Frank Ostaseski is an internationally respected Buddhist teacher and visionary cofounder of the Zen Hospice Project, and founder of the Metta Institute. He has lectured at Harvard Medical School, the Mayo Clinic, leading corporations like Google and Apple Inc., and teaches at major spiritual centers around the globe. Frank is the 2018 recipient of the prestigious Humanities Award from the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine.
He has accompanied over 1,000 people through the dying process and trained thousands of healthcare clinicians and family caregivers around the world. His groundbreaking work has been featured on the Bill Moyers PBS series On Our Own Terms, highlighted on The Oprah Winfrey Show, and honored by H.H. the Dalai Lama. He is the author of The Five Invitations: Discovering What Death Can Teach Us About Living Fully.
Frank’s Extended Bio
FRANK OSTASESKI is a pioneer in end of life care. In 1987, he cofounded the Zen Hospice Project, the first Buddhist hospice in America. He guided that groundbreaking work for almost 20 years establishing a longstanding model for mindful and compassionate care. In 2005, he founded the Metta Institute training countless healthcare clinicians and caregivers and building a national network of educators, advocates and guides for those facing life-threatening illness.
Frank has dedicated his life to service. It has been fusion of spiritual insight and practical social action. It manifests in caring for the homeless, serving on the early front lines AIDS epidemic, lobbying congress, teaching meditation and most daunting raising four teenagers at the same time.
He has distilled hard-won lessons from his own life journey and synthesized 30 years of being with dying into his personal brand of wisdom. He inspires and engages diverse audiences from Harvard Medical School students, to Mayo Clinic clinicians, and Wisdom 2.0 seekers. He is the 2018 recipient of the prestigious Humanities Award from the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine. His work has been highlighted on The Oprah Winfrey Show featured by Bill Moyers on his PBS television series On Our Own Terms and honored by H.H. the Dalai Lama.
He is the author of The Five Invitations: Discovering What Death Can Teach Us About Living Fully.
Frank is a frequent keynote speaker at universities, healthcare organizations and spiritual communities including:
- Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA
- Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MI
- Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, Lebanon, NH
- Spirit Rock Meditation Center, Woodacre, CA
- University of Heidelberg, Heidelberg Germany
- Wisdom 2.0 Conference, San Francisco, CA
- Sloan Kettering Medical Center, New York, NY
- National Hospice & Palliative Care Association, Alexandria, VA
- National Congress of the Italian Society of Palliative Care, Trieste, Italy
- Naropa Institute, Boulder, CO
- Long Now Seminars, San Francisco, CA
- Upaya Zen Center, Being with Dying Program, Santa Fe, NM
- Numerous State and Local Hospice organizations