Join us for a year-long series of courses exploring Tibetan Buddhism’s spiritual, philosophical, and practical approach to death.
About the Program
Death is not a problem to be solved. It is a sacred passage to be understood, prepared for, and — when the time comes — met with as much clarity, courage, and love as we can muster. This program exists because most of us are not taught how to do that.
Dekeling’s Death and Dying Study & Practice (DDSP) Program is a comprehensive, year-or-more long curriculum that draws on classical Tibetan Buddhist teachings, contemporary research in neuroscience and end-of-life care, and decades of direct teaching experience. It is designed for people who want to go beyond surface-level comfort and actually learn — with both head and heart — what it means to live, die, and support others through that passage.
An Orientation and Information Session was held on January 29, 2026. If you missed it, recordings are available. That session introduced the program structure, the two participation tracks, and the question that underlies everything we do here: how does preparing for death transform how we live?
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Participants may attend any individual course that speaks to them (visit our Classes & Events page). Registration for the Whole Program is available to those who wish to sign up for all events and receive a 10% discount. Additionally, some may wish to sign up for Section I or Section II.
Those who wish to be Cohort Participants commit to one or both half-program sequences (Section I and/or Section II). Cohort members meet once monthly in a small-group Zoom session for integration, practice, and community — a container that deepens everything else. There is no additional charge for cohort group participation.
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Pre-Program Offerings (Independent)
The Six Bardos (5 sessions): $75 / $135 / $195
Going, Going, Gone Retreat (room & board included): Zoom $275 | Camping $525 | Shared Cabin $675 | Single $875
Section I — Thanatology from the Tibetan Perspective
Includes: What Happens? Death Explained (3 sessions) + How Dying Works (2 sessions) + You Are Dying (2 sessions)
Section I Total: $165 / $290 / $405
Section II — Turning Towards Hands-On Practice
Includes: Side by Side in Dying (3) + Keeping Peace in a Turbulent Transition (4) + Spiritual Support at End of Life (2) + Compassion & Continuity (4) + First Steps After Death (1) + Care of the Body (1) + Practical and Dispositional Decisions (2)
Section II Total: $430 / $735 / $1,030
Sections I + II combined: $595 / $1,025 / $1,435
10% discount — register and pay for both sections at once: $535 / $920 / $1,290
Cohort group participation (monthly integration sessions) is included at no additional charge for those enrolled in either or both sections.
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All DDSP offerings are priced on a three-tier sliding scale. This is not a courtesy — it is a statement of values.
We believe that genuine dharma education should be accessible across economic circumstances. The lower tier is for those for whom cost is a real constraint; the middle tier is for those who can contribute more comfortably; the upper tier allows those with means to support the participation of others. Each tier fully covers the teaching.
Sliding scale pricing is one of the ways Dekeling stays in relationship with younger practitioners, those in transition, and those whose calling is not matched by their income. Our future as a community depends on that relationship. We are also sustained by the generosity of monthly sangha donors and by teachers who are practitioners first — people who teach because they believe in this work, not because it is their livelihood.
Please choose the tier that is honest for your situation. No explanation is ever required.
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Lama Lekshe is the leading teacher in the program. Teacher George Draffan may guide a cohort group if there is a need for more than one leader. For some classes, practicing professionals may be invited to speak.
Curriculum
The curriculum encompasses the whole year and was designed to build on itself.
Pre-Program Offerings
A course and a residential retreat that inform the foundation of the DDSP curriculum. Register through our Classes & Events page.
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Feb 17 – Apr 14 (every other Tuesday) | 6:30–8:30 PM PT | Zoom | $75 / $135 / $195
This five-session course introduces the Tibetan Buddhist teaching of the Six Bardos—transitional states that together map the full arc of conscious experience from everyday life and meditation through dreaming, dying, luminosity, and becoming—showing how understanding these in-between states can transform how we relate to every moment of transition, including death, with recordings available and new registrations welcome.
This course is currently in progress. New registrations are welcome for remaining sessions. All sessions are recorded.
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April 24–28, 2026 | Friday afternoon – Tuesday morning | Ser Chö Ösel Ling, Washington State
Tuition: Zoom $275 | Camping $525 | Shared Cabin $675 | Single Cabin $875
This four-day residential retreat with Lama Lekshe offers immersive Tibetan contemplations, meditations, and rituals on death and dying—supported by qigong with George Draffan—to help participants cultivate fearless living, prepare for the dying process, and deepen their understanding of impermanence.
Section I: Thanatology from the Tibetan Perspective
The DDSP curriculum begins with Section I and continues throughout the whole year. Each course was designed to build on the previous.
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May 5, 12, and 19 | 5:30–7:30 PM PT | Zoom | $65 / $110 / $165
This three-session course explores the Tibetan Buddhist view of death, examining what actually dies, what may continue, how the dying process is understood across traditions, and how concepts like expansion, contraction, and reincarnation offer a framework for investigating existence.
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June 9 and 16 | 5:30–7:30 PM PT | Zoom | $50 / $90 / $120
This two-session course explains the Tibetan Buddhist account of the dying process, tracing the stages of elemental dissolution, shifts in consciousness, and the arising of clear light while offering guidance on how practitioners and caregivers can skillfully support the process.
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July 14 and 21 | 5:30–7:30 PM PT | Zoom | $50 / $90 / $120
In this last class of Section I in the Death and Dying Program, we'll take a detailed look at your own practice for death as a practitioner of Tibetan Buddhism. We'll look at the practices leading up to death and then during the dying process.
Section II: Turning Towards — Hands-On Practice
Section II in the DDSP program moves from understanding to doing. These offerings emphasize practical skill: how to be present with a dying person, how to navigate the emotional and relational terrain around death, how to offer spiritual support, and how to care for the body and the bereaved after death.
Series A: Companions in Death — Supporting Someone Who Is Dying
This three-part series offers grounded, compassionate instruction for anyone who is accompanying a dying person — whether a family member, friend, or formal caregiver. You do not need to be a Buddhist practitioner to benefit from this series.
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August 4, 18 and September 1 | 5:30–7:30 PM PT | Zoom | $65 / $110 / $165
This three-session course examines the Tibetan Buddhist framework for understanding death—exploring what comes into being and passes away, how different traditions describe the dying process, and what (if anything) continues, including an inquiry into reincarnation—offered as a map for investigation rather than belief.
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September 8, 22; October 6, 20 | 5:30–7:30 PM PT | Zoom
$100 / $150 / $200This four-session course explores the emotional landscape of the dying process — not to fix it, but to understand it well enough to move through it skillfully.
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December 8 and 15 | 5:30–7:30 PM PT | Zoom | $50 / $90 / $120
This two-session course offers practical Tibetan Buddhist guidance for meeting one’s own dying process with clarity—covering how to recognize the stages of dissolution, release attachment and identity, use aspiration and dedication of merit, and prepare now so death can be met with less fear and grasping.
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January 5, 12, 19, 26 (2027) | 5:30–7:30 PM PT | Zoom / Hands-on optional | $75 / $135 / $195
This four-session course explores the Tibetan Buddhist view of what continues after death and the practical ways practitioners can support the deceased—drawing on teachings from the Bardo Thodol along with practices such as tonglen, dedication of merit, offerings, and home rituals.
Series B: Continuum of Love — Care, Presence, and Choice After Death
For much of human history, families cared for their own dead. That intimacy has been largely handed over to professionals — often to everyone's loss. This series offers calm, clear instruction for those who want to reclaim that capacity, whether from spiritual motivation, practical necessity, or simple love. These are concrete skills. No prior experience is assumed.
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Feb 2, 2027 | 5:30–8:30 PM PT | Zoom and Hands-On Option |
$35 / $50 / $65The hours immediately following a death are often chaotic and disorienting — and they matter. The decisions made in that window affect everything that follows: for the body, for the family, and for the continuation of any spiritual support.
This single three-hour session provides clear, practical guidance for that immediate period.
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February 16, 2027 | 5:30 - 8:30 PM PT |Zoom + Optional Weekend Hands-on Session | $50 / $90 / $120
This session teaches the skillful and compassionate care of washing and dressing a loved one’s body after death. Participants will learn to work with rigor mortis, manage natural post-death changes, apply temporary preservation for home vigils, and prepare the body for viewing or transition. Instruction is offered both in-person with hands-on practice and via Zoom, with guidance on materials for home participants.
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March 2 & March 9, 2027 |
5:30-7:30 PM PT | Zoom |
$50 / $90 / $120This two-session course helps families navigate the practical and legal decisions following a death, including home vigils, funeral home involvement, and body disposition options like burial or cremation. It covers regional legal requirements, resources for ongoing learning in after-death care, and encourages building a community network of skilled local support for others.