Death, Dying, Rebirth class and memorial offering
Workshop on Befriending Mortality. A time to slow down the business of life
and explore the realities of impermanence. Led by facilitators; Thay Kozen and
Tamara Thiel
We will explore the spirituality of death, grief, and Buddhist beliefs, along with
factual information about ethical, legal and moral issues.
Thay Kozen is the resident monk at Mt. Adams Buddhist Temple and previously directed
a hospice for many years.
Tamara Thiel serves as a death doula in the Columbia Gorge Area. A death doula
or end-of-life doula is a person who offers compassionate, holistic support during
the end-of-life process. It is a non-medical role that recognizes death as a natural
part of life and aids in supporting families, with dignity and honor, as a person
exits life. Death doulas do not replace hospice but fill the gaps and build bridges
to build a team for individuals facing the end-of-life.
Together, we will look at Buddhist concepts of life, suffering, and death –
Samsara. There will be teachings on the conceptual framework of the grief
process and the types of grief we can experience. Then we slow down, tune in
and experience a labyrinth grief walk.
An overview education on dying and death will be presented, examining the
landscape from diagnosis to death and the care support we might want and the
end-of-life choices we can make. We will learn about recording wishes with of a
POA (Power of Attorney), an AD (Advance Directive), and a POLST (Physician
Orders for Life Sustaining Treatment). Also discussed will be our after-death
choices and the options that are available. We will conclude on the Five
Invitations and discover what death can teach us about living fully. Practices that
can offer inspiration and guidance to be explored and deepened. Each participant
will receive a booklet of all the presented material including a list of resources for
guidance.