These issues are difficult; they have challenged the greatest thinkers of all time. But as you go through a time of mourning, it may not be so important to reach definitive answers. Sharing your grief and connecting with others may be enough. The discussions on our message boards create a community of mourners — a place where you can share your feelings about death and take comfort in the words of others. If you'd like to post a prayer here for a lost loved one, please do so. You can also find articles by some of today's best writers to inspire, guide, and give solace.

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How to Pray: Getting Started by Helene Ciaravino 

Whether you seek to make your current spiritual life more fulfilling or are embarking on an exploration of prayer for the first time, this article will acquaint you with many forms of prayer, and show you a variety of ways in which you can enjoy a more successful experience. It includes a wealth of pointers—suggested by spiritual masters, teachers, writers, and prayer practitioners—that can help you approach prayer with the best possible attitude.

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A Woman’s Thoughts on Grieving by Nessa Rapoport 

After attending five funerals in 18 months, author Nessa Rapoport wrote the book she could not find. Here are her passionate meditations on suffering, consolation, and the paradox of God.

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What is Prayer? by Helene Ciaravino 

There are countless phrases that might define “prayer”-the term means so many things to so many different people. In this excerpt from “How to Pray”, Helene Ciaravino takes a fascinating broad look at prayer, as a path to transformation, as introspection, as a conversation with the divine, as a source of protection and as a dynamic force.

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Confronting Death by Jane Hope 

Although in modern times we avoid remembering death, facing it is an essential part of the spiritual path.

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Eternity in a Day by Rebecca Edmiston-Lange 

On the subtle interaction of love, nature, death, and grieving.

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How Effective is Prayer? by Helene Ciaravino 

It is easy to say that prayer can make us feel really good; that it opens the individual up to better understanding and therefore improves his life; that it can provide calm and contentment, thus improving health and happiness. But is there any proof that prayer actually works? Is it really worth our while? Can we evaluate prayer as we would evaluate any other “treatment” or “therapy” and prove its effectiveness? In very recent years, science has put forth good efforts to do just that. And there have been reputable studies that confirm prayer’s power. This article examines the relationship between prayer and science. It presents studies that not only confirm the power of prayer, but also provide some surprising insights into the process of prayer.

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What Does It Do For Me, Whether There Is a God or Not? by Michael and Jana Novak 

A powerful discussion between father and daughter about the existence of God — and whether or not it can be proven.

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For the Soul’s Safekeeping edited by W.Y. Evans-Wentz 

The most famous Tibetan Buddhist text is the Bardo Thödol or The Tibetan Book of the Dead. It gives guidance to the souls of the recently deceased so that they might attain enlightenment. Here is part of a prayer for the safekeeping of the soul from this text. The bardo is the intermediate state the soul passes through between death and rebirth. Dakinis are female spirits. The Trikaya is the subtle body of enlightened beings.

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Closing the Circle by Joan Furman, M.S.N., R.N. and David McNabb 

Classical tragedy teaches us to experience suffering and use it to transform our lives. How can we apply this idea to the tragedy that is death?

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Why Don't We Pray? by Helene Ciaravino 

If prayer has so many benefits, why doesn’t everyone pray? Why is it such a struggle to pray at times? Why is it so easy to forget to pray, to make prayer a last priority, perhaps even to doubt prayer? In identifying why people don’t pray, we can trace most reasons back to fear. The remaining reasons have to do with the busy nature of our lives, the pride we face as people influenced by “rugged individualism,” and plain old lack of faith. This article studies common reasons why people might not pray, and also suggests some viable solutions.

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The Farewell by Malidoma Patrice Some 

An African teacher recalls saying good-bye to his grandfather — and receiving a spiritual initiation.

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Making Each Day a Prayer by Helene Ciaravino 

How all of the little routine things that make up your life can be viewed as sacred, and how each moment can be lived in a fuller awareness of the divine.

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Unanswered Prayers & Spiritual Dry Spells by Helen Ciaravino 

Frustrations naturally occur when prayers don’t seem to yield the desired results. Furthermore, there are times when the spiritual drive, which may be so passionate and energetic at one moment, simply stalls. All of a sudden, the presence of God may feel like a distant memory, if not a work of the imagination. You find yourself resisting prayer. How can you overcome these situations if and when they occur? What do they mean?

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