On 'Death' from Kahlil Gibran's 'The Prophet'

The truth about death is that it is not that ends something; but it is that which begins a divine transition, and we should fear not about death as death is not something that arrives without an advance notice, or no notice at all, but it is always with us, that to reveal the secrets of life one must discover first the secrets of death, but the truth is, they are not two secrets: they are one.

It has been said and believed in the early years (even until now) that death is nothing but a falsification of the central idea that death is synonymous with end; that death is the conclusion and expiration of our physical body, and that we wait only for one event, that is, the Judgment Day. Death is not actually as what we thought as the end of everything, that our consciousness will no more be ever existing and it will no more be a part of a whole. This argument states that consciousness is encaged within our physical body, trapped within the bounds of man's frail and rotten vessel; as with this case, it is our own physical body. And when we die that consciousness will remain intact, waiting for a divine resurrection—this is Western orthodox, that when our physical body dies, the consciousness, or as what the Western people call 'soul', this soul sleeps and waits until it would be awakened and 'judged' by whom else, but God. Kahlil Gibran's musings about death, when contemplated, argues with the Western's, for to him "[For] what is it to die but to stand naked in the wind and to melt into the sun?"—this is what he intend to make us understand in the truth about death; that death will free your consciousness from your body and by then it will move and look for another 'house' and that is to look for another 'host' or body to reside and claim abode. But unless the physical body understands the meaning of life and death (which would be discussed on the latter part of this paper), he will forever look for bodies to house its own consciousness, and the cycle and the transition would be forevermore until it becomes one with the universe (which would also be discussed later on). Everyone fears death, and this is what clouds and hinders us from the realization that death is only the beginning. That death is not actually an end but a beginning of another cycle. This is the Eastern belief which greatly pertains to the process of reincarnation.

The Eastern belief teaches us not to fear death as it is only an end for a new beginning. Nothing really dies, so it should not be what we call to those who 'dies'. They have just successfully left their bodies and now in the process of looking for new houses. That is why some painters do not put frames to their paintings, and at first they were thought to be considered as mad or insane. But their argument is to be considered valid and factual, mainly because they believe that the life within the painting must go on and continue, and putting a frame means to end that life and thus adhering to the belief that death is really the end of everything. Death is with us since our birth. When we were born, death was also there, we grow up in the shadow of death always within us. Death is our half-self. It can come anytime with or without notice. And that is why we should never be afraid of death; because if we fear death, you cannot live totally. You will, and always will, live in the shadow of death. And when it comes, you will fall into absolute helplessness. You can't do anything about it. And you will know it the moment it happens. Most people becomes conscious because they have known it the time it happens, while most people, out of horror and fear, becomes unconscious. This is where the cycle begins. But when a person have understood the meaning of life and death as one terms, he comes to the appreciation of his universal experience, he becomes united with the universe, which is why one should not fear death; then there is no need for the consciousness to look for another body, no cycle to begin with. The truth is, what creates fear is the idea that if this happens, when the soul becomes one with the universe, he becomes alone, yet divine. He wanders through the universe, becomes one with everything, you will be all, becoming God-like. He becomes united with universe—so one must understand first that when we were born we are also dying in the process. Death comes closer every day, and beyond death, nothing is known but an unfamiliar world. Death makes you alone, and this is what everyone fears. This, according to Gibran, must be understood by all. Because when you have arrived at that understanding and/or realization, you have successfully attained freedom. As what Gibran said, "If you would indeed behold the spirit of death, open your heart wide unto the body of life."

This leads to the realization that life and death is actually synonymous to one another. Life and death are two sides of the same coin. The first argument here is how can we seek life if we do not seek death first? As what the first line of the chapter says: "You would know the secret of death. But how shall you find it unless you seek it in the heart of life?" Death is a mystery. Everyone dies, but looking from the writer's perspectives, no one, nobody, actually ever dies. We just move from life to life. But if you have understood the meaning of life, that is, to seek the meaning of death first, he will die bypassing the cycle of moving to another host, becoming one with the universe at once, that is, becoming one with the sun and the moon, the trees and the birds, the mountains and the ocean. He becomes all. He becomes united with universe—so one must understand first that when we were born we are also dying in the process. Death comes closer every day, and beyond death, nothing is known but an unfamiliar world. This means that death grows within you, simultaneously 'living' with your life. From what has been stated in the first paragraph, unless someone comes to the realization that life is death, too, he will forever be in that caravan of life, but upon the attainment of this knowledge, his body will melt "for what is it to die but to stand naked in the wind and to melt into the sun?" and be united as an element of the universe. Everything around you will melt, and what is left would be the pure consciousness, invisible and alone, but eternal. For this argument, it is therefore a conclusion that in discovering the secrets of life and death, one must live with totality, intensity, and awareness, so he would become alert with the profundity of life and death's secret as only one a concept.

I have therefore arrived at a conclusion that unless we understand this, we would forever live and die only to live again in another body, thus, having different lives evermore. If you treat life as only 'one' thus adhering to 'you only live once' saying, you can never understand what life is, and will forever believe to the fact that 'life is short'. But when we come to the realization of what Gibran has deliberately taught us in the very first place, slowly, we become one with the universe. We can always come back to our previous self, or continue looking for another 'house' or body if we have not learned the lesson yet. Life is then a school. We strive to discover how we free ourselves from this 'rotten' cage. Then if we become successful, we will learn how to sing: "Only when you drink from the river of silence shall you indeed sing." The songs we are singing all these yore of time are meaningless. But when we drink from that river of silence, or meditate, that is where the real song comes and could be sung. These are profound, bottomless songs. But the song is not ours. The body serves only as a vehicle for the song. The feeling might be so ecstatic you free yourself from your body and travel through a place where temporal and spatial aspects are to be considered as naught. Then we will reach that mountain. And on the mountain top, we must understand that is it not yet the end, "and when you have reached the mountain top, then you shall begin to climb." This is your real song. Then slowly, you will lose your grip of this feeling, and earth will again claim you: "and when the earth shall claim your limbs, then shall you truly dance." This is now your real dance. All you wait now is the time you free yourself from your physical body. If you have not learned yet and still choose to 'live', you can move now to look for another body—or you may now be a part of your true eternal life. That is why I have this personal belief that many choose to end their lives not because of cowardice, but they are ironically brave enough to withhold themselves from the fallacy this life offers. So what would be even happier and ecstatic than death?

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