“Is this anything to fear?”
Our new Constitution is now established, and has an appearance that promises permanency; but in this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.
Benjamin Franklin
Does death have to be traumatic and shattering? Must it be a fearful and dreaded experience?
The circumstances of our life and ultimate death are devastating for some. Brittany Ray of Trescott, Maine writes: “I live in rural eastern Maine. My town of 1,300 knows too well the reality [of death]. Of the 16 kids in my younger brother’s graduating class, almost half of them are dead.”[i]
An individual stranded by a quarantine in Shanghai due to the corona virus (2020) speaks of the whole country being in fear of death: “In this moment, I feel the same primal fear of dying stirring in the rest of China, and it paralyzes us. I managed to convince myself for a while that everything would be fine, but it was only a matter of time before something came along to shatter this illusion.”[ii]
Interestingly, there are some who don’t consider death devastating at all. “Be Happy Think About Your Death” is an odd title for a New York Times article (2016) by Arthur Brooks but a good choice, even with his Western interpretation. He says that some Buddhist monks meditate while viewing corpses or photos of corpses in various stages of decay. “Paradoxically, this meditation on death is intended as a key to better living. It makes disciples aware of their own physical lives and stimulates a realignment between momentary desires and existential goals. In other words, it makes one ask, ‘Am I making the right use of my scarce and precious life.’”[iii]
We have to admit that this practice isn’t our cup-of-tea, but if it brings these monks closer to understanding the principle of impermanence, so be it.
Life on earth is impermanent, fleeting. And we all know this to be true; this is a fact not a secret nor a surprise. So while alive, would it be advisable to live more consciously aware of the perfect Creation all around us? Perhaps even adopt the belief that life after death is just a new adventure in a different but delightful “energy body”?
From the unreal lead me to the Real, from the darkness to Light,
from death to Deathlessness.
Brihadaranyaka Upanishad (I.iii.28) [iv]
Insight # 26 comes to us from Marcus Aurelius (121-180), Roman emperor and Stoic philosopher. He felt that a shift in paradigm resulted in a radical change in our understanding of the meaning of death with the added benefit of removing the fear of death that drives too much of the self-destructive behavior in the old worldview.
“Turn thy thoughts now to the considerations of thy life, thy life as a child, as a youth, thy manhood, thy old age, for in these also every change was death. Is this anything to fear?”[v]
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Additional Reading:
- Death, The ABC’s of Simple Reality, Vol 1
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[i] “Letter to the Editor from Brittany Ray of Trescott, Maine: Working-Class Families in Despair.” The New York Times, January 26, 2020, p. 12.
[ii] Huang, Frankie. “My Life in China Under Lockdown.” The New York Times Sunday. February 9, 2020, p. 3.
[iii] Brooks, Arthur C. “Be Happy: Think About Your Death.” The New York Times. January 10, 2016, p. 12.
[iv] Torwesten, Hans. Vedanta: Heart of Hinduism. New York: Grove Weidenfeld, 1985, p. 20.
[v] Aurelius, Marcus. The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius. New York: Avon, 1993, p. 72.
