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Chairperson’s Report to the Pure Land AGM held on 4 December 2022 Posted 13 Dec 2022

Let’s start by recalling what the Pure Land concept is. The Pure Land is about creating a peaceful and virtuous environment in a purpose-built, multi-faith, facility in Perth. It will provide homely accommodation and a conducive atmosphere for those who wish to focus on the emotional and spiritual aspects in their last weeks.

First and foremost may I extend my sincere thanks to all the Committee for your unflagging support, advice, friendship and hard work. In particular, my admiration and gratitude goes to Jason Foong, our retiring Treasurer. Jason has been a tower of strength and a fountain of good advice at the right time. It’s been such a pleasure, Jason, to get to know you better and to work with you. May your future be long and happy.

With the retirement of our long-standing Secretary, Anita Field, and of our treasurer, we were left with two gaping holes in our Committee. Then a miracle occurred and out of the blue came Kelli Bonny and Jeannie Foong. Well qualified and enthusiastic – what a wonderful outcome.

A highlight this year has been the creation of a discussion group focussed on end-of-life care. This group considered many aspects of caring for the dying from the point of view of what dying people say matters most to them. Sue Lee and Len Warren developed a series of guided discussions covering physical, emotional, intellectual, psychological and spiritual aspects. The basis was Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s book “How to Enjoy Death”, His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s book “Advice on Dying” and Christine Longaker’s book “Facing Death and Finding Hope.” Ten people completed the three modules.

The lack of progress on the redevelopment of 8 Pusey Street Bentley by the developer Colin De Silva has been most frustrating. There are of course sound reasons for the delay, not least the shortages of materials and labour in the building industry. Having to evict the tenant is another issue. One of the reasons for the brainstorming session this afternoon is to make sure we have explored all options in our search for premises to hold our three-year pilot trial.

Our pro bono architect Peter Jongen is developing plans for the proposed house to be built on the Bentley site. These have progressed to the stage of a draft 3D image. Colin has accepted this design. I am very grateful for the skills, knowledge and effort Peter so willingly shares with us.

Lama Yeshe gave a wonderful teaching on Christmas. Here are two quotes from that teaching: For a Christmas celebration to be a good one, it must be of a truly religious nature…Jesus had exceptionally great compassion…if the thought comes to our mind, “I must gain his realizations and become as compassionate as he was,” then this is the perfect basis on which to have a celebration of his birth.

Len Warren, Chairperson, The Pure Land of the Indestructible Buddha

Why focus on the spiritual side? Posted 18 Aug 2022

Our small Buddhist charity is called The Pure Land of the Indestructible Buddha, or the Pure Land for short.

One of our members is an architect and is putting together building plans right now. We want to create a place with a peaceful and virtuous environment that is suitable for all those who wish to focus on the emotional and spiritual side in their last days. The Pure Land could be called a ‘spiritual hospice’.

Why is it so important to focus on the spiritual side as you die? Because according to the Buddha’s teachings the state of your mind at the moment of death will determine which throwing karma ripens and propels you into your next life.

Providing the worst of your pain is under control, spiritual issues are probably more important than anything else and can determine both how peaceful your death will be and whether you will have a happy rebirth. So dying is such an important time and hence our desire to build a facility where we can give people every chance to make the most of this precious experience.

Contents of this page prepared by Len Warren of The Pure Land of the Indestructible Buddha, PO Box 2053 Como 6152, admin@purelandcentre.org.au

Story #15: Caregiving as Spiritual Practice ^[1] Posted 06 Mar 2022

This is one story in a series of 15 on End of Life.

Marisa, a vibrant and pretty doctor in her mid-thirties, asked me how to deal with an angry and demanding patient. I suggested she try one of the Buddhist meditations she had learned, especially before going into the patient’s room.

Marisa took time to do the compassion practices of ‘Seeing the other as another you’ and ‘Exchanging places’. “When I exchanged places with my patient, suddenly I was this old woman who had constant pain, felt ugly, helpless and unwanted,” recalled Marisa. “And when I saw this attractive young doctor come into the room, full of smiles, I hated her more than anything.”

Complete your reading on Caregiving as Spiritual Practice

^[1] Extracts from Facing Death and Finding Hope:
A Guide to the Emotional and Spiritual Care of the Dying By Christine Longaker, Broadway Books, New York 2001, 262 pp

Story #14: Healing and Concluding the Relationship ^[1] Posted 04 Mar 2022

This is one story in a series of 15 on End of Life.

Getting stuck in any kind of emotional unfinished business prevents us from completing our mourning. We may sustain an unbalanced image of the deceased, seeing him or her as our lifelong nemesis or as a saint who could do no wrong.

After a death, whether expected or sudden, we are challenged to communicate all of our conflicting emotions, frustrations and unexpressed regrets. If we didn’t do so previously, we will also need to conclude our relationship and say goodbye.

Jenny, an old friend of mine, showed me her account of her encounters with death, which was written for a college class. In two pages, she described in great detail her father’s illness and death, which had occurred three years earlier. I was startled to see one sentence standing alone at the end of the story: “Six weeks after my father’s death, my mother died.”

Complete your reading on Healing and Concluding the Relationship

^[1] Extracts from Facing Death and Finding Hope:
A Guide to the Emotional and Spiritual Care of the Dying By Christine Longaker, Broadway Books, New York 2001, 262 pp

Story #13: Prayer for Those in a Coma ^[1] Posted 02 Mar 2022

This is one story in a series of 15 on End of Life.

My second grandmother, my father’s mother, was a widow well into her eighties. She had become very frail in the last few years, and had begun to prepare for her death. Before going into surgery for a bowel obstruction, she’d made out a Living Will, requesting to dispense with any artificial means of life support if she were dying. During the surgery, she did die, and was eventually resuscitated, but she came out with severe, irreparable brain damage. She lay in an unresponsive coma for days, connected to every means of life support, with a respirator going constantly and a monitor tracking every heartbeat. My father had pleaded with the doctor to discontinue the life support, showing the written evidence of her wishes, but to no avail.

Complete your reading on Prayer for Those in a Coma

^[1] Extracts from Facing Death and Finding Hope:
A Guide to the Emotional and Spiritual Care of the Dying By Christine Longaker, Broadway Books, New York 2001, 262 pp

Story #12: Compassion and Dedication ^[1] Posted 28 Feb 2022

This is one story in a series of 15 on End of Life.

Jean, a close friend, called me in distress. She would be visiting her dying father-in-law soon, probably for the last time. Ed was comatose, so Jean wouldn’t be able to have a normal conversation with him. Her feelings were mixed – she knew it would be good if she could help him let go and die peacefully. Yet because of his alcoholism, he had brought considerable emotional suffering to his entire family, including his son, Jean’s husband. Over the twenty-five years she’d been part of the family, the family members were always distant from each other, uncommunicative and unsupportive.

Complete your reading on Compassion and Dedication

^[1] Extracts from Facing Death and Finding Hope:
A Guide to the Emotional and Spiritual Care of the Dying By Christine Longaker, Broadway Books, New York 2001, 262 pp

Story #11: Supporting Those Who are Nonreligious ^[1] Posted 26 Feb 2022

This is one story in a series of 15 on End of Life.

Paul’s mother, Isabelle, did not have any religious faith and clearly told her family she didn’t want to speak about spiritual matters. Near the end of her life, Isabelle became quite agitated and anxious and required frequent doses of pain medication. Whenever Paul visited her, he spent part of the time silently continuing his practice of the Essential Phowa while she rested. After a few such visits, Isabelle confessed to her daughter that whenever Paul was with her, she felt much more peaceful and was able to skip her next dose of pain medication.

Complete your reading on Supporting Those Who are Nonreligious

^[1] Extracts from Facing Death and Finding Hope:
A Guide to the Emotional and Spiritual Care of the Dying By Christine Longaker, Broadway Books, New York 2001, 262 pp

Story #10: When time is running out ^[1] Posted 24 Feb 2022

This is one story in a series of 15 on End of Life.

Each afternoon, when the father of a twenty-four-year-old son who was dying came to the hospital to visit, the nurse, Anne, observed a similar painful scene. The father entered his son’s room, slightly hunched, his face a mixture of sadness and feigned cheerfulness. He would move a chair to the side of the bed, hoping to look into his son’s face, and every day as he started to speak, his son would turn his head toward the opposite wall.

A week passed with this continuing standoff, a week closer to the son’s imminent death.

Complete your reading on When time is running out

^[1] Extracts from Facing Death and Finding Hope:
A Guide to the Emotional and Spiritual Care of the Dying By Christine Longaker, Broadway Books, New York 2001, 262 pp

Story #9: The family’s journey towards death ^[1] Posted 22 Feb 2022

This is one story in a series of 15 on End of Life.

Just before midnight, the call came. As she listened to the young woman’s description of her mother’s condition, Lee, a hospice nurse, assessed that the mother would probably die during the night. Lee gently informed the daughter that the physical changes she was witnessing were normal and no cause for alarm.

“Are you aware that your mother is very close to dying?”

“Yes. It’s hard to hear it once again but I knew deep down that the end was near. She wanted to have a peaceful death so I arranged everything I could to bring her home to die. We’ve only had one visit from the hospice nurse since the. I feel so unprepared. Is there anything I can do for her now?”

Complete your reading on The family’s journey towards death

^[1] Extracts from Facing Death and Finding Hope:
A Guide to the Emotional and Spiritual Care of the Dying By Christine Longaker, Broadway Books, New York 2001, 262 pp

Story #8: Confronting the dying person’s denial ^[1] Posted 20 Feb 2022

This is one story in a series of 15 on End of Life.

Judy was thirty-five years old when her father, Harry, was dying of cancer. Although the whole family had been informed together that Harry was close to death, he adamantly refused to let anyone speak about it. Continually tense and angry, Harry attacked anyone who tried to come near. After many unsuccessful attempts at making a connection, Judy and her family became increasingly frustrated and distanced from him.

Complete your reading on Confronting the dying person’s denial

^[1] Extracts from Facing Death and Finding Hope:
A Guide to the Emotional and Spiritual Care of the Dying By Christine Longaker, Broadway Books, New York 2001, 262 pp