In response to some poems reflecting on the end of life that I had written, my father-in-law asked: “Why are you focusing on death and dying? You’re still relatively young and active – why do you think about the end of life?

Several recent life experiences have drawn us to consider the end of life more earnestly.

Visiting a Cemetery

After considering advice to arrange a pre-paid funeral plan, we were invited to visit a nearby crematorium and cemetery. The quiet peaceful bushland setting of the premises provided a poignant reminder of life and death. As we toured the manicured cemetery gardens, we were struck by the fact that there were tombstones for infants, children, youth, young adults, men and women in the prime of life, as well as older citizens. No one is exempt from the impermanence of life, and the age is not a determining factor!

For most of my life, I have intellectually accepted the fact that death is a certain reality for everyone. We may jokingly quip, “in life, only death and taxes are sure”. However, this cemetery visit brought my understanding to the heart level – the realization that our duration of life is so uncertain. No one knows the exact time and circumstances of their death – life can unexpectedly end at any age. The daily news often attests to this with tragic accounts of untimely deaths.

What Is Truly Important in Life?

Related questions began to emerge in my mind with more earnestness. What then is truly important in life? At the time of death, what is it that will help a person? It certainly will not be what they may have accumulated, struggled to acquire, and fought over. Even one’s dearest family members, relatives, and friends will be unable to help prevent the final breath of life when the time comes.

The Continuity of Consciousness

In my Christian heritage and studies, end of life and death are distinct themes in the Scriptures. Equally, the afterlife is quite prominent. Later, in exploring Buddhism, I found that impermanence and death also feature noticeably.

There is evidence that there is a continuity of consciousness after we pass from this life. At death, the mind/spirit/soul separate from the body, which decomposes and returns to the earth, but a spirit component goes on. Consequently, the universal law of cause and effect continues to operate beyond our present lifespan!

All this has prompted a more serious view of life – especially being in my early seventies. Additionally, many other factors have merged.

Reminders of Death and Dying in One’s Daily Life

An older family friend is presently struggling with advanced Parkinson’s Disease. The end of life is unmistakably on his mind. Another family friend recently died from prostate cancer – we journeyed with him in his gallant struggle for the past three years.

Early in my life, I attended a small Christian college. Three fellow students have recently died – all roughly my age. Later in our career, my wife and I taught English as a foreign language overseas. Two of our colleagues have since died very unexpectedly – also roughly our age.

“What Will Happen to Me One Day?”

While death and dying are not subjects that everyone ponders (many may prefer not to talk about it, and just “live and let live”), nevertheless, death and the afterlife remain an important subject. People inevitably wonder, “What will happen to me one day?”

Further curiosity has arisen nowadays with near-death experiences, and research involving children looking at the possibility of past lives.

To me, the main issues involved are well expressed in words adapted from Peaceful Death, Joyful Rebirth, the introduction of which is entitled, “Death Is Not the End”:

“The day of death is the most crucial time for every person, universally. Whether you are from the East or the West, whatever your spiritual persuasion, or none—it makes no difference. The moment when consciousness departs from your body will be a momentous turning point of your life, for death will launch you on a journey into an unknown world. …

Most people do not like to be reminded of their inevitable death, which may arrive at any moment. They are scared even to think about it, let alone discuss it. To some, the notion of contemplating death never even arises, absorbed as they are in the affairs of daily living. Although people of faith express confidence in an afterlife, many others insist that there is nothing at all after death. …

The world’s major religions agree that death is not the end, that “something” survives, although they differ in details and interpretation. Mind, consciousness, soul, spirit— whatever we call it—will continue to exist in one form or another. … Though our bodies will dissolve back into the elements of which they are formed, we will continue as mind and consciousness, which will transmigrate into another existence.” (From Tulku Thondup. Peaceful Death, Joyful Rebirth. Boston: Shambhala Publications, 2006.)

Awareness of Death Can Enrich One’s Life

Far from being a morbid preoccupation, an awareness of impermanence, end of life, and death allows one to savour the precious opportunity of life to a far greater degree and meaningful extent. Every day, every hour, will then be cherished and used in the best way, rather than frivolously spent.

Written by Alexander Peck; edited by Eva Peck.

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