D is
for Dim, Dull, Doomed and Damned
E is
for Everything Evil Empty and drab
A is
Anger which sure is crammed
To a
trashy terrible Smash and Grab!
Hated
uncouth crawling crab!
Demon
living on others’ sadness
Evil?
Yes! Prince of Badness
Awaiting
a loved one to end in madness
Tricky?
Yes! And foe of Gladness!
Holding
the prize for cool Wickedness!
Grabbing
a mother, brother or child
Opening
a can of worms if needed
Against
all things nice and mild
Winking
when a mother pleaded
Alas we
all await your call
Young
or old, broad, short or tall!
And
don’t go getting a swollen head
-
Zita Subasinghe Perera-
The strange aspect of death is that when it comes, the pain comes not to the person who died but to those nearest and dearest to the person. Fear of death while living and anticipation of death on the other hand, are the emotions we need to deal with. These fears during life probably affect people who believe in an after-life than in convinced Materialists who believe that once you die, "that's it!". Materialists do not concern themselves with anxieties about what conscious experience follows after death whereas for the believers in some form of "persistence", death is after all the entry into an unknown world which may be frightening, especially if you believe that you don't have "a clean slate" with grave consequences. Much to be said for believing that at first there is birth, ending with death and life in between and nothing to follow, which is the approach of many people with scientific and logical analysis. Would such people be immoral as they have nothing to fear? Of course not unless you believe that morality exists for fear of consequences of "bad" or immoral actions and not as a desirable characteristic per se.
ReplyDeleteMahendra, I admit, the aspects you've highlighted I have not addressed in this 'death analysis'. I just wanted to insult this 'idiot' death! Your observations open the real arguments on this subject. I hope our colleagues have some thoughts on it. I am just venting my anger, let's say! 'He' is hideous because of the trail of sadness he leaves behind. Just as you say, the pain is for the nearest and dearest and not to the one who dies. Let's leave this monster to his tricks. Let's make the most of the years we have left. It may be the best way to defeat him! Zita
ReplyDeleteZita, you’ve done a very imaginative and clever piece here.
ReplyDeleteI know you’ve been through a lot of grief recently, but don’t let “ this idiot”
overtake your thoughts- As you say, we need to just enjoy the time we have before we are faced with ‘it’.
At the end of all the philosophizing we have to return to square one and admit our ignorance of what it’s all about !
Keep happy!
Practical approach I suppose, but the "philosophising angle" is fun! Nobody knows for sure, that is true but one cannot deny Man's innate spirit of inquiry and sense of curiosity which has driven us forward on many frontiers.
DeleteMahen, I read this post at the end of a long day,and wrote the above comment, and even as I got into bed,the thought occurred to me that I was being a ‘wet blanket’ ! Iam sorry about this.
DeleteYour profound thoughts would be very interesting to discuss/debate , unfortunately I need to leave it for another time!
Over to our other colleagues! Thanks Mahen
Rohini, of course you are not being a wet blanket! i always tend to be bit provocative when I comment on articles like this hoping to evoke lively replies from colleagues. It doesn't always happen but then, that is life! Hope you slept well and please continue to post comments which I always find interesting to read.
DeleteMahen, you’d be glad you are in the 21st century. You can at least be certain that your Socratic approach to dialogue won’t have you resorting to hemlock !
DeleteRohini, I wish my powers of verbal persuasion were even remotely comparable to the "incomparable" Socrates! Anyway, the stakes are not high enough to consider an untimely termination!
DeleteMahen, It is interesting that persuasion was not part of Socrates’
Deletestrategy- all he did was present a scenario or dilemma and made people reason the truth out for themselves. Making people think was the danger he posed to the establishment !
It was in some ways akin to the teachings of Lord Buddha who said
he found the path to happiness, but didn’t persuade people to accept his sayings unless they themselves found any truth in them.
Socrates didn't even go that far- he left the people with the questions , to think out their own solutions !
Making people think was his ‘crime’ !
Rohini, I am learning a lot from you! With hindsight, I should not have used the word "persuasion", as that is not my style either, apart from some situations, such as for example, cruelty to animals, when I do try to persuade people. When it comes to philosophical, metaphysical or religious matters, my approach is very much "Socratarean" in that I outline my case and leave the Listener or Reader to decide. Furthermore, I am always open to listen to counter arguments. I have absolutely no interest for example, in trying to persuade anybody to believe in rebirth or God!
DeleteI share another Socrates Wisdom, of realising how ignorant I am; "the more I learn, the less I know"
DeleteMahen- We are all in the same boat puddling/?paddling along in our ignorance, guessing at what we cannot fathom !
DeleteYes it was your thought provoking style which led to the ‘Socratic’ analogy - cheers
The link below leads to a thoughtful discussion on Death.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/2007/04/making-peace-with-death/
He starts with these paragraphs which I quote to induce you or tempt you to read the full article -
"While I have a strong drive to enjoy my physical life, I know — really know — it’s just temporary. Against the backdrop of eternity, our human lives are very, very short… little more than a cosmic wink. Some people treat that as a serious problem, but it really doesn’t have to be.
When someone crosses over, such as my grandparents did a few years ago, in my mind they’re doing just fine on the other side. It may be a shock for some when it happens, especially if the death is sudden and/or violent, but that alone doesn’t make it tragic.
It’s totally unnecessary to resist death, fear it, treat it like a disaster. Death just is. In the grand scheme of things, it’s no big whoop. It’s like waking up from a nap and thinking, “Wow, that was a cool dream.” Many dead people regard it like a graduation.
We all need to die. We need to go through that graduation and progress to the next phase of existence. These physical lives are supposed to be temporary. In case you haven’t noticed, there are no permanent humans. The billions of bodies that walk the earth today are all mortal. Some may delay their death, maybe for a seemingly long time, but it’s a safe bet that eternity will win out in the end."
Mahen,
DeleteThere must be a mistake here - Last line third para-
“ Many dead people regard it like a graduation “ ??? !!
Roohini. That was a direct quotation and is obviously probably not what the author intended to conevy as "dead people" would not e able to "regard" anything! Unless of course the Author believes that dead people pass on to another "state of awareness" and he has been able to communicate with them! What he meant to say, as no doubt you would have realised, is "Many people regard death like a graduation"
DeleteMahen, yes I realized it was a quote, and that it was a mistake.
DeleteI agree with it’s essence- Thankyou
Another thought- From Khalil Gibran-
“Life and death are one ,even as the river and sea are one”
It’s not like me to start a conversation and let the others ‘get on with it’.
ReplyDeleteSo here I am after a few days. I am so fascinated by the discussion above. I quite agree with the ‘cosmic wink’ concept. That’s exactly what our lifespan is. I also agree about ‘when they cross over to the other side’ concept. It appears that most religious persuasions agree with some sort of existence once we’ve ‘Crossed over’. That is truly encouraging. I have listed before , two books that Suren Iyer recommended to me. 1. Many Lives Many Masters, 2. Only love is real both by Dr Brian Weiss. Both are very good reads on this subject. Going back to the subject of Death, what gets me is, here we are, all alive, functioning, vibrating, gyrating and suddenly Bang! Dead! No more! Body putrefaction starts, the spirit or consciousness exits, (oh where does it go?)Some thoughts are found in Consciousness by Mahendra on this Blog. And there is not a sign of the active being any more. Whatever we say, we can’t decipher this mystery. Zita
The question is "how unique are we in the animal kingdom?". Do animals have feelings/emotions such as love,anger, jealousy, hate, loyalty, delight, guilt, appreciation? My answer is "of course they do. Is the life time of an animal ( I am referring to mammals), filled with events, successes, failures etc and does all that just go in Zita's words"Bang! Dead" inevitably? Appears so, in other words, that is what happens! That is the way it is! A compendium of priceless information if set on fire will become ashes and I doubt it has an after life. It is a mystery, why we are so obsessed with what happens after death.
ReplyDeleteAlthough I am unable to contribute towards this lively debate bordering on philosophy, I nevertheless enjoy every line that you guys write.
ReplyDeleteWhile reading Zita's last comment, I thought I had finally got at "Anonymous" only to be disappointed when Zita had signed off as "Zita" at the very end. That provides me with another clue, but I may be far off the target. Is one of the regular contributors playing a double game by masquerading as Mr. or Ms. Anonymous?
Lucky, I even thought you would think I am that 'anonymous Anonymous'! My anonymity is due to some mix up by Google who thinks I am robot of late and refuses to publish my comments. Well so I had to use the Anon title but then too they give you a lot tests to make sure you are not a robot. Zita
DeleteOur regular.ND is returning from holiday soon. His thoughtful contributions enhance our Blog. I look forward to his comments soon.
ReplyDeleteThis is the 5th of December and I am back after quite a long silence and I am fascinated to find such a high powered philosophic discussion going on, on this subject. I have to admit that some of the ideas expressed are a bit beyond me but I hope to delve into them and learn a bit more. So proud that our batch has these members like Mahen and Rohini who are so well read and have so much knowledge. I am truly proud to belong to our Batch '62! Zita
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry that I am joining this discussion rather late, but it is fascinating! I've enjoyed the lively philosophical exchange among Mahen, Rohini and Zita, as well as Zita's original contribution that set it going. I will be celebrating another birthday soon, and feel very fortunate that I am enjoying relatively good health. But, I confess, that death resurges in my mind from time to time, especially when someone near and dear dies. I do not fear death, but I don't want it to come at in inconvenient time! We really don't know what is "on the other side" but we have to believe in something so that we can keep on living our lives in the best way possible. When the time comes I hope that it will be a peaceful and smooth transition.
ReplyDelete