The famous Russian author Dostoevsky was put in front of a firing squad and was sure that he was going to die. He did not get shot after all, but he said that those 5 minutes in front of the firing squad felt like such a long time. “You have time to see the sunset, and to see the sun reflecting on the roof of the cathedral. Such a beautiful light! Everything stopped.” For 5 minutes he was in total ecstasy. The intensity of the presence of death smashed his egoic structure into pieces, and the essence of his being remained there, in perfect silence, contemplating life, truly.
Death in the Light of Tantra
In the tradition of Tantra, the most prominent goddess is Kali, the mother of death. She is considered the first of the Mahavidyas. A Tantric must meet Kali and deeply understand death, in order to deeply understand life. True transformation can only occur when embracing death. We continuously embrace the dying of all that we are, all our current limitations. Every moment is entirely fresh, vivid, and alive, and will never be repeated. Every moment dies to itself, in order to give birth to another moment. Transformation and death are necessary byproducts of life.
The Fear of Death
Some spiritual tools lead you from your inner tensions and show that they all originate from the fear of death. Fear is related to the unknown. We have an intolerance of uncertainty. When we know what something is, already things become much calmer and quieter inside. As we walk into the room of life, there is an inevitable out door, called death. We are wired to be afraid of that door and to stay in the room of life. We react to this by avoiding even looking at the door. As we avoid this door, we start to look uncertain in the room of life. Our area of awareness becomes much smaller. We see death as something terrible that must be avoided at all costs. When we avoid looking at death with courage, it becomes much more monstrous in our imaginations. Consciousness will change our perspective on both life and death. Our ego creates a whole lot of noise to prevent us from deeply contemplating the inevitable end of all that we see. Mental agitation helps us to avoid facing the reality of certain death. It helps us to keep everything very defined and contained. The more we are agitated, the less we are in touch with our souls. The less we are in touch with our souls, the more fear and ego we will experience.
How to Face Death
Many people facing death discover a very profound meaning to life. If we let the experience in, in a radical way, a very healthy process of transformation can occur. Our perspective of what has meaning can shift very dramatically. When we are close to death, the meaningful aspects of life become sharp and vivid, standing out. In front of death, your bank account means nothing. Alexander the Great asked that his arms hang out of his coffin so that people could see that the king of the world comes out of this world empty-handed. Being forgiven for the mistakes that we made, loving the people that we love. These things become of paramount importance when we face the prospect of death.
Coming Face-to-face
People who encounter near-death experiences (NDEs) often move toward living a more meaningful life. They feel happier, lighter, and more interested in people because something fundamentally changed within them. Death showed them what really has meaning. In Viktor Frankl’s seminal book “Man’s search for meaning”, a group of people who were facing death, broke into the library so they could read their favorite books. In the midst of the concentration camps, books could transport their hearts somewhere beautiful. We can choose to really look at death, without having such an intense external experience. Deeply contemplate the fact that you are definitely going to die. Look at the exit door of your life How does it feel? Do this courageously and a very profound transformation will begin to occur. We can’t stop thinking because we need constant noise to cover this background question that we did not answer; death. This door is real. It is the only event in your future that is certain. By basing your life on this certainty, you will experience a profound shift of values. After the big inner storm of facing death, you will find peace. Make peace with death, and you will find peace in life. If you are ready to die today, you can live from silence, from simplicity, in a natural way.
The Predictable Me
A state of predictability gives a false sense of control. When we put death in the picture there comes a lot of uncertainty. A description of honey can never be close to the taste of honey. We do not remember dying before, so we can have no idea what death is really like. With death comes a feeling of mystery. From the courage of facing this mystery something miraculous happens inside of us. Our entire motivational structure changes. Money, fame, revenge, and competition no longer make any sense. The false personality will diminish, and the essence of your being will rise. This new structure is not as defined, not as verbal, and not as confining. That in us which integrates and contains death is much freer. As the defined, predictable, known structure of the false personality meets death, it looks like a caricature. The old motivations for meaningless activities that don’t bring peace, disappear. Another driving force appears in the heart. From the mysterious “me” rise aspirations from the depths of the heart. There rises a wish to serve the whole. There comes an inner burning. As the agitation subsides, the poem of life starts to make sense.
Transcribed and edited by Charlie Wilson from