On this episode of Healing at the Edge, Dale speaks with author, Joe DiNardo, about confronting death and the role of practice in the process of grieving.
Show Notes
Garden of Grief (Opening) – Joe talks about his book, “A Letter to My Wife,” which was a labor of love to his late wife, Marcia. He shares what the experience of losing his wife was like and how confronting death affected his spiritual practice.
“During the years of practice that I spent on the pillow at many retreats, we often spent time talking about dealing with grief. A lot of that for me was in the abstract. But when it actually happens in your life, when someone tells you that your wife has stage four pancreatic cancer, that grief becomes palpable and your practice is then challenged.” – Joe DiNardo
Pathway to the Heart (5:40) – Dale and Joe discuss the power such levels of grief carry and the opportunity that grief presents us to explore deeper levels of the heart. We hear how important of a tool Joe’s spiritual practice was in guiding him through his grief.
“Everyone is sitting on a reservoir of grief already, grief that we have buried. When a major event occurs it opens up a rift in the reservoir and not just the grief of the moment is there, but a lot of other unidentified grief swarms in as well. I think that happened for me. But my practice was very strong and I felt honored to have the practice to guide me through this and assist me.” – Joe DiNardo
Confronting Death (12:20) – The two talk about the fundamental change that occurs when a person fully confronts death. Joe shares how his mindfulness and meditation practice affected the way in which he related to life and death.
Universal Freedom (16:00) – During the period of time that Joe was dealing the passing of his wife, he experienced a change in the way he presented himself and his practice to the world. He and Dale talk about the image that mindfulness and meditation practice have in the mainstream world. They discuss how many people are looking for the universal freedom that practice has to offer, no matter what their beliefs are already.
Dying into the Moment (25:30) – Dale emphasizes the importance that the acceptance of death carries in our spiritual practice. By surrendering to death we become able to fully surrender into the moment; which is what mindfulness and meditation practice is all about.
“What if we didn’t know that we were going to survive this moment?” – RamDev
For more wisdom on impermanence and the Four Mind Turning Reflections discussed in this podcast, check out this episode of Insight Hour with Joseph Goldstein. Visit Joe online at joe-dinardo.com.
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Photo via Joe DiNardo