Can we Challenge Death?

Martha's brother passed away, and we attended the funeral. She remained home for several days unwilling to talk to anybody. I had to persuade her to come with me and join the weekly meeting. We all encouraged her to speak to us, and finally she talked.

Martha:  Rabbi, my brother's death was a sudden shock to me, and I couldn't come out and talk to anybody. He was very healthy and active, and I don't understand how he died. It seems that no one's life is safe, and this thought fills my heart with fear. And if death is the inevitable end of existence, why should we struggle so much to exist at all?

Rabbi: I understand how you feel of your brother, and we all share your grief.  

After a short break, he continued.

You expressed your worry and fear of death, and so I think it is a good idea to discuss that subject today.

All living beings have birth and death. Even the world has beginning and end. Everything that exists within the limits of time must have a beginning and an end. Hence, death is as natural as birth.  That death will arrive is certain, only its time is uncertain.

If this is the whole truth about death, it is a very frightening truth, and it makes our existence purposeless. An existence that can be terminated at any moment without any notice-- is it worth struggling for?  In spite of that, there is a natural urge within us to exist and to struggle for it. Thus we find a contradiction within ourselves-- between the knowledge that existence is not worth struggling for, and the natural urge to go on existing.

We usually manage to resolve this contradiction by ignoring death. We just avoid thinking and talking of death. Death is one of the least used words in our everyday life. It is a very unpleasant thought and word. However, we know that we cannot avoid death just by avoiding the thought of death, or the word itself.  Avoiding the thought of death is nothing but admitting our failure to resolve the contradiction.

Let us see how our ancestors solved the contradiction.  They were aware of the inevitability of death, but they also realized that it is only a part of the truth. The world, which has beginning and end, exists in God, who has no beginning or end.  Therefore, the kind of existence with beginning and end is only a part of the real existence, which is without beginning or end.

In the Hymn of creation it is said that human beings were created in the image of God. An image is a representation of the reality. A representation will be similar to the original in many respects, but not entirely similar. Human beings may be similar to God in their power of imagination and creativity. But they are different from God in that they are limited by time and space. As we, the human beings exist within time limit, we have birth and death. However, God exists beyond time limit without birth or death. Thus, human beings may be defined as God who exists within the limits of time and space. If human life and divine life are one and the same, we do not really die, only we appear to die. We are the expression of God’s life within the limits of time and space.  

We see the same idea in a different way in the story of Adam and Eve. God created the first human being in a special way using two components. A human form was made with earth, and then God breathed life into its nostrils. Thus, human being is a combination of earth and God's life. The life from above meets the earth from below, and a human being is born. When they (life and earth) separate, we die. Earth goes back to the ground, and life goes back to join the creator. Thus our life and God's life are one, and so we have no death.

Life itself is without beginning or end; only the forms of life begin and end. Life is timeless, but its forms are bound within time. A newborn baby is a new expression of life. A form of life comes into existence, undergoes a certain pathway of transformation during its lifetime, and then it withdraws. We often misunderstand a form of life for life itself. It is like misunderstanding a wave for the ocean. Such misunderstanding is what makes us fear death.

In the story of Adam and Eve, there is a special tree called life. The fruit of this tree imparts immortality. Once Adam and Eve break with God, they lose the privilege of eating from this tree. I think this is very significant. We have life only when we are in right relationship with God.

Martha:  Do you mean that my brother is not dead?

Rabbi:  Yes, that is exactly what I mean.  However, we are unable to acquire more knowledge about the kind of existence he has.  We have to be satisfied with our limited knowledge. Our world is only a part of the real world, and therefore, our knowledge of the reality is partial.

Martha's face was once again lit. It was a very consoling thought for her that her brother was really alive.


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