The second part of the online workshops on Shining Light on Death opened with a minute’s silence followed by an introduction to the session by Nirmala Ragbir-Day.  Nirmala went on to share that the ethos behind the Shining Light on Death theme is that “…death is still a topic that many people shy away from.  Yet it is a fundamental aspect of reality.  How we think about and negotiate death – our own and that of others – has deep implications for all the other dimensions of life”.

 

People shared their favourite quotes:

 

Life asked death ‘why do people love me and hate you?’ Death responded ‘because you are a painful lie and I am a painful Truth’ . (Luna Haiz, Indonesian poet)

 

Do not stand at my grave and forever cry. I am not there, I did not die. (attributed to the American poet Mary Elizabeth Frye)

 

‘Death has nothing to do with going away. The sun sets. The moon sets. But they are not gone’. (Rumi, 13^th Century Persian poet)

 

This second workshop gave the 62 participants an opportunity to have deeper conversations exploring spiritual aspects of end of life care.

 

Smaller groups shared their ideas on the following two questions :

 

• What might people who are dying want from a friend? A family member? Healthcare staff?
• What would you like from a friend?

 

After feeding back, Susan Balmforth led the group in a visualisation/meditation on self-compassion.

 

Participants then focussed on two more questions:

 

• How do you imagine you might be if you were with someone close to you when they were dying? What would you say or do that might be comforting to them?

 

• How would you like a friend or family member to be with you if you were dying? What would you like them to say or do that would be comforting?

 

The workshop ended with participants being asked to reflect on how they would  complete the statement ‘When I die…”  and brought to a gentle conclusion with a few minute’s meditation.

 

To watch the video of this event – please click here