Engaging with Life, Death, and Loss

Third Mondays of the month, 6:30 - 8:00 PM, live on Zoom. No charge - Donations to the DC Shambhala Center appreciated. 

In Western culture, talking about death often feels almost taboo. Yet, we know in the back of our minds that we and our loved ones will inevitably face it. We find having deep conversations about the end of life to be difficult. Nobody wants to talk about death. The very idea can be fraught with fear, confusion, and uneasiness. 

We may ask ourselves: How do we begin to make friends with death in our life? How can we help ourselves and others prepare for the unavoidable—physically, mentally, and spiritually? How can we prepare ourselves and support others as we encounter the stages of sickness, dying, and loss.

You’re invited to join a now-forming monthly group to help each other prepare for death. Our monthly meetings will include meditation, discussion, and contemplation. We’ll draw on our Buddhist teachings as we discuss issues around death and dying and the possibility of developing a support system to help sangha members. We will go at our own pace—sharing, learning, and supporting each other as we celebrate the joy of being alive now while we prepare for death. 

In our first meeting we'll talk about what brought us to the group, what topics on death concern or interest us, and how a support group might help us on our path. 

If you’re interested in exploring these topics, please register so we know how many people will attend. 

Here are some resources you may find useful. Please feel free to suggest others. 

• Preparing to Die, by Andrew Holocek
• The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying, by Sogyal Rinpoche
• Making Friends with Death: A Buddhist Guide to Encountering Mortality, by Judith Lief
• Luminous Emptiness: Understanding the Tibetan Book of the Dead, by Francesca Fremantle 
• Tibetan Book of the Dead, translated by Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche and Francesca Fremantle
• Death and Dying, by Tulku Rinpoche
• Being with Dying: Cultivating Compassion and Fearlessness in the Presence of Death, by Joan Halifax
• How We Live Is How We Die, by Pema Chodron