Dealing with a Loss
Loss is a part of life, and loss comes in many forms: loss in an important election, loss of a job, loss of a loved one, loss of youthfulness, loss of health… How do Buddhist teachings help us to not be overwhelmed and help us make our peace with losses? This is on my mind today because of my recent experience of a shocking loss in the social order in this country. Thich Nhat Hanh once said that “The hardest part of my practice is not falling into despair.” When we look at the state of the world, I suspect that this is true for many of us. But there are things we can do. The first thing I did in this most recent loss was to say to myself: “It is very important that I be completely determined to not let this event color everything in my life and take the joy out of living.” We have a choice here and there are practices that can help us. The Dali Lama was once asked how he could be happy in face of the fact that the Chinese had murdered tens of thousands o
