grieving is good for ordinary people since repression is certainly unhealthy
in Buddhist countries like Thailand, people often repress their grief & then end up committing suicide, thus resulting in two deaths in the family
blind faith can lead to such results
grief is an expression & product of love
Buddha said:
That's the way it is, householder. That's the way it is — for sorrow, lamentation, pain, distress & despair are born from one who is dear, come springing from one who is dear.
but enlightened people do not grieve because they remain rational
this shows how 'ordinary' the Bible is
I have seen animals grieve for their loved ones, which again is evidence for evolution
below is the account of when Buddha, the Light of the World, passed away:
... when the Blessed One had passed away, some monks, not yet freed from passion, lifted up their arms and wept; and some, flinging themselves on the ground, rolled from side to side and wept, lamenting: "Too soon has the Blessed One come to his Parinibbana! Too soon has the Happy One come to his Parinibbana! Too soon has the Eye of the World vanished from sight!"
But the monks who were freed from passion, mindful and clearly comprehending, reflected in this way: "Impermanent are all compounded things. How could this be otherwise?"
18. And the Venerable Anuruddha addressed the bhikkhus, saying: "Enough, friends! Do not grieve, do not lament! For has not the Blessed One declared that with all that is dear and beloved there must be change, separation, and severance? Of that which is born, come into being, compounded and subject to decay, how can one say: 'May it not come to dissolution!'? The deities, friends, are aggrieved."
"But, venerable sir, of what deities (gods) is the Venerable Anuruddha aware?"
"There are deities, friend Ananda, in space and on the earth who are earthly-minded; with dishevelled hair they weep, with uplifted arms they weep; flinging themselves on the ground, they roll from side to side, lamenting: 'Too soon has the Blessed One come to his Parinibbana! Too soon has the Happy One come to his Parinibbana! Too soon has the Eye of the World vanished from sight!' But those deities (gods, angels) who are freed from passion, mindful and clearly comprehending, reflect in this way: 'Impermanent are all compounded things. How could this be otherwise?'"
