We don’t know when we may have a situation where we’ll be sitting with somebody who is dying or when we’ll be facing our own death.
Most spiritual traditions ask us to look at our own death as a practice in understanding ourselves and living an awakened life.
This course offers you the chance to feel radically alive, by learning to embrace your own death and support the dying.
This is a self-paced online course that also includes a live, 3-hour zoom followup with RamDev Dale Borglum.
“In one sense, working with the dying is something that one is called to do, and if you aspire to be an end-of-life doula, the Living/Dying Project will provide a spiritually grounded context along with useful techniques and tools to be one. But even for those who have no aspirations to work with people at the end of their lives, a Living/Dying Project workshop is a kind of spiritual training for life, because the fact of death is something that every single one of us is faced with, sooner or later. Dale presents a somatically and psychologically grounded, philosophically nuanced, and practical course that condenses his many years of experience into one deeply compelling weekend that will change how you relate to life and death.”
– Kaz, Course Student
This training is designed to help you prepare to volunteer with the dying or to prepare for your own death or for sitting with a loved one.
For over 40 years, RamDev Dale Borglum has sat with thousands of people in their moment of dying, and with their families and caregivers. He ran the Dying Center in Santa Fe, New Mexico in the early 1980s where many spent their final months and days. Together, Dale, Stephen Levine, and Ram Dass taught workshops throughout the country addressing topics on aging, suicide, healing, spiritual practice, conscious living and dying, and so much more, while working with thousands as they faced various personal crises. He is a seasoned practitioner in both meditative and devotional traditions, and continues to use his wealth of experience and the teachings passed down to him to offer support for others. Dale is still working with the dying today.
Recently Dale was at the bedside of someone who was deeply struggling with their dying due to cancer. As Dale tenderly offered support, she said, “Even though I’ve been trying to be spiritual, I didn’t focus on this part of my life enough that it made much difference. I’m still so afraid of dying.”
This was not the first time he sat next to someone who deeply regretted not exploring their essential nature more deeply. At the end of life, nobody regrets not having watched tv more.
Another time, Dale was at the bedside of a highly trained and disciplined meditator — someone who spent decades thinking and talking about God. And yet, their energetic barriers remained thick and dense that they also deeply struggled as their imminent death was approaching.
From being with so many different dying clients, it’s really clear that spiritual ideas don’t do much good. Such wisdom has to penetrate the core of one’s being. Ultimately it’s about surrender.
Each of us is at a particular point on our healing path, confronting our next challenge, often without clearly knowing whether attitudes or practices we have been using to facilitate growth in ourselves or in our clients are becoming stale, without knowing which direction we should turn to create meaningful transformation.
This course is for people who:
It is through this investigation of death and dying that one awakens to a more conscious life.
“My Living/Dying Project client taught me how to sit with helplessness, hopelessness, uncertainty and the unknown. She also taught me the value of being present to human connection without conditions or expectations. Compassion lived in the present moment, in the space between us. I experienced that the dying process was a time for healing and letting go for both of us. Dale’s training and ongoing guidance and insight provided a necessary foundation and support for these experiences.”
“After losing my son, my brother-in law, within a six month period, I was at a pretty big loss. I needed answers, mostly about life after death. And after some searching, I came upon Living/Dying Project and they had a lot of great resources and support. The first thing I did was…”
Please See Video for Brian’s full testimonial.
“My son’s father died when my son was 4 years old and the Living/Dying Project helped me with suggestions on how to help my son. I have been connected with the Project ever since. I took Dale’s workshop and learned that it is important when working with a dying person to first center, feel connected and compassionate yourself.”
“Death is not something to look at from a negative perspective. From Dale I have learned that death allows [us] to appreciate life and I am extremely grateful for that, and to him for his wisdom. Dale is perhaps one of the wisest voices of our times when it comes to the conversation of death and dying, and life as well.”
Please See Video for Nicolás’s full testimonial.
You have the option to become a Living/Dying Project volunteer and join a regular support group addressing the issues that arise in working with dying clients. We encourage you to visit our:
*Course fee goes toward supporting those in the face of grief, illness, and death.
