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BlueStar
May 19th, 2010, 12:57 PM
I don't think there's been a topic about death here before, which is quite surprisingly in some ways as it's such an important subject. But not surprising in other ways, for as a society it's something we don't tend to like to think about, much less discuss. As a society, we have a major block when it comes to death and it's something that must be reversed. Until we make peace with death - our own impending deaths and the passing away of all those we love - then I don't think we can truly be at peace with life or within our selves.

When confronted with some sad news today about a family friend, I got to thinking about this thing we call 'death' and would love to hear your thoughts on it. How do you relate to death? Are you at peace with it, or do you dread it? Do you feel uncomfortable thinking or speaking about it? What do you believe or feel will happen when you pass over?

Ironically, when I don't think about death much and it's just something stuffed away in the back of my mind, it's something that's dark and scary. But the more I meditate on it and explore it, the more freeing and liberating it feels. I will share some thoughts later. You go first.

brother
May 19th, 2010, 06:28 PM
I think about death as though I'm going home... going home after a long journey. Rory, I look forward to it. My only reservations lay in how I leave my family and friends. My hope is that when that day comes, they will be sound of heart and know how much I love them.

BlueStar
May 19th, 2010, 07:57 PM
Thanks for sharing Chad. I'm like you, I have absolutely no fear of death. In fact, I have often felt something strongly pulling me back (although I'm not saying that will happen anytime soon!). I'm at peace with 'death'. I don't even fully relate to the concept and never quite have (in that the form dissolves but actual 'death' is an illusion in many respects). The only issues I have, of course, are 'losing' the people in my life. On the level of form, that's never easy and on that level, death can clearly be painful. I am exploring this and working with it.

BlueStar
May 19th, 2010, 08:02 PM
Below are some words I wrote today while contemplating life and death. They are reflective and contemplative I suppose and they seemed to spring from that deeper place of stillness that's beyond the surface level of mind; that deeper level of intelligence from which all fresh ideas, insights and creativity emerge. I share them with you that you might simply consider them - not with mind and through the filter of belief systems, but with the heart.

---

In a way death seems so cruel...savage almost. But it’s not. The consciousness comes to reside here for but a short time and then it moves on. The flickering dream-forms of this world come and go, come and go, ever changing, ever in motion. Birds sing, the sun shines, clouds continue to drift across the blue sky, blossoming trees sway in the morning breeze. This has happened for millions of years before this unit of consciousness stepped in and will continue to happen long after it has stepped back out.

The enduring element, a string unbroken, is consciousness. Things appear in consciousness and then disappear again. I am not this body or mind. Neither is anyone I ever meet their body or mind.

What am I? Awareness, unconditioned consciousness. That is all. That is everything. And it is the building block out of which the world of form is created, in much the same way that the ocean is responsible for the wispy clouds that travel across the sky in ever-shifting shapes and which eventually return again to the ocean. However long a time it takes, they eventually return to their source. How can that be in any way tragic? Is it not in fact something sublimely beautiful? Perfect symmetry, perfection in the rhythm of what we call “life” in the phenomenal world, the world of “things” born of the void of “no-thing”.

Ignorance of our true nature and the true nature of all things is the number one cause of all suffering in the world. When we dwell solely in the surface level and have no awareness of the true depths of life, the vast ocean that lies beneath the rippling surface, then we suffer and the cessation of form is a grave tragedy. This is because we’re locked in the world of 'things' - things that come and go and can be taken and destroyed. We are unaware of the vast immeasurable field of unity, the invisible and unmanifest, the deathless realm that underlies and sustains and is the true essence of all particular things.

When the form returns to the formless, in many ways it is more a birth than a death - a rebirth of unimaginable proportions and a return to wholeness, to the very ground of creation...a blissful, undivided, undifferentiated unity. The only tragedy in this is the tragedy of our own misunderstanding and ignorance. The truth is beyond the mind. And it’s always more beautiful than we could ever possibly imagine.

brother
May 19th, 2010, 08:53 PM
Beautifully written ((((((((Rory)))))))))

Narnia
May 19th, 2010, 09:18 PM
So eloquent and truly lovely my dear friend ... you are a blessed spirit indeed! :giveheart


This part called out to me in a very fimaliar sense ... :)


they seemed to spring from that deeper place of stillness that's beyond the surface level of mind; that deeper level of intelligence from which all fresh ideas, insights and creativity emerge

ps: I will add my 2 cents later on ... right now there is a lot to digest ... in a good way. :)

BlueStar
May 20th, 2010, 12:22 PM
Thank you guys, I'm glad you liked the words. I have much more to say on the subject, both right-brain and left-brain inspired.

Over the past year I deliberately jettisoned all my old belief systems and opened myself to the wisdom of uncertainty, the profoundity of simply saying “I don’t know”. From this space of no-belief (which can be quite an unsettling place, particularly for the mind that thrives on certainty and solidity), I intuitively FELT my way around, trying to experience what was ‘true’ for me.

For a while I explored the notion that consciousness might not survive death, but this struck me as a fallacy based on ignorance of our true nature. Although I explored it with an open mind, I found I simply cannot subscribe to the cult of materialistic science’s philosophy of reductionism. I truly feel that consciousness is no more an accidental byproduct of neural activity than radio broadcasts are randomly generated by the circuits of a radio set.

Scientists still don’t have much of a clue about consciousness. It’s dismissed as unimportant by a number of scientists who like to skirt around those ‘problematic’ areas they don’t understand and have a tendency to refute their very existence. Scientific fundamentalism is indeed as prevalent as religious fundamentalism and every bit as dangerous, if not moreso. Some even declare that consciousness doesn’t even exist. But I’m with the mystics on this one: I have explored the truth experientally myself and feel qualified in saying that, in my experience, consciousness is all that exists. Consciousness, the feeling of “I Am”, of Being, is the only thing we can be absolutely certain of. And if we are able to move beyond the notion of “I am the body”, then an entire universe opens up...

I found a book called 'Life after Death' by Deepak Chopra which I found fascinating and read twice. It's very illuminating and I agree with much of it. I do recommend it for anyone interested.

The way I see it now is that consciousness is non-local, while the body is local. The body is the instrument of consciousness, in much the same way as a radio set receives and plays radio frequencies. When the radio shuts down or is destroyed, the radio frequencies are in no way affected, they simply can no longer be played through that particular device. This analogy strikes me as a very good one.

Kiran
May 22nd, 2010, 02:11 PM
Hmm...interesting thread Rory. If I am honest, I am not scared about passing but about the way I might pass. I think its human nature to fear that and for obvious reasons, I would like to pass quietly when my times comes.
I see life as a never ending spiral that continues no matter what. Life always finds a way and if we did not pass and move on, what would we be like? There is a book I read years ago by an english writer, Michael Moorcock, called Dancers at the End of Time. Much of his works are science fiction or spy novels but a few of his books are very...hmm...forward thinking. He showed a society that had immortality and instead of learning they went through various stages of depravity in the end before almost destorying themselves until they had a lightbulb moment.
I guess what I am saying is, if we had eternity, would it necessarily be a positive thing...as we are now? Society isn't ready yet I don't think for that kind of responsibility but one day I live in hope they/we will be.

Just my tuppence worth.

BlueStar
May 22nd, 2010, 06:10 PM
Hmm...interesting thread Rory. If I am honest, I am not scared about passing but about the way I might pass. I think its human nature to fear that and for obvious reasons, I would like to pass quietly when my times comes.
I see life as a never ending spiral that continues no matter what. Life always finds a way and if we did not pass and move on, what would we be like? There is a book I read years ago by an english writer, Michael Moorcock, called Dancers at the End of Time. Much of his works are science fiction or spy novels but a few of his books are very...hmm...forward thinking. He showed a society that had immortality and instead of learning they went through various stages of depravity in the end before almost destorying themselves until they had a lightbulb moment.
I guess what I am saying is, if we had eternity, would it necessarily be a positive thing...as we are now? Society isn't ready yet I don't think for that kind of responsibility but one day I live in hope they/we will be.

Just my tuppence worth.

Thanks for your sharing Lorri - awesome insights. Will check out that author, that book sounds fascinating.

Fascinating thought - what would it be like if we had physical immortality? Frankly I don't think it would be a good thing, not unless the collective consciousness were a LOT higher than it is at present time. I think physical death helps keep some of our collective ego-driven insanity in check. Apart from anything else we'd pretty quickly run out of space on this planet (as if we aren't already!) Death is a necessary part of the balance of life in this phenomenal world. Our attitude to death is totally backwards because the vast majority of us are in ignorance of what death is, what life is and what WE are.

I love what Nisargadatta had to say about death: "What was born, must die; what was never born cannot die. It all depends on what one takes oneself to be [...]The real does not die, the unreal never lived."

I feel I have more to say about this. In fact, I've already written a whole book about it - my first novel was basically a study of death and life and the way we relate to both.

Keep it coming...

Rana
May 25th, 2010, 03:14 PM
for me in my culture Death is a celebration ,for one is to be re united not only with family members but ancestors and the greater force .. of course there is a mournig period to acknowledge this persons current incarnation their body their personality their absolute presence ..but this is followed with the deeper understanding that the seperation will only be temporary and that we can keep contact with them until we are together again.. when we have never left this realm from which we came feeling wise it isnt any different you dont feel the loss because you are still an active part of this whole ..this is how i feel .. i remember feeling worse when i was born..leaving boarding school to return to my tru home is always a cause for celebration on Earth and in the spirit realms xxx

Lion Spirit Walker
June 8th, 2010, 04:45 AM
Death is but a point of change, a simple passage from one point of Life into the next. There is in truth no beginning, no end. Just eternal growth. This is Reality in being Eternal.
We pass through lifetimes to afford ourselves opportunities of growth that we could otherwise not accomplish. This growth contributes to our Eternal being.
To experience these opportunities we must first inhabit the shells we reffer to as bodies. Through our lifetimes we grow through these lessons provided. When the time is appropriate to the individual, we release ourselves from these shells or bodies. And as is appropriate to the individual we grow as we should.
LOL. There is so very much that can be said with regard to this topic. Afterall it is eternal in it's self.
But I understand that those of you who may read this and are capable of understanding, already do. As this is simply a reminder. And for those who are as yet not ready to understand, there is nothing that can be said.
The Truth of this is part of our being Alive, it is written into our essense.
To realize this within a lifetime is to realize the Truth of Eternal Being, our Truth of Universal Self. But the choice is ultimately the individual's to make...
To open the eyes or not. To open the 'door' or to leave it closed, is up to you the individual.

BlueStar
June 8th, 2010, 02:46 PM
Beautifully said Rana and Michael, thank you so much for sharing your insights on this important, rather taboo topic :)

Kiran
June 9th, 2010, 08:51 AM
Thanks for your sharing Lorri - awesome insights. Will check out that author, that book sounds fascinating.

Fascinating thought - what would it be like if we had physical immortality? Frankly I don't think it would be a good thing, not unless the collective consciousness were a LOT higher than it is at present time.

I just re-read this and realised you understood I was refering to physical immortality - as we are in this human shell and all the ego that entails. I should have clarified that was what I meant.
As Michael says....we all have a choice about growth and moving forward.

Rana
June 12th, 2010, 01:53 PM
after writing in my Blog i thought about here and a perspective .. letting go of a energy that has served you and is now to be released (usually a negative one) is a death from the painbody Eckart Toll talks of. and if i view the release of these negative energy (patterns) as i do death ( as a celebration of some sorts) a transformation i realsie it is more liberating and easily processed , or how to begin to process...

Jester Black
June 29th, 2010, 07:29 PM
Death....how well I know its kiss. I was born through death and in death I found my truth. And when death comes to claim me once again, it will be like an old friend come to visit.

planetlove
June 30th, 2010, 01:54 AM
Death is not real-its just a term used here in this dimension...

There should be no fear about it .....

You are not your body
You are not your mind
You are 100% Pure love
100% Pure light

The light is this love and nothing is separate from it ...the mind is what screws us up and makes us think we are separate when in fact separation never occurred ....
Transcend the mind and body and you will find you ...you are the peace and bliss you feel in meditation..thats you

The you i speak about is eternal and could never end ....
You are beautiful in every aspect of the word indescribable and unexplainable

YOU ARE THE FIELD THE LOVE THE LIGHT THE CONSCIOUSNESS YOU ARE THE GOD YOU LOOK AND SEEK FOR ....
IT IS YOU .....ALL YOU DO IS RETURN TO YOURSELF THE INTELLIGENT LIGHT ...
This energy has always been.... never created or destroyed .....

ARE YOU AFRAID OF YOURSELF OR IS IT YOUR EGO PLAYING TRICKS WITH YOU ....

F-alse
E-vidence
A-ppearing
R-eal....

The light that you truly are ...never dies ....

Read the book secrets of the light ....
You will never be afraid again...

Suppose I told you you die everynight when you close your eyes
and every time you open your eyes in the morning you are born ....what would you say to that....
everytime you open your eyes its a miracle and the real you is looking out ....of those eyes ....not the you that you think you are which is separate from yourself.....

daily you will become more and more aware of it ...

BlueStar
March 25th, 2011, 07:42 PM
Eckhart Tolle on Death & Dying


Q: How does one be with the process of death in such a way that it can be celebrated?

ET: Death is a great opportunity because death is one way in which the formless dimension comes into this life. It’s precisely at the moment of the fading of the form, that the formless comes into this life. But if that is not accepted, and the fading of form is denied, then it’s a missed opportunity.

As people around you pass away, you become increasingly aware of your own mortality. The body will dissolve. Many people still, in our civilization, they deny death. They don’t want to think about it, don’t want to give it any attention.

There is enormous potential there for spiritual flowering. Even in people who, up to the point of the beginning of the fading of the form, were completely identified with the form. It’s your last chance in this incarnation, as your body begins to fade – or you are becoming aware of this limited lifespan. It’s your last chance to go beyond identification with form. This is true whether it’s to do with your body, or somebody else’s body.

In the proximity of death, there is always that grace hiding underneath the seemingly negative event. Death in our civilization is seen as entirely negative, as if it shouldn’t be happening. Because it’s denied, people are so shocked when somebody dies – as if it’s not possible. We don’t live with the familiarity of death, as some more ancient cultures still do. The familiarity of death isn’t there. Everything is hidden, the dead body is hidden. In India you can see the dead bodies being carried through the streets, and being burned in public. To the Westerners, it’s terrible.

As the consciousness is changing, I feel that more and more death will become an important part of the evolutionary process, the process of the arising consciousness on our planet.

At any age, the form can dissolve. Even if you are very young, you may encounter death close to you. At any age, it is extremely helpful to become familiar with, or comfortable with, the impermanence of the physical form.

I recommend to everybody, to occasionally visit the cemetery. If it’s a nice cemetery, that makes it more pleasant. Some cemeteries are like beautiful parks, you can walk around and feel extremely peaceful. But even if it’s not nice, spiritually it is just as helpful to walk around the cemetery and contemplate the fact of death. I still do that, quite often, whenever I have a chance.

In Europe, in the villages and so on, you have a cemetery next to the church very often. I love walking around there. My favorite thing is reading the names on the gravestones. Sometimes if the gravestones are very old, you’ll see that the name is not there anymore – it got eroded by the weather.

It’s the contemplation of death and the acceptance of the impermanent nature of the human form that opens up, if you accept it. Don’t intellectualize it. Don’t come to some kind of conclusion about it. Just stay with the simple “isness” of the fact of the impermanence of the human form, and accept that for what it is without going any further. If you go further, you get into comforting beliefs, that’s very nice too. But what I am driving at is something deeper than comforting beliefs – instead of going to some kind of conclusion, stay with the fact of the impermanence of the human form, and contemplate this fact.

With the contemplation of the impermanence of the human form, something very deep and peaceful opens up inside you. That is why I enjoy going to cemeteries. When you accept the impermanence, out of that comes an opening within, which is beyond form. That which is not touched by death, the formless, comes forward as you completely accept the impermanence of all forms. That’s why it is so deeply peaceful to contemplate death.

If someone close to you dies, then there is an added dimension. You may find there is deep sadness. The form also was precious, although what you loved in the form was the formless. And yet, you weep because of the fading form. There too, you come to an acceptance – especially if you are already familiar with death, you already know that everything dies – then you can accept it more easily when it happens to somebody close to you. There is still deep sadness, but then you can have the two dimensions simultaneously – the outer you weeps, the inner and most essential is deeply at peace. It comes forward almost as if it were saying “there is no death”. It’s peace.

Lion Spirit Walker
March 28th, 2011, 05:53 AM
I truly thank you for posting this here my dear friend...
So many memories and thoughts...Another time perhaps.

Lion Spirit Walker
March 29th, 2011, 02:44 AM
The room was dark with only the light from the nurses station coming in under the door. Having sat there since before the sun set that evening, my eyes had adjusted to the dim light in the room. I could make out every detail of the hospital's room 311.
Seated in a chair to the right side of his bed, I held his hand in mine as I had for hours. Without speaking, I told him it was okay and that he needn't fear. I told him to I was fine and he need only focus on peace. And I told him I would always love him, as I do.
I looked at the clock upon the wall without any apparent reason. The hands of which seemed to stand out to me. The time was 1107 PM PST.
My attention return to Tom as I again reminded him that all was good and he need not fear.
Then I felt the Life that was Tom withdraw from his hand. I looked at his chest as he exhaled for the last time, no sound or shuddering only peace.
I could then see/sense his 'spirit' raise up out of his chest and head. Softly he rose up, and there seemed to be a peaceful joy about him.
Lifting himself up off the bed, he floated toward where his mother was seated where he pause. I saw/sensed a white circular light open to approximately three feet in diameter at the ceiling of the northeast corner of the room, only a few feet from where I was seated. from this opening came two 'light Beings'. They were human in appearance of their outer most shape, but composed of white light without features. They came out of the opening and waited just to the outside of this circular opening. At this point Tom's Spirit was floating around the foot of the bed and then toward myself, still seated in the chair. He approached me with a smile and I felt his love. He embraced me around my shoulders and repeated what I had been telling him without speaking, "It will be okay." & "I love you."...
He then turned toward the opening in the ceiling and floated up to it where the two that were waiting appeared to guide Tom's Spirit up into this circle of light. And then the circle closed.
Again the room was dark, and it felt cold. I remember looking toward the blinds on the windows as I didn't want to see his sheel without his Life in it. I then awoke his mother who called for the nurses. Tom was 'no code'.
I looked upon the lifeless shell, and proceeded out of the room telling his mother I would be back in a couple moments.
Feeling shock, I walked outside to an area where I knew would be quiet. And there I sat upon the bench next to a tree and shrubs. And I looked up to the sky. I felt tears upon my face, but I still wasn't truly crying. Yet the tears softly slipped down my cheeks.
I returned to the room where Tom's parents and the nurses gave me privacy with Tom's lifeless body.
I stepped up to the side of the bed and looked upon the face that I had gazed at lovingly for nine years. But it was no longer Tom, only the shell that had carried him through his lifetime. The eyes were slightly open and I tried to close them without success. I bent over and softly kissed the forehead then told the shell 'Good Bye'. Something I had never said to Tom, as for myself saying 'Good Bye' is forever.
I turned and walked from the room telling Tom's parents that I was going home.
On my ride home I'm certain I was speeding, but I didn't care. I had turned on rock music and had it up very loud, louder than usual. At approximately two blocks from my home, I started to weep. And i fought to keep it under control until I got into my home and back into 'my' bedroom. I then cried harder than I had ever cried before.
I understood then as I do now that the crying was for myself and my loss of Tom, my life partner.
I also understood that Life does not end when the shell ceases to function. I understood that Tom was better for having left that shell. And I understood that he wanted me to know that Life continues beyond the shell, and it is by no means to be feared.
It was this experience that started me upon my search of True Self as i am interconnected with All else throughout the Universe. It started me on my search for Truth.
My beliefs are now such that I believe we grow as Life eternally. And much of this growth occurs through lifetimes in 'shells' as I call the body. This eternal growth requires multiple lifetimes. And I believe Tom has already entered into another lifetime, another shell. I don't believe we shall meet again. I believe the growth that we were to accomplish together was accomplished. As such there is no need for Tom and I to once again join in a union.
I also believe that when this lifetime that is now mine comes to it's appropriate conclusion, it will be a long while before I return to a shell. I sense my Life Path will take else where.

Lion Spirit Walker
March 29th, 2011, 02:51 AM
Death is but a single door of a countless number of doors through which we all pass upon our eternal Life Paths.

Kiran
March 29th, 2011, 08:16 AM
The room was dark with only the light from the nurses station coming in under the door. Having sat there since before the sun set that evening, my eyes had adjusted to the dim light in the room. I could make out every detail of the hospital's room 311.
Seated in a chair to the right side of his bed, I held his hand in mine as I had for hours. Without speaking, I told him it was okay and that he needn't fear. I told him to I was fine and he need only focus on peace. And I told him I would always love him, as I do.
I looked at the clock upon the wall without any apparent reason. The hands of which seemed to stand out to me. The time was 1107 PM PST.
My attention return to Tom as I again reminded him that all was good and he need not fear.
Then I felt the Life that was Tom withdraw from his hand. I looked at his chest as he exhaled for the last time, no sound or shuddering only peace.
I could then see/sense his 'spirit' raise up out of his chest and head. Softly he rose up, and there seemed to be a peaceful joy about him.
Lifting himself up off the bed, he floated toward where his mother was seated where he pause. I saw/sensed a white circular light open to approximately three feet in diameter at the ceiling of the northeast corner of the room, only a few feet from where I was seated. from this opening came two 'light Beings'. They were human in appearance of their outer most shape, but composed of white light without features. They came out of the opening and waited just to the outside of this circular opening. At this point Tom's Spirit was floating around the foot of the bed and then toward myself, still seated in the chair. He approached me with a smile and I felt his love. He embraced me around my shoulders and repeated what I had been telling him without speaking, "It will be okay." & "I love you."...
He then turned toward the opening in the ceiling and floated up to it where the two that were waiting appeared to guide Tom's Spirit up into this circle of light. And then the circle closed.
Again the room was dark, and it felt cold. I remember looking toward the blinds on the windows as I didn't want to see his sheel without his Life in it. I then awoke his mother who called for the nurses. Tom was 'no code'.
I looked upon the lifeless shell, and proceeded out of the room telling his mother I would be back in a couple moments.
Feeling shock, I walked outside to an area where I knew would be quiet. And there I sat upon the bench next to a tree and shrubs. And I looked up to the sky. I felt tears upon my face, but I still wasn't truly crying. Yet the tears softly slipped down my cheeks.
I returned to the room where Tom's parents and the nurses gave me privacy with Tom's lifeless body.
I stepped up to the side of the bed and looked upon the face that I had gazed at lovingly for nine years. But it was no longer Tom, only the shell that had carried him through his lifetime. The eyes were slightly open and I tried to close them without success. I bent over and softly kissed the forehead then told the shell 'Good Bye'. Something I had never said to Tom, as for myself saying 'Good Bye' is forever.
I turned and walked from the room telling Tom's parents that I was going home.
On my ride home I'm certain I was speeding, but I didn't care. I had turned on rock music and had it up very loud, louder than usual. At approximately two blocks from my home, I started to weep. And i fought to keep it under control until I got into my home and back into 'my' bedroom. I then cried harder than I had ever cried before.
I understood then as I do now that the crying was for myself and my loss of Tom, my life partner.
I also understood that Life does not end when the shell ceases to function. I understood that Tom was better for having left that shell. And I understood that he wanted me to know that Life continues beyond the shell, and it is by no means to be feared.
It was this experience that started me upon my search of True Self as i am interconnected with All else throughout the Universe. It started me on my search for Truth.
My beliefs are now such that I believe we grow as Life eternally. And much of this growth occurs through lifetimes in 'shells' as I call the body. This eternal growth requires multiple lifetimes. And I believe Tom has already entered into another lifetime, another shell. I don't believe we shall meet again. I believe the growth that we were to accomplish together was accomplished. As such there is no need for Tom and I to once again join in a union.
I also believe that when this lifetime that is now mine comes to it's appropriate conclusion, it will be a long while before I return to a shell. I sense my Life Path will take else where.

:two hearts::two hearts:Girl_in_love