LESSON 2: WORKING WITH DEATH PHOBIA

Guest Teacher: Petrine McCrohan

In this podcast session, Petrine and Victoria Padma Khandro speak on Petrine's mother's dying and death process and how she transitioned on so many levels with her mother; thresholds and mini deaths and rebirths throughout life; grief and love; how vital these opportunities are and how our death phobic culture denies us this growth and profound time to practice for our own death; how to practice for death and the astrological significator for maturation; age-related cycles and loads more… tune in with Petrine and Victoria Padma Khandro at your leisure.

LESSON 3: DYING CONSCIOUSLY

Teacher: Victoria Sinclair Padma Khandro

How do we die consciously? Drawing upon previous cultures, spiritual traditions, and the Dying Consciously teachings of the Four Winds Society (Peru) we will explore how to have more sovereignty over these transitions. How many people leave their bodies in a place or situation that they weren’t prepared for? How can we assist with this? How do we deal with family members who are keeping their family members alive? How to spot when people are beginning to take the ultimate journey? Some insights and tools will be shared to assist persons who are dying or within the first 3 days of crossing over. We will also be deconstructing some of the accounts of transition realms from The Journey of Souls by Michael Newton. We will look at the concept of Free Will and Sovereignty and how we can begin to aspire for a Mindful transition.

LESSON 4: CELTIC RITES – From Form to Formless, The Elements in the Dying Process 

Guest Teacher: Tara Louise Muirghein

Many cultures honour the gift of human life and death through ritual, ceremony and rites of passage. These assist us in marking the sacred as well as the many cycles of death/birth throughout life, marking the transitions through our human and soul evolution. In the Celtic and Neolithic times, death has been honoured as a portal to the otherworld, the last ecstasy of life and yet we are in relationship with life and the otherworld in every moment through our connection with the elements.  There is no separation as the elements are carried within and around us and this is what creates form, we are in constant relationship with them as part of nature ourselves. There is a journey with each of the elements as they leave the body which can be perceived on the physical as well as energetic levels. This can be very helpful for those sitting with the dying, as well as those in the dying process to gain an understanding of these stages which can bring more grace and ease through the process. When we can embrace the natural way and timing of things, we can accept the beginning and ending of each stage, opening up to death as our greatest teacher & the liberation of the last ecstasy.

LESSON 5: TIBETAN BUDDHISM APPROACHES
to the 4 convictions of Renunciation,Re-incarnation, Death and the Bardo

Teacher: Victoria Sinclair Padma Khandro

The 4 convictions of Renunciation outline the importance of understanding karma, impermanence, this precious life and the need to escape samsara/cyclic existence. How can we apply these principles to our daily life to bring us to a more Conscious death? We will also look at key concepts outlined in the Tibetan Book of the Dead and the concepts of the Bardo states. Padma Khandro will also discuss other Bardo states and deconstruct practices such as plant medicines, meditation and pranayama, as crucial preparatory methods for leaving one’s body. She will also speak on the experience of reading the Bardo rites to dying or deceased persons and the great blessings and teachings of such experiences.

LESSON 6: GENTLE DEATH & REBIRTH GUIDE

Guest Teacher: Sandra Nelson

All of these teachings about death are anchored in real life stories and first-hand experiences.
Story telling, guidance and healing:  - Universal signage and coincidences  - Signs that occur leading up to death, both short term illness, longer term illness and sudden death   -Dreams of ancestral loved ones visiting including dreams of guides, angelic beings and animals  -Importance of Death Soul retrieval space holding   -Intervention of strangers who assist with passage the of death/messengers   -Benefits of poetry, poems and rituals
Signs in the immediate short-term leading to death:  - Change in appetite/energy/more sleep  - Changes in sleep patterns - awake at night  - Change in body temperature  - Call to organise affairs
Crossing over story:  - How to prepare a human for crossing over, what to look out for  - Hallucinations are the merging of the soul into the astral spirit plane - How a person can begin to leave their body in the weeks and months prior to death - How our loved ones may hang around for a few days and weeks after death (revolving door)