Finding mindfulness with friends. We meet for meditation most Sundays at 4pm in Point Lonsdale and weekly in Melbourne. For further information call Ian Roberts 0419581784
Press Release: Ram Dass and friends form "DOORWAY INTO LIGHT" an eco-friendly death and dying educational and service foundation on Maui.
Relevance: Conservation, Corporate Social Responsibility, Death and Dying, Economic Trends, Education, Family, Ecological “Green” Burials, Hospice Care, Medicine, Non- Profit, Social Trends, Spirituality, World Religion.
Press Contact: Sam Small samsmall@ptd.net (808) 572 5603 Cell (973) 271 0788
For Immediate Release: Island of Maui, Hawaii Nov 20th, 2007: Announced today is the formation of "DOORWAY INTO LIGHT" a non-profit educational and service foundation dedicated to reclaiming the dying process as a family-based, spiritual action, coupled with the promotion of "Green" ecological burial practices.
"DOORWAY INTO LIGHT", or "IPUKA I KE AO" in Hawaiian, is spearheaded by Bodhi and Leilah Be and Ram Dass, who has long been educating the greater community on bringing death and dying fully into the realm of sacred work, both for the dying person and for those caring for the dying.
“Death is the ultimate trip.” says Ram Dass, Co-Director and one of the group's most important voices, “Death is our greatest challenge as well as our greatest spiritual opportunity. By cultivating mindfulness, we can prepare ourselves for this final passage by allowing nature, rather than Ego, to guide us.”
Ram Dass (Richard Alpert) is a world-renowned author and lecturer, and co-founder of the Seva Foundation, The Prison Ashram Project and the Dying Project. His seminal book Be Here Now has been monumentally influential and still stands as the highly readable centerpiece of Western articulation of Eastern philosophy, and how to live joyously in the present. Ram Dass brings over 40 years as a pioneer and explorer of awakened consciousness and continues to teach about the nature of consciousness and about service as a spiritual path.
"Approaching the death of our bodies is a powerful time for spiritual work for people of all walks of life and spiritual beliefs." says Bodhi Be, Spiritual Director, "Impending death has been recognized by cultures for thousands of years as a time for healing, reconciliation and forgiveness, as well as a time for deep inner work with the potential for great awakening and realization."
Bodhi Be has facilitated funeral ceremonies as an interfaith minister and has trained at an operating crematory. He has attended and supported the dying needs of many as a Hospice volunteer and hand-builds inexpensive caskets.
"We recognize the importance of a person’s state of mind when approaching their death, and the state of mind of those engaged in service to the dying." says Leilah Be, Co-Director, "Caring for the dying and the dead can greatly support the natural grieving process, as well as the journey of the soul."
Leilah Be brings with her many years of experience as an interfaith minister, spiritual counselor, and classroom teacher. She is a teacher of Sufi practices and meditation, is a composer of Dances of Universal Peace and leads retreats worldwide.
Among the goals of DOORWAY INTO LIGHT are to establish:
A residential center on Maui for people approaching their death to focus on their inner work and be supported by a professional hospice staff, nurses, doctors, trained volunteers and family all helping to hold a safe and sacred space.
A model “green” cemetery, pioneering non-toxic burial practices joined with land restoration and reforestation, and an environmentally clean and sustainable crematorium. Families and friends will have the opportunity to honor their loved ones by directly participating in these final rites.
A Ceremony Hall and Garden to provide families and friends a place to create unique and sacred ceremony.
A school for those who wish to prepare for their eventual death, or who wish to enrich their path in service as "spiritual midwives to the dying". Leaders in the field of spiritual death-care from many of the world’s religious traditions will comprise the teaching staff. Students of the school will assist in the hospice, crematorium, cemetery and ceremony hall.
“As you move towards death” says Ram Dass. “if you are to experience the nature of your Soul, you have to surrender your thoughts to your intuition, you have to surrender your righteousness. And the greatest surrender is to the moment. The deeper you surrender to the moment, the closer you get to the experience of God. The DOORWAY INTO LIGHT Death and Dying Center is conceived as a spiritual support structure for that surrender, bringing consciousness and awareness to death.
"By providing a place for the dying and their families to come to for this transition, we give back to them the control over this final step in life, in a beautiful, respectful, serene setting, recognizing people as spiritual beings with physical bodies engaged in the journey of leaving this life and this body behind." says Bodhi Be
"Just as birth is a celebration of a new life entering this world, the end of our physical life can also be a celebration of the spirit moving on to the next level of being. At the same time, we have deep understanding for how difficult that may be for some people, immediately following someone’s death, and so too, we hold safe and sacred space for deep grieving and letting go."
DOORWAY INTO LIFE has already established educational and outreach programs to spread awareness of death as a natural and sacred, family and community centered experience.
"We want to offer people the opportunity to take the burial and cremation process back from for-profit control and return it to the hands of families and communities." says Bodhi Be.
"In the U.S. the average funeral cost is around $6,500, which is two to three times the cost of the same process in Europe or Australia."
"A metal casket costing $2000 or more makes no economic sense to anyone except the people selling the casket, and makes no environmental sense at all. Building your loved one's casket by hand, or personally decorating a plain pine or bamboo casket or even a cardboard box is a great way to participate in the burial process."
"The intention of DOORWAY INTO LIGHT is to support and encourage this work through trainings and community outreach, and by creating a safe and sacred space for those in the dying process to come for their end of life journey."
"We know this change is possible, because, as shown in a recent survey in AARP Magazine, a popular publication for seniors, readers were polled and asked what method of burial they would prefer - 89% chose cremation or “green burial.”
"We need to also look at America’s massive, graying Baby Boomer generation, which will start to change the trends in death. The number of Americans born between 1946 and 1965 totals 78 million, and represents 29.4% of the total U.S. population (U.S. Census Bureau, 2004)."
"Based on the expected increased population and death rate within the Hawaiian Islands alone, coupled with the overall increasing awareness of the need/desire for organic, natural and green products and facilities, we feel this is the time for the DOORWAY INTO LIGHT Death and Dying Center to become a reality. It is exactly what is needed, and the perfect time to offer it. People from around the world will utilize this center and its services."
"We feel privileged that our individual journeys in life, so far, have given us the opportunity to touch many lives, and to make a difference in those lives. The vision of the DOORWAY INTO LIGHT Death and Dying Center is the next step on our journeys in service to awakening human consciousness."
Please send donations to IPUKA I KE AO, at Post Office Box 1268, Haiku, HI, 96708 You can direct any questions via email to: bodhi@ipuka.org or call (808) 283-5950 - Website: http://www.ipuka.org
The next DOORWAY INTO LIGHT 2 day workshop "Living and Dying in Everyday Life" with Roshi Joan Halifax, Ram Dass, Bodhi Be, Leilah Be and Heather Parsons will be held on Maui on Feb 22nd and 23rd, 2008.
# #
DOORWAY INTO LIGHT 11/20/07 Press Contact: Sam Small samsmall@ptd.net (808) 572 5603 Cell (973) 271 0788
1 comments:
Press Release: Ram Dass and friends form "DOORWAY INTO LIGHT" an eco-friendly death and dying educational and service foundation on Maui.
Relevance: Conservation, Corporate Social Responsibility, Death and Dying, Economic Trends, Education, Family, Ecological “Green” Burials, Hospice Care, Medicine, Non- Profit, Social Trends, Spirituality, World Religion.
Press Contact: Sam Small samsmall@ptd.net (808) 572 5603 Cell (973) 271 0788
For Immediate Release: Island of Maui, Hawaii Nov 20th, 2007: Announced today is the formation of "DOORWAY INTO LIGHT" a non-profit educational and service foundation dedicated to reclaiming the dying process as a family-based, spiritual action, coupled with the promotion of "Green" ecological burial practices.
"DOORWAY INTO LIGHT", or "IPUKA I KE AO" in Hawaiian, is spearheaded by Bodhi and Leilah Be and Ram Dass, who has long been educating the greater community on bringing death and dying fully into the realm of sacred work, both for the dying person and for those caring for the dying.
“Death is the ultimate trip.” says Ram Dass, Co-Director and one of the group's most important voices, “Death is our greatest challenge as well as our greatest spiritual opportunity. By cultivating mindfulness, we can prepare ourselves for this final passage by allowing nature, rather than Ego, to guide us.”
Ram Dass (Richard Alpert) is a world-renowned author and lecturer, and co-founder of the Seva Foundation, The Prison Ashram Project and the Dying Project. His seminal book Be Here Now has been monumentally influential and still stands as the highly readable centerpiece of Western articulation of Eastern philosophy, and how to live joyously in the present. Ram Dass brings over 40 years as a pioneer and explorer of awakened consciousness and continues to teach about the nature of consciousness and about service as a spiritual path.
"Approaching the death of our bodies is a powerful time for spiritual work for people of all walks of life and spiritual beliefs." says Bodhi Be, Spiritual Director, "Impending death has been recognized by cultures for thousands of years as a time for healing, reconciliation and forgiveness, as well as a time for deep inner work with the potential for great awakening and realization."
Bodhi Be has facilitated funeral ceremonies as an interfaith minister and has trained at an operating crematory. He has attended and supported the dying needs of many as a Hospice volunteer and hand-builds inexpensive caskets.
"We recognize the importance of a person’s state of mind when approaching their death, and the state of mind of those engaged in service to the dying." says Leilah Be, Co-Director, "Caring for the dying and the dead can greatly support the natural grieving process, as well as the journey of the soul."
Leilah Be brings with her many years of experience as an interfaith minister, spiritual counselor, and classroom teacher. She is a teacher of Sufi practices and meditation, is a composer of Dances of Universal Peace and leads retreats worldwide.
Among the goals of DOORWAY INTO LIGHT are to establish:
A residential center on Maui for people approaching their death to focus on their inner work and be supported by a professional hospice staff, nurses, doctors, trained volunteers and family all helping to hold a safe and sacred space.
A model “green” cemetery, pioneering non-toxic burial practices joined with land restoration and reforestation, and an environmentally clean and sustainable crematorium. Families and friends will have the opportunity to honor their loved ones by directly participating in these final rites.
A Ceremony Hall and Garden to provide families and friends a place to create unique and sacred ceremony.
A school for those who wish to prepare for their eventual death, or who wish to enrich their path in service as "spiritual midwives to the dying". Leaders in the field of spiritual death-care from many of the world’s religious traditions will comprise the teaching staff. Students of the school will assist in the hospice, crematorium, cemetery and ceremony hall.
“As you move towards death” says Ram Dass. “if you are to experience the nature of your Soul, you have to surrender your thoughts to your intuition, you have to surrender your righteousness. And the greatest surrender is to the moment. The deeper you surrender to the moment, the closer you get to the experience of God. The DOORWAY INTO LIGHT Death and Dying Center is conceived as a spiritual support structure for that surrender, bringing consciousness and awareness to death.
"By providing a place for the dying and their families to come to for this transition, we give back to them the control over this final step in life, in a beautiful, respectful, serene setting, recognizing people as spiritual beings with physical bodies engaged in the journey of leaving this life and this body behind." says Bodhi Be
"Just as birth is a celebration of a new life entering this world, the end of our physical life can also be a celebration of the spirit moving on to the next level of being. At the same time, we have deep understanding for how difficult that may be for some people, immediately following someone’s death, and so too, we hold safe and sacred space for deep grieving and letting go."
DOORWAY INTO LIFE has already established educational and outreach programs to spread awareness of death as a natural and sacred, family and community centered experience.
"We want to offer people the opportunity to take the burial and cremation process back from for-profit control and return it to the hands of families and communities." says Bodhi Be.
"In the U.S. the average funeral cost is around $6,500, which is two to three times the cost of the same process in Europe or Australia."
"A metal casket costing $2000 or more makes no economic sense to anyone except the people selling the casket, and makes no environmental sense at all. Building your loved one's casket by hand, or personally decorating a plain pine or bamboo casket or even a cardboard box is a great way to participate in the burial process."
"The intention of DOORWAY INTO LIGHT is to support and encourage this work through trainings and community outreach, and by creating a safe and sacred space for those in the dying process to come for their end of life journey."
"We know this change is possible, because, as shown in a recent survey in AARP Magazine, a popular publication for seniors, readers were polled and asked what method of burial they would prefer - 89% chose cremation or “green burial.”
"We need to also look at America’s massive, graying Baby Boomer generation, which will start to change the trends in death. The number of Americans born between 1946 and 1965 totals 78 million, and represents 29.4% of the total U.S. population (U.S. Census Bureau, 2004)."
"Based on the expected increased population and death rate within the Hawaiian Islands alone, coupled with the overall increasing awareness of the need/desire for organic, natural and green products and facilities, we feel this is the time for the DOORWAY INTO LIGHT Death and Dying Center to become a reality. It is exactly what is needed, and the perfect time to offer it. People from around the world will utilize this center and its services."
"We feel privileged that our individual journeys in life, so far, have given us the opportunity to touch many lives, and to make a difference in those lives. The vision of the DOORWAY INTO LIGHT Death and Dying Center is the next step on our journeys in service to awakening human consciousness."
Please send donations to IPUKA I KE AO, at Post Office Box 1268, Haiku, HI, 96708 You can direct any questions via email to: bodhi@ipuka.org or call (808) 283-5950 - Website: http://www.ipuka.org
The next DOORWAY INTO LIGHT 2 day workshop "Living and Dying in Everyday Life" with Roshi Joan Halifax, Ram Dass, Bodhi Be, Leilah Be and Heather Parsons will be held on Maui on Feb 22nd and 23rd, 2008.
# #
DOORWAY INTO LIGHT 11/20/07 Press Contact: Sam Small samsmall@ptd.net (808) 572 5603 Cell (973) 271 0788
Post a Comment