Dying & Death: What did the Buddha Have to Say About It?
We will explore the Buddha’s talks on Dying and Death as Chaplain Alley Smith guides us into a deeper understanding of the Buddha’s life, his experiences and encounters with death. Participants are encouraged to consider old age, sickness and death as a path to deeper realization and awakening.
The concepts of beginning and end are only mental constructs created by the mind. In truth, there is no beginning or end. We only think about beginnings and endings when we are trapped in ignorance. It is because of ignorance that people are caught in an endless round of birth and death.”– The Buddha
This Session Offers:
- Stories of the Buddha’s life
- The Buddha’s Five Remembrances
- A community conversation about dying and death
- An opportunity to engage in compassionate dialogue and meditation practice from the comfort of your own home or practice space
- Meditation instruction and Q&A with a death-care scholar and ordained Chaplain
What to bring to this session:
- Mala beads (optional)
- Journal
- An open heart & mind
Recommended Reading [not required]:
Old Path: White Clouds, The Life Story of the Buddha by Venerable Thich Nhat Hahn
Nine Contemplations of Atisha by Joan Halifax Roshi, [online] https://www.upaya.org/dox/Contemplations.pdf
This program is part of our monthly series hosted by the Before I Die group. We invite you to participate in an ongoing discussion about death and dying. Each month we will have an opportunity to explore our relationship to various aspects of death and dying through explorations of specific topics presented by guest speakers.
No prerequisites | Open to all levels of experience | Donations are welcome
Alley Smith is an ordained Buddhist Minister of Religion (Upadhyaya) Chaplain at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island. She also holds precepts in Korean Zen. Alley has been a student of Shambhala and Zen Buddhism since 1999. She specializes in spiritual care, mortuary affairs, and is a funeral clergy. She currently hosts “Making Friends with Death and Dying: Support Group” on Shambhala Online. [email protected]
Marilyn Moore has been active in the Los Angeles Shambhala community since 1997. During the past four years her focus has been on organizing—and often leading —on-line meditation. This experience has given her a deep appreciation for the sense of community that can be nurtured through this amazing technology. Since 2019, Marilyn has co-facilitated a monthly on-line “Before I Die” gathering that evolved from a workshop focused on practical preparations for death.
Marilyn has three grown children who do not live close. She currently enjoys somewhat frequent trips to London to receive hugs from her two-year-old grandson who lives there with his parents.
