I am thinking this morning that duality and non-duality are but One. I'm amazed at life and equally amazed at death. The sparkliness in the eyes of one so alive can be seen even at the point of death.
A few years ago I had the opportunity to sit with a dear friend who had many complications from AIDS and who was approaching his death with great awareness. He had said to me, "Look into my eyes as I am dying. I'll carry that sparkle of life on with me, even after I'm no longer here with you." WOW, I thought - what awareness. He didn't seem to be stuck in staying around in a body vehicle that was destined to die. But I sensed he knew that his spirit, that which animated him in this life, that his spirit would have no ending. He seemed to understand that duality as the appearance (some call illusion) of his operating in this world.
So, I'm looking at my garden, thinking how lovely and lively it is, and then I stoop down to pick up the dead leaves, that were once alive, and that now mulch the ground. Isn't it a strange feeling to see this around us daily. Rilke said, "Life and death at core are entwined . . . ".
I have grieved many friends and family who have made their transition from their earthly bodies, back into the dimension of pure spirit and each time there was a sense of joy (look at the duality in this), knowing that a spark of their appearance in life here that I got to witness, that a spark of their life would still live on. I sense and feel that once something is giving life, that it is always with us, hence the stories and remembrances that we have of those who have made this transition. I miss my mother and often say how I wish she were still here, but her spirit is still here, moving in me, and in everything that is re-membered, everything that was touched by her. Everywhere I see sparkles of her spirit, and in me I feel that her sparkle is not separate or dead, but alive, just as if she were in the flesh.
So, it seems that what we call lost to death is just a rearrangement of the property of the universe, in which nothing is ever lost. See, I am a non-dualist living in a seemly dualistic world, BUT IT IS ALL ONE. A leaf falls from a tree and does the tree grieve. Even in death we are supported. The leaf now feeds the very tree that gave it life. Another aha moment was my realization of a self-contained universe in which NOTHING IS LOST.
I'm really missing my Jeff this morning, even while he sits in jail and awaits an unknown outcome. I am thinking that life is not the same without him in my physical presence, but I still feel the spark of his being, his aliveness, even while he is not near me. And I feel a constant movement, moving me within it toward more experience of this life, of WHAT IS.
So, do we really lay down our life or do we lay down our bodies used in this life. I think the latter. I consider that laying down my life as laying down a sparkly experience within this bigger thing that will continue eternally. I can know this now and respond to it according to my understanding and my ability (RESPONSE-ABILITY), and try not to fear death. Death does not so much concern me about giving up this body, but pain does. Seems that spirit really wants to be here, experiencing life, and would like to stay as long as possible. Can we ever know the reason for this? I have thought that this was what was meant by GOD experiences GOD through us. And we are just a part of it, just as the trees, the rocks, the hurricaines, the stars, the planets, galaxies, rot, worms, birds . . . To me, it is all GOD, universal spirit, moving in and around what we call this agency of myself, ME, or us. So, in a sense there is no ultimate death of what is. The property just changes, the body changes and grows and moves into the next state. The next state is just another dual thing in our being, that will come and go, but the whole thing is without beginning and without end. So, I'll end here cause I'm not sure I said much anyway. Have a great day.