The upheavals of the past five years, none of which need further explanation here, complemented by the actuarial implications of life’s 9th decade, add a certain sense of wonder to the ever-present mix of considerations of worldly-world existence, a sense encapsulated in the question: “Are you ready to give up your body?”
My answer is the title of this essay. Not only am I ready, but the process of being ready is one of enormous joy.
Brother David Steindl-Rast, widely enjoyed Benedictine monk, teaches that happiness is the fruit of gratitude. And I can think of not one thing in my 80 years for which I am not grateful, not one experience that hasn’t been an agent of increased reverence, and I am no stranger to hatred and a good chunk of the encyclopedia of consequences born of unmanaged fear. Yet by some breathtaking grace of God, within my every experience, no matter how ignorant its impulse or grotesque its outcome, is the Divine Smile reminding me that this too is a sacred step on the journey to conscious realization of my True Self: God Alone.
The solitude I crave today in this incarnation’s concluding chapter may manifest itself in a variety of ways, including the disposition of my various forms of worldly self-expression, this very essay included under the umbrella labeled playful, loving, deep. But transcending all of that is the ever-greater awakening to the reality where so-called life and death are merely ego-related terms for that which never changes, that which is eternal.
Nonetheless, I’ll surely welcome discovering that my corporeal demise leads to at least one change: a deepening of my realization that all is God. Robin Williams quipped that death was God’s way of saying, “Your table’s ready.” What a delight it will be to dance into that all-night diner and discover, once again, same old, same old: nothing but love, ever more and better.
I think if you’re satisfied with your ego trip, you might go to the other side of the ego, which is effect.
Cheers
I spent five years interviewing Samdhong Rinpoche, the Dalai Lama’s closest colleague, who is the only Buddhist in the world with his culture and training who spent years is close dialogue with Krishnamurti. The title of my book sharing our dialogues is, Always Awakening. As you know, we are always waking up from the dream we call consciousness, into another state.
Shall we schedule at time for that call? What is good for you? I’m flexible.
Michael Mendizza
Not so fast Skipper. You still have much work to do in this life ya know.
I smiled reading the last comment: Not so fast, Skipper. Reading your essay, Be Here Now comes to mind, along side your anticipation of your table being ready. Grateful for your continued writing and creating, Steve.