The Sacred Art of Dying p. 1-26

Michael Feeney
9/11/14



"In what follows, we will suggest that death may be viewed through at least three faces: physical (the irreversible loss of brain waves, central nervous system, heart and breath functions); psychological (the life of quasiconsciousness, living, as if having already died); and spiritual (the death or transformation of old patterns, habits, roles, identities and the birth of a new person)"

“The fear of death must be present behind all our normal functioning in order for the organism to be armed toward self-preservation. But the fear of death cannot be present constantly in one’s mental functioning, else the organism could not function.” –Ernest Becker

This quote by Ernest Becker describes our natural disposition towards death in a rather matter-of-fact way, yet it seems to be the most accurate and clear description I have come across. As individuals, we do our best to avoid situations that may harm us or even cause fatal injuries. Yet at the same time, we mustn’t focus on death or the idea of dying, for it may cause us emotional/mental stress and interfere with our day to day life.       

               

Some people throw caution to the wind at times, and can put themselves into dangerous situations, seemingly lacking any fear of death. Is this a mental disorder that distorts the reality of death, or do people generally just have different perceptions toward the short link between life and death? On the other hand, many people think about their death so much on a daily basis, that it begins to cause distress for them. Abiding by either of these two extreme sides of the spectrum is no way to live life day to day, so it is important for us to strike a balance between the two that allows us to carry on while being mindful of how fragile life can really be. 

 “A spiritual death is self-transcendence, is getting outside prior confines of the self or, as it is analogously expressed in many traditions, is like falling unreservedly and compassionately in love.”

Spiritual death seems to be a very open ended topic, with many different factors and reasoning involved. Both self-realization and self-salvation can be a part of the spiritual death, yet it seems like these two things are very different from each other. While self-realization seems to refer to the enlightenment of one’s self, realizing their true self and their purpose or goal in life, self-salvation is seems like more on the religious side, in which someone needs to be saved by a higher entity to realize understand their true purpose on earth.

The concept of being reborn is the main component of a spiritual death, so in actuality, spiritual death is not really a death at all. Spiritual death is more of a reawakening, or the discovering of one’s potential and how they can progress as a person in this world. I feel that a spiritual death must occur before someone’s physical death, or else they may die feeling unfulfilled as a person and may not ever truly accept their own death. After a spiritual death, it seems like people may be more understanding and would be more able to cope with the idea of not living.

Spiritual death or reawakening has always been an interesting topic for me, and I have actually read a book on it called Zen Physics, the Science of Death, the Logic of Reincarnation by David Darling. I recommend this book to anybody who is interested in the topic. I look forward to learning more about this topic in the Sacred Art of Dying, as I feel it may help me answer some of my own questions about life and the mystery of it all.