Illness

Last night, within a period of a couple of hours, I learned that two friends and members of my extended spiritual community were ill with conditions that could be serious -- or not. Uncertain abounds in both cases.

As I have encountered such news (and such news is increasingly common as I and the myriad members of my cohort move into our 50s and 60s), I am reminded of the unfathomable teaching power of illness and death. While they are harsh gurus, illness and death are gurus nonetheless. It was the encounter with suffering, illness, and death that launched the young Siddhartha on the journey that led to his awakening as The Buddha a decade later. Thich Nhat Hanh has spoken eloquently about meditating daily on the notion of the death and dissolution of all whom we love and ourselves as a means to Realization.