Universe: Hello dearheart, we see you’ve been struggling this week.

Me (Alexandra): Yes, it’s been a week of deep sadness sometimes.

U: And you were unwell, also.

A: Yes, but not seriously. I’m feeling close to healthy again now. And as I said to a friend soon after I found out that Don had died, this whole thing is character building.

U: That was a wise assertion.

A: Well it isn’t as if I haven’t been through this before. This is the third time that a man I loved died suddenly, and alone.

But I’ve already turned Don’s death into a positive influence in my life.

U: How so?

A: Throughout this year I’ve had trouble chanting for an hour every day, which is what I usually do, and what benefits me greatly. I never chanted less than a half-hour, but Buddhist practice works best when we exert ourselves.

After Don died, I noticed that if I didn’t chant for an hour, I suffered a lot more. With an hour, I feel sad, but it’s not the same kind of suffering. So he’s helping me practise more strongly.

U: That is excellent.

A: Thank you. Yet another win/win that practising Buddhism creates! He was a big believer that life is to be lived to the fullest, so I’m sure he finds it satisfying that he’s helping me do that.

U: Indeed.

A: So if you’ll allow, I’m going to chant, right now, before the night gets too old and I get too tired. I need my beauty sleep to support all the living I’m going to do!

I believe that in order to enjoy true happiness, we should live each moment as if it were our last. Today will never return. We may speak of the past or of the future, but the only reality we have is that of this present instant. And confronting the reality of death actually enables us to bring unlimited creativity, courage and joy into each instant of our lives. ~ Daisaku Ikeda

Photo by Ries Bosch on Unsplash