It's been a while since I posted--I have 5 min before my boss responds back to me, let's see how this turns out...
(I don't know what this means but it looks cool)
We will all die someday.
No one living knows what lies on the other side, death. We are all left to speculate based on our life experiences.
What we do know is that it does come--that no one, as yet, has been able to avoid death.
We also know that our physical bodies remain here, inanimate, and that the only way for them to move is for someone to move them. The living are therefore left in charge of moving the dead, and although it may serve a selfish purpose (if the body is in the way) the act of interacting with the dead is primarily a selfless act.
What we do not know is whether the physical body will be used by it's accompanying spirit at some future date. Many have speculated that the spirit is still connected to the body, or that the body and spirit will return together, or that the body does not matter. Honestly, I side with those who believe the body does not matter--not because I don't believe in the other two possibilities, but because our bodies decay. All of the chemicals and energy that went into our bodies will be dispersed elsewhere and what we borrowed to live in this life will erode away over time.
What matters most is not your physical body, but what you do with your body while living and what others will say about you when you are dead. This is your heritage and cannot be destroyed. Only spiritual things are capable of this because they are capable of changing and impacting the world around them.
The rich and powerful have found a way to preserve their heritage and legacy--but only so far as some other human being is willing to accept the selfless act of moving their body. Tombs and Graves are only maintained by the reigning power and if the latest king or sovereign leader opposes the dead, he or she will destroy the tomb, destroy the symbols, and eliminate the place of the dead.
Great minds have found a way to preserve their heritage and legacy by "discovering" the useful application of knowledge. --but only so far as that knowledge is still useful. Many philosophers have developed ideas that we still rely on today, that are still useful. Many inventors have created useful tools for our lives that we still use today as well--but how many inventors and philosophers were wrong or their inventions were replaced by more useful ones and we no longer know their name?
The point I am leading to is that although there are many ways to make a legacy or a heritage, even those things may end. The key is that they have to be done for the benefit of others otherwise others will refuse to "move your body" when you die.
Even with heritage and legacy in mind, there is a more important aspect of life and death that I will present now, and that is the present.We do not know what lies tomorrow. Though we may benefit people of the future, there are many people in the present who need our help now.
Death is not a scary thing, nor is it a sorry thing. We do not need to mourn those who have passed on, because life is hard and they no longer have to deal with these troubles--if they died happy, you can take comfort in knowing they ended on a positive note. If they died sad, you can take comfort in knowing that they no longer have to deal with their trials. Celebrate their lives, celebrate the things that they did for you and the way they changed your life, but remember: they are not among the living anymore. There are those among you right now who need you more than the dead.
The dead really don't need us.
You are an ever-present, spiritual being. What happens to you today and how it affects you tomorrow is what matters--I think many people lose sight of their priorities when someone dies around them. They get caught up in the feeling of loss--that that person is no longer going to have an influence on their life--that they abandon all hope, they cry because they are confused. They cry because they don't know how to take the news, they don't know how to react to it, they don't know what they should be thinking about. They fear the unknown--but they don't need to! There are plenty of 'knowns' all around them, plenty of people, plenty of things.
When we fear the unknowns, when we feel the loss of someone, what is really happening to us is that we briefly lose sight of what is important to us. We lose our grounding in life. We get so focused on the one person who is no longer with us that we momentarily withdraw from the people who ARE with us.
Anymore, whenever I hear about deaths, my thoughts instantly go to the urgency to take up more responsibility. I commit to taking up the slack where that person left off (if applicable). Because to me, the living matter more than the dead.
When I die, I don't want a traditional funeral. I want to be cremated and my ashes to be scattered in a place few will go to. I want a monument built at some other religion's monastery that lists 3 of my greatest deeds, my name, and where I lived. And I don't want anyone to attend a ceremony in recognition of my death. That way, if they wish to know me (the dead me) they must learn about someone else's life, beliefs, and religion and therefore open their minds; they will never find my body and wonder whether I am not with them always; and rather than spend their time in celebration of my life, they will be with their family and friends, strengthening their relationships with them. Lastly, they will know that I lived in a town, city, nation, or world and will wonder what impact I made on it.
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