IMPERMANENCE
Have You Noticed The Elephant In The Room Yet? It’s called ‘Nothing Lasts’
You know when yer at a great party but you notice a guy wanking himself off in the corner?
The party carries on because no one wants to say anything, but everyone is uncomfortable.
They call that the elephant in the room, but not because the wanker guy’s pockets are turned inside out. There is something fucking weird going on. Everyone knows it’s happening, but no one wants to talk about it.
Ya know, life is like that party, and the weird guy standing in the corner jacking off is called Death. Have you heard of him? Pastey looking guy, wears black, carries a scythe? No?
Death stands there, two fingers pressed into his mysterious perineum, softly yanking the shaft of his dark knob and we just carry on partying as if nothing is happening.
But Frank, there is nothing I can do about death, so why should I even think about it?
It’s a good question, and I could ask you the same question about world news but I won’t.
The thing is, if you acknowledge death and act accordingly, your actions fall in line with reality rather than confusion.
Death is everywhere
Death is all there is. Without death, nothing would be possible. Death is energy; it is change; it is movement.
When I say death, Im not just talking about humans dying. Im talking about everything dying. It’s happening at every single moment in every single atom of the universe.
- Death is the reason you can heat up last night’s Quarter Pounder in yer microwave.
- Death is the reason you can masturbate silently in your bed while your unsuspecting spouse sleeps soundly next to you.
- Death is the reason you are reading this right now and thinking how inappropriate that last example was.
Did you hear the one about the ocean that couldn’t stop clinging to its waves?
It died over and over and over and over.
What a fucking mistake.
Although nothing lasts, we continue to act as if it all lasts forever.
We block our immediate recollection of death as a defence mechanism. And, that would be fine if the resulting actions of that blockage didn’t oppose the natural flow of the universe.
Right now, we have many problems on the earth. Almost all of them are caused because we don’t recognise the temporary — and thus sacred — status of ourselves and everything around us.
Imagine the person you love most in the world.
Imagine they are about to pass away forever.
- What would you say to that person?
- How would you treat them?
- What would you want them to know?
Don’t just skip over this like it's some unrealistic question in a survey. Really try and imagine it cos someday it’s happening. Sorry in advance for your loss.
Do you get it? Isn’t that how you should act toward them every day since it’s a god damn lottery as to whether either of you will make it through the night.
Don’t be afraid of that fact. Just act accordingly you idiot.
Do you want to know what you should do with your life?
Buddhists, Taoists and the rest like to keep death in mind constantly.
It isn’t cos we are depressing bastards. It’s because when you do that, you live each day in harmony with reality.
But Frank, how can I find any meaning in my life if I just think about death?
Imagine right now you are on your deathbed — at the very end of your life. It’s over. There is no chance you can survive.
Don’t rush on to the next paragraph. Close your eyes and really imagine you are there with your loved ones holding your hand.
Now look back and answer this question,
What is the one thing that you would have liked to achieve while you were alive?
If you can answer this from that perspective, you will know what to do with your life. It’s not complex, it’s straightforward. If you set your goals from the end of your life looking back, you will know what is essential.
When you are dying, you appreciate things. You become your genuine self in those last moments because there is nothing left that is worth the pretence.
They say to live every day like it’s your last.
It’s the greatest fucking advice that anyone has spoken.
If you knew this beautiful world was ending tomorrow, you would walk on the beach and smell the ocean and want it to last forever.
You would marvel at the beauty of a daisy.
You would look at your family and love them deeper than you ever had before.
You would not hate anyone or anything, because you would realise the fragility and, therefore, the sacredness of everything.
You would want nothing more than to be here for just one more day.
Just to spend one more minute with them in this beautiful place is the only thing your heart would desire.
They say you don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone.
Don’t run away from death. It’s just the truth. Think about it all the time. Then act accordingly, because it will allow you to pass away at the end with no regrets, but only with a heart full of profound love.
It will enable you to treat things as they need to be treated.
