Page 31 - EH 73 May 2024

FACE TO FACE | EASTERN HORIZON 29

I am aware that the Three Jewels are within my heart. Your consciousness in the form of A
I vow to realize them, Dissolves into the heart of Amitabha.
practicing mindful breathing and smiling,
looking deeply into things. Do you find legal challenges regarding the Buddhist
I vow to understand living beings and their suffering, approach towards catering for the death and dying in
to cultivate compassion and loving kindness, Australia which is a secular country?
to practice joy and equanimity.
When my booklet on palliative care came out 20 years
I vow to offer joy to one person in the morning, ago there was a lot less cross-cultural awareness in
to help relieve the grief of one person in the afternoon, hospitals and nursing homes. However, nowadays
living simply and sanely with few possessions, there is a real effort to respect the needs of our diverse
keeping my body healthy. Australian community. The only legal challenge I am
aware of can relate to a legal need for autopsies very
I vow to let go of all worries and anxiety soon after death which does affect some communities,
in order to be light and free. such as the Tibetan. I recently wrote the Buddhist
Council’s policy on organ donation and there are
I am aware that I owe so much diverse views within the community about that. These
to my parents, teachers, friends, and all beings. largely relate to differences in ideas about the time of
death. The medical community and the Mahāyāna and
I vow to be worthy of their trust, to practice Theravāda communities have different interpretations.
wholeheartedly For the Mahāyāna community it is thought that the
so that understanding and compassion will flower, consciousness takes some hours or even days to leave
helping living beings be free from their suffering. the body and this affects their openness to organ
donation, although tissues can be collected later.
May the Buddha, the Dharma and the Sangha
support my efforts. How do you as a Buddhist interact in inter-faith
dialogues with both Christianity, the main religion, as
For a funeral for a friend who followed the Tibetan well as other minority religions in the country?
tradition I included this text:
For over 20 years I have worked on building friendships
Showing the Path with members of the Christian, Hindu, Muslim, Jewish
and other communities, and in finding common ground
HUM through dialogue. I am the Buddhist representative
Listen, departed child of noble family: on the state government’s Multifaith Advisory Group
In whichever realm of saṃsāra you may be born, and we work together to address issues of common
It will have the nature of the three kinds of suffering. concern. I think a good starting point for social harmony
Without having attachment or craving for that, is good relationships between the leaders of different
Generate the motivation to attain supreme communities.
enlightenment
And remember the truth of dharmata. You wrote the book “Buddhist Care for the Dying” which
The five paths are devoid of inherent nature, has been in use in chaplaincy services since 2004 in
Realize them to be like illusion. Australia. What is the advice you would give to those
Your mental body is the essence of luminosity; training to be hospice chaplains?
Go to the Buddhafield of Lotus Array
And attain Buddhahood inseparable from Whatever you want to learn, the most important
The wisdom of the Buddha of Boundless Light. thing is to find a good teacher. The teacher should be