And when Death comes...

[Zephonith Serpent Woman]

"If you realize that all things change,

there is nothing you will want to hold onto

If you aren't afraid of dying,

there is nothing you can't achieve"

" If you stay in the center,

and embrace Death

with your whole heart,

you will endure forever."

"Empty your mind of all thoughts.

Let your heart be at peace.

Watch the turmoil of beings

And contemplate their return.

Each separate being in the universe 

returns to the same common source

Returning to the source is serenity

If you don't realize the source,

You stumble in confusion and sorrow

When you realize where you come from,

you naturally become tolerant, 

disinterested, amused, kindhearted

as a grandmother,

dignified as a king.

Immersed in the wonder of the Tao,

you can deal with whatever life brings you

and when Death comes,

you are ready."

~All quotations by the Master LaoTsu

[1eau0ggjwnpni]

This is a hard thing. All religions have answers, because without the need for them, we would have no religions. The physical world declines us to death. A natural process we experience and fear. The body returns to earth, but who survives? We have two answers: Death is an end to consciousness, and we are no more. OR, consciousness is the builder and source of physical experience. Genetics are a tool of experience, not a determination of a soul who uses a tool. I believe that what we are uses physical experience as a tool. I can only see what my biology lets me see. But there is, in me,a soul who sees through the tool it uses. I believe that consciousness is not dependent on the form it finds itself in. That it is deathless, and only seeks experience. Religions comfort, but I suspect that the "I Am" found in all creatures and ourselves is merely the experiencer experiencing, deathless.

Just my view.

Maureen

[Zephonith Serpent Woman]

Hi Maureen

Thanks for your comments, they are very much appreciated. Death has always fascinated people and there are many ways to approach it.

As you mention, we will all die and thus it's a real inevitability. Yet, does nature not teach that life goes on, regardless?

My view is that we are born, flourish, live our lives, decline, and then die. The physical body, or shell, that is. But what happens to the soul of a person, the energy signature of an individual when the body has literally "given up the ghost"?

And that is in my view, the reason for religions.

Laozi also had something to say about that ~

"When they lose their sense of awe,

people turn to religion.

When they no longer trust themselves,

they begin to depend on authority."

~ Laozi

So in other words, religion , which is man-made, gives men authority over other people. Whereas spirituality is at one with Mother Nature, the Great Goddess whom Laozi called "The Tao".

Laozi then goes on to say~

"The Master gives himself up

to whatever the moment brings.

He knows that he is going to die;

and he has nothing left to hold on to:

No resistances in his mind,

no resistances in his body.

He doesn't think about his actions.

They flow from the core of his being.

He holds nothoing back from life,

therefore he is ready for death

as a man is ready for sleep 

after a hard day's work"

~Laozi

Is this not living in the NOW , and enjoying one's life to the absolute fullest, accepting death as a reality, and being able to then die in peace? Knowing that our vital essence , our spirit, never dies, that energy transmutes into another form.

Bearing in mind that Religions as institutions came after the Tao, The Goddess, and the Old Goddess "Religions" per se, with all due respect for those who follow an institutional, or Book Religion, my personal belief is that no Religion is higher than the truth; which is, that true and genuine spirituality starts from within~ from getting to truly know and love oneself first. This to me is what it's all about ~ enjoying all the successive lives we have been given, to the very fullest ! Love is infectious, you know.

Blessed Be

[Zephonith Serpent Woman]

xxx's!

[Pixie Snakes]

When I was in India I spent a lot of time at the cremation grounds in Varanasi. It was a powerful experience and I can honestly say that I have no fear of death. I'm going back in two weeks. Here's a short video of the cremation grounds at night shot from a boat on the Ganges. http://youtu.be/hdAXoBObt3Q

[Zephonith Serpent Woman]

Blessed Be, 

We all turn into a pile of grey ash, or at least our temporal bodies do. Yet the spirit lives on forever. The knowledge of this should allow us to unlearn, or in the words of the Ascended Master, 'not know' the things we may have been taught previously about how 'evil' Death is, the thing to be defeated somehow.

Death is completely natural, and should be welcomed instead of feared.

After all, is life not a series of 'little deaths' in-between cycles of birth, flourishing and decline?

To make five, we have immortal Spirit.

It must be a liberating experience to feel and know what should be, Pixie :Snakes. Whenever I go past the local cemetery I chant praises to Kali-Maa.

Many thanks for your comment, I will have a look at the video shortly.

[Zephonith Serpent Woman]

As Above, So Below. We are reflections of the Macrocosmic Divinity, which lives within of every person. I would caution against focusing only on the rational, logical and intellectual interpretations of Nature and how the universe operates; as whenever mankind thinks too much instead of just going with the flow and working with instinct, there arise problems. Look at organized, unbalanced forms of Religion and their effect on the human psyche and the environment, for example.

As within, so without.To me this relates to another famous inscription on the walls of the Temple at Delphi;

"Know Thyself"

This is the difference between faith and Wisdom. With Religion, one hands over one's own precious, unique and special garden over to the hands of another person.

No-one is above anyone else, indeed, as even Nature proves to us that there is Yin and Yang in everything, within and without, as above, so below.

And let's not neglect to consider what is beyond finite conceptions of space and time.

Energy is matter; and so agreeing with Einstein, I see everything as light. There is the same light flowing thought the living universe, it's just that most people are blinded to the greater realities of existence.  Religion is soul slavery to most; yet nature-based religion such as Wicca for example, is really what religion was initially meant to be. To enhance spirituality, not make everyone conform out of fear..

The balance found within, will radiate without!

Thank you for your stimulating comments, Al.

[Pixie Snakes]

I'm taking care of my ex-domestic partner in hospice care now. Wow I thought I was unafraid of death but now I'm here with him through the whole process. Watching my ex-lover deteriorate and decay while still alive is FUCKING HARD. The reality of a slow gradual decline towards death is far more profound than I had ever imagined. When he insists he needs to go to the hardware store for c-clamps I just think, "he's going to use those clamps for the rest of his life." It's just that the rest of his life is compressed down to a year while the rest of my life is some length of time less than 100 years. Watching his body change and deteriorate is a seriously hard lesson is learning to look beyond the body. seriously hard. He's still the same hilarious clever guy inside there even if his body makes it difficult to leave the house or do much on his own.

[Greg Lester]

death is as natural as breathing, nothing to fear for the pain of death is only temporary, then starts the next chapter of existence.