Self Inquiry and Direct Experience

Posted on June 7, 2025 by webmaven

For all of you on Facebook I highly recommend liking this page for daily quotes: https://www.facebook.com/discoveryourtrueself

They are always well presented and provide different viewpoints for reflection and practice. From todays post:

“Life is not a to-do list. It’s a gift. Walk slower. Hug longer. Laugh louder. Love deeper. The clock may be ticking, but your presence is timeless. We’ve been conditioned to believe that constant productivity equals worth, but humans weren’t designed for endless output. We need moments of wonder, connection, and rest – not as rewards for hard work, but as essential ingredients for a meaningful life.” awaken_one

Posted in advaita vedanta, aging, buddhism, care giving | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Self Inquiry and Direct Experience

Yogic instructions for a good death

Posted on January 26, 2025 by webmaven

Dying instructions and guidance

Editors note, These instruction were provided by a friend who is steeped in the yogic tradition but I quickly recognized that they are universal. For those of different religions or traditions, substitute “prayer” for mantra, your religious saint or teacher for guru or deity, etc. Become absorbed in your particular faith. In addition, have others do prayers and readings from spiritual texts at the bedside. The room should be quiet, peaceful, free of disturbance, but keep it light, not overly serious!

To the person dying: Take up the name of God given by the guru or the mantra and repeat it with each inhalation and exhalation with deep faith. Recall and appreciate the Divine source and potency of the mantra, the meaning of it and it’s deity. Feel that the mantra is the vibration of the one true self. Recall that the mantra, guru and person repeating it are really one. Thou art that.

christian death and dying

Continue reading →








Posted in advaita vedanta, death and dying, end of life, prayer for the dying, yoga | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on Yogic instructions for a good death

Here are 10 STEPS for Managing Stress from our book Caregiver Revolution

Posted on December 22, 2024 by webmaven
  1. Breathe deeply

As a caregiver, there are moments where your frustration, anger, or anxiety will spike to overwhelming levels. When that happens, breathing deeply is your best friend. It forces you to pause and calm down so you can better deal with whatever is happening. Breathing is the first step in the Relaxation Response which we describe in our book and elsewhere on this site. See step 8 here for a full decription.

Navy SEALs use deep breathing techniques to calm themselves during life-threatening situations like searching for hidden bombs. If it works for those guys and gals, it won’t hurt to give it a try!

relaxation

caregiver relaxation drawing by Lin Larsen

2. Reach out

Leaning on the people in your support system is an effective way to reduce stress. We all need to vent, hear a friendly voice, or escape the responsibility for a while.

It doesn’t matter if you connect in person, on the phone, on video chat, or in an online group. The point is to reach out to people who are there for you and can help you feel better when you’re especially down.

 3.  Exercise

Getting up and moving is a great way to burn off stress and improves overall health. Regular exercise helps ward off conditions that commonly plague caregivers, like depression and heart disease.

Continue reading →








Posted in aging, care giving, caregiver stress, exercises, stress, stress relief, stress relief exercises | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on Here are 10 STEPS for Managing Stress from our book Caregiver Revolution

The Great Adventure Spiritual Care, Death and Dying Bereavement Newsletter

Posted on November 28, 2024 by webmaven

We started as a newsletter back in 1997 and we have now moved the content to this site. Please see the drop down link above for reviews, past conference write ups and articles, all in the field of end-of life care!








Posted in care giving | Comments Off on The Great Adventure Spiritual Care, Death and Dying Bereavement Newsletter

Lightly – Aldous Huxley

Posted on November 5, 2024 by webmaven

It’s dark because you are trying too hard.

Lightly child, lightly. Learn to do everything lightly.

Yes, feel lightly even though you’re feeling deeply.

Just lightly let things happen and lightly cope with them.

I was so preposterously serious in those days, such a humorless little prig.

Lightly, lightly – it’s the best advice ever given me.

When it comes to dying even. Nothing ponderous, or portentous, or emphatic.

No rhetoric, no tremolos,

no self conscious persona putting on its celebrated imitation of Christ or Little Nell.

And of course, no theology, no metaphysics.

Just the fact of dying and the fact of the clear light.

So throw away your baggage and go forward.

There are quicksands all about you, sucking at your feet,

trying to suck you down into fear and self-pity and despair.

That’s why you must walk so lightly.

Lightly my darling,

on tiptoes and no luggage,

not even a sponge bag,

completely unencumbered.

— Aldous Huxley, Island








Posted in caregiver stress, Death, death and dying, end of life, funeral | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on Lightly – Aldous Huxley

Labyrinth Readers Course starting in November

Posted on October 29, 2024 by webmaven

Labyrinth Readers Course
Free Introductory Meeting
Sunday, 17th November at 1pm

“Just as a midwife assists birth, the reader of The American Book of the Dead assists voyagers who have passed into the macro-dimensions to attain liberation or to achieve a conscious and deliberate rebirth on re-entry into the human dimension.” — from The American Book of the Dead by E.J. Gold

The Labyrinth Readers Society is offering a course in the use of the American Book of the Dead as a tool for the labyrinth reader.

Come along to a free introductory meeting on Sunday 17th November at 1pm to learn about the course.

The course consists of approximately 13 group meetings (1.5 hours per week), study materials and homework assignments. After the fourth or fifth meeting, we will begin a full 49-day reading cycle, reading twice a day.

If you decide to continue with the course, Lesson 1 begins on Saturday 24th November at 1pm. The course fee is $125 for the 12 weeks. A reduced rate is available for past participants. If you are in need of a scholarship, please contact the Institute.

For details see : https://labyrinthreaderssociety.com/beingareader/lrc/

Readers Altar








Posted in labyrinth readers society, labyrinth reading, prayers for the dying, tibetan book of the dead, tibetan buddhism, tonglen | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments Off on Labyrinth Readers Course starting in November