Your grief makes sense.
I want to write rage but all that comes is sadness. We have been sad long enough to make this earth either weep or grow fertile.
– Audre Lorde, The Cancer Journals
In this era of constant crisis, loss, and disruption, the collective weight of unprocessed grief is undeniable. Lives have been lost to pandemics, terrorism, genocide, state violence, and systemic injustice. Many of us are left struggling to move through the sorrow for all that we have already experienced, and bracing for the tragedies that are sure to come.
Some of us have hardly had time to breathe, let alone grieve, before responding to the next crisis.
Your grief is sacred.
Now this, monks, is the Noble Truth of dukkha (“suffering” or “stress”): Birth is dukkha, aging is dukkha, death is dukkha; sorrow, lamentation, pain, grief, & despair are dukkha; association with the unbeloved is dukkha; separation from the loved is dukkha; not getting what is wanted is dukkha.
– SN 56.11 Dhammacakkapavattana Sutta
The Buddha described grief and loss as part of the First Noble Truth of suffering, or stress. It is a "noble" truth because it’s a part of the human condition.
And, in a world like ours, we know that suffering is not distributed equally.
Those of us who are targeted by systems of oppression and domination may be carrying unique burdens of loss, trauma, and responsibility.
Your grief deserves to be held, supported, and tended to.
Let It Move You: a Care Package for Grieving Times, is a six week contemplative journey through the winter solstice and into the New Year.
It is filled with teachings, resources, and practices to help you be with your grief, even as you work to block injustice, and build a world where all of us are safe, loved and free.
Featuring Linda Thai, Lama Rod Owens, Malkia Devich Cyril, Rev. Duncan Ryuken Williams, Sarah Jawaid, Sam Rise, and others… this care package will offer you tools, teachings, and space for individual and collective grief, pointing us toward the freedom that mourning makes possible.
In six pre-recorded sessions, you’ll experience:
Dialogues featuring six grief workers, healers, activist-organizers, and politicized dharma practitioners, each exploring unique facets of loss and resilience, both personal and communal.
Guided Practices (video + audio) to help you settle, heal, and reconnect with your inner resources, that can you can build into your regular rituals of self- and community-care
Readings and Resources for further exploration and integration.
Three live sessions will feature guided practices, small group breakouts, and teacher led-Q&A, to deepen your engagement with the material and connect with others on the journey.
You will receive lifetime access to all course material. Live sessions will also be recorded and available to watch or listen later on.
We have to grieve. It is a duty like any other duty in life…Grief is seen as food for the psyche. Just as the body needs food, the psyche needs grief to maintain its own healthy balance.
– Elder Malidoma Patrice Somé, Of Water and the Spirit