Grief

A friend of mine recently shared this wisdom. I thought it was beautiful and consoling on such a deep level that I felt the need to pass it along.

“In the Lakota-Sioux tradition, a person who is grieving is considered most woken, most holy. There’s a sense that when someone is struck by the sudden lightning of loss, he or she stands on the threshold of the spirit world. The prayers of those who grieve are considered especially strong, and it is proper to ask them for their help.

You might recall what it’s like to be with someone who has grieved deeply. The person has no layer of protection, nothing left to defend. The mystery is looking out through that person’s eyes. For the time being, he or she has accepted the reality of loss and has stopped clinging to the past or grasping at the future. In the groundless openness of sorrow, there is a wholeness of presence and a deep natural wisdom.”

• Tara Brach, Author of Radical Acceptance.

I found this totally inspirational. Grief seemed like a richer experience after reading it. Less isolating, a bigger part of a spiritual path.

It took the black and white out of it for me. No longer an experience of pain versus no pain. It brought me to a place of acceptance. Where blame has no space.

We have all felt the barbs of loss. Grief comes in many different costumes but the shadow of it remains consistantly suffocating. Remembering to breathe. Remembering that we are NOT alone. NOT isolated.

I don’t know if there’s anything harder or more rewarding than tapping into the feeling of wholeness in the presence of absence.