ABSTRACT
Mysticism refers to the path of a person towards a transcendent reality not perceivable by the senses or human knowledge. This chapter explores the relation between mysticism and thanatology. It provides some impressions of Christian and Buddhist monasticism with regard to their practices representing death within life. The chapter explains the two dying-narratives, from Benedict of Nursia and the Buddha, that offer a symbolic expression of the mysticism of death. Thanatological reflection on death relies on different disciplines, such as psychology, cultural anthropology, religious studies, and theology. Living towards death characterises monastic life in various traditions. Modern forms of spiritual care often search for practices that offer a structure in the sometimes chaotic situation of people confronted with death, helping them to deal with their contingency. The practices and narratives shown here might open a mystagogical perspective for caregivers to help the dying and bereaved persons to discover the relation between death and mysticism.
