Ep. 144 - Microdosing Grief and The Practice of Saying Goodbye

In a spontaneous episode, Ethan discusses grief and loss while processing multiple events. At a recent compassion meditation retreat, colleague and friend René Fay gave a presentation where she discussed the need to "Microdose Grief," to take it in little by little so that we can honor the small moments of loss to develop familiarity with the experience when the big waves come. Through remembering the life and the recent death of a dharma friend, Ethan explores a famous buddhist quote about impermanence ("The Cup Is Already Broken") and explores how grief can be used as a tool for popping our hearts and minds outside of the confines of linear time, into the spontaneous presence and open-heartedness of what the Zen masters call "Being Time." This episode of The Road Home is dedicated to the memory of Ralph De La Rosa , who was a friend (and a guest on the podcast ) who passed away suddenly on May 10, 2025. Ralph was a dharma teacher and trauma therapist, as well as the author of three books which each explored Internal Family Systems and Somatic Therapy in relation to Tantric Buddhist thought: Outshining Trauma , Don't Tell Me To Relax , and Monkey is the Messenger . For resources for processing Ralph's passing, you can follow the information posted in the youtube video, or reach out to Ralph's assistant, Amanda Ludwig. Visit Ethan's Substack for the show notes that include the prophetic and poignant last Dharma talk that Ralph gave the day before he/they passed away. Support The Road Home: Please support the podcast via Substack and subscribe for free or with small monthly contributions. Paid subscribers will receive occasional extras like guided meditations, extra podcast episodes and more! The Meditation Group starts up again on May 15th, and a special podcast/meditation on "Intuition" will be released to paid subscribers this Friday, May 2nd. You can also subscribe to The Road Home podcast wherever you get your pods ( Apple , Spotify , Ethan's Website , etc). Check out all the cool offerings at our podcast sponsor Dharma Moon , including the Mindfulness Meditation Teacher Training program beginning June 13th, 2025. Free video courses co-taught by Ethan and others, such as The Three Marks of Existence , are also available for download.