Tuesday, June 2, 2009

End of Life::Right to End of Life

YÉH√ **√HÉY 

there is no reason to be
afraid of death 
you get a new life

Celebrities  sometimes refer to whom they might have been, had they been, in a past life.
Songwriters, poets and  ordinary folks too, make off-hand comments explaining certain behavior as caused by a past life, or express a desire to do something in a future life.

Yet many people don't seem to get beyond the joking,
self-deprecating remarks to really study the self and the
experience that comes through lives and deaths, life and death.

The concept that the spirit lives beyond the body isn't new.
One way or another, it's been expressed by the world's
religions, secure in their authority won by the sword. 
Some faiths explain the soul returning to the
physical world, some would have the body reuniting with the spirit. 
Religion salvages the notion: not just here today, gone tomorrow.  

Is there a willingness to speak out, or at least mention the possibility, that the human spirit
endures?  Let's push the dialogue and share what we know about death. 
Communication about what people think and feel about life and death would help humans relax, understand their inner nature and prepare for the stages of the physical ending of
life and the advance into death.  

Myth-busting might change attitudes and release the care of the body and spirit for those approaching death, free them from the preachers, doctors and undertakers. We need to be sure that all have the right to their chosen care at end of life.  No extra permits, certificates, living wills and powers of attorneys.  The simple right to chose manner of death and care at end of life must be left to the individual and the chosen circle. 

I think we of human spirit should strive to reduce the impact of the
tangible and spend more time concentrating on the unseen world.
There is much more to see there. 





Monday, June 1, 2009

Nothing to Be Afraid Of

Julian Barnes, bless his British heart, has written a smart engaging memoir-inquiry about death and how to get there.  We need more conversations with cerebral cortex of this stripe, more musings about how others learn about death.  How to deal.  Death is our destination this time around, every time around, whether it's one life or every life.