Tears are the medium of the ego’s surrender to death.

The rabbis of the Talmud said that when Adam and Eve were expelled from the Garden, God saw the loneliness of their exile and, out of compassion, gave them the gift of tears. With this gift came the promise of healing their grief. Tears are grief’s natural lubricant. For Adam and Eve, tears were the balm for their expulsion from Edenic grace. They are also, the Talmud tells us, a way back to the Source: Even when the gates of heaven are shut to prayer, they are open to tears. In my experience, tears, fully and unselfconsciously shed, are a powerful kind of prayer. And, like all prayers, they are the medium of surrender to what some call God’s will and others call simply “what is.” Tears are the medium of the ego’s surrender to death. ~ Miriam Greenspan