LIFE AND DEATH
We have been living all of our lives with an erroneous idea
of what life and death are. Life has been presented as the time that passes
from the moment we are conceived or born to a certain point at which we die. In
this concept, death is basically a destination, the last step in life, the act
of stopping living or being alive, the final point. But these ideas or concepts
of life and death cannot be more erroneous. There is no difference between
life and death. One cannot exist without the other. Life and death are
so intertwined that if we look really deep into them, we cannot know with
certainty if we are living or dying at any specific time. Therefore, life and
death are not two separate events that just occur once. We are constantly
living and dying.
When we are conceived or born, according to what we have
been told, life starts. But exactly at the same time, we can argue that death
starts. Every new second, minute, hour, or day of living after the initial
starting point is one more second, minute, etc. that we have to live; of
growing and experiencing what life has to offer; of searching for the true
meaning of life; of striving for our potential as human beings. But it is also
a second, minute, hour, or day that we do not have any more, that we are
getting closer to our death…that we are dying. Simply, we are dying at the
same rate that we are living; or vice versa, we are living at the same rate
that we are dying!
As we go through life, there are events that reinforce the
fact that we are alive, that give us life, like traveling to exciting new
places, falling in love, getting married, having children, creating or
discovering new things, working on something passionately, etc. But in the same
token, there are events that take life away from us, where something inside of
us dies a little, like in the case of the death of a loved one, a broken heart,
a betrayal, a catastrophic event, a sickness, etc. When we think, speak,
feel, and act, we have the power of life and death, which one we choose depends
on the actual thought, word, feeling or action we perform. In other words, every
experience in our lives is either giving us life or taking some life away from us.
That is a fact, and we do not even realize it! That’s how powerful we are!
But we do not have to wait for special events in our lives
to notice life and death. Every time that we eat or drink, we are eating or
drinking life. They are feeding us so we can live. And every time that we pass
some food or drink, the body is getting rid of some toxins and waste, which are
death. Every time we inhale, it is life; and every time that we exhale, it is
death. That simple! In this way, health is life and pain is death; laughter is
life, and crying is death; success is life and failure is death; love is life
and anger/hatred/envy/guilt are death. And like this, we can continue
disseminating life and death to continue finding them completely intertwined,
completely dependent on one another.
Allow me to describe this process of living and dying with a
picture so you can finally understand it once and for all. Imagine a horizontal
line of, say, 3 inches. The left extreme or “A” represents being conceived or
born. The right extreme or “B” represents death, the instance when death
happens. And the line in between basically represents what we have been calling
life. Now, if you stand at “A” and look toward the right, you can see life or
growing, studying, falling in love, getting married, working, family, getting
old, etc., depending on your own personal experiences. However, if you stand at
point “B” and look toward the left, you can see death or losing time, getting
older, losing your health, …, and dying. In summary, life and death are
exactly the same process just looked at from opposite extremes.
So why is this important? It is simple. If you realize this,
or better, if you finally are aware of this, it can be a turning point for you
in your life. The same way that we have to get prepared for life, we should be
getting prepared for death. We do not know how long we are going to live.
Therefore, we should be getting prepared to die at all times. Just like the
Samurais who prepared themselves to die every single day, we should also get
prepared to die every single day. In the case of the Samurais, it was
impossible to perform at one’s best if one was afraid of being injured or
killed. In our case, it is impossible to perform at our best and reach our
full potential if we are afraid of pain, failure, betrayal, …, and death. One
cannot live to the fullest if fear pervades the foundation of one’s existence!
If you realize that there is no assurance of how long we are
going to live, that life can end at any given moment, that death can be around
the corner, then you can be liberated and can change the way you live. Realize
that every moment can only be lived once; and that once it is gone, it is gone
forever. It cannot be lived again even if you try to recreate it, regardless of
how you felt about it. So, if that is true, shouldn’t we experience everything
as the most important experience we have? Shouldn’t every single event we go
through be the most amazing lesson, without of our need to judge it (good or
bad)? We should realize that life is too short to spend it being angry,
fearful, hateful, sad, guilty, envious, etc. We should spend every second being
the best we can be, striving to explore our full potential, and embracing
everyone and everything, including life and death, as the most precious gifts.
Embrace
life and death as one, as the same, and see that life can be the most beautiful
experience. Death, in this context, is not a sad event. It is a wonderful event because it
is just the liberation of the constraints and chains of humanity or materiality,
allowing us to return to our true nature, our energetic and divine nature. Once
you embrace death, once you can die alive, you can live forever without fear
and can finally strive toward your full potential. It is the only way. It
cannot be done any other way and it has to be done here, while having this
human experience. So, kill who you thing you are now (your ego with all its identities) and recreate yourself
as nothing, pure emptiness, stillness, just presence, and allow yourself to
finally see what life is about for the first time in your life.
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Author: Maurice Correa
Website: pathtoone.com
Blog: p2oblog.blogspot.com
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