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Doorway Into Light - OUR PLANExecutive Summary Doorway Into Light is founded on the essential truth that the death of our bodies is a sacred and spiritual passage. We are dedicated to elevating the process of death and dying back into the realm of sacred work; empowering, educating and supporting families and communities on their rights and choices for the dying; and helping to heal this culture’s relationship to aging, dying and death. In giving away the caring for our dying and dead to institutions and businesses, we have cut ourselves off from important soul work and community work. Not engaging directly in this work as communities is a contributing cause of a people and a culture that is out-of-balance. Death and dying are rarely a part of our cultural conversation. An unwholesome relationship with death has led to an unhealthy relationship with life and the life of the world we live in. Through the collective understandings, experiences and expertise of the founders of Doorway Into Light, a new model has emerged, one that leads to a very different way of living and dying and one which is respectful of everyone’s spiritual views. This model has its roots in religious and indigenous traditions. It honors and integrates well with some existing organizations and at the same time brings a powerful new paradigm to the sacred passage of dying and death. In this paradigm communities take more of a “hands-on” approach, bringing forth new rituals and ceremonies that lend support to the natural grieving process and the journey of the departing soul, thereby enriching family and community life. This model further supports healthy communities in right relationship with the earth, through sustainable, organic and renewable practices. For the past two years, Doorway Into Light has been engaged in advocacy and educational programs with families and professionals in the field. It is now time to take the next step in manifesting its larger vision, and build a “green cemetery” and ceremonial hall here on Maui. The ceremonial hall will be used for memorial services and celebrations, as well as for seminars, workshops and community education programs. The search for land has begun and Doorway Into Light, a non-profit organization, is seeking $1.25 million to purchase the land, build the initial structures and subsidize start-up expenses. Once this first step succeeds in proving its value and importance to the Maui community, we will seek to expand into the over-arching vision. That vision includes a larger piece of land incorporating public open spaces and green belts, larger reforestation projects, a school, a retreat home, and crematory. Finally, Doorway Into Light will help to replicate this model in other parts of the world.
Overview
While rapid advances in medical technologies in the last 50 years have helped extend the life of the elderly, the same cannot be said for how we as a society and culture assist the dying and dead as a sacred and spiritual passage. From this viewpoint, that the death of our body is a sacred and spiritual passage, a passage best left in the hands of the families and communities of those dying, we are led to a truth very different than the commercialization of dying, where dying and death is big business. Even the development of the truly outstanding Hospice movement is proving not to be immune to the appetite of for-profit motivations. While we can appreciate modern medical breakthroughs that have extended life, these breakthroughs have increasingly caused people to be isolated in hospitals and nursing homes, removed from their families and community, causing a loss of quality of life. As with end-of-life care, the care for the dead has evolved from “mom and pop” neighborhood funeral homes to a funeral industry dominated by a few large corporations. This has brought depersonalization, an industry intent on selling expensive services and accessories, the use of toxic chemicals and the poor use of land. The average funeral now costs $6,000, embalming fluids and other toxic chemicals going into the ground and the air, and cemeteries taking land out of the public commons. By acquiescing to the funeral industry we see our friend or relative whisked away from the home by strangers, often in a plastic bag, to be next seen as a bag of ashes, or an unnatural looking embalmed body, thereby robbing ourselves of the rich value inherent in this rite of passage. This time could include bathing the body, being with that loved one for some time, a home funeral, and direct burial or cremation, and then planting of a tree, all involving the family and community. As well meaning as some of the funeral home staff may be, this industry is highly competitive and profit driven. Stories abound of families that felt taken advantage of by the funeral home at a time when they felt fragile and vulnerable.
Hospice Movement Hospice, in America, was founded in the 1960’s, born out of the wish to humanize the death process, bringing awareness to the importance of patients as unique human beings with individual needs and rights deserving of respect. The hospice movement has improved end-of-life care dramatically. With time, Hospice nurses, counselors and social workers began offering additional services including medical treatment, especially in the area of pain management. As a result of the process of dying being seen as billable and insurance covered services (last year $11 billion was paid out to Hospice by Medicare), a majority of the Hospices in the U.S. are now for-profit-businesses. In 1984 there were 31 Hospices. In 2007 there were 4,500, of which 60% were for-profit, with the national trend going towards for-profit hospices. Doorway Into Light has developed a close relationship with Hospice Maui, a non-profit here on Maui. We also seek to work in conjunction with hospitals, religious organizations and other non-profits in this field. Currently, the Maui Hospice is not set up to take a patient who does not have a primary caregiver. The expansion of Doorway Into Light in this plan will set up an outreach program to serve as the “primary care-giver” for people living alone, and supplement Hospice Maui’s care. It is our wish to impart end-of-life care with an enhanced awareness of the essential nature within a person, which is beyond birth and death. This is sometimes referred to as Soul, Divine Presence, Christ Consciousness or Buddha nature, to name a few. Our caregivers, staff and volunteers will practice that awareness, both for themselves, and for the dying person. Not seeing solely a dying person, but seeing this inherent nature contained within a body that is dying, and helping to support that person in any preparation and completion that is possible before death. Approaching the death of our body is a powerful time for spiritual work for people of all walks of life and spiritual beliefs. It has been recognized by cultures for thousands of years as a profound time for healing, reconciliation and forgiveness, a time for deep inner work.
Cemeteries / Land use Starting with our two-acre demonstration project, we seek to help transform current cemetery practices. Today’s American cemetery contains massive amounts of hardwood, metal and concrete coffins, many covered with plastic or concrete grave liners to keep the ground from sinking when the body and coffin decompose, thereby ensuring easy lawn mowing. Large amounts of toxic embalming fluids containing formaldehyde are leaking from coffins and seeping into the ground. Pesticides and herbicides are commonly used, further poisoning the ground and potentially leaching into the groundwater. Gravestones and markers fill the space. Current cemeteries are now reduced to “one-use forever” as well as removed from the public commons. The body and coffin are buried “6 feet under” where few microorganisms live, so decomposition is a long process. Cremation is becoming more popular as people recognize that present day cemeteries are a costly and poor use of land. In our “green cemetery” we will plant native trees and complementary forest to help reforest a part of Maui, using deceased bodies and ash remains to increase soil fertility. The site will include a walking trail, a picnic area and a meditative/reflective zone with small markers denoting the names of the dead in that particular grove. Bodies will be buried two to three feet deep to encourage decomposition. Families and friends will be encouraged to help build the casket, sew the shroud, dig the hole, etc. There will be no embalmed bodies. Our larger vision is to combine a burial ground with a larger reforestation project, a park, open space and greenways which include conservation easements, ensuring a multi-use zone protected for the public commons in perpetuity. This kind of burial ground is starting to sprout up around the country as this natural dying movement takes root. A good example is the Ramsey Creek Preserve in South Carolina. However, at this time, there is nothing like it in Hawaii where approximately 10,000 people die each year.
Our Culture We live in a youth-obsessed culture, in fear, denial and avoidance of aging, dying and death. “Anti-aging” is a whole new market niche and it is booming. When death is not a part of our cultural conversation, we make talking about it a morbid subject. In our discomfort with death, a whole industry has stepped in to “deal” with death for us. Our elders, as the keepers of community wisdom and knowledge, have been devalued and become largely invisible. We have few avenues for grief, defined in our culture as something to “get over” or “get through”. We plan to help shift this through increasing awareness of aging, dying and death as a natural and sacred, family and community-centered experience, imbuing it with community-based spirituality that honors the person, the soul, the community and the land.
Actions to Date Based on their knowledge and experience, the founders of Doorway Into Light have initiated a number of educational and outreach programs to inform those interested in exploring their own approaching death and those wishing to enrich their work in service to the dying. The feedback and success from these activities indicates that now is the time to more fully implement this new paradigm for sacred passage.
Education on Death and Dying Doorway Into Light has been hosting a death and dying support group that meets monthly. The support group and its subgroups (focusing on specific topics) have been important in determining what subjects are of most interest, how the material needs to be presented and what skills and experiences are required of group leaders/facilitators and of “spiritual midwives to the dying”. Doorway Into Light has also been hosting a series of “community education programs” that have been attended by people from all over the country. These educational and outreach programs have been two-day seminars featuring experts in the field of spiritual care for the dying and the dead, addressing such issues as end-of-life care, palliative options, green cemeteries, home funerals, grief counseling, communication skills and other areas of study relevant to this field. The teaching staff and guest speakers have included: Jerry Grace Lyons Final Passages / Director Frank Ostaseski Metta Institute / Director Eve-lyn Civerolo Maui Hospice / Clinical Director Greg Lagoy Maui Hospice / Executive Director Prakash Mackay Maui Hospice / Bereavement Counselor Alan Lowen The Art of Being / Director Auli’i Mitchell Hawaiian teacher, cultural anthropologist Roshi Joan Halifax Upaya Zen Center /Founder,Abbot , Project on Being with Dying / Director Ram Dass Author and Visionary – Living/Dying Projects, 40 years Metta Institute / Faculty Member Curriculum for current, ongoing and future education will include: • Trainings, guidance and practices in meditation, contemplation and spiritual disciplines. • Trainings, guidance and practices in physical care of the dying and of the body after death. • Exploring end-of-life choices and rights concerning organ donation, intervention, etc. • Being with dying people (community outreach). • Exploration of one’s own feelings about death and dying and the death and dying of our loved ones. • Hands-on training in the operations of a green or natural cemetery including a nursery intended for native reforestation, as well as the operation of a sustainable crematory. • Communication and social interaction training for being with the dying and their families. • Teaching indigenous and religious customs, traditions and understandings concerning death and the after-life.
Home Funerals Doorway Into Light is actively engaged in helping families to have home funerals for their loved ones. That is, when someone dies, their family may invite us in to assist with facilitating an in-home ceremony that may include bathing, anointing and dressing the body, making an altar around the body, and/or inviting family and friends over to pray, bless, tell stories, sing, etc. We encourage the family and close friends to decorate and personalize a cardboard casket, and then those gathered lift the body into the prepared casket and drive to the crematory, cemetery or funeral home. With the implementation of the next step of our plan, the body can be transported to our site for ceremony and burial, as well or ashes buried to help grow our forest.
Founders and Organization
The founders of Doorway Into Light, Bodhi Be, Leilah Be and Ram Dass, have extensive experience in assisting individuals and communities in the areas of dying and death. They will serve as the initial Directors of Doorway Into Light and will constitute an Executive Board.
Directors Bodhi Be, Spiritual Director of the Center, has facilitated funeral ceremonies as an interfaith minister and has had training at an operating crematory. He is a Hospice volunteer and Funeral Director and builds inexpensive caskets. Bodhi is also a businessman, having successfully created and operated a number of businesses. Leilah Be, the second Director, brings many years of experience as an interfaith minister and counselor, and was the cofounder and teacher of a pre-school kindergarten. In addition, Leilah teaches meditation and The Dances of Universal Peace internationally, and is a senior teacher in the Sufi Ruhaniat International. Ram Dass is the third Director. A Maui resident, he brings over 40 years as a pioneer and explorer of awakened consciousness. Ram Dass is a world-renowned author and lecturer, and co-founder of the Seva Foundation, The Prison Ashram Project and The Dying Project. He currently serves on the faculty of the Metta Institute and continues to teach about the nature of consciousness and service as a spiritual path. The Executive Board will be supplemented with a small staff. A distinguished group of individuals have agreed to serve as an Advisory Board.
Advisory Board Rob Lowell, MD Surgeon Joel Friedman, MD General Practice, Maui Mark Hadad, MD Emergency Medicine, Maui Rhonda Fosbinder Attorney at Law, Maui Lance Holter Maui Chair, Sierra Club Aulii Mitchell Hawaiian elder, teacher, and cultural anthropologist Joe Sehee Executive Director, Green Burial Council Eve-lynn Civerolo, RN Clinical Director, Hospice Maui Joyce Lechuga, RN Psychotherapist, Educator John Worthington General Building Contractor in Hawaii Jim Pelkey Consultant Heather Parsons Feng Shui Practitioner, Musician
Next Steps To unfold the next step of the model requires land to serve as a sustainable cemetery, a building to contain an office, cold storage facilities, bathroom and kitchen facilities, and a temporary structure for memorial services, workshops and seminars. The building will also function as an educational resource center for those wishing to explore their own approaching death and those wishing to enrich their path in service to the dying. Step 1 / Years 1-3 1. Identify initial donors and begin fund raising - $1.25M 2. Locate and secure land 3. Apply for and receive special use permit (est. 3 months) 4. Begin architectural and site plan 5. Apply for and receive building permits 6. Begin landscaping, level tent area, create parking area 7. Purchase and erect tent structure as first ceremonial hall/seminar facility 8. Begin seminars, workshops, ceremonies and memorial services 9. Construct nursery for native seedlings 10. Begin direct burial service 11. Begin construction of first building (est. 6-9 months after applying for permit) 12. Purchase vehicle to function as hearse 13. Establish school staff, curriculum, and volunteer training program 14. Begin full operations of new building (est. 9 months after construction begins)
Step 2 / Year 3-4 1. Secure funds for expansion - $2M 2. Secure land for expansion (est. 50-100 acres) 3. Construct crematorium and begin cremation service 4. Construct retreat home 5. Construct caretakers’ residence 6. Expand development of park/ reforestation/ trails/ green belt
Step 3 / Year 5 1. Locate and secure land to replicate “Maui model” elsewhere beyond Hawaii.
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