FEATURE ARTICLE

Thursday, July 18, 2002

Oliver Mbamara, Esq.,
Oliver@Expressionsofsoul.com
New York, USA


The love of life and fear of death

hakespeare once said, "Of all the wonders I yet have known, it baffles me that men should fear death, knowing that death is inevitable and must come when it must come." The trend is for men to be in love with life (which by the way, is limited by 'final death' of the physical body) and to be afraid of death (which incidentally, is the gateway to the world beyond, wherein lies the true life and kingdom of God).

Peter Tosh, the late Jamaican reggae super-star once sang- "Everybody wants to go to heaven, but nobody wants to die." To paraphrase Jesus Christ - He, who seeks to save his life, shall lose it, and he who gives up his life, shall have eternal life.

Paul of Tarsus, the Apostle is quoted in the New Testament as saying, "I die daily." Paul's statement suggested that death is a repetitive thing that can be experienced while still living on earth, and not just a single occasion to be abhorred. In the same vein as Paul's statement above, the Shariyat ki Sugmad Book 1 says, "The human body does not have to die to make these journeys to God. Each visit will be only temporary until one leaves the body for the last time on earth. This is the art of death in life.

QUESTION

For the love of life, many of us strive to get the best house, the best car, the best yacht, the best estate, and so on, but should these material objectives prevent us from aspiring for an improvement of our spiritual life? In our scale of preference (or priorities), have we placed material satisfaction on top, and relegated spiritual development to the bottom of the scale? The choice to love life too much inevitably leads to the fear of death since such a desire to enjoy life would ultimately be short-lived or interrupted someday by final death of the physical body. So, for how long would the enjoyment of this life last? And when it comes to an end how prepared would one be to encounter the world beyond?

A confrontation of the fear of death is a giant step in the journey back home to God. It would lead to a freedom from illusion and a release from the trap of the material life. It is worth every effort. This is only my understanding, and I am still learning.

THE FEAR OF DEATH

O death, thy fear I fear,
But I fear thee not.
I wait not for thy appointed day,
For in it you instill thy fright
And trouble the minds and thoughts
Of those who fall to thy illusion.

Admonish thy angel not to come,
For I shall acquaint myself
On how to die even daily,
Like travelers of the far country,
I too shall someday know the route,
From this world to the one beyond,
To transit at will over and again,
Loosing all fear that may once lie.

Oliver Mbamara, Esq., is an Administrative Law Judge with the State of New York.