Community Bereavement Ceremony

Once a year we gather together in community to mourn and release those we have loved deeply, who have died. We remember family members and friends as well as practitioners at Cambridge Insight Meditation Center.

The group that gathers is open-hearted and friendly, bonded together by the possibility of honoring the ebbs and flows of this life as it manifests in our personal relationships. You may come in the name of anyone you are mourning, whether recently or those further in the past, incompletely mourned. It is also fine to come to mourn traumatic events in the world.

This evening consists of a small amount of chanting, a short introduction and talk, and a time for each of us to light a candle in remembrance of those we are mourning. Each will have the option to speak for a few minutes about the gifts we’ve received from our connection with those who have had a significant place in our hearts. After all candles are lit, we chant some more and then blow out our candles together.

Narayan offers the “Bereavement Ceremony” to bring us together as a community to grieve our losses of loved ones. She began this ritual because it became clear that we needed a dedicated time and space in which to share the loss of loved ones in the context of contemplative practice.

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