Living and Dying
- clearstreamzendo
- Jan 12
- 2 min read
This week’s topic for reflection is living and Dying. Please reflect on the nature of life and the nature of death and their relationship.
We approach our own death in different ways. It seems some people are so afraid of the idea of their own mortality they don’t want to think about it or talk about it. Others seem to be okay about it without really addressing the reality of it. It takes courage to approach the unknown and inquire with open curiosity. We are capable of seeing the nature of life and death, as they are not something separate from us. Living and dying is how we are. We only think they are separate from us.
When we love someone who is dying or has died we naturally grieve for them. This experience is heart breaking and often disorientating. It can lead to the identity crisis of not knowing who we are without them. How does love involve clinging or holding tight to someone who is dying or has died? Is living intimacy and togetherness where dying is separation and loss?
Is it possible that death and dying is not scary or harsh but loving and welcoming? That death is not separation but intimate togetherness? Life and death are intimately interconnected. Death is not a separation from life but a changing continuation. This changing continuaton is what life is and it never dies. We project our own version of how life is onto life and see it as truth. We do the same thing to death but that doesn’t make it true. If we see life through angry eyes and a mean heart, life will seem scary and harsh. One does not need physical eyes and a physical heart to see anger and feel hatred. We can do this without a body. How we are in life is how we are in death. Death is a continuation of life so cultivate caring love and open curiosity instead of anger and hatred. The truth is everything is continuously changing and intimately interconnected so caring love and intimate curiosity is natural. Anger, hatred and separation is a delusional projection.
When Shakyamuni Buddha was asked, “What happens when you die?” he responded, “It’s better to ask what happens when your alive.” If you clearly see what happens and who you are when you are alive, you will see what happens and who you are when you die. They are not separate. When we give up being separate selves we discover the intimate interconnection of who we are. This never dies. My words do not make it true. See for yourself, without any projection, who you are.
Please join us for morning Zoom zazen from 7:00 to 7:30 Tuesday and Thursday, and Sunday morning Zoom zazen and discussion of the topic for reflection blog from 8:00 to 9:00 Pacific Time. Here’s the Zoom link:
Meeting ID: 811 6100 3357
Passcode: 278259
Gassho,
Futai
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