I have a new piece up on Killing the Buddha this morning, on death and life and that time in between. It’s also about flying houses and balloons and dogs and chocolate.
Read the whole thing here.
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I have a new piece up on Killing the Buddha this morning, on death and life and that time in between. It’s also about flying houses and balloons and dogs and chocolate.
Read the whole thing here.
I was dissatisfied with the article.
Dying has not changed over the millennia but the accompanying fanfare and the production numbers depending on the wealth or fame of the departed certainly have escalated.
Death has been removed from a private experience to the public forum where ludicrous questions why the heart stopped in a 80 year old are pondered and the simple act in dignity has been pummeled by the doctors, relatives, etc. into act of final submission.
The media frenzy in USA with numbing video clips of the departed in a loop all day and the sickening profuse sentiments from prominent “mourners”add to the circus atmosphere. Instead a simple thank you and a heartfelt acknowledgement to the person when still alive would have been more meaningful.
It alarms me that intelligent people who are very aware that without an intact brain humans cannot access their senses are quite adamant that they are going to “see”in the hereafter. Even physicians forget that congenitally blind do not have even “images”in their earthly dreams !
Only comforting thought is without an intact brain after death those who believe in “hell” will not feel the pain of fire or suffocate on brimstone fumes or the other horrors of Dante’s Inferno…it is time we abdicate Dante’s vivid imagination running a ridiculous riot.
Incidentally I am a proud Tamil. “Tamilian ” ( from Tamil: “thamilan”)is a needless adjective when writing in English , even mildly repulsive.
Do you not miss conversing in “senthamil “?
Pax vobiscum
dear michael,
strange that you were dissatisfied, since I can’t much disagree with your points, though they didn’t seem to really address what I was writing about. And I have conferred with my full-blood Tamilian family, since I’m only half, and no one seems to find the adjective repulsive. thanks for reading.
Fantastic. I recently returned to hospice work and want to pass along my appreciation for your thoughtful and observational piece. I’ve executed trainings for volunteers and new staff regarding the difficulties (and misconceptions) around hospice care… “isn’t hospice giving up?” Also, working at a hospice around the time of Terri Schiavo was quite, uh, educational.
This writing provides some great insight into our often difficult decisions regarding our last days here and how frequently we are told to “fight on” or that “G-d will heal” us. And to give ourselves over to death, which we all must, is to quit and lose. Weakness. Yet, when death is viewed in a realistic light and all aspects of it are embraced–the physical pain, the spiritual questioning and doubt, the need for understanding and support from family and friends–the fear is lessened and those left behind can experience greater peace and comfort knowing that all was “controlled” up to that final day.
Would it be possible for me to use this as a supplemental in my next training? It would give a realistic perspective and provoke thought into an often difficult discussion: our own mortality.
Thanks again for an enjoyable read.
dear sara,
thanks for writing. yes, of course feel free to use this in your materials. Just be sure to credit the site where it was published: Killing the Buddha (www.KillingTheBuddha.com). many thanks and good luck with your work.