Maranasati Meditation
Talking about Death Won’t Kill You
Five Remembrances
I am of the nature to grow old.
There is no way to escape growing old.
I am of the nature to have ill-health.
There is no way to escape having ill-health.
I am of the nature to die.
There is no way to escape death.
All that is dear to me and everyone I love are of the nature to change.
There is no way to escape being separated from them.
My actions are my only true belongings.
I cannot escape the consequences of my actions.
My actions are the ground on which I stand.
Old age, sickness, and death… are you ready?
Join us for an hour of Maranasati (death awareness) Meditation so we can better embrace the everyday impermanence of our lives with contentment and joy.
Each monthly session will have a short meditation, Zen teachings, and open discussion about our impermanence and how we respond to the inevitable. We welcome you to share stories, reflections, feelings, and questions about aging, death, and dying in a supportive, non-judgmental environment.
Vicara Roshi and Reishin are also available anytime throughout the year for 1:1 conversation about death and dying or other areas of concern, such as preparation, caregiving, and grief. Please email vicara@hollowboneszen.org or reishin@hollowboneszen.org to arrange a meeting.
3rd Saturday of the Month (February-August)
10:00-11:00 (CT) / 11:00-12:00 (EST)
Join the Maranasati Meditation Group
- Monthly meetings
- Meetings recorded and shared
- Resources sent throughout the year
- Availability for dokusan/daisan
About Your Hosts

Vicara Satya Mary Connelly MD, Roshi
Vicara Satya Mary Connelly was a Physician and Medical Director of Bellin Health, Center for Health & Healing, an Integrative Medical Center in Green Bay, WI before her retirement in 2020. She holds AS, BS, MSW and MD degrees. She has received training in Integrative Medicine with Andrew Weil, MD as well as training in Traditional Chinese Acupuncture and naturopathic approaches to women’s health. She was Board Certified in Family Medicine and Integrative Holistic medicine (ABFP, ABIHM). In addition, Vicara practiced as a psychotherapist from 1974-1984 and incorporates body-mind approaches in her medical practice.
Vicara has been involved in meditative practice since the early ‘70s when she studied Bhakti yoga and directed a meditation group in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. She started sitting Soto Zen in 1984 under the direction of Zenkai Taiun Michael Elliston Roshi of the Atlanta Soto Zen Center where she received Jukai in 1985. She was one the founding members of the Charleston Soto Zen Center in South Carolina. Vicara began practicing yoga with Ma Dhyana Kathleen Kelly-Hoffman in 1993 and has studied with Jun Po Roshi since 1994. She received Jukai with Jun Po Roshi in 1998, was designated to teach as Sensei in 2002, and received Hollow Bones Priest Ordination in 2003. On December 4, 2015, she received Inka, Dharma Transmission, from Jun Po Roshi.
Her mission/passion in life is: “To live a life of openness, no matter what. To bring that energy to those whose lives I touch.”
Her message to all is: “Wake up & be well; practice until there is nothing left and then some. The only life you can save is your own so treat yourself with ferocious love and compassion; we are all in the same boat.”
And she adds: “Through the Mondo process, my life has opened and transformed in ways I did not ‘think’ possible. Life is filled with surprises! This practice allows us to enjoy it all.”

Reishin Denise Leong
Reishin Denise Leong has been in the Hollow Bones Zen sangha since 2005, taking jukai vows in 2007, and ordaining as a priest 2010. She currently serves as one of five teachers at the Zen River Sangha in Wisconsin. Reishin spent forty-two years in education as a teacher in middle school, high school, college, and finally as the IT director for a public school system. In her retirement, Reishin has been serving as a hospital chaplain since 2018.
After twenty years of doing volunteer work in hospice, Reishin recognized the importance and value of death awareness. She has embarked on a new journey of sharing death awareness through the HBZ course “Zen and Facing Sickness, Old Age, and Death,” as well as hosting Death Cafes online for the last three years.
Reishin holds a certificate as an End-of-Life Doula through the University of Vermont School of Medicine and a Proficiency Badge from the National End-of-Life Doula Alliance (NEDA). She earned a certificate as a Grief Support Specialist through the University of Wisconsin. She also has recently been certified as an Advanced Care Planner through Advocate Health and as a Thanatologist by the Association of Death Education and Counseling (ADEC).