When grief sits down too
On allowing sorrow without turning it into a project of the self.
Recorded during the rains, with a long-time devotee.
Devotee: Something in my family has broken. I sit, but the sitting is full of tears. I feel I am failing.
Amma: Tears are not a failure of sitting. They are water moving. Do not wipe the heart as if it were a stain.
Devotee: People say a true practitioner is untouched.
Amma: Untouched is a word that can become cruelty. Let the grief be seen. Let it breathe. Do not build a house for it, and do not throw it out of the temple. The One who holds you is not offended by your weeping.
Devotee: How long will this last?
Amma: Do not ask the river for a timetable. Keep the lamp lit. Eat. Sleep if sleep comes. Speak truthfully to those who can hear you. Grief will change its shape. You do not have to force the change.
