Reference: posted by: Daly_de_Gagne on 6/22/00 to Kirpal Singh Satsang Club; Message number 401
Viktor Frankl, with his experiences in Nazi concentration camps, was able to document that when people find meaning in their suffering their ability to aurvive that suffering may increase, even though their health may be worse than others who perish.
Meaning helps to make suffering bearable; meaning is the learning that we may find in the circumstances of suffering.
I do a number of funerals for people. I always use a quotation from Sogyal Rinpoche, the Tibetan Buddhist, who in turn quotes the Sufi, Rumi. Here are the quotations:
The monk, Sogyal Rinpoche writes: “Whatever you do, don’t shut off your pain; accept your pain and remain vulnerable. However desperate you become, accept your pain as it is, because it is in fact trying to hand you a priceless gift, the chance of discovering through spiritual practice what lies behind sorrow.
"Rumi wrote: ‘grief can be the garden of compassion. If you keep your heart open through everything, your pain can become your greatest ally in your life’s search for love and wisdom.’”
~ Daly
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