Tag Archives: Qi Gong

Being a priest and regularly attending to the dying, in particular during my three-year ministry as a hospital chaplain during the ‘90s, certainly gives one a good, first-hand appreciation of the dying process. There have been occurrences when someone passes swiftly, like the after effects of a sudden coronary attack or through being a victim of a tragic accident. But by and large for the majority of people this can be a long drawn-out, painful, and most undignified process. There are divisive forces at work within the individual that prevent a noble passing: Severe Extraordinary Measures that are used which keep even vegetable-like bodies alive for weeks and weeks and even months (extreme cases—even years!) on end; an inability to sever the karmic ties that bind one to this samsaric plane; for some, even radical attacks from deep-rooted psychological baggage that prevents them from leaving this plane of reality in a peaceful manner. I’m reminded of a wife of someone who had passed at home after a long and weary illness, who stated that the expression on her dead husband’s face was one of sheer terror! All of these incidents are very clear indicators and reminders that the Western World just doesn’t deal well at all with death and the dying process. The focus is just to maintain that “here and now” kind of mentality. What matters, above all else, is this material existence—as if it’s some kind of immortal stuff in and of itself. On the contrary, THIS IS ONLY A BARDO EXPERIENCE—A Passing-through time until, hopefully, a Reality above anything anyone can ask or imagine, awaits the Aware-Self. read more