What Separates Life From Death
And how alive are you?
“Do not go gentle into that good night
Rage, rage against the dying of the light”
— Dylan Thomas.
One of the biggest questions that have latched onto me for a long time — like most people when puberty hits them — has been death. For quite a while, I feared the idea of losing all I have; to be stuck in the darkness away from the colors I was used to seeing. Alone and gloomy.
We call it many names. For a few, it reveals itself as an existential crisis and dreading the unknown. For others who can’t cope with the truth, it manifests itself in the form of the first stage of grief i.e. denial. Then you also witness people who are calm on this matter. All these varieties of reactions exist because no matter how much we try to run away from it, the inevitable truth stands there firmly. Hence the curiosity.
We humans think of ourselves as limitless. When we look at science reaching the brink of our solar system (Voyager 1 and 2), technology’s rapid advancements, humans gaining more and more power over nature (and humanity vice-versa), we somewhere — in our behaviors — begin to promote the idea of us being the mightiest. Of us being capable to learn everything.
“The only thing I know is that I know nothing, and I am not quite sure that I know that” — Socrates.
But death is the reality-check. Putting all our strength into knowing what lies beyond death — we’ll still know nothing. We can hypothesize, make assumptions, deny it. It’s just the most we could do. This is where we are at our wits’ end.
Well then, what to do with our budding curiosity?
Yet at the same time, we human beings are made curious, hence we’ll try to address the issue using a different method.
One way to understand some phenomenon is by observing its opposite. And so, the other thing that comes to mind when thinking about death, is life.
In my opinion, existing does not equate to being alive. Existence, only and only when accompanied with passion, fashions the state of being truly alive in the equation of life.
The Equation Of Life:
Life = Existence x Passion
Life springs not from the state of merely existing — the ability to strive is an essential part of the equation. You have a will, you have a free choice. To pursue good or bad, or yin and yang.
You choose. You show enthusiasm for your science project while other students in your class decide not to. You choose to feed a stray cat that was long not fed by others. You preferred picking on a girl in high school over letting her live her life.
Our choices every day serve as a way for our survival
How? You see people on TV — famous, loved and cool— who are into science and you aspire to be like them. Your acts of kindness might serve your self-image and your belief in getting rewarded in the afterlife. And maybe you were so powerless in some areas of your life (e.g. at home) that to prove yourself of your strength, you felt the urge to bully someone innocent.
Our choices are the methods using which we satiate our love or passion for something. Most often than not, it is the passion for life itself, so in a way, it is the result of our survival instincts.
So again, what separates life from death?
Short answer: passion.
Long answer:
Death is not devoid of existence as is commonly perceived. We exist even after we die; in people’s hearts, minds, in books, and in history. But the zeal and zest that once filled our hearts with raging fire extinguish as soon as we die. The truth in my view is, death befalls when passion equals zero. Put that in the equation above and you’ll get the idea.
And that is why I strongly believe in the afterlife.
Passion is recoverable. Existence may not be (leaving room for the possibility). Once you cease to exist entirely — which seems attainable only when everything that has witnessed you also perishes (by that I mean the universe), — it’s hard to think of recovery. What will be recovered when you don’t exist at all?
To make it clearer: by existence here and in the equation above, I mean the sum of subjective and objective realities.
Objective reality is formless. Only when observed by a mind and rendered on consciousness, there is form.
How alive are you?
Have you ever witnessed a void, a sense of emptiness inside, which ironically feels very heavy on you? A phase when you define time to be a fleeting-nothing, and life to be meaningless?
Such phases extend maybe for merely a few hours of your life, to possibly years.
This is when the levels of your passion drop down to fractions of 1. You’re closer to death than a dying man bravely fighting against death (not any depressed dying man).
To get rid of such a condition, you need to find something you can passionately care about.
Now how do I find that?
Come on! That isn’t very difficult.
- Reciprocate: Look around, you’ll easily find people who care about you. Best example: Your mum.
Reciprocate their love with your care. Let’s not deny it. At times we do take their love for granted and fail to repay. In the beginning, the contrasting emotions might appear to be hypocritical, because we just don’t feel that way.
Solution — pretend. Pretend that you care about them, and with time you actually will. - Delve deeper into things you’re curious about: Observe what ignites your interests. I am a star-gazer, so a lot of times I find myself reading about space, time, and technology. Try to find healthier and constructive things that you would love to learn about. We’re curious beings, after all.
“I have no special talents. I am only passionately curious.”
— Albert Einstein - Introspect: Give yourself the time you need. Try to dig deeper inside. You’ll end up learning how beautifully complex you are. Unveil the layers and passionately look within.
- Take responsibility for your actions: Most people (me too sometimes) have this habit of blaming the situation or worse — people, for things that go wrong in life. But as we discussed earlier, life is a bunch of choices we make for our survival. When we deny this reality (of course for instant gratification), we fall into a vicious loop that ends up in depression and self-degradation.
- Get out in the world: Meet people and expand your horizons. You’ll find a lot of things to motivate you and keep you going. Do not fear the wear and tear — unlike objects, we grow owing to that. Remember, “An idle mind is the devil’s workshop”.
Conclusion:
Death is the end of physical existence. It is not the end of existence itself. It is the state when nature quenches our thirst for passion when free will is taken away.
We can live and simultaneously, not actually live. Every part of our existence until death overtakes, craves for a reason to be passionate about.
And this is what separates life from death — passion.