"All goes onward and outward, nothing collapses. And to die is far different from what anyone supposed, and luckier."
~Walt Whitman ~
Where do the dead go? Wherever it is, they leave their flesh and bones behind them. The body remains but the spirit is long gone... on to better things and greater glories I have no doubt; to the bright light of unconditional love everlasting and the suffering free zone.
We tend to avoid the topic of death as a rule. It makes us squirrelly. Perhaps we believe that by avoidance we can escape it somehow.
The Buddhist mindset suggests that we should spend regular time preparing ourselves for it, becoming familiar and comfortable with its implications and seeming finality. They believe that death is our greatest opportunity for evolution and that we would be well served to approach it with care and curiosity and respect.
For my part, I find death sweetly sad: the end of physical pain and the great loss of contact all tangled up together. I celebrate the freedom of those who have been released from human bondage, and weep hot tears for all of us who remain.
I make peace with the reality of death.
