A Community That Supports Death and Dying

“Part of our lifelong practice is you talk openly – and a lot – about death,” Bill explained. “It clears the air. We’re going to die, and we have a lot of times when we visit that fact.”

In fact, one of the most widely recognized texts of the Tibetan Buddhist tradition is the Tibetan Book of the Dead.

“It says that the transition at the moment of death is just that – purely a transition in which the consciousness leaves the body,” said Shambhalian Gerry Haase.

International Shambhala President Richard Reoch published a column in the Shambhala Times in 2012 encouraging members to keep their own “death book.”

“It’s a binder with a big yellow cover with big, bold black letters that says DEATH,” said Bill. “You open it up and it’s everything you need to know for Richard. All the contacts, all the advanced directives, all the insurance, the will, all the people to call. We should all get it done – we should each have our death book.”

Shambhala