“When someone we love dies, we get so busy mourning what died that we ignore what didn’t.”
~ Ram Dass
“Do not stand at my grave and weep.
I am not there. I do not sleep.
I am a thousand winds that blow.
I am the diamond glints on snow.
I am the sunlight on ripened grain.
I am the gentle autumn rain.
When you awaken in the morning’s hush
I am the swift uplifting rush
Of quiet birds in circled flight.
I am the soft stars that shine at night.
Do not stand at my grave and cry.
I am not there. I did not die.”
~ Mary Elizabeth Frye
“Death is nothing to be sad about, it is something to be celebrated with songs and dances. It is a moment of rejoicing. Death is only the death of the body. But you will go on living in the universal consciousness, forever and forever.”
~ Osho
“A culture that denies death inevitably becomes shallow and superficial, concerned only with the external form of things. When death is denied, life loses its depth.
Death is a stripping away of all that is not you. The secret of life is to “die before you die” – and find that there is no death.
Nothing that was real ever died, only names, forms, and illusions.”
~ Eckhart Tolle
“The real does not die, the unreal never lived.
In death only the body dies. Life does not, consciousness does not, reality does not. And the life is never so alive as after death.
In some cases death is the best cure. A life may be worse than death, which is rarely an unpleasent experience, whatever the appearances. Therefore, pity the living, never the dead.
With death the idea ‘I am this body’ dies. The witness does not.
People are afraid to die, because they do not know who they are and what death is. The moment you know your real being, you are afraid of nothing. Death gives freedom and power. The happiness of being absolutely free is beyond description.”
~ Nisargadatta Maharaj
“The only reason why people have such a fear of death is they know nothing beyond the body.”
~ Sadhguru
“This form is just a costume for a while. But the one behind the costume is eternal. If you know this, you don’t worry about anything. When you discover yourself as awareness, the fear of death will not trouble you any longer.”
~ Mooji
“If you are afraid of death, be afraid. And then comes the hitherto unbelievable surprise: you don’t die because you were never born. You had just forgotten who you are.”
~ Alan Watts
“Death is only an experience through which you are meant to learn a great lesson: you cannot die.
The reality of your life cannot die for you are indestructible consciousness.”
~ Paramahansa Yogananda
“There is no birth, there is no death. There is no coming, there is no going. We only think there is.
When we know that birth and death are together always, we are no longer afraid of dying. What you call birth and death are only transformation.
When you lose a loved one, you suffer. But if you know how to look deeply, you have a chance to realize that his or her nature is truly the nature of no-birth, no-death. Pay attention to the world around you, to the leaves and the flowers, to the birds and the rain. If you can look deeply, you will recognize your beloved manifesting again and again in many forms. You will release your fear and pain and again embrace the joy of life.
No coming, no going, no after, no before, I hold you close, I release you to be free; I am in you and you are in me.”
~ Thich Nhat Hanh
“Death is not extinguishing the light; it is only putting out the lamp because the dawn has come.
Death belongs to life as birth does. The walk is in the raising of the foot as in the laying of it down.
And because I love this life, I know I shall love death as well.
Man is immortal; therefore he must die endlessly. For life is a creative idea; it can only find itself in changing forms.
In death the many become one; in life the one become many.”
~ Rabindranath Tagore
“If thought turns its attention away from the objects which it seems to know, turns its attention back on itself, it ceases to be thought and is revealed as pure Consciousness. This open, empty, dimensionless, objectless Awareness that we essentially are, is not limited by any of the thoughts, feelings, sensations or perceptions that appear within. It was present prior to the appearance of the body-mind, it is present during the appearance of the body-mind, and it remains present after the disappearance of the body-mind. That is not something we discover when we die. We can discover it any moment.
Nothing ever disappears. Only forms are constantly transformed.”
~ Rupert Spira
“Consciousness was pre-existent and will survive the body.
The body dies, but the spirit that transcends it cannot be touched by death.
When a pot is broken, the space within is not. When the body dies, the Self in it remains eternal.
The dead are fortunate. It is only those who are left behind who feel miserable.
Discover your undying Self and be immortal and happy.”
~ Ramana Maharshi
“Nobody dies. There is no such thing as death. There is only eternal life, and you are that.
You are dreaming the mortal dream! If you’re aware that you’re dreaming, are you going to react to anything? Will you react to situations if you know that you’re dreaming? Of course not. You’ll laugh! You’ll see a war going on and you’ll get in the middle of the battlefield and you’ll say, “What are you doing? This is all a dream! Throw your guns away. You’re wasting your time! Nobody dies, nobody is killed, nobody is born. It’s all a dream.” And they’ll probably shoot you for saying that! Makes no difference if they shoot you! You’re aware that you’re dreaming, so you’re the witness of you being shot, and you keep laughing. And then you wake up.”
~ Robert Adams
Many thanks to Simon Bartholomew