished and we will be in darkness.'

The Buddha summoned up all his remaining energy and spoke what were to be his final words on earth:

'Anan, Anan, be a light unto yourself.'

INDIAN POEM

"This day is a special day, it is yours.
Yesterday slipped away, it cannot be filled anymore with meaning.
About tomorrow nothing is known.
But this day, today, is yours, make use of it.
Today you can make someone happy.
Today you can help another.
This day is a special day, it is yours."

Time to say goodbye

I love you and now I let you go
knowing there's no coming and going
knowing there's no separation

Thank you for teaching me
how to dance with the wind

Free online course on Death

Death with Shelly Kagan

There is one thing I can be sure of: I am going to die. But what am I to make of that fact? This course will examine a number of issues that arise once we begin to reflect on our mortality. The possibility that death may not actually be the end is considered. Are we, in some sense, immortal? Would immortality be desirable? Also a clearer notion of what it is to die is examined. What does it mean to say that a person has died? What kind of fact is that? And, finally, different attitudes to death are evaluated. Is death an evil? How? Why? Is suicide morally permissible? Is it rational? How should the knowledge that I am going to die affect the way I live my life?

Click HERE.

Memories...

Alan Peck, Mind, Body & Spirit Festival, 1982

Letter from Gya House

[click on image to enlarge]

Tribute to Alan

Tai Chi Chuan & Oriental Arts
The Journal of the Tai Chi Union for Great Britain
No 35 Autumn 2010

[to read in full screen click on images twice ]

Alan, the Chinese Herbalist

Although Alan dedicated most of his life to T'ai Chi, Tibetan Buddhism and Chinese Medicine, his love of art never waned. During the final years of his life his love-affair with cartoons, comics and digital art forms seemed stronger than ever.


This new blog shows how Alan used original mnemonic drawings to help him remember the Chinese Herbal Patent Formulas. May it be of help to all of you who are attempting the same!

La Passacaglia della Vita

Prepare to Die!!

This is something Alan did not long before he died. He loved 3D arts: comics, manga, digital sculpture, animation, you name it! Alan also liked the idea of this type of reminders; remembering death was one of his daily Buddhist practices.

If you're curious and want to find out more about this topic, the book Preparing for Death in Buddhism can be read online. Just click on the title.

Alan's notes: I am going to die today

[click on image to enlarge]

The uncertainty of the hour of your death

Planning for the future is like going fishing in a dry gulch;

Nothing ever works out as you wanted,
so give up all your schemes and ambitions.
If you have got to think about something—
Make it the uncertainty of the hour of your death.
Gyalse Rinpoche

Like a shadow...

In the Vajra (Diamond) Sutra, the Buddha taught:

"All conditioned dharmas, are like a dream, like an illusion, like a bubble, like a shadow, like a dewdrop, like a lightning flash; you should contemplate them thus."

Donations in appreciation of Alan's life

Donations of over £1,100 were collected for Gyakham Khangtsen in Drepung Loseling Monastery, from where Alan's Buddhist teachers came, and where Alan stayed for 3 weeks in January 2008. Thank you so much for your generosity.

See also: letter from the monks at Gyakham Khangtsen

Book about death and dying

Preparing for Death and Helping the Dying

A Tribute to Alan Peck

It is with the most profound sadness that we have to tell you about the death of our dear friend and teacher Alan Peck who died on Wednesday evening, 3rd March 2010.

The premature passing of such a gentle man, a sincere practitioner and lineage holder is an immense loss. All those who had the privilege to study and push hands with Alan had no doubt of the depth of his commitment, the level of his understanding and achievements.

His gentle teaching opened the door to the wonders of T'ai Chi for many hundreds of students he taught for over thirty years.

His advanced students will continue to teach the “Natural Way School of T'ai Chi” which he named in honour of Dr. Chi Chiang Tao and, to the best of their ability, pass on the wonders of this lineage to future generations.

OM MANE PADME HUNG