Japanese Death Poem
Inhale, exhale
Forward, back
Living, dying:
Arrows, let flown each to each
Meet midway and slice
The void in aimless flight
Thus I return to the source.
–Gesshu Soko (1696).
We can all learn something from Japanese culture and their relationship with Death. One can only grow by accumulation of experiences and forming a true understanding of the complex emotions that connect the different pieces of life progressing towards death. This is not a door that we walk through in a climactic ending to our own life story, Death is ever present, we push and pull against it as it tests us from day to day in ways that we never even were aware of. Through realization and acceptance, we gain a clear grasp on reality and a liberation for Life in its purest form.