Dying for Beginners

Book excerpt: Zen masters describe ?Beginner?s Mind? as the mental state that can help us face the most severe challenges with flexibility, courage, and integrity. Since we are all destined to be beginners at dying, long-time hospice physician Patrick Clary invites us to embrace the virtues of this status in his new book of poetry, DYING FOR BEGINNERS (Lost Borders Press; October 20, 2006) . Entering this aspect of our inner lives may help us as we seek to be present to others, to fully inhabit ourselves, and to make our own choices as we die.A conscientious objector during the Vietnam War, Patrick Clary first faced issues of death and dying as a medic in an infantry unit. DYING FOR BEGINNERS is not just a collection of poems, but a lyrical memoir of love, life and death in our time, from the Nevada desert to Southeast Asia, from Jonestown, Guyana to big city ER. Through more than 20 years of caring for gravely ill patients and their families Dr. Clary has come to believe that death can be as miraculous as birth, and that living fully is the best preparation for dying well. This is a book of poetry that can help you change your life."Patrick Clary, his compassion combined with fierce attention, sees the dying and schools his own center to make each beginner?s journey into death as gentle as may be. Quaker, Buddhist, Vision Quester, he has condensed his diverse experiences into a book of poetry suitable for mortals, or anyone who loves them".? Donald Hall, Poet Laureate of the United States