Value of Sadness

    What value does sadness have in spiritual life? This question might seem unusual to some, considering that the key goals of spiritual life are usually couched in terms of 'peace' , 'joy', 'happiness' and 'well being.' There is a certain indelible joy, however, that is hidden in sadness and sorrow. I would describe this 'joy of sadness' as something like the joy of being deeply grounded in a need for care and compassion. In fact, I have found in myself that this acknowledgement of need is a kind of door that opens to one's own joyful compassion.
    In the deepest sadness, there is acknowledgement of vulnerability. Have you ever felt so trapped in life that the only way out was to cry or to feel a sadness of heart? What normally happens in those moments is that a person starts to see things very clearly, because up to that point, their seeing had been blocked by avoidance and other defensive strategies to make a person feel they are 'in control' of a situation. When a person finally yields their sense of control (often by force of circumstance itself) what emerges is a surprising release into feelings of sorrow and sadness. There is an element of relinquishment here, but not without the very difficult price of having to let go of one's cherished sense that 'things are alright and in my control.' But once that defensive structure is finally released, there is a wonderful grace that arises: it's the simple grace of the left hand wanting to support the right.
    I am suggesting that sadness can really and truly bring a person to a deeper part of themselves which goes beyond the dualistic ideas of 'me' vs 'the world'. Does it then make a person more compassionate toward all beings? I wouldn't be so quick to say, because I am still on that journey myself. But I sense that the more a person can truly abide in one's own sense of sadness and vulnerability, the more they are able to extend that similar tenderness to others. The reason seems quite simply to be that one is no longer afraid of this deep well of suffering and struggle that all sentient beings undergo as they are thrown into their own worlds, not quite knowing or being fully aware of how they got there in the first place. This deep awareness of one's 'thrownness' (to use Heidegger's term) is enough for anyone to feel a concern for others, who are also in this same boat of life.