Cultural Conversations

Join us for an engaging panel discussion with community members from various cultural/spiritual traditions. Explore rituals and approaches expressed through words, song and conversation.

What it is: This free community event invites participants to explore through conversation, visuals and song, various cultural and spiritual traditions around dying, death and grieving.

What to expect: Six engaging panel members will share how individuals, families and community support each other through this life transition. The afternoon event will be a safe space for conversation, learning and sharing in a creative and welcoming atmosphere.

There will be time for questions and sharing and the event is open to all.  Doors open at 12:30pm.

A table will be available for community resources that support death care and grief support. Please contact Christine at 250-871-0696 (press 2) for more details.

Why it matters: By learning about the beliefs and attitudes that are held within other cultures and communities, we can expand our views about the shared experience of dying and grieving and inspire conversations and reflections on something each and everyone of us will experience.  

Meet the members of our discussion panel:

Arzeena Hamir was born into the Ismaili Muslim community in Iringa, Tanzania. She and her family moved to Canada in 1973 when South Asians had to flee East Africa for political reasons. She grew up in Richmond, BC where there is a large Ismaili community. In 2012, she and her family moved to the Comox Valley where they now steward Amara Farm, a certified organic farm, north of Courtenay. 

Kester Reid is a naturalist and student of ancestral culture, including his Gaelic lineage, and Indigenous traditions in which he has been mentored in the Western Amazon, and Northern Canada. He is the co-founder of Fianna Wilderness School offering nature connection schooling to children and youth, and founder of Undercurrents Mentoring offering one-on-one mentoring and courses to adults.  Alongside his nature-based guiding work he is a storyteller and musician, regularly performing across Vancouver Island in both cultural and artistic capacities.

Geshe YongDong Losar (Geshela) is a Tibetan Bön lama, or spiritual teacher, in the Yungdrung Bön lineage, which is rooted in the indigenous spiritual tradition of the Himalayas. He lives in Courtenay where he established and directs Sherab Chamma Ling, the only Tibetan Bön Buddhist Center in Canada. He teaches in many centres and universities around the world and has also founded the Bon Da Ling centre in Costa Rica. He is cherished by students and colleagues for his calm and loving manner, his humour and humility, and his tireless dedication to the Dharma and the ultimate liberation of hearts and minds.

The Rev. Ryan Slifka has been Minister at St. George’s United Church in Courtenay for 10 years. He loves helping to cultivate loving, gracious people of faith who are hopeful in this life and the next.

Esther Shatz  has been a member of the Comox Valley Jewish Community since moving here in 1993.  Esther was brought up in a traditional Jewish home in Calgary.  Her father was the Executive Director of the Calgary Jewish Council and instilled Jewish values and the importance of Jewish communal service to her and her sisters.

James Cribb is an author, photographer, and filmmaker focused on capturing the sacred moments of this fleeting life. James is of the Baháʼí faith, and has been published widely including three books of his sensitive coverage of marine environments, three feature-length documentaries, and his most recent book, DEATH BY JOY: An Escorted Journey. https://jmcribb.com