Join Doug Duncan and Catherine Pawasarat for a conversation on Buddhist views of death and dying. Focusing on perspectives unique to their lineage they will share about death related caregiving and to illuminate specific practices (e.g., rituals, key texts, etc.). Additionally, they will reflect on how the relatively recent adaptation of Buddhism to Canada and the West has created frictions and creative adaptations to this ancient tradition.

This speakers series, cosponsored by Emmanuel College’s Centre for Religion and Its Contexts, the Toronto Centre for Applied Buddhism and the Buddhist Education Foundation of Canada, is a pioneering effort to provide a platform for Canadian teachers from the three main traditions of Buddhism to address contemplative end-of-life care. Over the past fifty years, Canadians from many walks of life have become interested in Buddhism, including growing numbers of committed practitioners and students, as well as those whose curiosity has been piqued about how Buddhist wisdom can be applied to life challenges.

This rich spiritual and philosophical system provides unique insight into the perennial questions: What is a “good death?” How can I support myself and my loved ones during this time of profound transition? What approaches to inner work and relationships can we learn that will help bring ease and confidence to end-of-life?

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Meet the Teachers

Doug Duncan and Catherine Pawasarat are Dharma and meditation teachers who founded Clear Sky Meditation Centre, BC, Canada. Achariya Doug Duncan received lay ordination from Namgyal Rinpoche in 1978, and is a lineage holder in that teaching. Known for his direct, humourous and compassionate engagement with students, Doug embraces various traditions, contemporary psychology, and science, to mentor all beings to a more awakened state. Catherine Pawasarat has trained daily with Acariya Doug Duncan since 1998 in an intensive spiritual apprenticeship that is rare in the modern West. She received lay ordination from Namgyal Rinpoche in 2003. In addition to Buddhist philosophy and its applications to daily life, Catherine also draws on generative living and the arts. With Doug she is co-founder of Clear Sky Retreat Center in the BC Rockies.