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16/01/2005: "I, at death's door"
There is nothing more profoundly alien to the experience of life than death. It assails the very fabric of our being and directly opposes our most basic instincts of survival. It is something which none of us enjoy discussing and yet it holds an incredible fascination. All of us are preoccupied, to one degree or another, by the knowledge of our own impending death.
Death has to be somewhat of a surprise and a very humbling experience. As the last of our strength and power fades away all that is left are the final moments of our intellect. Surely, in the final seconds one would wonder what the future holds if anything. And as the fear of a final threshold swells up inside, one might spend his or her final moments pondering the past. With a life that was once taken so much for granted slipping away, a new view towards this precious commodity would almost certainly arise. The question might become; "What will I miss most?" And the answers might come as a surprise.
The view from death's door very likely provides a whole new perspective on life and what's really important. Things we devoted much of our daily energy to might seem somehow unimportant while some of what we always took for granted could suddenly takes on new meaning. We will likely miss the simple things like a pond or the shade of a tree on a warm day. The laughter of children may echo in or minds as we contemplate a lifetime of lost opportunities. Untold missed chances for happiness, joy and fulfillment.
Death is likely a very freighting and sobering experience. It is a lonely path we must all travel with only ourselves to comfort us. No matter how much we may have fooled ourselves with our beliefs in life they likely won't provide much comfort in the end. We will only have the truth of ourselves and our lives to account for. And as we regret and criticize our mistakes even that will likely become somehow unimportant as we finally accept our fate. And as we take our last breath perhaps we will feel a sense of enormous peace as we are humbled by the insignificance of what was our life.
The belief that life does not end at death is an idea that was born into humanity millions of years ago. If one stops and considers the elements that make us who and what we are, they would soon realize that when one dies those elements cease to exist. The memories of all our past experiences are contained within the biological informational storage media we call the brain. When this storage media is destroyed, the information that made us who and what we were is lost forever. Our memories, our likes and dislikes, the associations of a lifetime cease to exist. We will never again speak to a loved one. We will never feel the warmth of sunshine on our face. We will never again see the world through the eyes that once served us so well. We will never again respond to the sound of our name. Once death occurs, all that is ended.
Some people believe that when you die you will be reincarnated and come back to earth in another form. If there is any truth to this belief, it is of no consequence to the entity we are today and does not change the reality of our eventual death. If who and what I am today was once someone or something I have no memory of then technically, that existence ended in death even if there was an element of that existence that continued on. I am only what I know myself to be and if there is an element to my existence beyond what I know then it is of no consequence to the entity that makes me what I am today. I am the accumulative experiences of my life. Once that information ceases to exist, so will I. If there is anything after, it will be under a new name and whatever it is, it will not be me.
Some people believe that when our life ends in death, the essence of our being is flooded with the light of all the truth and knowledge of the universe. The belief is that this new understanding makes the struggle of our lives pale in the light of the truth of our existence. Perhaps we are judged after we die against some standard related to the decisions we made in life. Perhaps as a result of that judgment we then go on to heaven or hell. In any case, the entity we were will cease to exist and our life will be ended.
Death is as final and unchangeable as was the event of our birth. Death is the end of our existence. It is the final chapter in the book of life. It is irrevocable and at present inescapable, at least until our technology enables us to circumvent this biological reality. Our ability to accept and understand the concept that our lives will end someday in death and the relevance this understanding has to our lives is something we may better understand when we learn more about life. Perhaps when we come to realize the essence of who and what we are is informational in nature then we will be better able to understand the reality of death. Perhaps when we begin to create the same essence of life that exists within our brains between the layers of silicone chips, we will begin to understand more about the beginnings and ends of our own existence. (logicalreality.com)
