| |
| |
| Acknowledgments | |
| |
| |
| Introduction | |
| |
| |
| |
| Death in Western Health Care | |
| |
| |
| |
| The Problem of Death Denial | |
| |
| |
| The Prevailing Medical Paradigm | |
| |
| |
| Nursing School and Death Denial | |
| |
| |
| Emergency Room Practice | |
| |
| |
| Death Denial in the Community | |
| |
| |
| |
| A Broader View of Healing | |
| |
| |
| Kubler-Ross and the Plight of the Dying | |
| |
| |
| Palliative Care and Healing | |
| |
| |
| Healing and the Power of the Mind | |
| |
| |
| Reflecting on Death | |
| |
| |
| |
| Awakening to Impermanence and Facing Death | |
| |
| |
| Death's Scythe | |
| |
| |
| Questioning Assumptions | |
| |
| |
| |
| Resources from the Tibetan Buddhist Tradition | |
| |
| |
| |
| Ceaseless Transformation | |
| |
| |
| Dependent Origination: The Truth of Impermanence | |
| |
| |
| Karma: Form and Shadow Remain Linked | |
| |
| |
| Ordinary Mind: The Worlds We Find Ourselves In | |
| |
| |
| Enlightened Mind: The Light Within | |
| |
| |
| Rebirth: The Realms of Cyclic Existence | |
| |
| |
| The Tibetan Book of the Dead: An Instruction Manual | |
| |
| |
| |
| The Eight Stages of Dissolution | |
| |
| |
| |
| Earth Dissolves into Water (Mirage) | |
| |
| |
| |
| Water Dissolves into Fire (Smoke) | |
| |
| |
| |
| Fire Dissolves into Wind (Fireflies) | |
| |
| |
| |
| Wind Dissolves into Space (Flame) | |
| |
| |
| |
| Ordinary Mind States Dissolve (White Flash) | |
| |
| |
| |
| Subtle Mind States Dissolve (Red Flash, Black Flash, Clear Light) | |
| |
| |
| The Tibetan Art of Death: Two Lamas | |
| |
| |
| Summary Table of the Eight Stages of Dissolution | |
| |
| |
| |
| Practical Applications for Care Providers | |
| |
| |
| |
| Tibetan Buddhist Practice and the Dying Trajectory | |
| |
| |
| The Tibetan Buddhist Death Meditation | |
| |
| |
| Hearing the Diagnosis: Death Is Certain | |
| |
| |
| What Do I Say? Time of Death Is Uncertain | |
| |
| |
| Focusing: At Death Only the Condition of the Mind Has Value | |
| |
| |
| |
| Developing a Transpersonal Stance in Care of the Dying | |
| |
| |
| Presence, Not Pretense | |
| |
| |
| Promoting Peace in Relationships: Forgiveness | |
| |
| |
| Ensuring Peace at the End: Sacred Passage | |
| |
| |
| Notes | |
| |
| |
| Recommended Readings | |