End-of-Life Care & Grief Counselling Education Resources

Buddhist Resources on death, dying, end of life care & grief counselling

Grief Counselling & End-of-Life Care in the Theravada Tradition – a video interview with Rev. Jeewananda Thero of Mahamenawa Buddhist Monastery, Markham, Ontario, 28 minutes

How to hold, process and experience growth with grief – a video interview with Ven. Bhante Kusala of the West End Buddhist Temple and Meditation Centre, Mississauga, Ontario, 22 minutes

Healing from grief in the Japanese Zen Tradition, a video interview with Roshi Chodo Campbell of New York Zen Center for Contemplative Care, 24 minutes

Grief Counselling in the Tibetan Tradition, a video interview with Lama Rinzin, 13 minutes.

For additional information about the books listed below: Click here for the file that lists the book publisher names and comments

AuthorTitle
Barbara Karnes, RNGone from My Sight (End of Life Guideline Series)
Bernhard, Toni 
How to Be Sick: A Buddhist-Inspired Guide for the Chronically Ill and their Caregivers
Blackman, SushilaGraceful Exits: How Great Beings Die
Callanan, Maggie; Kelley, PatriciaFinal Gifts
Chagdud TulkuLife in Relation to Death
Chokyi Nyima RinpocheMedicine & Compassion
Dalai LamaAdvice on Dying
DeLeo, KirstenPresent Through the End: A Caring Companion’s Guide for Accompanying the Dying
Dzongsar Khyentse RinpocheLiving is Dying: How to Prepare for Death, Dying, and Beyond
Francesca FremantleLuminous Emptiness:  Understanding the Tibetan Book of the Dead
Gehlek RinpocheGood Life, Good Death
Glassman, BernieBearing Witness
Guy NewlandA Buddhist Grief Observed
Halifax, Joan RoshiBeing with Dying
Hoblitzelle, Olives AmesTen Thousand Joys & Ten Thousand Sorrows
Holecek, AndrewPreparing to Die
Hookham, Shenpen LamaThere’s More to Dying Than Death: a Buddhist Perspective
Joan HalifaxStanding at the Edge
Koshin Paley Ellison and Matt Weingast (eds.)Awake at the Bedside: Contemplative Teachings on Palliative and End-of-Life Care
Levine, Stephen Who Dies?
Lief, JudithMaking Friends with Death: A Buddhist Guide to Encountering Mortality
Linda Hochstetler21 Days to Die
Longaker, ChristineFacing Death and Finding Hope: A Guide to the Emotional and Spiritual Care of the Dying
Mannix, KathrynWith the End in Mind
Mingyur RinpocheIn Love with the World: A Monk’s Journey through the Bardos
Mullen, Glenn, trans. Death and Dying: The Tibetan Tradition
Ostataseki, FrankThe Five Invitations
Padmasambhava, commentary by Gyatrul Rinpoche, trans. by B. Alan WallaceNatural Liberation (out of print – but sometimes copies become available)
Padmasambhava; Gyurme Dorje, trans.The Tibetan Book of the Dead: First Complete Translation
Pema Chodron  Embracing the Unknown:  Life Lessons from the Tibetan Book of the Dead
Ponlop Rinpoche Mind beyond Death
Reynolds, John MyrdhinSelf-Liberation Through Seeing with Naked Awareness
Sogyal RinpocheThe Tibetan Book of Living and Dying
Stephen LevineMeetings at the Edge:  Dialogues with the Grieving and the Dying, the Healed and the Healed
Stephen Levine

Sumanacears, Ashin
Unattended Sorrow

Meaningful Life, Fearless Death: Spiritual Insights on Death, Dying, Hospice Care and Grief Counseling
Thich Nhat HahnNo Death, No Fear: Comforting Wisdom for Life
Thompson, EvanWaking, Dreaming, Being: Self and Consciousness in Neuroscience, Meditation, and Philosophy
Thrangu RinpocheJourney of the Mind: Putting the Teachings on the Bardo into Effective Practice
Tiso, Francis V.Rainbow Body and Resurrection: Spiritual Attainment, the Dissolution of the Material Body, and the Case of Khenpo A Cho
Tulku ThondupPeaceful Death, Joyful Rebirth
Tulku Thondup  Boundless Healing

Other Resources and Items of Interest

adapted by Jean- Claude van Italie The Tibetan Book of the Dead for Reading Aloud
Anderson, LaurieHeart of a Dog
Anderson, Laurie Tenzin Choegyal Jesse Paris SmithSongs from the Bardo
Atul GawandeBeing Mortal
David Servan-Schreiber, M.D.Not the Last Goodbye
Ira Byock, M.D Dying Well
Ira Byock, M.D.The Four Things That Matter Most
Kathleen Dowling SinghThe Grace in Dying:  A Message of Hope, Comfort, and Spiritual Transformation
Kathy Kortes-MillerTalking About Death Won’t Kill You:  The essential guide to end-of-life conversations
Leary, TimothyThe Psychedelic Experience: A Manual Based on the Tibetan Book of the Dead
Lorraine Hedtke and John WinsladeRe-membering Lives:  Conversations with the Dying and the Bereaved
Marie de HennezelIntimate Death:  How the Dying Teach Us to Live