Eulogy and tribute to Nora Flores                                                     Read at the RIME Buddhist center (rimecenter.org)                                                     April 13, 2025 (This version is very slightly updated)

                     -o-o-o- Nora’s picture to follow May 10, 2026 –o-o-o-

I would like to thank St. Marks church for hosting this Memorial for Nora on behalf of the RIME center.  I would also like to thank Lama Matt for all he has done. Lama Matt has done many things.  We have a lot to be thankful for.

I think it would not be fruitful to list all of Nora’s career citations, awards, degrees and tokens of gratitude.  Neither would a timeline of her personal life be fruitful.  We are with the RIME center, a place for spiritual development.  I will focus on the spiritual.

Welcome invitations to this memorial were extended to Nora’s extended family with her late husband Felix Quiason [spouses in parentheses].  The oldest living Quiason is Dr. Arturo Quiason (Dr. Emmeline), followed by Mario Quiason (Aida), Linda Bustos (Dr. Jonas), Renato Quiason (Letty), Rudolfo Quiason, Dr. Victor Quiason (Cathy) and Dr. Stella Quiason (Dr. Charlie Smith).

 Felix and Nora were married for roughly 43 years.  Felix was the eldest of 7 siblings. They have three children: Emilie (Dan), Melissa (Alan) and Robert. Two of her children have children as well: Collin, Carson, Maya and Dylan.  The Quiasons sustain a large functionally close extended family based in the Kansas City area that spans at least 3 generations. (They are all good.)

Invitations to this memorial were also sent to Nora’s family-of-origin.  They are 13 siblings of which Nora is the oldest.  Seven are still living: Salvador “Boy” Tuy, Jr., Olivia Tuy Rances, Ester Tuy Azurin, Enrico Tuy, Teresita Tuy, Emiliana Tuy and Benjamin Tuy.  Many are in the Philippines, a lot of them are in the U.S., the rest are scattered in different parts of the world.  Despite their geographic separations, they have sustained a strong cohesive extended family system, in no small part enhanced by digital media.  Bicol is their home province in the Philippines where they periodically convene and visit.  (They are all good.)

I am Luis. Nora and I have been married roughly for 10 years. I have 4 siblings. Frances, Victor and Froilan.  Frances has 7 children: Sandra (Raul), Raffie (Nadine), Bernadette, Eddie (Rhoda), Miggy (Vivian) and Danny (?).  Sandra and Raul have 3 children (Butch, Gibby and Anjo.  Raffie and Nadine has two twins and another son.  Eddie and Rhoda have 1 son. Miggy and Vivian have 2 sons (Ivan and ?) .    

Victor and Eden have 7 children:  Inton (Angela), John-John (Kreng), Fort-Fort (Joy), Yasnaya (Che), Jango (Chole) and Baby Vic.  Inton and Angela have a son Haiku. They are a very close and help each other a lot ever since they became a family.

I have 6 children, all boys: Alejandro (Rebecca), Bengoy (Amy), Paulo (Allison), Nathaniel, Nickolas and Froilan. Two of my children have children: Sophia, Alethea, Carlo, Izzy, Jackson and Hannah. We reside scattered in different parts of the U.S. and the world. (We are all good.)

Filipino families form large conglomerates – extended families within extended families.

Invitations to this memorial service were sent to Nora’s colleagues in Kansas City and in Fairbanks, Alaska.  Invitations were sent to members of the Community of Reason and to the Enlightenment group.  (They are all good as well.)

Finally, Nora and I are both members of the RIME center.  We have close relationships with many members of this Sangha or community.  Many are here seated around us. (We are all good.)

Thank you all for being here.  Thank you to those in the land of Zoom.

 About Nora.  

Nora was raised as a Roman Catholic in the Philippines.  She married her first husband in the Catholic faith. She was and is a good Catholic.  Later, after migrating to America as a married adult, she became a Swami, then a Buddhist.  She and I facilitated courses in Buddhism here at the RIME center as part of her spiritual quest.  Most recently she pursued Shamanism, partly to hold on to something in this life as well as a way of accessing the spiritual realm.  She was interested in self-healing.  Nora believed Buddhism spanned these traditions.

What is Buddhism?  To be a Buddhist is to be awake in the present moment, to be mindful of everything that constitutes our lives.  One is to avoid the extremes of self-privation, self-punishment, and self-indulgence.  It is to avoid the extremes of greed and hatred.  It is to avoid extremes of any kind, political and social as well.  Rather, one is to live a life of moderation and harmony, with the environment and with all sentient beings, as set forth in the eight-fold plan.  One size never fits all.

To be a Buddhist is to free oneself of suffering by letting go of the illusion that anything is permanent and independently separate of everything else.  The truth is that everything is the result of causes and conditions in a continuous never-ending flux.  Nothing is permanent.  Nothing lasts forever.  One never steps in the same river twice.  Suffering and unhappiness are the result of our own folly, of our own ignorance.  It is the arrogance of our ego that clings to and nurtures the illusion of permanence.  Letting go of our ignorance is the most important step in freeing oneself of suffering.  In turn, one gives way to natural joy, contentment, happiness and opens the path towards awakening and enlightenment.  At the same time, consciousness reverberates across generations, throughout space and time.  Everything is related to everything.

 Way of the Bodhisattva

The Way of the Bodhisattva is another important practice of Buddhism which has to do with how one relates to others.  One relates to others by doing no harm, by relating to others in ways that enhances the other’s well-being.  One cannot own another person.  One cannot be exploitive.  One ought not use others for ulterior ends.  Rather, one relates to others in ways that bring about their Buddha nature which is a natural endowment of all sentient beings.

The Way of the Bodhisattva is to relate to others with love, compassion - and I will add - with sensibility.  We have to be sensible because we live in an imperfect world.  We live in the world of relative Bodhichita.  Today the numerous voices of the innocent who are suffering, starving, dying and dead, drown out our rationalizations of righteousness and our false claims of necessity. War is never okay.

 Nora’s path

Finally, Nora’s journey combines spirituality with her individual legacies - with who she was and is.  In Nora’s generation, familial or familial-like relationships are the most important and the most valued.  They form the strongest and the most long-lasting bonds.  I am sure this is the case in many other cultures, if not now, then at least at some time in their history.  Rather than simply based on reciprocity, which is self-serving – you scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours - familial and close-friendships are based on need, love, commitment and loyalty.  They go way beyond simple self-interest.  Nora’s generation is open-to and strives to extend these familial-like relationships to all.

Nora’s other legacy that merges with the Way of the Bodhisattva is her calling as a physician.  She lived her version of the Hippocratic oath with those she came in contact with.  She always brought peace, calm and inspiration.  

Finally, and ethically, Nora was and is a natural humanitarian, one who does not relate to others based on man-made insidious, judgmental, divisive social categorizations. She relates to others without guile, malice or prejudice.

Nora will always be with all of us. 

Thank you, Luis Flores