Question asked by irene
dear rinpoche how do i apply buddhist teachings to explain and cope with the loss of loved ones knowing that i will never see them again when they have passed away ? do i regard their existence n our mutual consciousness as merely a reality collectively constructed by our samsaric mind and hence there never was a me n them or the separation caused by cycles of deaths n rebirths ? stoic acceptance that they are gone cannot resolve the grief of losing them forever .
Dear Irene,
My condolences to you from my heart.
1. Grieving for loss of loved ones is ok. It is not anti-Buddhist to recognize we are attached at this stage of our path. And we do miss people.
2. Studying the 12 interdependendent links and reincarnation will help you tremedously to recover and for everyone to come to terms with this.
3. The beautiful thing is we can do actions according to Dharma that generate merits for those departed. So instead of just grieving which does not benefit them, we can generate merits for their future lives. That would be a wonderful show of our love for them.
If you like, on the Science and Mysteries category of this blog, I have videos on reincarnation that might help you.
I wish you the best.