Birth and Death

Every moment in life involves a death. From the cellular level to our patterns of thought and consciousness, the old is constantly being replaced with the new. Our soul, as my new friend the eloquent Dr. P.V. has stated, also goes through different vibrations that are constantly subject to change. Everywhere we look, from the micro to the macro, this appears to be a principle of the universe. My recent level of awareness has allowed me to recognize these patterns with greater clarity.

Today I celebrated a birthday that has been the most meaningful of my life (other than the first one of course). In many ways, this entire year has involved deaths to a much greater degree than I have ever experienced. Death should always be looked at as a positive. Your viewpoint of death is your viewpoint of change…and change can not be avoided…nor should it be. Change is meant to be embraced.

Without fully realizing what I was doing, I entered a recording studio today and captured what will be the final program and the final words that anyone will ever hear from me. I recorded the songs and words (my own) that will be played at my funeral…whenever and wherever that may be. As I look at this past year as the beginning of my TRUE awakening, I wanted to mark a subjective moment that has truly made me the happiest I have ever been. Far from being morbid, for me it was liberating. When we are able to face death we are able to truly live.

What I DIDN’T realize, until I had left the studio, is that more than one kind of death was being represented by my action. I was also signifying the death of the radio career that has been a part of my external life since I was 15. I am re-entering university studies this month with an eye to peace and conflict resolution work in the Middle East. Never have I felt more convicted and passionate about a cause for justice. One of the many ways in which we show our love to each other…to the unity that is in all of us…is RECOGNIZING the equality of our universal humanity. To me, that naturally involves taking up the cause of the oppressed. It is only through realizing the essence of my own soul, and through intense mental effort that I have been able to see this path clearly. I am NOT saying that this is or SHOULD be everyone’s path. We can recognize and show love in many capacities in life, and every action, if we are true to our own essence, to our own humanity, is BEYOND valuable.

Seeing a tiny glimpse of your essence gives you a brief vision of the universal, and places you where you were meant to be. That place is INSIDE of you FIRST, NOT outside of you, although what happens INSIDE will affect the OUTSIDE. This search involves a separation (or death) from the externals of society. It often takes adversity to begin the process. Hopefully that doesn’t have to be the case, although it was for me.

I’m not trying to say that I have “arrived” or “achieved enlightenment” in any way, shape or form. However, I HAVE found what you might call “direction”. I am pointed down the right road FOR THIS MOMENT, but the journey will never end. This part of life too will die and be replaced with yet another. However the soul is everlasting. It is what combines me with you and all of us with each other. We are all a part of a collective. Choose death. Embrace change. It’s not an end, it’s a beginning.