What do we do when someone we care about, passes?
The Vigil Honoring Ongoing Bonds reading cycle (downloadable as a PDF file or see reading instructions here) is one option among many as a way of managing and coping with a sense of loss, helplessness, and grief. It is a series of readings, proceeded by prayer and dedication that help to guide the deceased through the first 49 days post death.
We do not claim to know anything about the afterlife. These readings should only be done if they “feel” right and if one has the desire to provide this type of service. See: A Caregiver’s Guide to Reading from a Spiritual Text for the Benefit of Another
We also realize that at a time of personal loss and grief, an individual may not find an offering like the Vigil a suitable match for their present emotional experiences. It may simply be too much. During a time of mourning and grieving NO effort should be forced.
The individual who passes may be a family member or someone in our immediate human social circle, or what do we do when someone we hear about passes, someone who we don’t know closely? The individual who passes may not be part of our immediate social circle of family, friends and more familiar acquaintances but still may be someone for whom we feel some personal responsibility to make an attempt to improve their situation / experience beyond the death of the human body.
An individual reader cannot take responsibility for reading a cycle for everyone worthy of such an investment in time, attention, connection, and gesture of hope.
The vigil reading for another being, “as if,” that being is as close and connected as personally known members of the human family, seems to have some merit, on the face of it, but there may be some tendency to lose focus without the more immediate connection.
And so, the effort of reading is an effort to remind ourselves, that at some level, we are all part of the same being.
What is offered here is a text version soon to be available in an audio version of the reading cycle that is playable on a computer, tablet, phone or flashdrive plugged into your car. The Vigil reading is done with a serious intent to provide a service for those who are unable to engage in the reading process.
Download reading instructions here: PBVigil2Download
The Vigil contains readings for 3 distinct periods. You can do and print the readings right from your web browser:
Readings for Part 1, the first 7 days after passing
Readings for Part 2, Days 8 – 20
Readings for Part 3, Days 21 – 49
For more information about the practice of reading a spiritual text for the benefit of another and how to do a reading see this excerpt from our book Caregiver Revolution: instructions on how to do a reading.
