What is death to the living? Is it a veil
through which we pass into another life? Is it a wall into which we inevitably
crash, and from which there will be no looking back? Can we distinguish the
thought of a time before we were born from that of a time after we are gone
from this world? We no longer have anything to fear from being born. It has
already happened. Why then do we fear death?
Death is nothing to the living, and it is
precisely this "nothing" that we fear, precisely because we do not
know what it is. How can one fear something that does not exist? Sometimes the
fear of death is just a fear of dying, a fear of slowly or quickly losing
everything that has made life dear, a fear of pain and dependency on others.
The meaning of death for the living is not
exhausted by fear. The thought of death also brings sadness. Whatever the truth
of religious assurances about an afterlife or reincarnation, the thought of
one's own death and the death of everyone you know is still sad. So much beauty
leaves this world with the death of each loved individual that however
fervently one believes in its translation above, the sadness remains, otherwise
funerals would be joyful occasions. The truth is that those who are left behind
feel the lack. Death takes someone from the world and leaves a hole where that
person used to live.
As for my own death, and yours, I am
inclined to say with the philosopher Socrates that we should reserve our
judgment about death, since we have no idea whether it is a good thing, a bad
thing, or nothing. The trouble is that while you can conceive of your own death
abstractly, it is impossible to imagine it, since to imagine is still to exist.
Perhaps it is a help to think that no matter how bored you get with life, no
matter how jaded, there is us at least one new thing for each of us to do, and
that is to die. Timing is all. Until that time, live.
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