Being with Dying: Cultivating Compassion and Fearlessness in the Presence of Death

Joan Halifax has written a wonderful book offering help to those who are dying and their caregivers. I recently lost my mother to breast cancer and my emotions and thoughts are so jumbled and scary, I'm on a journey to come to peace with it all. My anger has overwhelmed me; my despair and depression have crippled me; and my loneliness has dominated my days. This book has reassured me about myself personally and has validated my 2 years of care giving--care giving that left me feeling inadequate, impotent, and had me believing I was a horrible daughter and person who now doesn't deserve to have any happiness in my life because I didn't do enough. I still have a long ways to go in my own spiritual recovery, but, this book will be one I go show more back to frequently on those dark days when I'm beating myself up. I just wish I would have found this book before my mom passed away. Before my whole world changed. I recommend this to every single human being walking this earth. Because someday, you will experience Being with Dying.

I miss my mom. show less

Joan Halifax has done amazing work with the the dying process. She has devoted her life to helping people as they die and their caregivers and family. In this wonderful book, Joan tells heartfelt stories of dying people. She engages the reader, using Buddhist teachings, to explore their own impending deaths. Joan makes talking about dying a much easier topic. She offers meditations at the end of each chapter.

The author has been helping both the dying and their caregivers to face death with courage and compassion for three decades. She offers the fruits of her work, providing comfort, inspiration, and practical skills for all those who are in the process of dying or who are charged with a dying person's care. Her teaching, based on Buddhist principles, emphasizes that we have the ability to open up to and rely on our inner strength, and we can help others who are suffering to do the same. Joan offers stories from her personal experience as well as guided exercises and contemplations to help readers meditate on death without fear, develop a commitment to helping others, and transform suffering and resistance into courage.

A very comprehensive book about the death and dying proccess. You do not have to be a buddhist to embrace what is being presented. Pace yourself when reading so you have time to absorb what is being presented.