A Life in Light: Meditations on Impermanence

Mary Pipher tells the story of her life and focuses on the ways she was able to find light during the dark times.

A few quotes:

“I was a fleck of dust in an enormous universe, fortunate to even exist. Our lives are as fragile as the smallest falling star that flashes across the dome of night. We blaze for a moment and then we are gone.”

“I didn't feel grief as much as I felt dead. When I experience loss, the lights go out.”

“I struggled on, aware I was not moving forward. I thought, what a strange way to end my life. This will ruin our beautiful vacation...I flipped over on my back and let the waves carry me while I caught my breath...After a while, I heard the sound of waves breaking...I realized, I am going in. I am going in...What had saved me was stopping the struggle.”

“I had been grieving and yearning, wanting my family so badly my heart hurt. A part of me had been hibernating, just waiting for contact with my children and grandchildren to wake me up. Then one day, as I sat drinking my first cup of coffee, from a place deep within, from my heart/mind, a voice cried out, ‘Enough...Enough making yourself miserable...Be happy now. Be happy here. Life is good.'“

“I contemplated what Buddhists call the three poisons—anger, ignorance, and attachment. I had always understood the dangers of ignorance and anger, but attachment as a poison was hard for me to understand...Now at last I understood that my love for my children and grandchildren, my missing them constantly, had caused me to suffer. What could save me was loosening my grip and surrendering to the situation I could not change.”

“I needed to relinquish my cows.” (story of the man with six lost cows)