Late Sunday, May 5, my mom passed away (Rob’s).  She was a feisty, vivacious, kick-ass woman with a heart as wide as the ocean and a soul as vast the universe.  I will not suffer the slings and arrows of great human sorrow on her passing.  Her life was tormentous to say the least; therefore, I have no doubt she has achieved Nirvana.

I will rejoice in her life.  I will rejoice in the life she breathed in me!  I will rejoice in wise words through history on death:

Death – the last sleep?  No, it is the final awakening.

~ Walter Scott ~

 Death is one of two things…

Either it is annihilation, and the dead have no consciousness of anything; or, as we are told, it is really a change:  a migration of the soul from one place to another.

~ Socrates ~

 Death is nothing else but going home to God, the bond of love will be unbroken for all eternity.

~ Mother Teresa ~

 The fear of death follows from the fear of life.  A man who lives fully is prepared to die at any time.

~ Mark Twain ~

 The only thing that burns in hell is the part of you that won’t let go of your life:  your memories, your attachments.  They burn them all away, but they’re not punishing you, they’re freeing your soul.  If you’re frightened of dying and you’re holding on, you’ll see devils tearing your life away.  If you’ve made your peace, then the devils are really angels freeing you from the earth.

~ Meister Eckhart ~

 Some people are so afraid to die that they never begin to live.

~ Henry Van Dyke ~

 Only those who have dared to let go can dare to re-enter.

~ Meister Eckhart ~

 When the heart weeps for what it has lost, the soul laughs for what it has found.

~ Sufi aphorism ~

 Of course you don’t die. 

Nobody dies.
Death doesn’t exist.
You only reach a new level of vision, a new realm of consciousness, a new unknown world.

~ Henry Miller ~

 A man’s ethical behavior should be based effectually on sympathy, education, and social ties - no religious basis is necessary.  Man would indeed be in a poor way if he had to be restrained by fear of punishment and hope of reward after death.

~ Albert Einstein ~

 To fear death is nothing other than to think oneself wise when one is not.  For it is to think one knows what one does not know.  No one knows whether death may not even turn out to be the greatest blessings of human beings.  And yet people fear it as if they knew for certain it is the greatest evil.

~ Socrates ~

 We are ignorant of the Beyond because this ignorance is the condition of our own life.  Just as ice cannot know fire except by melting and vanishing.

~ Jules Renard ~

 The bitterest tears shed over graves are for words left unsaid and deeds left undone.

~ Harriet Beecher Stowe ~

 If man hasn’t discovered something that he will die for, he isn’t fit to live.

~ Martin Luther King ~

 I believe there are two sides to the phenomenon known as death, this side where we live, and the other side where we shall continue to live.  Eternity does not start with death.  We are in eternity now.

~ Norman Vincent Peale ~

 Ancient Egyptians believed that upon death they would be asked two questions and their answers would determine whether they could continue their journey in the afterlife.

The first question was, “Did you bring joy?”
The second was, “Did you find joy?”

~ Leo Buscaglia ~

 Normally we do not like to think about death. We would rather think about life.   Why reflect on death?  When you start preparing for death you soon realize that you must look into your life now… and come to face the truth of your self.  Death is like a mirror in which the true meaning of life is reflected.

~ Sogyal Rinpoche ~

 As a well spent day brings happy sleep, so life well used brings happy death.

~ Leonardo DaVinci ~

  He who has gone, so we but cherish his memory, abides with us, more potent, nay, more present than the living man.

~ Antoine de Saint-Exupéry ~

 Die happily and look forward to taking up a new and better form.  Like the sun, only when you set in the west can you rise in the east.

~ Jelaluddin Rumi ~

 The Native American View On Life & Death

“You live on earth only for a few short years which you call an incarnation, and then you leave your body as an outworn dress and go for refreshment to your true home in the spirit.”

~ White Eagle ~

“So live your life that the fear of death can never enter your heart. Trouble no one about their religion; respect others in their view, and demand that they respect yours. Love your life, perfect your life, beautify all things in your life. Seek to make your life long and its purpose in the service of your people. Prepare a noble death song for the day when you go over the great divide. Always give a word or a sign of salute when meeting or passing a friend, even a stranger, when in a lonely place. Show respect to all people and grovel to none. When you arise in the morning give thanks for the food and for the joy of living. If you see no reason for giving thanks, the fault lies only in yourself. Abuse no one and no thing, for abuse turns the wise ones to fools and robs the spirit of its vision. When it comes your time to die, be not like those whose hearts are filled with the fear of death, so that when their time comes they weep and pray for a little more time to live their lives over again in a different way. 

Sing your death song and die like a hero going home”

~ Chief Tecumseh (Crouching Tiger) Shawnee Nation 1768-1813 ~

 Buddha’s View On Life & Death

“Everything is changeable, everything appears and disappears; there is no blissful peace until one passes beyond the agony of life and death.”

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“Even death is not to be feared by one who has lived wisely.”

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“On life’s journey faith is nourishment, virtuous deeds are a shelter, wisdom is the light by day and right mindfulness is the protection by night. If a man lives a pure life, nothing can destroy him.”

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“The secret of health for both mind and body is not to mourn for the past, not to worry about the future, or not to anticipate troubles, but to live in the present moment wisely and earnestly.”