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Recently, thirty
two bereaved parents gathered at the TCF Centre in Canterbury
in search of a little extra wisdom to help us along the
difficult path of grief. The evening was entitled “Introduction
to Philosophy Seminar – How can it help with grief?”
Dr Craig Hassed spoke sensitively with us for two hours,
and along the way helped us with some of the complexities
of our questions. He was like a breath of spring and I
think that we may have all fallen just a smidgin in love
with him.
Dr Hassed is a medico in private practice and a lecturer
in philosophy at Monash. He is also a visiting speaker
at the Melbourne School of Philosophy, where one can,
if one wishes, undertake to step further into the study
of the principles underlying our actions and behaviour
in a quest for truth.
We were introduced anew to consider the core of our being
and invited to start to understand where to find it. He
spoke of the capital letter ‘SELF’ or ‘Spirit’
within us all, which is swamped as we embark further and
further into frenetic life.
We were reminded of the natural cycle of all life forms
from the evolving of the seasons so essential to nature
itself, to the day to day cycle of our emotions which
lead us from one experience into the next. Perhaps it
is in the glimpses of re-discovered inner purity and reconstruction
of a damaged spirit that we start to find a true self
and that these glimpses are the quiet-spirit times of
the acceptance of our loss. Food for thought. Perhaps
we unknowingly have quiet-spirit times or times of ‘now’
– not before and not after – that are allowing
us to continue our journey.
Dr Hassed was a mine of information and we sat agape.
He gave us peeps of wisdom from Plato to
Shakespeare to Jung and balanced teachings from varying
religions. He was asked what he thought about the dreadful
rate of depression in our society, and called it an epidemic.
Maybe the nearest he came to an answer to this question
was in his comment about the open and loving atmosphere
he had immediately noticed within the group of people
at TCF that evening, some of whom had come from some distance
to meet him. In our love for our lost children and for
those we still have we have learned to show sincere care,
indeed love, (the great healer) for each other.
So we come to that word again. L.O.V.E. They say love
makes the world go around. Of all the words that we could
call the centre of being, that is, the capital letter,
SELF, the spirit, enlightenment, God or whatever, the
thing that we are searching for, the thing that balances
us all, is love.
It is calming to surmise that our precious children have
found this.
By the amount of chatter (with both laughter and tears)
after the seminar, we all left with our children
snuggled deeply and safely in our hearts.
So, we are told, all things return from whence they start.
Life evolves, never ends.
TCF would like to thank Craig for giving so generously
of his time. |
