Why I Am Not Scared To Die

Saturday Stories

November 10, 2018

I

I want to die like Luke Skywalker. I would be at the top of a mountain, gazing out into my beloved ocean, a witness to the most spectacular sunset in the world. My clothes would fall on the ground as my physical body disappears and becomes at One with The Force – if that is not too much to ask. 

II

I know that some people think of death as "morbid." Their logic is: whatever you talk about, you call it to yourself. I get that. So they don't talk about death – but they complain about life all the time. I am not afraid of death, though I'd like stay for a bit  I'm happy and I live a meaningful life, so I'd rather stay longer. But if it is my time to die, then I'm ready – even if it comes at this very instant. I find it amazing that some people think in extremes – either you completely ignore the subject of death, or you mentioned it because you are suicidal.

III

A friend and I were talking about posterity a couple of weeks go. I said it's okay if people forget me when I'm gone, and, for the record, I don't even want a funeral. This is because I believe that the real me is my soul, not my body. Many people have shaped my views on the afterlife, such as Raymond Moody and Elizabeth Kubler-Ross, the pioneers of the modern scientific study of near-death experiences. My life has changed because of spiritual teachers I never met but whom I consider as my own –  Abraham Hicks, Gary Zukav, Neale Donald Walsch, and Wayne Dyer, who taught me one of the most profound lessons I learned – "You are not a human being having a spiritual experience. You are a spiritual being having a human experience." 

IV

I have deep respect for people who save lives, like paramedics and firemen. Yet at the same time, I believe there is nothing shameful about dying. The soul knows when it is time to return to the Source, and there is a sense of Grace when you surrender to a Higher Power. I have been further blessed by the wisdom of the many teachers in Journeying East: Conversations of Aging and Dying by Victoria Jean Dimidjian – including Ram Dass and my beloved Thich Nhat Hanh. Now I know that if I accept Death as a natural part of my journey, then, and only then, I can fully embrace this miracle called Life.

Photo courtesy of MeetMattFraser.com