The Illusion of Death

Death is a fascinating thing to me.  Most people, it seems, have little interest in contemplating death or seeing death for what it really is.  In my experience, it's quite rare to find someone with any interest in death outside of avoiding it.  Don't you avoid thinking about death?  Why is that?

Have you ever taken time to really look at death?  I mean really look at it... not as some concept in The Image but as it actually is.  Take some time now to consider that you are going to die.  You are doomed... your end is inevitable.  Do you need help imagining this?  Imagine that you are dead, lying in your coffin, rigid and cold and unmoving.  This is your future.  Consider this now before reading more.

Don't you experience fear and anxiety when you consider your own death?  Why is that?  Isn't it that you don't want to die?  Aren't you terrified of dying?  Aren't you terrified of ceasing to be?  Why?

Some might say that you're afraid of death because you're afraid of the unknown.  That's false.  It's not possible to fear the unknown.  You can only fear losing what you do know.  You're afraid because you want to remain as you are.  You fear losing everything you know.

Fear of death comes from fear of change.  Fear of change is the same as fear of truth and reality.  Truth is reality and reality is change.  Isn't it clear that your fear of death comes from fear of reality?  You refuse to accept change and so you live in constant conflict with what is.

You know, death isn't a one-time thing.  You are dying now because you are changing now.  Every moment you are alive you are dying.  This is because death and life are the same thing.  Life is change.  Death is change that you do not want.  When you see death you see an ending.  Yet, outside of The Image, how can anything end?

The Image is at the root of all your death fears.  You are aware of your image and have confused it with yourself.   So you cannot accept that it will one day dissolve.  You can't accept this because you do not see reality.  You only see your image.  You hold on so tightly to your memories and history and refuse to see.

Death only exists in The Image... it only exists as a concept in your mind.  In reality, there is no death, there is only an ever-changing now that you are creating and experiencing.  Do you see this yet?

Think of it this way:  Does a dog fear death?  Have you ever seen a cat have anxiety over its inevitable death?  Have you glimpsed a tree sobbing over it's dead parents?  Of course not.  What's different between you and the dog, cat and tree?  You have an image of death in your mind.  You have built up a concept of death in your mind that you use to torture yourself.

The problem with this concept of death is that it isn't real.  Death has no reality outside of your mind.  There is only change that you refuse to accept.

Do you want to be free of your illusion of death?  If so, then look unflinchingly at your concept of death.  See clearly how nothing really dies, it's only constant change that you've confused with death.  Observe how you have created death as a reason to avoid fully living.  Life is change and you avoid life through your focus on the illusion of death... through your refusal of change.

Welcome change and you will welcome both life and death.

Stare down your fear of death and pass through it to a love of life.  Then you will see that the illusion of death has no power over you except the power that you give it through your belief.