Thursday, April 25, 2019

when death is denied







When death is denied, life loses its depth. 
 The possibility of knowing who we are beyond name and form, 
the dimension of the transcendent, disappears from our lives because death is the opening into that dimension. 

People tend to be uncomfortable with endings, because every ending is a little death. 
 That's why in many languages the word for “good-bye” means “see you again.” 

Whenever an experience comes to an end -
 a gathering of friends, a vacation, your children leaving home - you die a little death. 
 A “form” that appeared in your consciousness as that experience dissolves. 
 Often this leaves behind a feeling of emptiness that most people try hard not to feel, not to face. 

If you can learn to accept and even welcome the endings in your life, 
you may find that the feeling of emptiness that initially felt uncomfortable turns into a sense of inner spaciousness that is deeply peaceful.

By learning to die daily in this way, you open yourself to life….
Whenever death occurs, whenever a life form dissolves, 
God, the formless and unmanifested, shines through the opening left by the dissolving form. 

 That is why the most sacred thing in life is death. 
 That is why the peace of God can come to you through contemplation and acceptance of death.







~ Eckhart Tolle




3 comments:

erin said...

also, transience focuses our eye on the now, tells us to be present and grateful. death gives life value. without it we are nothing, we are floating and nameless, timeless, formless.

i think our problem with accepting death lies with our problem with the ego. rather than accepting that we are small and transitory, we wish to be more than what we are. we do not wish to be dissolved into the whole. but on the one hand we must recognize that we are granted this temporary i through which we experience all life and not be overly attached to it. here is the crux of our problem, our manufactured clutching to the i.

xo
erin

Dean Keller said...

hi erin,

thanks for your comment.

dean

Mystic Meandering said...

Very nice... I find a similar thing happening to me after the death of my mother last month... grieving has turned into acceptance, and acceptance has turned into peace... very interesting process...