Waking up this early morning looking at the rising sun there came a surge of sorrow remembering my beloved late nephew…… A niàn emerged and I though of this book—No Mud, No Lotus.

"Being able to enjoy happiness doesn’t require that we have zero suffering. In fact, the art of happiness is also the art of suffering well. When we learn to acknowledge, embrace, and understand our suffering, we suffer much less.
Most people are afraid of suffering. But suffering is a kind mud to help the lotus flower of happiness grow. There can be no lotus flower without the mud. "
人生本是一场梦,梦里何苦演人生。
苦集灭道终有时,念念不住了此生。
I have always loved this metaphor and analogy of how we grow through suffering. Our practice can be very messy and sometimes uncomfortable and we need to know that that's okay.