The fugacity of life is unquestionable. Unchangeable. We will die, physically. Everything beyond that depends of each person's spiritual agenda and believes, in which I won't meddle too much.
The good thing of the fact of death is that, once one arrives to the realization and acceptance that it's unavoidable, it leaves a lot of room to focus on life. Which is what my current favorite monologue writer, Marcus Aurelius, seems to be fighting with a lot. In book 4, every other chapter is about death in some way. That's a lot more than in chapter 2 and 3 (chapter 1 being only about how he became the person he was).
Death is such as generation is, a mystery of nature; composition out of the same elements, and a decomposition into the same; and altogether not a thing of which any man should be ashamed, for it is not contrary to [the nature of] a reasonable animal, and not contrary to the reason of our constitution.
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, Book 4, Chapter 5
For some reason, I'm not afraid of death. Nor am I happy about it. Nor do I long for it. I somehow got the the state of mind that it's a fact. I don't believe much in afterlife, either. I think that's one of the reasons why religions don't have much appeal to me.
I believe in values.
Early on I came to the conclusion that while religion (protestant/lutherian) played a big part to form my values, I don't need the religion to uphold them. I focus on doing good as much as I can, by my idea of "good", and working on improving.
(I think I wrote about that once. But it's over a year on the chain now, and the search mechanism on the blog is still weird to me, so I'll not look up the post nor repeat the whole sermon.)
Do not act as if thou wert going to live ten thousand years. Death hangs over thee. While thou livest, while it is in thy power, be good.
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, Book 4, Chapter 17
I'm not doing good for a god or for an afterlife nor anyone but myself. Being coherent is the key to happiness, as it takes away that nagging voice in the sub-consciousness knowing the one is doing wrong. My hope is that in the moment that I die, I will be happy. I will be able to look back at my life and know I did right by it. I lived it fully, and I lived it being good.
That way, even if there is a life after death, I can stand in front of every god, any judge, any karma scale and genuinely state that I did the best I could to be good in a world without rules. Because there are none.
Yes, there is the Tao as C.S. Lewis puts it, the common laws that almost all religions have, basically natural laws. And I do abide by them as much as I can, as they are mostly in line with my values.
He who has a vehement desire for posthumous fame does not consider that every one of those who remember him will himself also die very soon; then again also they who have succeeded them, until the whole remembrance shall have been extinguished as it is transmitted through men who foolishly admire and perish. But suppose that those who will remember are even immortal, and that the remembrance will be immortal, what then is this to thee? [...]
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, Book 4, Chapter 19
(Honestly, I love the irony in MA ongoing rejection of seeking fame before and after death, while being read and discussed by many people even 2000 years after perishing. Not to talk about his fame in life...)
But he's right about that. And again, it's something that I have to remind myself of constantly. I have to be good for myself, not for the appearance towards others. That defeats the purpose, at least for me. One of the perks of being "good" aka coherent with one's values is being oneself in public. There is no need to hide if you're truly convinced that you're acts are righteous. That doesn't mean that you're always right, that's where fanaticism and spiritualism part.
And that's the fine line to walk on. Being self-secure and at the same time open for criticism and questioning oneself. But I believe that to be the path for a good life, and with that for a good death - and whatever may come after. Or not.
What are your thoughts about this topic? Please feel free to engage in any original way, including dropping links to your posts on similar topics. I'm happy to read (and curate) any quality content that is not created by LLM/AI, as well as read your own experience and point of view, I love to learn!
Pictures taken with a Motorola Edge 60 Pro, I reserve the copyright - but feel free to ask if you want to use one of the pictures!