Shalini Dantan | Lifeline Crisis Support Counsellor

I have been a volunteer Lifeline Crisis Supporter for over seven years. Lifeline is an Australian not-for-profit organisation providing crisis support, including suicide prevention services. 

As a Lifeline crisis support counsellor, I frequently talk to people about death and loss. People call in when distressed or feeling lonely. A significant number of calls are from people facing death or loss—people who have thoughts of suicide, are grieving the loss of a loved one, are coping with ageing, sickness or a terminal illness. Our approach is based on listening, hearing, empathy, compassion and being non-judgemental. 

Conversations about death are an important element of this work. As a Lifeline crisis supporter, my aim is to connect with people who call—to listen, hear, and spend time in that “dark place” with them until they feel that they can cope.  

Sharing a dark place is about non judgemental listening, hearing, accepting and validating feeling, probing and reflecting.  Mostly, these conversations are about not offering an immediate solution but to create a safe space for people in pain to talk and to share. 

My work as a Lifeline Crisis Supporter is rewarding. Life becomes more meaningful when I am able to give a few hours of solace to people in distress—those who are grieving, dying or having thoughts of suicide.  

My personal approach to death is based on the Buddhist philosophy. “Maranasati” meditation, or mindfulness of death, is a Buddhist practice that involves reflecting on the inevitability of death to cultivate a deeper appreciation for life and a more mindful existence. It's not about dwelling on death in a morbid way, rather about using it as a tool to examine impermanence, change, and living in the present moment. 

My belief on death and after life is governed by the concept of “Nibbhana”. This is a Pali word and a fundamental goal of Buddhism. It is synonymous with ending the cycle of continuous rebirth, through meditation and practice to achieve a mind that is unshaken but still feels deep compassion.

Mindfulness of death has made me more comfortable talking about death—and accepting death.  This has helped me in my work as a Lifeline Crisis Supporter. 

—Shalini Dantan (2025)

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