Being with Dying : Cultivating Compassion and Fearlessness in the Presence of Death

Zen teacher Halifax emphasizes that the process of dying is a rite of passage, and can be viewed as natural and not something to be denied. Here she offers stories as well as guided exercises and contemplations to help readers meditate on death without fear.

Joan Halifax, PhD, is a Zen priest and anthropologist who has served on the faculty of Columbia University and the University of Miami School of Medicine. For the past thirty years she has worked with dying people and has lectured on the subject of death and dying at Harvard Divinity School, Harvard Medical School, Georgetown Medical School, and many other academic institutions. In 1994, she founded the Project on Being with Dying, which has trained hundreds of healthcare professionals in the contemplative care of dying people.