1 Apr 2010 @ 15:18
FUNERAL
Hearse of weathered black enamel,
Undertakers fingering cigarettes.
Family, some crying, some bored,
Some only thinking of themselves.
Hired marching band out of tune.
Even in death we find no accord.
If you look closely at a dead person, can you truly see a soul? Is
there anything left of the person that you knew? No. There is only a
corpse, one that doesn't even look familiar; whatever animates people is
gone. Have they flown to heaven? Have they gone into some cycle of
transmigration? I don't know. Theories about what happens after death
can only be conjecture.
A funeral is for those left behind. It is a ritual for us to come to
grips with what has happened. Sometimes, one wonders if the weeping is
more out of fear for ourselves than it is sympathy for the deceased.
All our lives, we seek union. We try to please our parents, we try
to do well for our teachers and society, we try to make love and get
married, we try to touch the universal through art, music, and
meditation. Yet all our lives, our every attempt is flawed. Accord and
harmony are transitory states. Their duration and quality come only from
our determination. Once our mind gives way, we can no longer hold the
connections that we want.
Don't wait for death to solve your difficulties. Do what you must
while you are alive.
365 Tao: Daily Meditations
Deng Ming-Dao
|
|