That's the punch line of Tara Brach's lovely essay "A Heart That Is Ready for Anything", adapted from the last chapter of her book True Refuge. It tells how, via total open acceptance, one can live with deep loss, and help others in their deep suffering, and find both joy and peace:

If our hearts are ready for anything, we are free to be ourselves. There's room for the wildness of our animal selves, for passion and play. There's room for our human selves, for intimacy and understanding, creativity and productivity. There's room for spirit, for the light of awareness to suffuse our moments. The Tibetans describe this confidence to be who we are as "the lion's roar."

If our hearts are ready for anything, we are touched by the beauty and poetry and mystery that fill our world.

When Munindraji, a vipassana meditation teacher, was asked why he practiced, his response was, "So I will see the tiny purple flowers by the side of the road as I walk to town each day."

(cf. Joseph Goldstein's "In Memoriam: Anagarika Munindra (1914-2003)" and Sharon Salzburg's "Meeting My Teacher" for memories of Anagarika Munindra; cf. Heartfulness and Mindfulness (2014-12-15), Radical Acceptance (2015-05-13), Wings of Acceptance (2015-05-26), Widening the Lens (2015-09-30), ...) - ^z - 2016-03-27