Verse 50: No Place for Death

Verse Fifty
Those who leave the womb at birth
and those who enter their source at death,
of these; three out of ten celebrate life,
three out of ten celebrate death,
and three out of ten simply go from life to death.
What is the reason for this?
Because they are afraid of dying,
therefore they can not live.

I have heard that those who celebrate life
walk safely among the wild animals.
When they go into battle, they remain unharmed.
The animals find no place to attack them
and the weapons are unable to harm them.
Why? Because they can find no place for death in them.
~ John McDonald translation ~

When we accept the notion that we are part and parcel of the one universal reality (Tao, God, truth, being, etc.), we can get an inkling of the idea that life and death merely are different sides of the same coin. The moment we're born, we move ever closer to death. Yet, as nature illustrates, death leads to new life. It's a self-perpetuating cycle.

As the fellow from the blog Tao Wow writes it,

The true I, the Tao, not the I with your name, lives forever. If you can know you as Tao, and avoid the grasping to self, looks and longevity, you will never grow old and never die.

By understanding intuitively that life and death go hand-in-hand -- neither can exist without the other -- we need to honor both in their own time. While alive, we need to embrace our lives in a body hug. I like what Nina Correa has to say on this issue.

How can some people appear to be so invincible? Maybe it's because they find so much joy in life that they don't let the fear of death preoccupy their thoughts with a sense of pending doom. Even when hardships confront them, they're able to appreciate the fact that they're still alive and make the best of what they've got. None of us know for sure what (if anything) will happen to us after we die. To reject any of the wonderful things on this earth due to worry, anxiety or fear is to deny the very existence we've been given in this playground.

Life is precious. We don't genuinely understand why it exists or what happens when this phase of our being comes to its end. Since this is the only part that we can experience in the here and now, it just makes sense to live it to its fullest. If we focus the majority of our attention on what comes next and then it turns out there is NO next, we will have wasted our one opportunity.

Don't look this gift horse in the mouth. Live and love with all your might.

This post is part of a series. For an introduction, go here.