PRODUCTS

Being a Compassionate Companion Audio Series

by Frank Ostaseski

This three CD set includes teachings, stories and practical wisdom for those accompanying someone who is dying. They are intimate conversation with Frank Ostaseski a pioneer in contemplative end of life care. Thousands of these audio CDs have been sold providing countless support to family caregivers, healthcare professionals and hospice volunteers.

"Caring for people who are dying can be an intense, intimate and deeply enlivening experience."

Each individual's death is unlike any other. There are no formulas to give caregivers. Perhaps, though, there are some practices that can guide us in this territory of mystery and help us bear witness to this most extraordinary of human experiences.

The audio series is divided into three parts: Preparing, Serving, and Grieving.

Preparing

It's important to understand that we already know how to do this; it's in our bones.

In this section we see why every spiritual tradition speaks to us of keeping death as our advisor to opening fully to life. We examine the impermanent nature of things and in recognizing the precarious nature of our life we also come to appreciate its preciousness.

Frank shares Five Precepts to develop presence at the bedside:

• Welcome everything. Push away nothing.
• Bring your whole self to the experience.
• Don't wait.
• Find a place of rest in the middle of things.
• Cultivate "don't know" mind.

This section ends with a guided meditation using the Five Precepts.

Serving

In serving others we are also caring for ourselves.

Frank examines the mutuality of service and the crucial difference between helping and serving. We see how the true definition of compassion—suffering with others—allows us to serve from our whole self and leaves us with a feeling of profound gratitude. He offers practical ways to serve, in developing the gifts of touch and listening, and attending to the spirit through the gift of awareness. He discusses ways that spiritual support can provide a return to wholeness and healing, even though there may be no cure. He advocates refection and life review as well as a powerful forgiveness meditation.

Grieving

There are no shortcuts through grief. The only way is right through the middle.

Frank navigates an intimate walk across the landscape of grieving, giving us the confidence to develop a relationship to it rather than "getting over it" or resisting it. By sharing stories and a Buddhist teaching parable, he shows how grief is the common ground of our humanity and encourages our acceptance of each stage of grief, giving practical advice for the process he characterizes as "loss, losing and loosening." In a guided meditation exploring the loss of a loved one, Frank accompanies us into the heart of grief. We see how healing can be possible by moving toward the suffering and how, in surrendering to grief, we learn to give ourselves to life.

(Sales from this product do not benefit Metta Institute or Zen Hospice Project)