The Nature of Death
"Is there life before death?" - Graffito
Death is often and frequently viewed as the most frightening thing in the universe. Indeed, it is riddled with a tremendous amount of mystery that hinders our understanding of it. Since we always fear that which we don't understand, death, the one thing that nothing living can ever fully comprehend, becomes the most feared concept or reality for many. Should we fear death, however? When one considers all the constant changes that occur around us and in us, death seems to become more of a natural transition from here to there, where ever there may be. I could write pages and pages about death, because death has become a terribly fixation of mine in recent days. That is not to say that I love death, or love people dieing, but it is to say that the theory or concept of death fascinates me.
The only fear of death I have is that instinctual and biological fear that nothing living can avoid. However, I do not worry much about dieing anymore. Over the last couple of years, more and more things dawned on me about death. For one, death is the one and only thing that we are guaranteed in life. A. Sachs said, "Death is more universal than life; everyone dies but not everyone lives." Similarly, in terms of life, death makes us equal. Death proves that no matter what, we are all mortals, and subject to the same fate no matter what our status or achievements in life are. Publilius Syrus said, "As men, we are all equal in the presence of death." We will all die, and nothing in this world can ever change it.
Though that may sound all right, death is still horrifying because it is viewed as a termination rather than a transition. Granted, no one can know for sure what happens after death because no one who has ever died has come back from the grave to share their knowledge. People of all faiths fear death, largely because it is so uncertain. I am here to tell you that it does not matter what the view of death is, it is still a blessing and not a curse.
My personal view on death is that it is a change from effervescence to eternity (you here me talk about that a lot, don't you?), or a move from the material imperfection of this reality to the immaterial perfection of the next. We all came from something eternal, or changed from something eternal, and eventually, I believe that we will all revert back to this eternal state. Whether or not this eternal state is conscious or unconscious is quite impossible to say, however, if an individual became enjoined to eternity, they would be in a state surpassing consciousness because they would literally feel and be all the experiences and all the realities and existences that have ever been and ever will be (because eternity is not limited by time and it is also everything, therefore one who is eternal can feel everything at every moment). Death is the start of something we new, or something we don't remember. I don't view death as an end, I view it as something new. David Searls said, "Seeing death as the end of life is like seeing the horizon as the end of the ocean." What Searls is saying is that just because we cannot see beyond something, it does not mean that it ends. We are not able to see beyond death, but that does not mean it is the end.
My personal views aside, I think there are certain definite generalizations we can make about death. First of all, no matter what, it completes life. That quote at the beginning by Graffito expresses one of those wacky questions thinkers like to throw at people. It is relevant though. It cannot be proved that we were alive until we are dead. This is so because life would be indistinguishable without death. Imagine if we had only one color: red. We would not know it was red because there was no blue (or any other color) in existence. Similarly with death, we cannot know life until we know life.
That is not very comforting though. Some people may prefer to leave things open, and to continually find new things in life. Like a good book, movie or video game, you sometimes never want to reach the end. I've shared this sentiment, and its power is not lost on me. However, when one views death as a change or transition, it becomes evident that death is the start of a new chapter, rather than the conclusion, of life. Death prevents us from becoming stale, like a story whose events and actions become too repetitious. Let's face it, if we lived forever in a confined existence like this, wouldn't we get bored after a while? Besides, change is at the height of perfection, and I don't ever want to stop changing. Though we can sometimes become worse when we change, we'll never get better if we don't change. The road to perfection cannot be travelled by standing still. Death is the vehicle that takes us from start of the road to some other place on it, and quite possibly to the end.
Death is freedom. In the Book of Golden Precepts you can find the phrase, "The way to final freedom is within thy self." Life is what we harbor within ourselves, and that life has the ability to die. Final freedom is not found by clinging to this earth, or anything else in this universe. Final freedom, or the kind of freedom which can never be ended, is only found through death. No one can take your death from you. Once your mind and soul pass from this world with the death of the body, there is no bringing it back. No one can steal your death; it is yours alone and you alone reap the true benefits of it. Death is often depicted as a dark-robed demon, apparition, or monster who glides in cutting the life from an individual, stealing their soul. I say to abolish that image, and instead depict death as the grand liberator who sweeps in majestically and frees us once and for all from the imprisonment of mortality, giving us the freedom to do anything.
I look forward to dieing one day. I still have much in life left that I want to accomplish, and much meaning to give to it, but I am happy that I will be able to die one day. As a believer in God, I believe that the greatest gifts that God gave us were life and death, neither of which can be appreciated without the other. I am grateful everyday to be alive, and equally as grateful that I will one be able to die one day. I do not want to live forever as I am. I want to return to what I came from, so that the cycle may become complete. Rodney Yee said, "As we look deeply within, we understand our perfect balance. There is no fear of the cycle of birth, life and death. For when you stand in the present moment, you are timeless." Life and death are part of a cycle, and unless the cycle becomes complete one can never reach perfection. Death is not a limitation on my life, but the key to my prison, the sum of my life, and the vantage point from which I can observe and understand my life. I say, be grateful for both life and death, and never cherish one over the other.
Socrates, one of the great Greek philosophers who predates Judaism and Christianity, said of death that, "death may be the greatest of all human blessings." The only thing I would change would be to make it, "life and death..." Good day, and good night.
Death is often and frequently viewed as the most frightening thing in the universe. Indeed, it is riddled with a tremendous amount of mystery that hinders our understanding of it. Since we always fear that which we don't understand, death, the one thing that nothing living can ever fully comprehend, becomes the most feared concept or reality for many. Should we fear death, however? When one considers all the constant changes that occur around us and in us, death seems to become more of a natural transition from here to there, where ever there may be. I could write pages and pages about death, because death has become a terribly fixation of mine in recent days. That is not to say that I love death, or love people dieing, but it is to say that the theory or concept of death fascinates me.
The only fear of death I have is that instinctual and biological fear that nothing living can avoid. However, I do not worry much about dieing anymore. Over the last couple of years, more and more things dawned on me about death. For one, death is the one and only thing that we are guaranteed in life. A. Sachs said, "Death is more universal than life; everyone dies but not everyone lives." Similarly, in terms of life, death makes us equal. Death proves that no matter what, we are all mortals, and subject to the same fate no matter what our status or achievements in life are. Publilius Syrus said, "As men, we are all equal in the presence of death." We will all die, and nothing in this world can ever change it.
Though that may sound all right, death is still horrifying because it is viewed as a termination rather than a transition. Granted, no one can know for sure what happens after death because no one who has ever died has come back from the grave to share their knowledge. People of all faiths fear death, largely because it is so uncertain. I am here to tell you that it does not matter what the view of death is, it is still a blessing and not a curse.
My personal view on death is that it is a change from effervescence to eternity (you here me talk about that a lot, don't you?), or a move from the material imperfection of this reality to the immaterial perfection of the next. We all came from something eternal, or changed from something eternal, and eventually, I believe that we will all revert back to this eternal state. Whether or not this eternal state is conscious or unconscious is quite impossible to say, however, if an individual became enjoined to eternity, they would be in a state surpassing consciousness because they would literally feel and be all the experiences and all the realities and existences that have ever been and ever will be (because eternity is not limited by time and it is also everything, therefore one who is eternal can feel everything at every moment). Death is the start of something we new, or something we don't remember. I don't view death as an end, I view it as something new. David Searls said, "Seeing death as the end of life is like seeing the horizon as the end of the ocean." What Searls is saying is that just because we cannot see beyond something, it does not mean that it ends. We are not able to see beyond death, but that does not mean it is the end.
My personal views aside, I think there are certain definite generalizations we can make about death. First of all, no matter what, it completes life. That quote at the beginning by Graffito expresses one of those wacky questions thinkers like to throw at people. It is relevant though. It cannot be proved that we were alive until we are dead. This is so because life would be indistinguishable without death. Imagine if we had only one color: red. We would not know it was red because there was no blue (or any other color) in existence. Similarly with death, we cannot know life until we know life.
That is not very comforting though. Some people may prefer to leave things open, and to continually find new things in life. Like a good book, movie or video game, you sometimes never want to reach the end. I've shared this sentiment, and its power is not lost on me. However, when one views death as a change or transition, it becomes evident that death is the start of a new chapter, rather than the conclusion, of life. Death prevents us from becoming stale, like a story whose events and actions become too repetitious. Let's face it, if we lived forever in a confined existence like this, wouldn't we get bored after a while? Besides, change is at the height of perfection, and I don't ever want to stop changing. Though we can sometimes become worse when we change, we'll never get better if we don't change. The road to perfection cannot be travelled by standing still. Death is the vehicle that takes us from start of the road to some other place on it, and quite possibly to the end.
Death is freedom. In the Book of Golden Precepts you can find the phrase, "The way to final freedom is within thy self." Life is what we harbor within ourselves, and that life has the ability to die. Final freedom is not found by clinging to this earth, or anything else in this universe. Final freedom, or the kind of freedom which can never be ended, is only found through death. No one can take your death from you. Once your mind and soul pass from this world with the death of the body, there is no bringing it back. No one can steal your death; it is yours alone and you alone reap the true benefits of it. Death is often depicted as a dark-robed demon, apparition, or monster who glides in cutting the life from an individual, stealing their soul. I say to abolish that image, and instead depict death as the grand liberator who sweeps in majestically and frees us once and for all from the imprisonment of mortality, giving us the freedom to do anything.
I look forward to dieing one day. I still have much in life left that I want to accomplish, and much meaning to give to it, but I am happy that I will be able to die one day. As a believer in God, I believe that the greatest gifts that God gave us were life and death, neither of which can be appreciated without the other. I am grateful everyday to be alive, and equally as grateful that I will one be able to die one day. I do not want to live forever as I am. I want to return to what I came from, so that the cycle may become complete. Rodney Yee said, "As we look deeply within, we understand our perfect balance. There is no fear of the cycle of birth, life and death. For when you stand in the present moment, you are timeless." Life and death are part of a cycle, and unless the cycle becomes complete one can never reach perfection. Death is not a limitation on my life, but the key to my prison, the sum of my life, and the vantage point from which I can observe and understand my life. I say, be grateful for both life and death, and never cherish one over the other.
Socrates, one of the great Greek philosophers who predates Judaism and Christianity, said of death that, "death may be the greatest of all human blessings." The only thing I would change would be to make it, "life and death..." Good day, and good night.
posted by Andrew McKenna at 1:51 PM
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