Spotlight on Our Sangha: Joan

Right now I’m in a state of grieving. I was taking care of my mom for the last year until the moment she passed. She had metastatic lung cancer that spread to her brain. It’s one of the worst things that can happen to a person.

There were times I felt I couldn’t do it. But my mom showed me my capacity for benefiting others. She showed me why my life is meaningful – I saw how precious it is to care for others.

Dharma helped me approach the situation from the standpoint of this is a challenge, so how am I going to transform it into something positive? I had to really watch my mind and keep it light and happy for her sake because she would feed off my energy.

After she died, I went to her room, and there were her reading glasses on the bedside table, along with her computer…and the cat was on her bed. I realized you can’t take anything with you when you die.

I have to process the grief I feel but if I can home in on the loss and use it as energy to motivate me to train my mind then this has all been even more meaningful.