Italian sun glowed through stained glass windows in the upper Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi, but we headed for the crypt beneath the cathedral. The Poverty and Simplicity of Saint Francis had been covered by grandeur
Read more →Bereavement and End of Life
The morning after Sankara’s funeral, we slowly walked the dusty road to the Sankara Mutt (temple) and bought flower garlands from a vender on the corner. The modest cement area where we’d meditated with the sage, where
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Like so much else in India, Sri Sankaracharya’s funeral felt dreamlike and foreign, comforting and familiar. When the main ritual began, priests poured offerings on the sage’s head. His bright silk shrouds were soaked with yogurt, honey,
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After a late night drive from the Ramana Ashram to Kanchipuram, Vic and I slept late. When we left our hotel in the morning, hundreds of soldiers in tan uniforms blocked traffic near the Mutt. Thousands of
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I sit on my back porch on a May evening and watch the hazy Moon rise over the forest. I count on Her rhythmic waxing and waning, beaming peace as the Earth bickers and burns. Rose-Breasted Grosbeaks
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The forest is green with moss and ferns. Fiddleheads near the stream are ready to harvest and the maple trees dropped their tiny red flowers on the forest floor. Trout lilies finish their season just as Trillium
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Daddy was sad and quiet. Mommy cleared her throat and dabbed her eyes with a tissue. Uncle Jim and Aunt Martha arrived without my cousins. I was 9 years old and soaked in impending doom, but no
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I dream I’m searching for healthy food in a large cafeteria, but can’t find nutritious food or even green tea and feel confused and lost. I turn around and my dead husband Vic stands facing me, masked
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“I’ll stay until the end,” Lauren said. We knew what “the end” meant, but didn’t know when it would come. Doctors said any minute, but my husband hung on. Vic had gone downhill quickly, so our sons
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“I love you, David,” I say when my North Carolina son arrives on Thursday night. Because of the pandemic, I haven’t seen him for 8 months, so I wrap my arms around him and press my cheek
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