"Aging, illness, and death are treasures for those who understand them. They’re Noble Truths, Noble Treasures. If they were people, I’d bow down to their feet every day." —Ajaan Lee In my early thirties, I met a teacher who was to have a profound influence on my study of aging and death awareness, primarily because of one central experience. I have never identified this [...]
It’s for You
Sometimes after a phone call, nothing is ever the same. But if you let it, says Douglas Penick, the bad news can come to feel a little like falling in love. It begins with a phone call from the doctor, and it is, as I’ve often and unwillingly imagined: “I’ve got bad news.” There is a silent, airless implosion. I force myself to breathe, pull myself together, and ask [...]
Review: How to Be a Friend to a Friend Who’s Sick
When someone we care about is seriously ill, we often feel uncomfortable and don’t know what to do. Toni Bernhard says there’s good advice in How to Be a Friend to a Friend Who’s Sick. How to Be a Friend to a Friend Who’s Sick By Letty Cottin Pogrebin PublicAffairs 2013; 304 pp., $24.99 (cloth) When I became chronically ill in 2001, I thought it was my fault. I blamed [...]
Now the Bad News
A young prince named Siddhartha was so shocked when he encountered the sufferings of the body that he went off to seek enlightenment. Today, the bad news of birth, old age, sickness, and death is still the impetus for awakening. Birth By Rachel Neumann I was four the first time I saw a woman give birth. It was early evening, at a commune deep in the Siskiyou Mountains of [...]
Here With You
“When confronted with a patient’s fatal illness,” says physician Friederike Boissevain, “we are expected to know what to do.” But Zen practice has taught her that being present with a mind of not knowing is sometimes the best medicine. I leafed through the man’s medical file. A CT scan showed extensive disease, and the histology was unfavorable. He was younger than me, [...]
The Healing Moment
Susan Bauer-Wu helps us ease the physical, mental, and emotional stress of illness with a simple mindfulness practice. Serious illness and other health problems challenge us in many ways, physically, mentally, and emotionally. Physically, we may experience pain or other discomforts, and everyday activities may take more time and effort. Mentally, our thinking may be fuzzy [...]
How Can I Be a Compassionate Caregiver?
Caring for someone with a chronic or terminal illness can bring out the best in us, says Stan Goldberg, but it can also reveal our sharp and judgmental qualities. For Buddhists caring for non-Buddhists, the challenge is even greater. If you are not already a caregiver for someone with a chronic or terminal illness, statistics say you will be. It’s estimated that there are [...]
The Purple Wig
Alexander the Great swaggered around, claiming no part of his body was without a scar, but he never had to battle uterine cancer. Twenty-three-year-old Callies Bates on the cheap wig and lots of love that got her through chemo. My doctor didn’t know how to react. “You like purple?” he asked. “Well, yes,” I said. I wanted to explain that it was supposed to be funny. Dr. M [...]
The Mindful Society: Practicing with Cancer
Barry Boyce's Mindful Society column about Elana Rosenbaum, who used mindfulness practice to help herself through cancer treatment. In the spring of 1995, when she had been teaching Mindfulness-based Stress Reduction for eleven years, Elana Rosenbaum (left) was diagnosed with non-hodgkin’s lymphoma. Rosenbaum’s cancer led her to many arduous courses of treatment, including a [...]
What Matters Most
When Elizabeth Hamilton is diagnosed with breast cancer, she and her husband Ezra Bayda learn the real value of life, love, and holding our attachments lightly. Here, both Zen teachers recount their experiences of Hamilton’s illness and recovery. Elizabeth In April 2008 I spoke at Zen Center of San Diego about how fortunate we are if we begin Zen practice before an [...]
