“This practice has kept me alive.”

When what has been lost brings the return of something new, when the debilitations of illness remind us of the deep dignities of being alive, these are the healing stories of care and compassion.

During the final evening of the Closing Retreat for our Foundations in Contemplative Care training program, Chodo Sensei offers a dharma talk by drawing on stories from the hospital beside, the Mizuko Kuyo Ceremony, and his own particularly harrowing dharma journey. These narrative streams are full of humor and pain; upheaval and ease. Chodo’s keen ear for life’s irreverent levity is evident in the stories he tells from those who have spent much of their lives with people actively dying. “Ruben Sandwich” and “Lipstick”, for example, are brief vignettes with notable poignancy. Chodo’s expansive heart for life’s sacred nobility is manifest in the reverence he pays to the Jizo mythology and ritual acknowledgement of life snuffed out in its earliest moments. In this talk, Chodo graciously, courageously shares of himself. Buoyed by sangha and mirroring the vulnerability of those around him, Chodo offers very human stories of loss and return; illness and healing.

Chodo Campbell Sensei is a Zen teacher, bereavement specialist, grief counselor and a recognized leader for those suffering with the complexities of death & dying, aging, and sobriety.  The educational non-profit he co-founded, the New York Zen Center for Contemplative Care, touches thousands of lives every year through its numerous educational programs, contemplative retreats, and Soto Zen Buddhist practices. Chodo has been featured in the New York Times, PBS, CBS Sunday Morning and other media outlets. 

Heart Sutra by Kanho Yakushiji –  Buddhist priest and musician of the Rinzai sect and Imaji temple in Imabari, Japan. In 2003, he formed “KISSAQUO”, a songwriting duo based in Kyoto.

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• Untangled here: https://bit.ly/untangled-book
  
• Wholehearted: Slow Down, Help Out, Wake Up here: https://amzn.to/2JTKF1t
  
• Awake At The Bedside here: https://amzn.to/3aijXdL
  

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The post Stories of Loss and Return, Illness and Healing | Chodo Campbell appeared first on New York Zen Center for Contemplative Care.