448: Mindfulness of Death and Dying (Kamalashila in Conversation, with Guided Meditation)

Kamalashila is dying. So are we - we are dying. Really. 

In this recent conversation with Kamalashila following his diagnosis of terminal cancer - and in the closing guided meditation reflecting on death - this is the core theme to which we keep returning: the value of familiarising ourselves with our impermanence: dying and death are going to happen to every single one of us. As Kamalashila says, “Taking it out of the taboo cupboard”.

We hear Kamalashila’s perspective starting out on what he refers to in his cancer blog as “A Voyage into the Unknown”. What it’s like to be in relationship to other people’s responses as he himself comes to terms with what’s happening. What he is carrying with him by way of reflections on a path of Buddhist practice, regrets in relationship to his own Dharma life and community, and thoughts on the nature of sangha itself.  Exploring how, as Buddhists, as humans, we can work effectively with the intimations of our own mortality that are there if we only choose to look.

We revisit the themes of previous conversations: modes of Buddhist practice and ways of seeing community; the effect of landscape as a space of practice; the ongoing life of a particular spiritual context (the Triratna Buddhist Order) and his sense of sometimes being “a square peg in a round hole” within it. We hear Kamalashila’s sense of Triratna’s history, its up and downs, its many gifts, its changes for better or worse, its historical dynamics, its tensions and contradictions - all with a temperamental leaning towards personal agency in practice, trust in community, and finding unity through diversity. 

The exchanges here are grounded in Kamalashila’s present experience - but his thoughts on the past are naturally part of it. And as anyone who knows him might expect, we are never too far from his sense of depth connection to the importance of playful, curious, committed meditation practice and teaching, one of the great loves of his 50+ years as a Buddhist. Whether he’s talking about life back in the London of his childhood or the nature of agnosticism in relation to the teaching of Padmasambhava, Kamalashila is always a good companion in attending to what matters.

This is a fascinating and generous hour of engaged conversation - followed by a beautiful 20 minute gently guided reflection on how our bodies and our consciousness (parsed by Kamalashila as “manifesting a world”) might, in time, come into relationship with our own dying and death.

Show Notes

Follow ‘A Voyage into the Unknown’: a blog by Kamalashila

Online classes and retreats with Kamalashila (with teaching archive)

Read Kamalashila’s thoughts on his diagnosis and upcoming meditation teaching

Some previous podcast conversations with Kamalashila:

Kamalashila's Quarterly No.1

Kamalashila's Quarterly No.2 - On Landscape And Experiment

Kamalashila's Quarterly No.3 - On Gonzo Psychogeography and New Beginnings

The Magic Of Meditation with Kamalashila

Parami & Kamalashila Talk About Meditation

Satyaraja and Kamalashila Talk About Meditation

Other links:

Read free digital editions of ‘Crap, I’ve Got Cancer’ by Suvarnaprabha

Amitasuri on her work as a Buddhist chaplain

Watch Seamus Heaney reading his poem ‘Mint’

Follow us on YouTube and Instagram

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