by Ganga White

All around us, there is suffering and war. We sometimes hear the admonishment that we shouldn't enjoy ourselves while others are suffering. While we all are affected by the immense reservoir of suffering in the world, it could also be argued that we should do our best to add to the reservoir of love and joy in the world. We all need to be aware of and respond to suffering--and we should also consciously contribute to love, joy, and well-being.

Make love not war was, and is, an aphorism of my generation. Love includes compassion and giving our energy to alleviate the suffering so widespread in our world. Hard love can mean standing up to tyrants.

In a recent hospice Zoom gathering for a dear friend of ours, we were asked by our friend to muse with her about death. I was reminded of what J.Krishnamurti said about "suffering, love, and death." He said suffering faced opens the heart, and that death was the ending of the self, as the self similarly dissolves and merges when there is love. When there is merging in love, as there is dissolving in death, all that remains is love.