Hold On To This
Say this with me: “I and everyone I know and love is going to die”. Now let go of the fear that tightens the muscles in your belly, that makes you sick with despair, that makes you want to drop … Continue reading
Category Archives: Death and Dying
The Descendants: Death And A Movie
From a Buddhist point of view most, if not all, of the fiction we consume in our culture is about samsara. Find the girl (or the boy) of your dreams. Get the money. Kill the bad guy. All of these … Continue reading
The Good News Is…
I have a friend in the hospital. It’s coloring my world right now. It’s coloring my practice, my thoughts, my mood. I’m trying to stay positive but really, there is absolutely nothing I can do to help my friend get … Continue reading
Posted in Death and Dying
Tagged Addiction, Buddhism, Coming Out, Coming Out Memoir, Death and Dying, Gay Spirituality, precious human life
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Dying With Confidence
Yesterday my teacher, Anyen Rinpoche, came down to Colorado Springs to give a talk on his latest book, Dying With Confidence. I’m not going to lie, I was really excited and even a little bit proud to be even a … Continue reading
Posted in Books, Death and Dying
Tagged Anyen Rinpoche, Death and Dying, Dying With Confidence, Nyingma, Phowa, Tibetan Buddhism
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When I Die…
Buddhists meditate on the inevitability of death a lot. It’s a reminder of our actual situation and the preciousness of each moment. This is a writing exercise I did the other day on the topic of “What I’ll miss when … Continue reading
Posted in Death and Dying, Writing
Tagged Coming Out Memoir, Death and Dying, Writing, writing practice
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The Deer
I don’t have a lot of time this morning so I’m just going to share what I wrote in my journal about what happened: I killed a deer on the way home from work last night. I saw one crossing … Continue reading
49 Days
Yesterday was the forty-ninth day since my dog, Darcy, passed away. According to The Tibetan Book of the Dead, that’s about as long as most beings spend in the bardo, or intermediate state between death and rebirth. I’ve spent the … Continue reading
Posted in Buddhism, Death and Dying
Tagged Buddhism, Death, Death and Dying, The Tibetan Book of the Dead
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Dukkha
A man had a seizure in the restaurant the other night. He was in his late forties with no history of illness. It just came out of nowhere, five minutes before his entree arrived. The food got cold as the … Continue reading
Posted in Bodhicitta, Buddhism, Death and Dying
Tagged Buddhism, Coming Out Memoir, Death and Dying, Dukka, homosexuality
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Certainty
I had a busy day yesterday. Productive. Time well spent. Taking full advantage of this perfect human life, just as the teachings instruct. I made huge progress on my next series of letters and proposals to agents (still no response from … Continue reading
Posted in Buddhism, Death and Dying
Tagged Addiction, Buddhism, Coming Out, Death and Dying, Memoir, Recovery
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Lighting the Way
Darcy’s remains are in a simple white box on the mantle. I have a candle burning next to them, a light to guide her on her way. I’m wishing her well in the bardo, the transitory state between this life and the next. According … Continue reading
Posted in Buddhism, Death and Dying
Tagged Buddhism, Coming Out Memoir, Death and Dying
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