Labyrinth Readers Society – Ongoing Events

Posted on December 8, 2014 by webmaven

Here is an updated listing of ongoing LRS related events.

The LRS meeting and information forum is on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/groups/LRSForum/

All schedule times below are in Pacific time. Locations can be subject to change. Many of the events are held in the Prosperity Ashram, and we are grateful to the folks there to provide the space to host them. Visit a daily schedule posted on the Prosperity Path Forum to see any changes to times, locations or updates. If you don’t know how to get into Second Life (the ashram), please find instructions here, video here, or contact us via “about” tab above.

Daily Practice (readings) hosted by Panniy. Prosperity Ashram Meditation Circle, outside Ganesh Temple – Monday to Friday 4:30am -http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/prosperity/201/218/1602

ABD/LRS Practitioners Course – Sundays 3pm – Prosperity Ashram outside the Ganesh Temple at the Zen Bell Meditation Garden http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/prosperity/201/218/1602

Clear Light Group readings – Tuesdays and Thursdays at 2:45, Sundays at 10:30 in the Prosperity Ashram, outside the Ganesh Temple http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/prosperity/201/218/1602

Energy Meditation Circles – Monday 3:30 and Wed at 2:00pm – Prosperity Ashram, hosted by JinjerRojjers (Yanesh), Nortiana and Spacebuddha in Gorby’s Magic Medicine Wheel http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Prosperity Far West/63/59/22

Group Clear Light Orb Run – Tuesdays 7pm – Prosperity Ashram at the Hobbit Hut Circle http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/prosperity/117/199/2012

American Book of the Dead readings – Fridays 7pm – Prosperity Ashram, Chen Rig Temple:
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/prosperity/Prosperity Wilderness/213/154/1603

The Ongoing Reading Circle. Everywhere and anywhere. 🙂 This is where you read/repeat or run the Reader’s Invocation and Clear Light Reading for about a half hour wherever you are knowing that readers all over the world are doing it at that same time with you. Tuesday 12:30pm, Friday 10pm. Some folks gather in the ashram to do this reading, location per Nortiana.

American Book of the Dead – reading and discussion of the text. Wednesdays 7pm – Livestream TV: http://new.livestream.com/gorebaggtv/abd

The Patti Show – readings from different texts. Sundays 6:45pm  Livestream TV: http://new.livestream.com/gorebaggtv/pattieshow

Upcoming Events and Projects:
Angels Healing Journey readings at either the Eternity Chapel or the Chapel of St Hildegaard. To emphasize the healing service aspect of the AHJ text. Healing is a modality for the AHJ and for the ashram.
Sunday Sermons TBA
Book of Sacraments readings TBA
How a Community Deals with Death – an ongoing book project gathering archives of the LRS, headed up by Pat Elizabeth
 

Find more information about the Labyrinth Readers Society and becoming a reader at:  http://www.theclearlight.com/

Posted in death and dying, death and dying, end of life care, Labyrinth Readers Society, labyrinth readers society, labyrinth reading, labyrinth reading, phowa, prayers for the dying, spiritual care | Comments Off on Labyrinth Readers Society – Ongoing Events

Phowa: A Guided Meditation to Help Another at the Time of Death

Posted on December 6, 2014 by webmaven

Phowa: A Guided Meditation for Time of Death

amitabha

Amitabha

This is an advanced meditation though it can be done by anyone of any religion or belief, you would simply substitute your (or your loved one’s) deity or symbol into the meditation as is suggested and it will work for you.

The Phowa Meditation

Posted in buddhism, buddhism, buddhist, clear light, death and dying, death and dying, end of life care, phowa, prayers for the dying, prayers for the dying, readings for the dying, tibetan buddhism | Comments Off on Phowa: A Guided Meditation to Help Another at the Time of Death

How ghost hunting made me a better caregiver

Posted on December 4, 2014 by webmaven

How ghost hunting made me a better caregiver for my parents

Now this sounds pretty far-out, right? Think we’ve gone off the deep end a bit? Well, of course that happened lonnnnng ago! 🙂

Actually this is a really good article. This guy, Leslie Self, has guts and I give him a lot of credit. Notice the reasons that spirit work made him a better caregiver (sensitivity, openness, awareness, patience) and there is much to reflect on here.

Also the references in the article are good, especially Gone From my Sight.

gone from my sight hospice bookThis is a very affordable booklet that I would highly recommend. It is routinely handed out by hospices across the country and has guided thousands of families through the death and dying process.

Posted in alzheimers, alzheimers, care giving, care giving, care giving, caregiver support, caregiving, elder care, end of life care, hospice, hospice nursing, spiritual care | Comments Off on How ghost hunting made me a better caregiver

Two Tibetan Texts about the Bardo, Death, and Dying

Posted on October 14, 2014 by webmaven

A Review of two Tibetan texts; The Bardo Guidebook, by Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche and Training the Mind in the Great Way by Gyalwa Gendun Druppa, the First Dalai Lama.

Both of these books are based on teachings which were passed down from antiquity by oral transmission and then recorded in various ways and both have as a vital part of their content references to death and dying, for this aspect of existance is not ignored by the Tibetans but rather used and studied with an eye to the greater teachings. It is this aspect of the texts that I will review, to discover any underlying themes that might be of use to those working in the field of death and dying.

The Bardo Guidebook The Bardo is a magical place, the place where we find ourselves at any time, but not a place we can normally see with our “normal” scattered attention. Realization of the bardo takes a more fully collected intensified awareness. Given the whole span of time, existence and dimension (including sleeping and dreaming), here we are at this particular place, but are we really here? Placing full attention on our present situation, with no distractions, can we determine where we are? Are we at the place between birth and death, in a dream, or in luminosity? Perhaps we have just died? These are all possibilities in the Tibetan teachings, but the operative phrase to realizing where we are is “full attention.” We spend most of existence operating with only a fragment of our awareness, and the bardo will not become apparent this way. Hence, bardo training is attention training, and many of the practices are designed to free up and focus energies which are normally scattered.

Two prominent chapters in this rather amazing book are “The Painful Bardo of Dying,” and “How to Die.” The process of passing away usually involves pain and suffering especially at the moment of the interruption of the life force. But for the more advanced practicioner this does not effect the practice of staying in a state of luminosity at the time of death. For lesser adepts, it is beneficial to hear the readings from the Bardo Thodol, or Liberation Through Hearing in the Bardo (The Tibetan Book of the Dead) to keepthe Clear Light practice strong in spite of the discomforts.

Though much information is given about indications of death, and various signs and symptoms, the major point of these two chapters is that only through practicing selflessness and meditation can one prepare for dying and the bardo of death. The level of practice and focus we are capable of right at this very moment is what we can expect at death. Here and now is the place to start; first by realizing just how distractable we are, then considering in a more realistic way the eventuality of our own death and making efforts to collect the attention. Book is available here for free, with the following description:

Description:  Existence is an endless cycle of experience called the four bardos. These four periods include our present life, the process of dying, the after-death experience, and the quest for a new rebirth. Drawing from his intimate knowledge of the innermost Vajrayana teachings, the Tibetan master Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche presents in The Bardo Guidebook straightforward, direct instructions on how to deal with the four bardos.

 Training the Mind in the Great Way is a treatise by the first Dalai Lama, composed in the 14th century. It is an elucidation of the Lojong Teachings, originally brought to Tibet by Atisha from the great Indonesian teacher, Serlingpa. Lojong means mind (Lo), and transform or train (jong), and generally it means training the mind in the Bodhisattva ways of loving kindness, compassion, tolerance, inner strength, exertion and compassion To enter the path of Bodhisattva training, one must be convinced that this human life is precious and also that death is certain. Without these two things, it will be very difficult to practice with sincerity, for interests and pleasures are certain to distract one. The meditations on death are threefold.

• Death is certain.

• The time of death is uncertain.

• Only spiritual wealth is of any use to us at death.

Meditating on these 3 aspects one loses interest in ephemeral things and “becomes a fit vessel for the teachings.” Now he/she can hear the actual instructions. They are very clearly spelled out and explained in the text and I won’t enumerate them except to say that the first stage of the practice is cultivating a mind that is concerned for the welfare of others.

 So we see that here are two texts with different angles on their approaches to liberation. In both cases however, the contemplation of death will intensify practice to concentrate the attention and open up the heart to compassion.

Posted in bardo, death and dying, death and dying, End of Life Care, end of life care, prayers for the dying, tibetan book of the dead, tibetan buddhism, tibetan buddhism | Comments Off on Two Tibetan Texts about the Bardo, Death, and Dying

Just discovered: The Caregiver Space

Posted on September 28, 2014 by webmaven

caregiver space

A friend just sent me a link to  The Caregiver Space and I must admit that I like it. That’s kind of unusual these days as many websites are made for advertising and completely devoid of content. Haven’t gotten a chance to check it out completely, but so far, so good…

 

Posted in aging, caregiver stress, caregiver stress, caregiver support, caregiving, caregiving, eldercare, end of life care, exercise, exercises, social work, stress relief exercises | Comments Off on Just discovered: The Caregiver Space

LRS Online Tools for Caregiving, doing Readings and for helping Others

Posted on September 21, 2014 by webmaven

 prosperity ashram chen rig temple

Welcome! Following you’ll find a list of some of the Labyrinth Reader’s Society online tools with instructions for how to use them.

Youtube – If you don’t have one, set up an account in youtube. Use keywords to search or search for the following accounts in your search bar: LabyrinthReaders, Jim Hodgkinson

Playlists at the bottom of Jim Hodgkinson page will guide you through urthgame and secondlife downloads (see below). Two nice features to know are that you can add videos to your favorites list using the “add to” button and subscribe to channels which you like.

Facebook – If you don’t have one you will need to set up a facebook account. For info about about Labyrinth readings, to post requests for readings and to see a schedule events you can join the LRS forum. Type “LRS forum” in the search bar and join. You’ll get postings from the forum in your feed and can also access the page.

Livestream – Many events stream live on the web. They are listed daily on the facebook forum. Go to livestream.com, create an account and then access the channel at: http://new.livestream.com/accounts/9503420

Readings – To do the Clearlight readings for a friend or loved one, visit www.theclearlight.com for instruction on how to do a reading. To buy the American Book of the Dead: www.gatewaysbooksandtapes.com

Urthgame Orbs – Go to www.urthgame.com and click on the “orb selection” portal.

  1. You will see a list of tabs on the left of the page. Look at the different areas and investigate them or click on “Alpha list all” and you will see all of the over 100 orbs listed.
  2. Click on the orb that you want to play and click on the download tab.
  3. A secure payment screen will come up and you can pay with paypal or with a credit card. Enter credit card info and continue to download
  4. Click on the “your orb name”.exe link and file will download. The file will take several minutes to download and when it is finished you will get a message of some sort (browsers are different) but you want to open the file once it is fully downloaded.
  5. Allow it access to continue if a screen come up requesting this. You will now see the setup wizard. Sign the user agreement. For the next few screens generally you will say yes and accept the ways things are set up by the wizard. Click install on the next to last screen, and finish on the final screen. This screen also allows you to start the game right then if you like.
  6. Pressing the F1 key will tell you important functions of the keyboard and the mouse. Navigation using the arrow keys or mouse will come quickly with a little practice. Pressing the “P” key allows you to enter the name of whom you wish to gain healing or benefit from the run.

temple_001

Prosperity Virtual Ashram, how to download second life:

The ashram is a virtual environment that is hosted on a platform called secondlife. Secondlife is easy to join and the viewer is also easy to download. You can see a youtube video detailing this entire process at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=37-egmW_Cco I encourage you to watch the youtube video to get familiar with the steps and then navigate through the download with this instruction sheet in hand.

  1. Go to secondlife.com
  2. Click on the “play for free” button.
  3. Choose any avatar to start. This can be changed at any time. Click on next.
  4. Enter a user name and click next.
  5. Enter your email, birth date, a password, and answer to a secret question that is used if you forget your password.
  6. Select free account.
  7. Download and install.

You will need to download the secondlife viewer on to your computer in order to access the ashram.

How to get to the ashram once you have secondlife installed

Now it’s time to go to the ashram. Set up a time to meet with someone in the ashram and give them your user name. Also, see if you can get their phone number so that you can call them if you have any problems.

  1. Double click on the second life icon on your computer desktop screen.
  2. Agree to the terms of service agreement
  3. Enter your user name, your password and type this address in the “start at” bar: Prosperity Ashram

Two quick areas to get familiar with.

Right next to the “me” tab on your secondlife screen is the “communicate” tab. If you click that and “nearby chat” you will be able to type into a conversation log which appears on your screen and converse with others near to you. If you want to use voicechat and adjust volume or microphone levels you use “me” – “preferences” – “sound and media” to adjust volume levels and hook up a microphone.

Navigation

There are 4 ways to move round in the ashram; walking, running, flying and teleporting. Use your arrow keys or your left mouse button to walk. To use mouse, click on the ground in front of you and you will walk to that spot. Walking will suffice for now, but someone might send you a teleport so that you can quickly move to a different area of the ashram, (the ashram is big with many different settings and unique locations). If someone sends you a teleport link, simply right click on that link and select “teleport.” Confirm that you want to teleport and say, yes.

A full line of instructional videos for getting up and running in second life https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLoOOpuWfDFUdycq7dmaT3kR7FtFJf199Q

Contact: Grant Abrams – www.thecaregiverwebsite.com

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