Doorway Into light
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ABOUT DOORWAY INTO LIGHT

Since 2006, Doorway Into Light has been engaged in advocacy and educational programs in Hawaii, with families and professionals in the field, as well as actively engaged in direct, volunteer support of dying people, their families, their care-givers and those grieving the death of a loved one (pet or human).

Since 2012, Doorway Into Light operates Hawaii's only nonprofit funeral home and it's only certified green funeral home.
We also operate The Death Store, Hawaii's only community educational resource center and store for those who are living with a life threatening illness; lay and professional care-givers to the dying; those grieving the death of a loved one; those wishing to explore their own approaching death.
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We provide information on the rights, laws and choices for those approaching death, including hospice care, living trusts, wills, advanced health care directives, ethical wills, home funerals, ocean body burial, organ donation, home burial, direct burial and direct cremation.
We seek to re-invent and revolutionize the funeral home and the funeral industry, transforming the “business of dying” and returning it to “sacred service”, bringing forth options for end-of-life care and after-death care that are holistic, environmentally sustainable, community and family based, and spiritually inclusive.
We also work with community organizations, such as local hospices, hospitals, non-profits and religious organizations in growing and deepening care for the aging and the dying. 
We offer community presentations and workshops, as well as trainings for:
  • Communities of Volunteer Caregivers to the dying 
  • Doulas and Ministers of Death
  • Home-Funeral Guides ​
We offer a certification program for Death Doulas and Ministers of Death.
Doorway Into Light is a 501C3 nonprofit educational and charitable organization.

OUR FOUNDERS & DIRECTORS

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BODHI BE

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LEILAH BE

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RAM DASS

Founded by Reverend Bodhi Be, Leilah Be, and Ram Dass (Dr. Richard Alpert), Doorway Into Light is engaged in advocacy and educational programs on conscious aging, dying and death.Here on Maui, we're working with families and professionals in these fields, as well as actively engaged in helping dying people and their families and care-givers.

​The founders of Doorway Into Light have extensive experience in assisting individuals and communities in the areas of dying and death. They serve as the Directors of Doorway Into Light and constitute an Executive Board.
Bodhi Be, the Executive Director, is a teacher, guide and ordained minister in the universal Sufi lineage of Hazrat Inayat Khan and Samuel Lewis.  He is an independent funeral director, hospice volunteer, end-of-life and bereavement counselor, notary, ceremonialist, and the founder and president of Doorway Into Light’s The Death Store.  He is happily married for 36 years, parent and step-parent to 5 grown children. A grandparent, coffin maker, death doula and educator, artist, entrepreneur and organic homesteader on Maui, where he has resided for 45 years.

​Ram Dass, a Maui resident, has been a pioneer and explorer of awakened consciousness as well as one of its most important voices for over 45 years.  Former Harvard Professor, author of "Be Here Now", 'How Can I Help?", "Still Here", and many other books.  He is co-founder of the Prison Ashram Project, the Dying Project, the Seva Foundation, and is on the Board and Faculty of the Metta Institute. Ram Dass died and left his body on December 22, 2019.

Leilah Be is a teacher, guide and ordained minister in the universal Sufi lineage of Hazrat Inayat Khan and Samuel Lewis and the wife of Bodhi.  A former director of a pre-school, she is an end-of-life and bereavement counselor, musician and gardener and a busy grandma.

Executive Director: Reverend Bodhi Be

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Former founder/owner Rainbow Menehune Sprout Company, Maui Juice Company, Angel Scouts Children's Camp.  An ordained minister for 36 years, facilitating weddings, baby blessings, house blessings and clearings, memorials, funerals and many other ceremonies. Together with his wife, Leilah, they lead meditation and Sufi Retreats worldwide and have been invited teachers to many other events for the last 25 years. 
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Co-Director Reverend: Michelle Renee

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Reverend Michelle Renee

Michelle Renee lives a full and beautiful life. In 2001 she earned a degree in forest recreation, inspired by her love of trees and nature. In 2006 she graduated from The Hawaiian Islands School of Body Therapy where she deepened her understanding of human touch. Her fascination and focus in this realm continues to be the nervous system, the facial system, and somatic concepts. In 2010 she became ordained after 5 years at The Clairvoyant Center of Hawaii where she studied meditation, energy dynamics, and teaching skills. Woven into this time she also worked on boats, farms, and other joy cultivating work. She has now found home with Doorway Into Light.
Board of Directors 

Reverend Bodhi Be, the Executive Director, is a teacher, guide and ordained minister in the universal Sufi lineage of Hazrat Inayat Khan and Samuel Lewis.  He is an independent funeral director, hospice volunteer, end-of-life and bereavement counselor, notary, ceremonialist, and the founder and president of Doorway Into Light’s The Death Store.  He is happily married for 36 years, parent and step-parent to 5 grown children. A grandparent, coffin maker, death doula and educator, artist, entrepreneur and organic homesteader on Maui, where he has resided for 45 years.

David Spee is a lawyer practicing on Maui, specializing in Estate Planning, Wills, Trusts and Real Estate-Residential Law.

Reverend Michelle Renee
A graduate of The Hawaiian Islands School of Body Therapy and a certified Home Funeral Guide, she is an active team member of our funeral home business.

Marta Greenleaf is an organic farmer and environmental activist. After experiencing the different end of life scenarios of her parents, Marta became interested in the exciting possibility of how a much a green burial park can support our Maui community in a way that respects each family’s hearts and souls, as well as nurturing the sacred burial grounds.

Mayanna Anderson, founder of Companion Care Maui is an ordained interfaith minister, Death Doula and a Grief Recovery Method©️Support Specialist. A classically trained chef Mayanna is the creator of “Lick Your Plate Clean Cuisine”©️

Leilah Be is a teacher, guide and ordained minister in the universal Sufi lineage of Hazrat Inayat Khan and Samuel Lewis and the wife of Bodhi.  A former director of a pre-school, she is an end-of-life and bereavement counselor, musician and gardener and a busy grandma.

Ram Dass, Director Emeritus, was a Maui resident, who had been a pioneer and explorer of awakened consciousness as well as one of its most important voices for over 50 years.  Former Harvard Professor, author of "Be Here Now", 'How Can I Help?", "Still Here", and many other books.  He is co-founder of the Prison Ashram Project, the Dying Project, the Seva Foundation, and is on the Board and Faculty of the Metta Institute. Ram Dass died and left his body on December 22, 2019.
 
Cultural Advisors

Auli’i Mitchell is a Cultural Practitioner and Kumu Hula, has a Masters in Applied Indigenous Knowledge, is a Cultural Anthropologist, and an Advisor for Cultural Surveys Hawai`i Inc., repatriation team. He is the Vice Chair of the O`ahu Island Burial Council and member of the Indigenous Council for the World Archaeologies Congress and a Public Relations Board Member for the Society for Hawaiian Archaeologists.

Lei‘ohu Ryder and Maydeen ‘Iao are Hawaiian spiritual leaders, visionaries, singer/songwriters, healers, and educators. They are Kumu Aloha (emissaries of aloha) and advocates for the indigenous soul in all people. Their love and knowledge of Hawai‘i, help us connect with our selves, with Spirit, and the essence of Aloha.
 
Support Team / Advisors
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Auli’i Mitchell - Hawaiian kumu hula, Cultural practitioner, Cultural advisor/Cultural Surveys Hawaii
Arnie and Ronald Koss - Business Consultants; Founders/Earth’s Best Baby Food
David Spee - Maui Attorney; Real Estate, Estate Planning. Doorway Into Light (DIL) Board Member
Dean Johnston - Maui Architect
Jenny Pell - Land Design/Permaculture expert
Lei’ohu Ryder, Maydeen Iao - Hawaiian spiritual activists and artists. DIL Advisory Board 
Lisa Starr - Land Planner; Realtor/Broker. DIL Advisory Board
Tara Grace - Board Member/Maui Tomorrow; Board Member/Food Security Hawaii, Realtor
Dr. Nancy Long - Medical director/Kauai Hospice. Former medical director/Hospice Maui. DIL Advisory Board 
Eve-lyn Civerollo - Former clinical director, Hospice Maui. DIL Advisory Board     
Rhonda Fosbinder - Maui Attorney/Estate Planning, Elder Law. DIL Advisory Board
Dr. Michael Click - MD, Doctor of Radiology. DIL Advisory Board
Amy Glenn - Chaplain, Birth Doula, Death Doula. DIL Advisory Board, Founder and Director/Birth, Breath and Death Institute
Jerrigrace Lyons - Founder and Director/Final Passages. DIL Advisory Board
Dr. Malik Cotter - Doctor of Oriental and Integrative Medicine, Acupuncturist. DIL Advisory Board
Jay April - Executive Director, Akaku Hawaii
Deanna Cochran
- Founder and Director, End of Life Practitioners Collective; Founder and Director, Quality of Life Care; Certified hospice and palliative nurse. DIL Advisory Board
Bill Greenleaf - Farmer/Greenleaf Farm.                                     
Marta Greenleaf - Farmer/Greenleaf Farm. DIL Board Member
Scott Fisher - Hawaii Island Land Trust
Ram Dass - Spiritual Activist, Author.  DIL Board Member
Karima Morgan - Grief Counselor/Hospice Maui

Some of our Volunteer Support Team:

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DOORWAY INTO LIGHT'S:
​THE DEATH STORE
AT THE PAUWELA CANNERY
375 WEST KUIAHA RD. #5
HAIKU, HAWAII 96708


SAT 10AM-2PM AND BY APPT.
(808) 575-7870  (808) 283-5950

MAILING ADDRESS
​PO Box 1268 
Haiku HI 96708

Doorway Into Light strives to provide support and services to all who are in need regardless of financial ability. We are a 501c3 nonprofit community-based organization, and our continued success is dependent upon your generous contributions. Please consider making a tax-deductible donation so that we may serve all who seek our support.
  • Home
  • About
  • IPUKA
  • MEDIA
    • Videos & Interviews
  • Certification/Death Doula
  • Funeral Home
    • Ocean Body Burial
    • Funeral Services and Costs
  • The Death Store
    • Community Resource
  • Services
    • Weekly Radio Show
    • Community Education >
      • workshops archive
  • Contact
  • Donate
  • ONLINE STORE