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