Surely, in ending there is renewal, is there not? It's only in death that a new thing comes into being. I am not giving you comfort. This is not something to be believed or thought about or intellectually examined and accepted, for then you will make it into another comfort, as you now believe in reincarnation or continuity in the hereafter, and so on. But the actual fact is that that which continues has no rebirth, no renewal. Therefore, in dying every day there is renewal, there is a rebirth. That is immortality.
In death there is immortality, not the death of which you are afraid, but the death of previous conclusions, memories, experiences, with which you are identified as the 'me'. In the dying of the 'me' every minute there is eternity, there is immortality, there is a thing to be experienced -not to be speculated upon or lectured about, as you do about reincarnation and all that kind of stuff. When you are no longer afraid, because every minute there is an ending and therefore a renewal, then you are open to the unknown. Reality is the unknown. Death is also the unknown. But to call death beautiful, to say how marvelous it is because we shall continue in the hereafter and all that nonsense, has no reality.
What has reality is seeing death as it is, an ending; an ending in which there is renewal, a rebirth, not a continuity. For that which continues decays; and that which has the power to renew itself is eternal.
- J. Krishnamurti, The Book of Life
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Personal Commentary: I have today and most recently found this to be so very true to the whole understanding of death and rebirth in everyday life. That what we hold onto and try to make last or continue must inevitably decay and die while that which one let's go of lives forever. All that we cherish and value in life, be it material, ethereal, artistic or spiritual, along with the 'aha' moments of understanding and total clarity, must be let go of in the present moment, often to handle very dull uninspiring (or sometimes the opposite, but still very mundane..) tasks which are not so spiritually uplifting but all the same make it possible for these higher values to continue being. To handle the mundane duties and routines of daily life provides a necessary opposite to the inspirational higher conscious realms, and provides the opportunity to let go of whatever comforts and enjoyments one is clinging to, which we all sometimes prefer would last forever. The more I do on the physical mundane level, the more space for feeling joy love, and inspiration I create all around me, because I allow it to exist and grow by simply letting it all go...
ReplyDeleteReality is the unknown. Death is also the unknown. But to call death beautiful, to say how marvelous it is because we shall continue in the hereafter and all that nonsense, has no reality.
ReplyDeleteWhat has reality is seeing death as it is, an ending; an ending in which there is renewal, a rebirth, not a continuity. For that which continues decays; and that which has the power to renew itself is eternal.
- J. Krishnamurti, The Book of Life