The Art of Dying

That which prevents me, and I suppose most of you, from being truly honest, from being truly myself in every single moment, in every act and word that comes out of my being is but one thing: fear.

But fear of what? What is it that we really fear? I guess we fear a lot of things. Pain, sickness, loneliness, anxiety, lack of comfort, lack of resources, lack of love, lack of attention, lack of... something whatever it is, fear itself, and death.

But if we isolate the thing in itself, fear, what is it? What is it made of? Why is it there? When and how does it affect us? What is our relation to it?

I believe there is some invisible internal mechanism that has the ability to hold on or to let go of things. It's grasping, attachment, dependency. We're holding on to that which seems most precious.

"Whosoever shall seek to save his life shall lose it; and whosoever shall lose his life shall preserve it."
Jesus Christ, Luke 17:33

When we hold on to this life, when we try to possess it, to control it, to preserve it, force it to be something else than what the Universe offers, then fear arises. And this opens the door for those who want to own this world, to own us. And thus humanity remains enslaved and ignorant. We die inside before we really die, in order to maintain our illusion of life.

But when we let go of this life, when we surrender, when we no longer desire life to be something else than what it is. The door for the True Being opens. There is fearlessness in our hearts. This is True Power, Freedom and Joy.

"He who controls others may be powerful, but he who has mastered himself is mightier still."
Lao Tzu

How to let go? What do I mean with letting go of this life? Whenever a situation is presented to you in your life when you know in your heart what is the right thing to do, say or choose, but you don't because you are afraid of something, afraid of loosing your job, afraid of being judged, afraid of being ignored or reprimanded, or afraid of something else whatever it is, choose Truth anyway. Choose what you know is right whatever that leads to. Start there. Be aware of the internal mechanisms, emotions and thoughts that arise, Investigate that and you will understand what I mean with "letting go".

It's becoming clear to me that the art of truly being ourselves, if we consider this to be irrevocably linked to Truth, is really the same as the Art of Dying. Are we willing to learn and practise this art? Not only in relation to people and events external to us, but also in relation to ourselves?

“You have to die a few times before you can really
live.”
Charles Bukowski

Now this might make a lot of sense in the written form, but I know and I admit that I am nowhere close to this fearlessness I speak of because figuring it out in our minds is one thing, but then putting it to action in our lives is a totally different story.



And why is it difficult? Because by taking upon ourselves the task of being truthful with ourselves and with others, we are defying  our conditioning. We are defying our personality, our comfort zone, the way we were taught to interpret the world. By being true to ourselves we are entering in uncharted territory which means we will experience discomfort and fear in our hearts. Fear is a very powerful and dark feeling within ourselves, but one that must be seen through. The first step is not to be afraid of fear. Only then will we be able to face it and see through it.

"I must not fear.
Fear is the mind-killer.
Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration.
I will face my fear.
I will permit it to pass over me and through me.
And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path.
Where the fear has gone there will be nothing.
Only I will remain."
Dune

When fear is present in our hearts, we are not really alive or connected to the beat of the Universe. This is the challenge presented to us in this world.

“The goal of life is to make your heartbeat match the beat of the universe, to match your nature with Nature.”
Joseph Campbell

I recommend the movie Fearless 1993. It goes into this quite deeply.

I leave you with this video which also goes into this in a more spiritual or religious context. Cheers