The world lost a bright and beautiful light on Monday July 17. Michael Stone, Buddhist teacher, activist, mental health advocate and family man left this Earth at a rather abrupt age. His teachings and love shall live on in the lives and hearts of his students.
I have often pondered the abstract and raw qualities of grief. To live is to grieve. We grieve the passing moment as it withers some part of our physical structure. We long for the presence of another we have loved. The notion that a force within can so powerfully obliterate the very constructs of our being; and yet so tender it allows us to carry on. Who knew that this dear heart's teachings would offer such comfort . Allow his words to soak into any spaces of grief in your life.
This excerpt comes from a beautiful essay Michael wrote on grief:
"If grief is deep and imponderable, it is because love is deep and imponderable, too. The world presents us with opportunities for connection, and the flip side of these is the impermanence of opportunity: we may lose that which we love through death, divorce, or betrayal. We may find deep meaning in a system of belief, an ideal, a cause, an organization; and then grow disillusioned, eventually cleansing ourselves of it and grieving the loss of what seemed, for a moment, like our hope and salvation. The Buddha taught that at bottom, the more we love that which we lose, the more grief we feel. The world is living and dying, full of birth and loss, tragedy and change. It is “first truth” that runs like a tragic thread, through all of our lives.
In mindfulness circles we talk a lot about the mind and attention, but I’ve always translated mindfulness as love. When we give our attention to anything, for a sustained period, we begin to love that person or place. Following this logic, grief is love with nowhere to go. Love which has lost its object, wishing to go some- where, flows with urgent haste to the gates of grief. We arrive at grief through love; it is our love that carries us there."
May You Sweetly Seek:)
In Gratitude,
Sarah
I have often pondered the abstract and raw qualities of grief. To live is to grieve. We grieve the passing moment as it withers some part of our physical structure. We long for the presence of another we have loved. The notion that a force within can so powerfully obliterate the very constructs of our being; and yet so tender it allows us to carry on. Who knew that this dear heart's teachings would offer such comfort . Allow his words to soak into any spaces of grief in your life.
This excerpt comes from a beautiful essay Michael wrote on grief:
"If grief is deep and imponderable, it is because love is deep and imponderable, too. The world presents us with opportunities for connection, and the flip side of these is the impermanence of opportunity: we may lose that which we love through death, divorce, or betrayal. We may find deep meaning in a system of belief, an ideal, a cause, an organization; and then grow disillusioned, eventually cleansing ourselves of it and grieving the loss of what seemed, for a moment, like our hope and salvation. The Buddha taught that at bottom, the more we love that which we lose, the more grief we feel. The world is living and dying, full of birth and loss, tragedy and change. It is “first truth” that runs like a tragic thread, through all of our lives.
In mindfulness circles we talk a lot about the mind and attention, but I’ve always translated mindfulness as love. When we give our attention to anything, for a sustained period, we begin to love that person or place. Following this logic, grief is love with nowhere to go. Love which has lost its object, wishing to go some- where, flows with urgent haste to the gates of grief. We arrive at grief through love; it is our love that carries us there."
May You Sweetly Seek:)
In Gratitude,
Sarah
RSS Feed
