Silvia (Consiglia) Sergio passed away on Wednesday February 3, 2021 at 8.40 pm in her bed at Dzamling Gar in Tenerife, Spain. After struggling for months with a very aggressive form of cancer that gave her a lot of pain she finally died peacefully and with no pain while her closest Vajra sisters were singing the Song of the Vajra.
Her body will remain undisturbed at Dzamling Gar for three days and on Saturday February 6 she will be cremated.
When possible her ashes will be taken to the cinerarium at Merigar.
May her journey be light and may she recognize the clear light.
Silvia was able to make her final voyage in her bed, in the N9 house at Dzamling Gar, the house that the Master had assigned to people with special needs.
She is the first person to die at Dzamling Gar. This is a vital step not only for her but also for our Vajra sisters and brothers because we were able to assure Silvia that she would be lovingly cared for and pass away in the place she considered to be her physical and spiritual home.
In doing so, we took an important step towards realizing a mandate left to us by our precious Master: that in Dzamling Gar there is a space dedicated to older practitioners and those most in need of care. More importantly, we have experienced the fact that cooperation, love, and kindness are powerful tools to guarantee us practitioners a serene and peaceful passage.
Silvia opened a path and I am infinitely grateful to her for showing us that this is possible. I am grateful to the sisters and brothers who accompanied me in taking care of her, for their dedication, tenacity and love that allowed this to happen.
I hope that this experience can offer more collective food for thought, since we are a community that is aging and dying and as a family we can mutually support each other so that this transition is serene and dignified.
Finally, I hope that we can look at this event as a manifestation of the potential of Dzamling Gar as the Master used to remind us: Dzamling Gar is not just a physical place, but a dimension in which cooperation manifests its precious fruits. What fruit is more beneficial for us practitioners at the end of life than dying in Guruyoga accompanied by our Vajra family?
EMA HO
Ilaria Faccioli
Mario Apicella from Merigar West wrote a few words in remembrance of Silvia.
When Silvia arrived at Merigar for the first time in 1984, we were happy to welcome her and follow as new students the wonderful Dzogchen Instruction given by the Supreme Master. At every retreat and at every meeting we would exchange ideas and talk about our progress, our discoveries, and the joys of constantly trying to know ourselves.
I was amazed to discover that despite being a professional nurse, the head of a department in Pescara in southern Italy, she had also done some parachute jumps like me.
She loved cooking and really excelled at it so as soon as she could she took some leave from her job and opened a small restaurant in Arcidosso and moved to Mount Amiata where she lived until 2002.
In 1998 she became the Gekò at Merigar, working hard to always welcome everyone in the best possible way, interacting with the Gakyil and making the most of her skills, often cooking for many people and sometimes, with great success, even for Rinpoche.
She returned to being a nurse in order to manage a department in the hospital of Massa and Carrara, also in Tuscany, and as early as 2003 she told us that helping those suffering was much easier than interacting with colleagues and superiors. As soon as it was possible she retired trying to enjoy a well-deserved rest in Tenerife where in these days, surrounded by many Vajra brothers and sisters, she left us, smiling at this latest dream that allowed her to find the Master she had always revered.
