Dharmapala College

Wednesday, 27 January (6pm) to Sunday, 31 January (after lunch)

With Samantabhadri

For Order members.
As Buddhists, we are familiar with reflecting on impermanence, loss and death and bring a spiritual and very human awareness to these issues.  We probably have a natural sense of what would be a ‘good’ funeral: honouring the bereaved; sensitivity to family and friends; an overall artistic shape; positivity and joy (even humour) as well as sadness and loss.

Many of us have developed skills of leading significant events and might be interested in offering this in our local community to those who wish for a caring, ‘non-religious’ funeral. It might even be  a small Right Livelihood enterprise. Others might wish to be prepared for taking a funeral at a local Centre.  You might be open to taking funerals regularly, to taking just one or simply have a general interest in the topic.

In this seminar, we will look carefully at how to celebrate a funeral, starting with ‘non-religious’ funerals.  This will include the following: content and style; meeting the family; contact with the undertakers/crematorium; green burials; choice of readings and music; things we need to remember; taking care of ourselves.  With this clear basis, we will discuss taking funerals for Buddhists outside the FWBO and share ideas, experience and inspiration around funerals within the Movement.

Samantabhadri has built up considerable and varied experience of taking funerals over recent years.  She has been the celebrant of over 20 ‘non-religious’ funerals, of green burials, of general Buddhist funerals, of FWBO funerals and for her own parents.  She thus has a clear sense of the spiritual, emotional and practical demands.

The seminar will also include: related shrine room activities; plenty of chances to share ideas and experience; and some practical work. (Please bring a laptop if you have one.)   Ultimately taking a funeral is a privilege and a deep form of giving. This seminar feels a pioneering event.

Suggested donation for the seminar: £ 120. Accommodation £15/10 per night.

Please book early. Our teachers put a lot of preparation into the seminars — sometimes several weeks of work. We would find it irresponsible to let them do all that and then cancel the even at short notice due to lack of participants.

If you consider attending, but aren’t as yet certain, please let us know. By booking early, you can help us prevent disappointment on all sides.

To ask for further information or to book for this event, please contact us here.

To go back to our 2010 schedule, please click here.