The River Of Silence

Below is my reflection to Zenju Earthlyn Manuel's excerpt published in awakin.org:
No sane person will deny that things and we as sentient human beings are going to die one day. Seeing somebody dying or knowing that someday I will also die makes me realize that we all have a common thread running through outward differences and we all are interrelated. Death does not treat people differently. The merciless light of death shines on us all. Realizing this merciless truth awakens us to the underlying reality of oneness. Such realization makes us less afraid of outward differences.

Chance, our dog, has been with us for the last 15 years. He has been having severe seizures for a couple of months. He has brain tumor. Seeing him going through the suffering is sadly very painful to us in our family. Sadly but necessarily we have decided to let him go. Tomorrow the veteran is going to give him heavy sedation to let him die peacefully. The merciless light of death helps us remain awake and aware of the profundity of life. Death is a lighthouse that keeps me awake and aware of how to live fully and spiritually. When I will die is beyond my hands but how do I live is within my hands.

Self-awareness is the inner light that keeps me awake and mindful of the transitory nature of life. The wise teachings of the Buddha about the nature of the worldly life has been very helpful to me. The worldly life is continuously changing-anityam, anityam, sarvam anityam. It is also momentary-ksanikam, ksanikam, sarvam ksanikam. Such awakening helps me value each moment of life and cherish it and be grateful for it. I keep the light of awareness shining to see things as they are.
Namaste!