“Crying is one of the highest devotional songs. One who knows
crying, knows spiritual practice. If you can cry with a pure heart,
nothing else compares to such a prayer. Crying includes all the
principles of Yoga.”
―
Swami Kripalvanandji
“In the Lakota/Sioux tradition, a person who is grieving is considered
most Wakan, most holy."
―
"Blessed be those who mourn, for they will be comforted."
-- Yogi Jesus of Nazareth
Emmett Kelly 1898 - 1979 |
Some time ago, I came across the quote by Swami Kripalvanandji cited above. I immediately emailed it to a dear friend who was having
a rough time.
She called me later to tell me it helped -- a lot. After reading it, she immediately headed out
to her garden to have a good cry. She said it was exactly what she needed.
Big Boys (Girls) Don't Cry
Growing
up in contemporary society, most of us have learned to avoid crying
like the
plague. Widely seen as a sign of unacceptable weakness and
frailty, we are conditioned to keep a stiff upper lip, to steel
ourselves against this natural expression of heartfelt feeling.
Although this conditioning is considered to be a "male," thing, most of
the women I know often fight back their tears as well.
(Strain's of the Four Seasons singing "Big Girls Don't Cry-yay-yay"just ran through my inner iPod)
Hmmmm. Maybe I shouldn't plunge ahead here. Although I'm an amateur
and would never charge for sitting still with folks and comparing notes on our experiences with Mindfulness Practice, I might get sued by the Commercial Mindfulness Cartel. Although the pro's may give a nod to Buddha's first noble truth, the suffering baked into the human condition, they tend to skip right ahead to Buddha's Third Noble Truth: the Cessation of Suffering. You don't see any glitzy promotional commercials proclaiming -- Mindfulness Practice: Guaranteed to Make You Cry! It might be bad for business.
And yet...