日本朝日新聞報導台日兩國臨床宗教師參與安寧療護志業

Dear Friends at NTUH! I attach yesterday's article on Buddhist chaplains in hospitals in Japan and Taiwan from the national daily Asahi Shimbun and here is the link to my translation. http://jneb.jp/english/activities/dyingcar/viharaasahi 合掌 Jon Jonathan Watts JNEP.jp (Asahi Shinbum)朝日新聞 Buddhist Priests Who Are Present at the Time of Death http://jneb.jp/english/activities/dyingcar/viharaasahi by Kyoko Isa Asahi Shimbun January 28, 2013 (evening edition) The Establishment of a Vihara in a Public Hospital in Taiwan and a Training Program for “Clinical Buddhists” Ven. Huimin at Jodo Shu Research Institute (Rev. Tomatsu front left; author center right) November 12, 2012 In Taiwan, since the 1990s, Buddhists began to get involved in palliative care for patients, and now this work has spread all over the country. Ven. Huimin Bhikshu is the president of the Graduate School of Dharma Drum Buddhist University where he studies “Clinical Buddhism”. In November 2012, he held two seminars in Tokyo on his work [at the Jodo Shu Research Institute and at the Rinbutsuken Institute for Engaged Buddhism]. According to Ven. Huimin惠敏校長, Buddhist styled palliative care began in 1995 at the leading Taiwan National University Hospital (NTUH). The palliative care unit established there was the at a public hospital in Taiwan. The vice superintendent of the hospital, Dr. Rong-chi Chen, 陳榮基副院長thought that the role of Buddhists was needed and so created a ward with a Buddha hall. However, just this form had its limits, so with the cooperation of Ven. Huimin and other monks from Buddhist universities, they began to research how to tie together Buddhist and medical studies. The result was the creation of the “Clinical Buddhism” training program. The training program is a comprehensive one for monks and nuns that covers how to read and work with patient’s medical documents to how to communicate Buddhist teachings; and finally taking responsibility for the care of a single patient. The student must first receive a high enough evaluation to then be recommended as a practicing clinician and a member of the palliative care unit’s professional team. It requires at least 5 years to gain such accreditation from this program. By 2009, 29 monks and nuns had gained such accreditation and began working at university and public hospitals in other parts of Taiwan. Rev. Yoshiharu Tomatsu, a senior research fellow at the Jodo Shu Research Institute, has explained that it is difficult for Buddhist priests to work in public hospitals in Japan. However, Japanese priests have their own network of lay followers. Thus, “there should be the possibility of Clinical Buddhists offering home hospice care.” translator’s note: for more details on the Clinical Buddhist training program at NTUH, see Jonathan Watts’ essay, “The Development of Indigenous Hospice Care and Clinical Buddhism” in Buddhist Care for the Dying and Bereaved (Eds. Watts & Tomatsu, Boston: Wisdom Publications, 2012) Entire article translated with notations by Jonathan Watts