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Today's
quotation:
Death
is not the enemy of life, but its friend, for it is the knowledge
that our years are limited which makes them so precious. It is the truth
that time is but lent to us
which makes us, at our best, look upon our
years as a
trust handed into our temporary keeping.
Joshua
Loth Liebman
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Today's
Meditation:
I often wonder why we see death as such a terrible
thing. Most of us see it as moving on to something
better, so why do we say things like "It's such a
shame that he died so early"? I understand that
it's something that hurts us because we miss his company,
but if we truly feel that he's moved on to heaven, then
where's the tragedy for him? In many cultures,
there's no tragedy at all-- we mourn as survivors because
we loved the person, but we recognize that everyone has a
time to go, and that comes at different ages for all
people.
Of course, I don't want to be cold and callous about
death, for it definitely is a loss for those of us left
behind. But I also don't want to be afraid of it, to
do everything I can to avoid it or put it off; if I did
that, I'd lock myself in my home all the time and never go
outside again. If I have a healthy perspective on
death, then I'll know that my day will come eventually,
and my task on this planet is to do all that I can to
contribute to the welfare and well-being of the other
people with whom I have contact here before it does.
I want to use my knowledge of death as a catalyst for
doing all the good I can do and enjoying all I can while
I'm here. If I thought I were immortal, then I could
put things off indefinitely and never expect myself to
take risks or face challenges. I would know that
I'll have plenty of chances to encourage that person, to
contribute to the lives of others, to do good, so I could
put it off and focus on just myself for now. I
wouldn't stop to enjoy the sunset because I know that
there will be another one tomorrow, next week, next year.
I don't want to hurry death, and I'm not going to act
irresponsibly in ways that will cause me to die
early. But I am going to think about death, think
about the end of my life, because I want to be ready for
death when it gets here. And the only way that I know
to be ready is to get all I can out of life while I'm
here, so that I won't be facing tons of regrets when my
time to leave arrives.
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For further
thought:
An awareness of death enables
us to live each day each moment-- filled
with appreciation for the unique opportunity we have to create
something
of our time on earth. I believe that in order to enjoy true
happiness, we
should live each moment as if it were our last. Today will never
return. We may speak of the past or of the future, but the only reality we
have is
that of this present instant. And confronting the reality of
death actually
enables us to bring unlimited creativity, courage and joy
into each instant of our lives.
Daisaku Ikeda
Buddhism
Day by Day
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