02.30 – Break the wall that blocks the path from the past to the future

Grieving is natural when we lose a loved one. Such grieving offers us a release for our emotions and expresses the depth of our love. But sometimes grief takes control of our life and compels us to live in the past, fretting constantly about how things might have been.

The same grief that is emotionally releasing can if allowed to dominate our life become debilitating and disempowering. Debilitating because it allows no positive vision of the future to counter the feelings of negativity and futility that result when grief grips us. And disempowering because it prevents us from utilizing the power of the present to make things better. Thus, grieving becomes a wall that blocks the path from the past to the future.

To help us break this wall and move on with life, Gita wisdom offers us the life-giving insight: the soul is indestructible.  After imparting a clear understanding of the eternality of the soul in its second chapter, the Bhagavad-gita repeatedly urges us to give up lamentation (na shocitum, do not lament) in four verses: 02.25, 02.26, 02.27 and 02.30.

To the futility-inducing question “What is the point of life when it ends with death?” Gita wisdom answers, “The point is progression, towards returning to the eternal spiritual level of existence”

To the negativity-inducing question “What is the point in forming relationships when they will be ruptured at death?” Gita-wisdom answers, “The point is to form relationships at the spiritual level, wherein we through our love and care encourage each other to march towards that eternal level of existence.”

By thus equipping ourselves with Gita wisdom, we can transform bereavement into an impetus for attaining life eternal – a vision of hope and love that nothing, not even  death, can ever destroy,