Who are you? Are you a mother, brother, a sister, a father? To have such a role requires another, does it not? And then what happens when that other passes? If there is no more child, then in your belief system, you cease to be a mother, and if there is no mother, then you cease to be a child. If a spouse dies, you are no longer the wife or husband. Do you see yet another way in which labels and identifying with your roles bring you pain? A relationship may have changed, yet who you really are has not changed at all.

The roles you took on or were given to you by other humans were never the real you. The more closely you identified with those roles and the more tenaciously you cling to them when circumstances change, the more suffering you will endure. This does not mean you do not grieve your losses or cherish your memories. We are merely asking you to take a closer look at the root of suffering. The real you does not suffer. It is love in the purest sense. It simply is, without thought and without clinging. Be as a rose. Be beauty. Be as a baby. Be love with no roles or attachments to roles, and you will have a greater understanding of peace.