What is death?

I know that this subject is not an easy one to contemplate.
People associate with death so much pain and sadness, that they would rather not think about nor deal with it at all.

But to the student of Truth, exploring all aspects of reality, understanding the nature of death and illusions and being willing to examine all origins and theories, is essential.

Most spiritual writing accepts the concept of death as natural and as an unavoidable part of life.

This contradiction actually points to the fact that most spiritual writing, is lacking in understanding and does not reflect a full comprehension of the truth.

Let us have a look at how the concept of death has gotten established in our understanding.

We look around us and we see things being born, having a life duration, and then the process of decay sets in, and finally death.

When we look at nature, we can examine the process of a deciduous tree as it is growing up.
We can see the green flexible leaves changing colors until they become less pliable, and finally as winter approaches, the tree sheds its leaves and they fall to the ground.

Do we call it the "death of the leaves?"- not really.

We just assume that the tree has shed its leaves in preparation for the winter season, and that it did that because it needed to concentrate its powers and energy in its trunk and limbs.

The next season at springtime, the tree will grow new green leaves and will continue the process for another year.

What happened to the dry leaves that the tree shed last winter?
They have disintegrated into compost, and changed their molecular shape from leaves to soil.

The soil is composed of all organic matter that has changed from one form to another.

But still, in the secret places of our heart, we look at the process as having a FINALITY, and we ignore the fact that the leaves did not die or end- but merely changed form and became soil.

We do the same when we look at a bird that has died in our garden.
We see the immobile form of the bird, and we call it death.

The organic materials of the body of the bird disintegrate into the elements of the earth from which it was created to begin with.

It is because we are attached to form, to bodies, to our individuality, that we see death.

Everything in life is in a constant state of CHANGE.
But death and finality, are an erroneous concepts.

We look at our own bodies, and how we have changed from babies to young children, to adults...
We see how our bodies seem to age, and we project what we believe about life and death, and we simply expect death to come one day.

We also see around us people dying all the time, in fact daily... And we do not think of it as a transition to another realm, or a process of change of form and moving on, but we grieve and hold onto the illusion of death.

Bodies, have only ONE purpose for being here....they are nothing more than tools for communication.

Bodies are not real, nor do they have any solid or enduring reality.
They are a collection of circuit impulses and energy, fluids and liquids that shape themselves according to our emotions, beliefs and ideas.

Like the tree, our bodies are constantly changing.
From week to week, from year to year, from season to season.

If we cultivate more loving, forgiving and detached thoughts, the lines in our foreheads will smooth themselves out.

If we go through a period of worries, anxieties, anger and fear, we may look tense and older than we do when we love life, love others and feel expanded and joyous.

For as long as you are on this earth, you have something to accomplish here.

If and when your work here is done, you will change form, but it is NOT death- it is LIBERTY.

The world may call it death, but it will be a joyous transition from labor gladly done, and gladly ended.

The body is a means of communication.

Those who grasped the Truth, can easily communicate it to others, through the human mouth, and through language, to other human ears and minds.

People who believe in the reality of bodies and of solid existence, are terrified of the unseen.
If they heard a spiritual Voice speaking to them, they would run to the ends of the earth and hide in terror.

But when they hear the voice of another human being speaking to them of the Truth, in the same voice and manner that humans communicate, they are able to listen and to contemplate.

Bodies are a means of communication - nothing more.

Enlightened masters do not have to go through death, to transform their form back into the Universal Energy from which we all came.
They can simply disappear into thin air.

Others choose to leave their bodies behind and leave behind this dense form of communication, and move into lighter and more fluid realms through death during their sleep or during meditation.

What I plan to say now may surprise you, especially if you do not believe a single thing I have written here:

Whatever form of transformation anyone chooses in order to leave this earth, if it is an "accident" or a disease, it does not matter in eternity.

NOBODY dies without his consent. (not our personality self, but the consent of our higher Self or soul)

We all choose the moment we depart this earth, and we do so in gladness, as we move back into spirit from which we came.