The Grim Reaper
Death, hey.... 
Don't go running to hide behind the sofa, put your hands over your ears or click away from this link. Over the weekend I presented a workshop to a hundred people on past lives. I am usually so focused on helping individuals work out their blocks from past lives and their repeating patterns in this one, that I don't realise how much of our own self- imposed karma results from a "destructive death". The amount of monks, nuns, witches, conquistadors and suchlike that after experiencing a negative, destructive life with their path are so fearful of "going into the light" or we bring self judgement, fear of power / success etc back with us to this life for more self punishment.
Anyhow, this blog is about death per se, not just the past life cellular blocks we create from an untimely / unfair / destructive demise.
When I was a martial arts instructor the first Zen philosophy lesson I gave my students was always about death - for once we can understand death, we can truly live. The absence of a fear of death can truly make for a fulfilling life. I don't mean recklessness, I don't mean irresponsibility, and I don't mean permission for immoral or destructive actions. I simply mean recognition that we have a soul. As a soul we have lived many different lives and this life is only a game that our soul group has chosen to play out on the stage. When I talk in terms of soul group, I mean our family, friends, colleagues, close circle etc.
So ultimately we are born, we live, have the opportunity 
to experience our lessons and then we die.
A good way I thought of putting it when I taught Zen philosophy was that if the grim reaper came calling tomorrow, could you honestly thank him for being so patient - there is no allotted time - so if he did come tomorrow would you be able to thank him for being so patient? I can honestly say that I could. The thought, obviously, of leaving loved ones behind hurts but I would be in ego to talk for them on behalf of their lessons. Other than that I would be a little surprised as I think I have more to do down here!
I know exactly where I am going when "I go home". I am not stopping off to say hi to Grandma and getting waylaid by an etheric cup of tea, I am going straight to the meadow that I have created in my mind where I will meet the ascended masters that are part of the circle of my twelve guides and shall look forward to what's next when I reconnect with the source. Part of that is what is meant by creating your heaven on earth. Grandma may have created her heaven where she hovers around keeping an eye on those still here. Not for me, I am heading directly back to the source.
Which neatly brings us back to "LIVING" because really death or the grasp and understanding of it should, as I said earlier, help us to live. In Braveheart, Mel Gibson not only says the line, "every man dies, but not all men truly live" but he also refuses to take a drug to numb the pain of his death. He wants to die well, without fear, something the Samurai mastered.
Fear does not serve us on this planet so why should we entertain it when we die? In my world, I laugh in the face of bird flu, credit crunch, death by painful exposure to coffee, bacon, chocolate and a million other manipulated fears that control our society by keeping us in a state of fear. Remember - if you are fearful of death, you are worse off than a dead man because a dead man cannot feel anything. I am still moved by the film, ‘Meet Joe Black,' where Brad Pitt is the angel of death who comes down to take Anthony Hopkins home, after staying for a week or two. Brad Pitt comes to love and be attracted to life savouring the look and touch of a female lover, the taste of peanut butter, the glow of a sunset and suchlike. Right at the end, Anthony Hopkins has to ask, the angel of death, if he is ready to go, because Anthony Hopkins has lived his life fully and is at peace with his choices, experiences and relationships. He is ready to go home. 
That's the lesson! So many of us are not at peace with our choices, experiences and relationships that we are fearful of going home early, yet we are not making any effort to clear the slate and create more quality in our lives. I seem to be following a movie theme today but as "Red" says in the Shawshank Redemption, "you either get busy living or you get busy dying". I understand death so I am busy living. My ideal death would be in healthy old age when I knew my time was done, to close my eyes and leave my shell - "giving up the gift to go home". Like I said earlier, I believe implicitly in my soul and in the source, so no worries.
In the meantime if I died in a plane crash tomorrow, I may be a bit surprised but hey, thank you Grim Reaper for being so patient and not taking me when I was a kid. More importantly that means I haven't wasted countless, fruitless hours worrying about all manner of fears around death. "Isn't it amazing how everyone wants to go to heaven but nobody wants to die," as my old Grandpappy said.
