Ram Dass

Of course, there are people you love deeply. And some of them are going to die before you do. And you’re going to grieve like hell; it will be fierce suffering, because you were in the habit of having that unique form of spirit there with you, and you’re clinging to that. But after awhile, if you don’t suppress your grief and if you allow yourself to go all the way through the process, you will come to a quiet moment when you can listen to your heart. And then you’ll recognise that, because you have connected with that being in even a moment of love, the essence of that person is still there. You’ll suddenly realise that you’d been so busy mourning what had died that you’d ignored what hadn’t. At that moment, grief is turned into something else-it’s turned into an incredible joy of intimacy.

As it becomes clearer and clearer that there are advantages to adopting a soul-perspective as part of our agenda for aging, the question becomes how to do it, and the process of discovering the answer to that question is the spiritual quest for each of us. There’s no one-size-fits-all on the spiritual path. I think we have to look at what’s presented to us, listen to our hearts, and go with whatever practices feel right. There are, however, some things that are often helpful. It’s useful, for example, to have something around that awakens our faith — a picture, a rock, a card with a sacred quote written on it. Many of us find it helpful to have some form of meditation or mantra or prayer we can repeat, whether it’s one of the names of God, or a sacred word, or a phrase. — Beliefnet.com