A Worthy Price

This week I'll be using the Stone Tarot, a self-published deck by Alison Stone. I may also dip into her book of tarot poems (Ordinary Magic), although it wasn't written as a companion book. The oracle I'll be using is the Buddhist Quote Cards, painted and published by Diana Altenburg. Even though she has spiritual quotes (from John Lennon to Lao Tzu) on the back of the cards, I have decided to pair each card with a verse from the Dhammapada (a Buddhist text). Today's draws are the Nine of Swords and Dhammapada 16:220:

Grief is the price we pay for love. —Queen Elizabeth II

If we have close friends, family, a significant other or a pet, we likely have experienced the price of love. We worry about their safety, the consequences of their choices, and their health; we often grieve for things often just imagined. Before we spend too many sleepless nights wrapped in tear-soaked sheets, psychologist Lindsey Carnick suggests we ask ourselves three questions:

Is this worry helping them or just hurting me?

Am I trying to control what I can’t control?

Is this based on something real or imagined?

Maintaining our mental balance might bring more help to those we care about than worry. The Dhammapada quote reads: "Just so, in passing from this world to the next, the merit we have made receives us, as a family does the return of a beloved relative." We may think the best way to protect ourselves from worry is to wear an armor of indifference, but doing so leaves those around us without the gifts of compassion and kindness we could offer. Giving of our heart creates expansion, even though it makes us vulnerable.