Finding Peace in Life and Death

Albert Einstein wrote: “A human being is part of the whole, called by us “Universe”, a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings as something separated from the rest – a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creature and the whole nature in its beauty. Nobody is able to achieve this completely but the striving for such achievement is in itself a part of the liberation and a foundation for inner security.”

Albert Einstein to Norman Salit, March 4, 1950 – condolence letter. Copyright © The Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

Think of the Universe as a great ocean, and our lives are waves on that ocean. On the surface it appears that each wave is separate, it has a beginning (birth) out in the ocean, and an end (death) when the wave crashes to shore. However, the wave can never exist without the ocean. Unfortunately, we are so focused on the Physical Reality of “being a wave” we see ourselves as separate, individual entities with no real connection to the ocean and the other waves. In our life as a wave we are so distracted by Physical Reality that we forget we are part of the ocean. All of these senses are new to us, the feel of the contact with the air, the sights, the sounds, the smells, it’s all new, and it’s all a distraction from whom we really are. Now throw in the pride of being a “big wave”, or the envy of bigger waves, and the ego of how our wave is building… it’s not hard to see how we can completely lose sight of our Essence and our connection to the ocean.

Now, when that wave crashes to shore and releases its energy, all that it is, is returned back to the ocean to disperse, mingle, share in the experience of all waves past and present, and be at One with the ocean (Universe). Eventually the wave re-surfaces and is reborn. Now, the newly reborn wave doesn’t have entirely the same form and structure as its predecessor, but its Essence is the same.

Your Essence is Divinity; it is your connection to the Universe; Divinity is God. You Are God. Since Divinity is Pure, there can exist no judgment, no ego, no pride nor prejudice. The Divinity and Oneness of the Universe has No Hierarchy. What may be challenging for some people to come to terms with is that regardless of our role in life, whether you are a king, a healing master, or an axe murderer, within our Essence is Divinity, and within Divinity is Equality; and in the after-death Oneness of the Universe our various roles in life are understood and accepted for their necessity and the perspective that they each contributed (good or bad) to Life and Physical Reality.

Our greatest enemy and threat to our happiness in life is Ego (and the pride that accompanies Ego). Our greatest ally in combating and neutralizing Ego is Compassion. It is in our dedication to the betterment of other living beings (human or not) and our willingness to take on their suffering in the hope that their lives will be enriched; that our Ego and grasping at a false sense of self are most effectively defeated.

Part of our letting go of that “grasping at a false sense of self” is often simply “letting go”. People, animals, and things move in and out of our lives, as we too will ultimately leave these lives. Grasping and clinging to the impermanence of Life and Physical Reality is the work of our Ego.

It’s sad to see people who are so grief-stricken from the loss of a loved one that they can’t seem to get past it. At the root of this grief is our Ego trying to convince us that “this is not the way it should be”, and while our Ego can manipulate our perception so that we see ourselves as “being right”, being right can never change what is; and the negativity of our grief becomes a ballast on the Essence of the person whom we lost.

It may be helpful to recognize however, that our Love and Good Will follows the Essence of that person after their death, and even into their next life, even though we have no idea who, what, or where they are. Their Essence is the same as it was when we knew them, and after all, the Love that we feel is not for the physical body that someone is in, but for the Essence that is occupying that body. So why would that Love not be felt just because their Essence is now residing in a different body. Just as with Karma; Love and Good Will transcends Physical Reality!

So even though we have been conditioned to believe that letting go will leave us with nothing (whether it be letting go of possessions, relationships, being right, or just letting go of what we thought our life should be, or even life itself); letting go instead provides us with the Peace and Freedom so that we can experience life and accept death, not as a beginning and an end, but rather as a small part of the endless fluid continuum of our eternal being (our Essence).

So please, live your life with the Peace, Great Love, Compassion, Freedom, and Hope that the Universe holds for you, you have only to accept it, and it is yours.