Calming the busy mind and the troubled heart
Patrick Thornton, PhD
Nyo. "As it is," the way things are, without delusion, without illusion.
“Balance” Bennett Valley, Sonoma County, CA
Centuries ago a very wise man came to an awareness that grief was part of what comes with being a human being.
When asked to explain what he meant, he said that the loss of strength and vitality, illness, and death were cause for grief. Having to associate with what one dislikes and having to let go of what one loves is also a source of grief. So is the loss of hope for some thing or some outcome one has longed for. The disappointment that accompanies the failure to achieve one’s life dream or a goal toward what one has worked is a source of grief as well. And so too is the loss of relationship, meaning, or mattering to someone who matters to you.
Does this then mean life is only about gloom and doom? I hardly think so. I believe it means that for our life to be filled with joy, peace and freedom from suffering, we must learn to be in relationship with loss as a normal process of living — the ebb and flow — of a healthy and conscious life. The means for doing this is perhaps one of the most important tasks we face in our lifetime.
It is my hope that this site may be a worthy resource for you or for someone you care about in the process of finding greater satisfaction, compassion and love in and for life.
Copyright 2011 © Patrick Thornton, all rights reserved.
Photography by Patrick Thornton.