Life and Death

There are few things that we know for certain. Yet the things that we do know, and that are at the basic core of the meaning to all that we do, often get very little attention from us. We tend to spend our focus and energy on things that have little value in the face of what we really do know. The longer we put off concentrating on the truth as we know it, the more opportunities for using our time on what really counts will be wasted on trivia.

The first thing that we know for sure is that we exist. We may not know how or why, but we do know that we exist. It is something we do not need anyone to prove to us, because it is at the core of our being. Right now, you are. How often do we meditate on this and what it means? If, while you are strolling through a familar neighbourhood, you suddenly find a full size replica of the Titanic parked in the middle of the street, you would naturally want to find out how it got there and why. Having found ourselves existing on this planet, we should long to find out how and why.

There are many answers given to the question of how we have come to exist. The most common answer people give for how they got to where they are is their parents. With the help of scientific research most of us understand that a sperm from a male and an egg from a female joined together at some time in the past to conceive our physical bodies. That is something that we have come to learn and that we accept as true. The fact that our bodies are alive right now is proof that a sperm and egg joined together at some time in the past. This helps us to understand how our physical bodies were created. However, it does not give us an answer to how it is that we personally exist. Babies are born every minute on the planet. How is it that we are in the body that we are in right now and not in another? Instinctively we know that we are more than just our bodies. There is something much deeper that we understand to be ourselves. So, how did we come to exist?

Philosphies and relgions around the world attempt to give us answers for these questions. Nevertheless, if we don't search for the answers ourselves, we may end up falling for a cheap alternative to the truth and not discover the real reason we are here. Deep down we know there is a plan for our existence, a reason for living, a meaning to life. Part of that plan is for us to actively search for the plan, to find it, and to conform to it so that we can experience life in all its fulness. The truth is there for us to discover it, and it is available to each and everyone of us.

It is not very difficult to find out what the plan is for our life right now. We may not be able to understand the full picture or some of the details, but finding out what we need to do right now to be part of the plan is not as hard as some people think. We have often heard the plan and the direction we need to move in to be part of it. The truth is often whispered into our inner being (ie. our true self) and implores us to be part of it. The only thing that stops us from finding out the plan is a lack of desire in really wanting to know. The truth is that most of us don't want to hear the truth.

This brings us to something else that we know for sure, atruth that most of us really do not want to be reminded of, and that is that our life here on this planet will one day come to an end. This uncomfortable truth is one of the most basic truths any one of us could recognise, and yet it is one that most of us strive to hide from in our everyday lives. Death is kept hidden and locked away from our minds and conversations and even from our sight. When we do hear of the death of someone (especially the death of someone we knew) we are often shocked and grieved. We may, during those times, consider that the same thing will one day happen to us, but we soon look for things to distract us from that reality and to numb us to the implications of knowing that truth.

The truth is that death is not the Boogey Man most of us have thought it to be. Death is reality. We are blessed to know of that reality, because it means we can take stock of our lives right now and reflect on how much of our current way of life will matter to us when we experience that undisputed reality. Being told that a final examination awaits you at the end of your studies is not scare mongering; it is useful information which helps you to prepare so that you can pass the exam and get your degree or diploma. Having that final examination in mind, and wanting to obtain the diploma, will encourage you to take stock of how you use your time. Instead of spending each day idle, a wise student would invest time to study the required material, so that they would not be caught unprepared at the time of the exam. And once the exam is over and done with, there is much celebration and thankfulness for having invested that time to study, now that it has become time to enjoy the fruits of hard work. Similarly, thinking about death is a positive experience, because it means that we can choose to not waste our time on things that are not important. Death helps keep things in the right perspective.

Knowing that we will die is part and parcel of knowing that we exist. In between living and dying we must find out what we are meant to do. If we don't, both our life and our death will not have meaning. Everything about our lives will end with the Grim Reaper if we do not reach out to the Source of all life and find out what is needed to live a life that is not destroyed by death.

The truth about life and death guides us to renounce the temporary things of this life that we may gain that which is eternal. We can be fooled into spending our precious time chasing things that we can never hold on to. What is the point of spending your whole life working for something that you have to throw away in the end? We need to spend time thinking about death and all the implications such a reality has on us today.

Do you take time to reflect on your life and the end of it? What things do you think will matter to you the most when you look back and reflect on how you spent your time? Will you cherish how much wealth you accumulated? Will you value how many degrees you completed and how many initials follow or precede your name? Will you count how many people thought well of you?

All we know for sure about the future is that we will die. Right now, we know we are alive and we sense that there is meaning and purpose to be found for our lives if only we will seek it honestly and humbly. Why waste another second ignoring the most basic truths that we know? Why wait till the end of our lives before we discover what we were alive for?