Welcome back to bootability.

We're on break from new interviews, but excited to continue our special Q&A mini-series with you in the meantime.

Each week, we're answering one question that a listener asks about any aspect of Buddhist practice

or how to apply Buddhism to daily life. I'm your host, Jih Jali. Here's today's question. What does

Buddhism say about dealing with grief? We got a few questions about this topic,

which is something that at some point in our lives all of us have to deal with. But here are two.

In the first, someone said, I've recently had a few folks die and I'm trying to give myself space

to have this new emotional experience, but also be strong,

move forward, help others, and be happy.

And in the second, someone says, what does Buddhism teach about grieving sudden death and

the trauma that comes with it?

So let's start with understanding the Buddhist view of life and death.

Buddhist teacher Josay Tota often said,

the ultimate problem that Buddhism must resolve is the problem of death.

His disciple, Daisaku Ikeda, explains,

instead of a boring death, Mahayana Buddhism directly confronts it and correctly positions it within the larger

context of life. This is also clearly explained in Nietzschean Daishonan's teachings through such

principles as the originally inherent nature of birth and death and the oneness of life and death.

In fact, Buddhism's very origin came from the process of

the historical Buddha, Shakimuni, or Siddhartha, seeking to answer the question,

why are we born into this world, and why do we undergo the four sufferings of birth, aging, sickness,

and death? In a sense, enlightenment can be defined as having an

...