Sacred Death

The author instructs readers in the art of dying, providing useful advice on how to create rituals around death that encourage sacredness and spirituality, while exploring difficult questions surrounding the act of dying and attendant care and offering thoughtful rituals and prayers to support the needs of the dying while comforting the living. Reprint.

Examines how each of the major religions looks at death by including stories, teachings, and rituals that present a comparative religious meaning of death and afterlife. Written in textbook style with journal exercises at the end of each chapter. +

"Teams Create the Best Solutions." BANG. "Always Trust Your Research." BANG. "It's Okay to Put Up with Jerks, If They're Talented." BANG. When you think about it, there are a lot of Sacred Cows grazing lazily in the halls of corporate America. And we think it's time someone shot them. Dead. Don't get us wrong. While the authors have nothing against cows in general (they love steak), they do have a problem with Sacred Cows. Blindly doing things because . . . well . . . that's the way they've always been done. Formulas may be comforting, but they rarely work in the real world. This is the funniest--and truest--business book you'll ever read. Not only do the authors demonstrate how to identify and kill the Sacred Cows in your workplace, they also reveal brilliant alternatives that will put your career in overdrive and help make your business more profitable, innovative, and happy. From branding ("Branding Is Expensive." BANG.) to leadership ("Follow the Leader." BANG.) to hiring ("Only Hire Someone Who Has Done the Job Before." BANG.) no Sacred Cow is left standing. Oh, and here's another Sacred Cow of business books: "No one reads flap copy." BANG!

When tenth grader Vivi Hartman arrives with her rabbi father at a Seneca reservation to arrange the funeral of a Jewish girl who died violently, she finds herself investigating rumors of murder.

magine being at peace with death. . . . . . and not having to be afraid of that sacred journey. This is a book of stories and inspiration. And it's a little more than that. It's a collaboration of 25 end-of-life experts, coaches, healers, therapists, and practitioners who've trained in modalities to assist the dying, and their caregivers. This is a powerful book with glimpses into what's next for us. It's a collection of brave authors who share, not only what death means to them, but how life has changed with their deeper understanding. This is a book we can read, share, gift, and celebrate, a bold stance about all the many expressions of our final moments, and how to let go with, ease, grace, and love. These experts will show you how to do that. This book will wrap you in gratitude, love, and joy. . . . . . because who doesn't want support with one of the most mysterious and misunderstood stages of life?

THE most ancient special devotion of Christians is doubtless that of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, the Son of God. The holy Sacraments and the other objects of devotion did not yet exist, when the Blessed Virgin Mary found her delight in worshiping the most Sweet Heart of her Jesus; already did Holy Joseph clasp that Heart to his bosom; even then were the Shepherds and the Magi, Simeon and Anna, the Apostles and the Disciples attracted to It and by It: they longed to show to It the affection and love of their hearts. But after Jesus had called upon all men to learn, “that He is meek and humble of Heart;” after He had drawn from the treasury of His Heart that best of all gifts, the Sacrament of the Most Blessed Eucharist; lastly, after He had willed that, upon the Cross, His Heart should be opened, and continue open, as a place of refuge for all; then was devotion to His Divine Heart wonderfully increased. Aeterna PressAeterna Press

Working as an emergency room nurse, Margaret Coberly came in contact with death on a daily basis. However, it wasn't until her own brother was diagnosed with terminal cancer that she realized she understood very little about the emotional and spiritual aspects of caring for the terminally ill. To fill this gap she turned to the unique wisdom on death and dying found in Tibetan Buddhism. In this book Coberly offers sound, practical advice on meeting the essential needs of the dying, integrating stories from her long career in nursing with useful insights from the Tibetan Buddhist teachings. In the West, death is viewed as a tragic and horrible event. Coberly shows us how this view generates fear and denial, which harm the dying by adding unnecessary loneliness, confusion, and mental anguish to the dying process. Tibetan Buddhism focuses on the nature of death and how to face it with honesty, openness, and courage. In this view, death is not a failure, but a natural part of life that, if properly understood and appreciated, can offer the dying and their loved ones an opportunity to gain valuable insight and wisdom. Coberly argues that the Tibetan Buddhist outlook can be a useful antidote to the culture of fear and denial that surrounds death in the West and can help caregivers become more fully present, fearless, honest, and compassionate. Sacred Passage highlights two very practical teachings on death and dying from the Tibetan Buddhist tradition and presents them in clear, nontechnical language. Readers learn about the "eight stages of dissolution leading to death," a detailed roadmap of the dying process that describes the sequence of physical, psychological, and spiritual changes that occur as we die. Coberly also presents the "death meditation," a contemplative exercise for developing a new relationship to death—and life. The book also includes a lengthy, annotated list of recommended readings for added guidance and inspiration. Topics include: • How the terminally ill can experience emotional and spiritual healing even when they can't be cured • Why Western medicine's relentless focus on curing disease has led to inadequate care for the dying • What to expect during the dying process • How our fear and denial of death harm the dying • Techniques to help caregivers promote a peaceful environment for the dying and their loved ones • How to meet the changing physical and emotional needs of the dying • Helpful advice on what to say and how to behave around the terminally ill Registered nurses can earn Continuing Education Units (CEUs) by passing a written test based on this book. For more information, see http://www.shambhala.com/sacredpassage.

The Death of Sacred Texts draws attention to a much neglected topic in the study of sacred texts: the religious and ritual attitudes towards texts which have become old and damaged and can no longer be used for reading practices or in religious worship. This book approaches religious texts and scriptures by focusing on their physical properties and the dynamic interactions of devices and habits that lie beneath and within a given text. In the last decades a growing body of research studies has directed attention to the multiple uses and ways people encounter written texts and how they make them alive, even as social actors, in different times and cultures. Considering religious people seem to have all the motives for giving their sacred texts a respectful symbolic treatment, scholars have paid surprisingly little attention to the ritual procedures of disposing and renovating old texts. This book fills this gap, providing empirical data and theoretical analyses of historical and contemporary religious attitudes towards, and practices of text disposals within, seven world religions: Judaism, Islam, Christianity, Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism. Exploring the cultural and historical variations of rituals for religious scriptures and texts (such as burials, cremations and immersion into rivers) and the underlying beliefs within the religious traditions, this book investigates how these religious practices and stances respond to modernization and globalization processes when new technologies have made it possible to mass-produce and publish religious texts on the Internet.