The wake today was an experience unlike any other.  Of course they all are; every moment is, because this moment has never happened before. Yet old mind habitual response can make things seem the same. Today, approaching the closed casket, and looking into the bright, sparking, and kind eyes in the photo of my deceased friend, for a moment joy began to arise, then I watched as it was quickly shut-down by a thought like, “yeah but you can’t feel that, that’s not her, she’s not here,” and I felt a familiar old suffering mind try to rise.

The impulse was to look away and move away, however I stayed; stayed looking into those eyes a minute longer…