Lila: Playing with Grief as Divine Sport

Lila—often translated as divine play or sport—suggests that the universe unfolds as creative play rather than grim necessity. In bhakti, even grief participates in lila; the lover's suffering is paradoxically a form of play with the beloved. This reframes the creative response to loss: we are not grimly processing trauma but engaging in a kind of sacred play. Mirabai's grief-songs are simultaneously laments and celebrations, serious and playful. Lila gives permission for unexpected moments of levity within grief work: the dark humor that emerges in the studio, the moment of absurd delight while creating, the way making can feel like a conversation or game with what we've lost. This doesn't diminish grief but recognizes that humans are complex: we can hold sorrow and laughter simultaneously. Applied to creativity, lila suggests approaching our grief-making with both dedication and lightness, allowing the process itself to surprise us with moments of unexpected joy or even hilarity.