Finding Wonder in Dying with Roshi Joan Halifax

Joan Halifax loves Wordsworth’s summons to “see into the life of things.” For the Buddhist abbot of Upaya Zen Center, this kind of deep seeing has been a lifelong pursuit, and it has led to her care for the dying.

Now in her 80s, Halifax has had a remarkable life, from medical anthropology to psychedelic research to Zen practice. For more than fifty years, she has sat with dying people and trained the hospice workers, nurses, and doctors who care for them. Upaya is known for its socially engaged Buddhism, with decades of experience in end-of-life care, along with its work in prisons and with the homeless.

In this conversation, Halifax talks about the freedom and deepening that can arise in old age, and her own experience of nearly dying. She describes sitting with a dying person as an experience of wonder, perhaps even an encounter with the ultimate mystery of our lives.

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00:00:00 Introduction
00:03:00 Wonder at the Deathbed
00:14:35 Open-Heart Surgery and Luminosity
00:22:35 Calm, Joy, and Growing Old

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• Personal site
• Upaya Zen Center
• Book: "Standing at the Edge"
• Book: "Being with Dying"
• Video: "Talk at Google: Standing at the Edge" 

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Wonder Cabinet is hosted by Anne Strainchamps and Steve Paulson. Find out more about the show at https://wondercabinetproductions.com, where you can subscribe to the podcast and our newsletter.