The Upside of Death or The Good News is Your Going to Die.

Every religion tries to figure out the answer of death. The what, when, where, how, and WHY. Why is death such a negative aspect of our life? There is a passage in the bible that reads "god loves us so much he gave us death". This sounds like a back handed complement like "Hey! Your not as stupid as you look." But in a second review can there be a plus to death?






















French philosopher Blaise Pascal felt that even though the existence of God cannot be determined through reason, a person should "wager" as though God exists, because so living has potentially everything to gain, and certainly nothing to lose. Death was simply an unavoidable event in life.

But death is what makes life... well life. A fish is the last creature to understand what wet is. It is not until we have a base of comparison that we can see things. We can not see white with out black. Death is the our contrast to life. Death lets us know life is not permanent and if we don't do something with it, life can and will be taken away.



















A disciple asked Buddha where we go after we die. He responded by blowing out a candle. Then he asked where did the flame go? The young man said it did not go any where, it is just gone. Buddha simply nodded to the reply and said "there is your answer". There are no guaranteed answers to life, we simply know that is happens. So we can't do anything about death, so how can we look at it in a good way?

Being a guy I never saw the reason to give flowers. Why give something that dies and withers away in a matter of days? Why not give fake flowers? They are just as nice to look at but last as long as you do. It was the fact they were going to die that made them special. when I give flower I am not giving the beauty of the flowers I am showing the brilliance of life. Here I give you a moment of life, the fact that it will be gone shortly makes it that much more amazing.

Death is what makes life worth living.

Live in Awe.

Shoping Trip

Living like a monk on top of a completely unattainable mountain top in an impossibly beautiful setting, sounds great but if you want to really understand the Human Beings go shopping. You can see every kind of person and about every kind of relationships. Next time you are at the market take a look at the people around you. Look at their faces. Are they happy? sad? apathetic? The next question to ask your self is "Are they even there?"

In a public setting we feel as if no one is watching, which in today's world is far from the truth. Yet we walk around in a fog more concerned about the world in our head then the world we are living in. If you look at a person's face, when they think no one is looking, you see what is going on behind their eyes. Count how many people have a smile or a peaceful expression. Now count how many have a scowl.

I was in line at the check out counter and saw a cashier ringing up some unidentifiable meat product when the coupon decided not to come off. The elderly cashier be came frustrated. You could see in her face that this was just "one more thing to go wrong." I could picture her going home and lamenting how tough her day was and if pressed could recant her battle with the coupon. Every little war she waged reinforced this truth.

On the same trip I was attacked by a one year old. This blond hair, blue eyed, warrior of shear bliss stopped me dead in my tracks with a huge scattered tooth smile. I smiled back only to have it volleyed back with even greater force. This girl got me. As I stood in the middle of the aisle, I was sucked out of my mental/virtual world and was confronted with undeniable bliss. Defeated in my negativity, I retreated back into the eggs and concentrated orange juice. There I watched as the very same apathetic, scowling faces I saw earlier brighten to a full on beaming smile. Every time I could trace their glance right to the young girl with the undiscriminating smile.

Next time I am at the store I am going to try something a little different. I am going to stop the internal chorus of "how bad my life is, let me count the ways" at least long enough to smile to that cashier . I just hope having a mouth full of teeth will not lessen effect.

Live in awe.

Let the Zen Begin

In the past few years I have had four people independently comment "you know what, you think weird." Besides the questionable grammar, the statement left me befuddled. Upon further questioning no one could give me a good example, only that I "didn't think like other people." Now at the time I took this as a complement but around the third or forth person I began to become a little self conscious.

A Zen monk was once asked what enlightenment is like. The monk thought about it for a minute and replied "just like before only two inches off the ground." The monk was not so elated that he felt like he was floating, but only that he now sees the would a little differently. Next time you get a chance stand on you chair, desk, willing midget, etc... and take a look around. Notice how different your world is now? Do I really think people will jump on to their coffee tables and reach santorie (enlightenment)? No. More likely vertigo, but there is always the hope that someone will at least pause to give something in their life another look and find something new.

This is pretty much what this blog is about. Nothing life changing, just giving you the chance to look at life through eyes not quite two inches off the ground but maybe one, two inches sideways, and (I am not going to lie) sometimes crossed. Just keep in mind that thinking weird is not bad, If we all thought the same way this would be a vary boring life.

Live in awe, people. Live in awe.