Wisdom and compassion in care for the dying

Christine Longaker presenting to carers

In October 2000, Christine Longaker led a week-long training for professional caregivers at our spiritual care retreat and training center in South West Ireland. Located on the cliffs overlooking the Atlantic, it is an area of extraordinary natural beauty and is also a profoundly healing environment.

We welcomed 60 participants in all--30 from Ireland and 30 from other countries including Spain, America, Canada, and Finland. We were delighted that Sogyal Rinpoche, author of The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying, could join the training for the final three days. There were rich and illuminating exchanges between Rinpoche and those who spend their working lives caring for the dying. Here is what two participants had to say about the event.

	Click thumbnails below to see larger images
	Study group in shrine room overlooking the Atlantic ocean     Christine Longaker and Judy Arpana     Study group facilitator Christine Whiteside     Participants meeting in discussion group

Rich in depth and healing
Maggie: I care for my 35 year old daughter who has a severe degree of autism and I found this workshop rich in scope and depth and very healing. Being able to work and share experiences, not only with people of different religious and spiritual beliefs, but also professional and non-professional caregivers of the ill and terminally ill was extremely interesting and insightful for me.

I found that everything presented at the workshop which was relevant to professional caregivers in order for them to work sensitively and effectively with patients and their families, applies equally to me personally and to the people I love and care about, now and in the future. For example, recognizing and understanding burn-out, denial around death, preparing spiritually for death, the moment of death, working with unfinished business.

The richness and depth of the spiritual teachings and practices of the Buddhist tradition were the heart of the workshop and of course inform everything. It was so good to share with others, just how using the practices in everyday situations has been helpful. In fact over the past year, on those occasions when my autistic daughter has been particularly distressed and aggressive I have practised Tonglen to really good effect. Slowly she has become much more relaxed and calm as have those around her.

Understanding how to be with the dying
Chrissy: Christine is a gifted speaker who is able to hold and contain a group better than anyone I have ever seen. The experience of being at Dzogchen Beara and doing the simple practices have given me a greater understanding of what is needed when one is in the presence of the dying and also how to be with relatives of the terminally ill. It is so simple really, I just have to be myself. As caregivers we always feel that we need to fix or do something when all that is needed is an authentic presence.

Although I have done these practices many times before I did not until now realize the immense power they had. I left the environment of Dzogchen Beara healed, and with tools to maintain this. The sense of freedom that this gives will never leave me. I hope that this kind of workshop grows and can be offered to everyone irrespective of their profession.

Future events
For information about future events at our spiritual care training center in Ireland and in other countries, please see our events calendar.