Pam
09-06-2001, 02:20 PM
By Megory Anderson, the author of Sacred Dying: A Spiritual and Ritual Guide to the End of Life, upcoming from Berkeley Books.
The Ridiculous
The beat of drums came from the private hospital room. The passing nurses rolled their eyes. When I entered, four young women were in a circle on the floor slapping congas, trying their best to keep the volume down in consideration of others in the hospital. Meanwhile, the grandmother was on her bed restlessly trying to sleep. I pulled aside the granddaughter, Caitlin, to ask about the drums.
She explained that someone had told her about a Tibetan practice called the phowa (po-wa), and I groaned inwardly. Tibetan monks spend their lives learning this intricate process in which the consciousness of the dying is received into the monk and transferred into the next incarnation. As Caitlyn described what she hoped to accomplish, it also dawned on me that she was confusing the Tibetan phowa with a Native American powwow, hence the drums.
I didn't explain the mix-up. Instead I gently put the drums to one side. "Perhaps," I said, "you might want to sit around the bed and chant softly to your grandmother. It would help her relax."
the rest of the article at Spiritualty & Health Magazine's website..... (http://www.spiritualityhealth.com/life/dying.html)
The Ridiculous
The beat of drums came from the private hospital room. The passing nurses rolled their eyes. When I entered, four young women were in a circle on the floor slapping congas, trying their best to keep the volume down in consideration of others in the hospital. Meanwhile, the grandmother was on her bed restlessly trying to sleep. I pulled aside the granddaughter, Caitlin, to ask about the drums.
She explained that someone had told her about a Tibetan practice called the phowa (po-wa), and I groaned inwardly. Tibetan monks spend their lives learning this intricate process in which the consciousness of the dying is received into the monk and transferred into the next incarnation. As Caitlyn described what she hoped to accomplish, it also dawned on me that she was confusing the Tibetan phowa with a Native American powwow, hence the drums.
I didn't explain the mix-up. Instead I gently put the drums to one side. "Perhaps," I said, "you might want to sit around the bed and chant softly to your grandmother. It would help her relax."
the rest of the article at Spiritualty & Health Magazine's website..... (http://www.spiritualityhealth.com/life/dying.html)