Conscious End-Of-Life Training Program

• Lectures and discussion on key concepts and principles necessary for effective care-giving (includes video presentation and group interaction)
• Experiential on-site exercises and take-home assignments that help develop deeper self-awareness and personal growth
• On-going guidance relating to qualities and skills that enable one to be present, alert and available to care for the individual needs of the dying person
• Monthly facilitated group meetings (also available through conference calls) for support through sharing of experiences, reflections and thoughts

Level 1:  Modules 1-3 – These three modules seek to heighten understanding of:

• What is, and what is not, “end-of-life” (beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors)
• The dynamics of various types of relationships between caregivers and care-receivers
• The basics of establishing a supportive environment for the patient
• How to understand and deal with complex emotions that may arise in end-of-life situations
• Subtle influences that have a major impact on spiritual awareness
• The harm caused by caregiver “impatience”
• How to be energetically quiet

Level 1:  Modules 4-6 – These three modules seek to heighten understanding of:

• Factors contributing to impatience
• The health hazards of impatience for the caregiver and care receiver
• States of  mind associated with and leading to impatience that may arise in hospice setting
• Methods to overcome impatience
• Kinds of patience within hospice beneficial to arise
• Health benefits of patience
• States of mind to gather for patience

Level 1:  Modules 7-9  – These three modules seek to heighten understanding of:

• A special form of patience needed in end-of-life care as a state of mind that is cultivated
• Three primary ingredients of patience needed by caregivers
• Methods for preserving patience
• Different forms of equanimity needed for end-of-life care
• Techniques to strengthen endurance equanimity
• Various aspects of impermanence
• Three levels of impermanence from a Buddhist perspective
• The dissolution process at the time of death (outward signs and sensation of the dying person)
• How caregivers may support patients during the dying process

Level 1:  Modules 10-12 - These three modules seek to heighten understanding of:

• Differentiating controlling the mind from “critical thinking”
• Relate controlling the mind (thoughts) to the process of quieting the mind
• Techniques for quieting the mind
• Ways of responding to family grief prior to and after death of the patient
• Three foundational aspects of peacefulness
• What it means to deeply respect the privacy of the patient
• The importance of joy to physical and spiritual well-being of the caregiver
• How the caregiver can maintain personal joy 
• Meditations for arising desired states of mind such as peacefulness or joy

Level 2: Student who obtain a certificate of completion for Level 1 and who wish to receive the higher trainings in accordance with the traditions of Tibetan Buddhism, will be eligible to take Levels 2 and higher. Level two will deepen awareness of patience and inner quiet that was started in Level 1, begin training in the transformative compassion practices, and gain an understanding of one’s relationship to all living beings. Attention will be given to understanding the correct view of compassion, which is not sentimental, but allows one to hold all living beings dear. An important element of the level 2 training, is the opportunity to receive the practice of the Medicine Buddha.

Level 3: This level of training will assist students in overcoming one’s personal intellectual fear of death; deepening understanding and practice of patience and correct compassion. This level includes preparation for level 4. Before one can engage in the end-of-life yogas (i.e., the inner energetic practices at the time of passing) one must become the one capable of undertaking them.

Level 4: Training of level four includes overcoming one’s innate fear of death; overcoming the obstacles that arise to achieving a correct view of compassion; deepening all previous training; and training for one’s own end-of-life while still healthy (i.e., the end-of-life inner yogas).