By Maria Popova
“Zen practice … requires great faith, great courage, and great questioning.”
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CLEAR ALL
If a person or loved one is elderly or has a terminal illness, knowing death may be near is often difficult to deal with or comprehend. Understanding what to expect may make things a little easier.
The five stages of coping with dying (DABDA), were first described by Elisabeth Kübler-Ross in her classic book, "On Death and Dying," in 1969.
This is a general picture. Individual experiences are unique and influenced by many factors, such as the particular illness and the types of medications being taken, but there are some physical changes that are fairly common.
Crossroads Hospice & Palliative Care created guidelines to help family caregivers better understand the physical changes of the end-of-life process, as well as the emotional and spiritual end-of-life changes taking place.
Each person's journey to death is unique. Some people have a very gradual decline; others will fade quickly.
Whether you are confronting the end of your own life or the loss of a loved one, death is a certainty of life that everyone will face. Even so, knowing that it's inevitable doesn't mean you'll feel prepared for dealing with death and the grief that follows.
Tami Simon interviews Ram Dass and Mirabai Bush, who have written a new beautiful book, called Walking Each Other Home: Conversations on Loving and Dying. It explores what it means to live and die consciously, remembering who we really are, and illuminating the path that we all walk together.
We cannot hide from death. Its embrace will consume our social existence entirely. Job titles, social position, material possessions, sexual roles and images—all must yield to death.
Sean Illing and Frank Ostaseski discuss what Ostaseski has learned from the conversations he’s had with the dying.
Frank Ostaseski is a tall, slim man with blue eyes that radiate calm. As director of the San Francisco Zen Center’s Hospice Program, he counsels the dying and their families, and teaches others to care for people with terminal illness.