Monthly Archive for December, 2006

Karuna’s Xmas Appeal 2006

Published
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karuna
on December 25, 2006
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“When you give to Karuna’s Christmas Appeal, you may be helping someone very close to home”

Dear Supporter,

In every town and suburb today, someone is struggling to deal with the difficult news that there is no cure for the illness they or their loved one have been diagnosed with. Families are searching for a way to cope with this life changing situation and quietly getting on with the challenges of caring for a seriously ill loved one at home.

Karuna exists to support families in the community who are faced with these situations. Families like Lenore’s.

I found my hidden treasure when Karuna came into our lives to provide palliative care for my beloved husband, Bill, during the last weeks of his battle with cancer. We were both amazed that such help was available and so willingly given. The nurses were angels who gave compassionate care with a loving, patient, “nothing is too much trouble” manner. They dealt with the practicalities of our situation, showing me the best ways to cope from day to day and offered support when I felt inadequate –

Karuna’s free services include 24 hour on call palliative nursing care, the loan of home nursing equipment, liaison and coordination with any other medical and hospital services involved, emotional and spiritual support, respite for carers by trained family support volunteers.

People of all ages are diagnosed with life limiting illnesses - over the past year the age of the people Karuna cared for ranged from eight to ninety-six years. They need support to get through this most difficult of life’s journeys. Please help Karuna offer this support. I urge you to give generously to this appeal, so that we may continue to say “Yes, we’ll be there for you”, to all those who need us.

Warm Regards,

Karuna News, Spring/Summer 2006

Published
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karuna
on December 23, 2006
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“Our basic attitude towards suffering makes a great difference to the way in which we experience it. An important factor in dealing with serious illness, whether we ourselves are sick or caring for someone who is, is to train the mind. On one level this means cultivating a sincere compassionate motivation and performing positive actions serving other sentient beings. At another level it means calming and controlling the mind, which is a more profound way of preparing for the future. Identifying negative states of mind like anger, hatred, frustration, jealousy and pride, we can work to eliminate them. At the same time we can cultivate positive attitudes like compassion and love, tolerance and contentment. Training the mind in this way is both useful and realistic. Love and kindness are not a luxury, but a source of health and happiness for others and ourselves.

Real care of the sick does not begin with costly procedures, but with the simple gift of affection and love. In the practice of healing, a kind heart is as valuable as medical training, because it is the source of happiness for both oneself and others. People respond to kindness even when medicine is ineffective, and in turn cultivation of a kind heart is a cause of our own good health.”

–Extract of a message from His Holiness the Dalai Lama to the Tara Hospice Service in London.

Happiness & Its Causes

Published
by
karuna
on December 10, 2006
in Events and Links
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An event like no other

Everyone wants to be happy and to avoid suffering. So why is it that there is such little understanding of what causes us to be happy and to suffer?

Despite decades of economic progress, scientific studies show that there has been no corresponding improvement in our happiness. Now is a time of re-evaluation. How can we improve the quality of our own lives and those of others we care for? The 2nd International Conference on Happiness & Its Causes is a forum like no other that has ever been held - the topic is important to us all, the programme is ambitious in its scope and the calibre of the speakers extraordinary.

His Holiness the Dalai Lama will lead a faculty of over 50 expert speakers from Australia and overseas in an exploration of the techniques for achieving peace and happiness at this ground breaking event.

Can we learn to be happy?

Recent breakthroughs in neuroscience have confirmed that the brain can be changed through experience. This raises the tantalizing prospect that throughout our lifetime we can train our mind to be happy - to enhance our ability to think positively, diminish our negative emotions and be less affected by the events going on around us.

Western psychology is quickly adapting to this challenge. Developments in cognitive therapy and the emerging field of positive psychology have made important advances in our understanding of how to enhance human happiness. This conference will explore the causes for happiness promoted by western psychology and the unique contribution of Buddhist psychology.

www.happinessanditscauses.com.au

Christmas Market Success!

Published
by
karuna
on December 4, 2006
in General
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“Christmas shopper’s paradise - The Karuna Christmas Market”

The Christmas Market is one of the biggest fundraiser events that Karuna holds during the year. The success of this event helps to support Karuna’s free home hospice care service.

The Karuna Christmas Market was held at Karuna House on Friday night 24th November and Saturday 25th November 2006.

A Kindness Tree was set up and took centre stage at the market. This was designed for those who wished to hang messages in memory of loved ones and other heartfelt thoughts. The tree was beautiful and many visitors took advantage of this.

Four rooms were set up within Karuna House and were overflowing with unique gifts, decorations and festive food. Items featured were designer trimmed trees, wreaths, table centrepieces, cards, cakes, toys, coat hangers and hand made Christmas goodies.

This year the market was a great success, and this would not have been possible without the support of three special groups.

Firstly a very special Thank You must go to the Karuna Volunteers who met every Thursday throughout the year preparing the beautiful arts and crafts we sold. Karuna greatly appreciates the generosity of their time and expertise which made this a very special and unique event.

Secondly a big Thank you also to all the volunteers who assisted at the event. Without the contributions of volunteers, events like this would not be as successful as they are. Setting-up, greeting, cleaning, and assisting with sales were just some aspects that these wonderful people were a part of. You are all just magic!

Finally to the hundreds of wonderful Christmas shoppers who happily purchased the designer items and luscious Christmas goodies. Your support of Karuna is truly appreciated.