We long to be free from this wandering, to go beyond all suffering. The body is our raft to cross from one side of the river of pain to the other. And there we leave the raft. But we don’t leave it until we cross, until we realize the Deathless – when no one ‘dies’ but we know the death of greed, of anger, of delusion. As we cross, we end the pain, grief, rage, vulnerability, fear – every form of distress. And where we were once inflamed by these troubles, they give way to the infinitudes of love and compassion.