Attached Paper Online Meeting 2024

Buddhist Stories Informing Buddhist Spiritual Care Theory and Practice

Abstract for Online Program Book (maximum 150 words)

The emergent field of Buddhist Chaplaincy remains in need of locating those narratives that can be theoretically framed and pedagogically utilized to further articulate uniquely Buddhist theory and praxis of spiritual care. This paper identifies which stories are most used today by individual faculty and chaplains, and unpacks stories of the Buddha’s compassionate and skillful responses to the sickness and grief that beset laypeople in his time, and what they have to offer us as Buddhist caregivers, chaplains, and ministers today.