dao death

death Death is The opposite Of time. We give death metaphors. We cloak it in meaning and make up stories about what will happen to us, but we don’t really know. When a person dies, we cannot see beyond the corpse. We speculate on reincarnation or talk in terms of eternity. But death is opaque to us, a mystery. In its realm, time ceases to have meaning. All laws of physics become irrelevant. Death is the opposite of time. What dies? Is anything actually destroyed? Certainly not the body, which falls into its constituent parts of water and chemicals. That is mere transformation, not destruction. What of the mind? Does it cease to function, or does it make a transition to another existence? We don't know for sure, and few can come up with anything conclusive. What dies? Nothing of the person dies in the sense that the constituent parts are totally blasted from all existence. What dies is merely the identity, the identification of a collection of parts that we called a person. Each one of us is a role, like some shaman wearing layers of robes and innumerable fetishes of meaning. Only the clothes and decorations fall. What dies in only our human meaning. There is still someone naked underneath. Once we understand who that someone is, death no longer bothers us. Nor does time. death 365 Tao daily meditations Deng Ming-Dao (author) ISBN 0-06-250223-9 Kalachakra L: 89 cm H: 128 cm China, Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) 14th-15th Century Potala Palace Collection TIBET: TREASURES FROM THE ROOF OF THE WORLD Travelers trekked thousands of miles to see them. Emperors presented them as gifts. We will see the same sacred treasures for the first time in the Western World in the groundbreaking exhibition, Tibet: Treasures From The Roof Of The World. Exquisitely created sacred objects, all with great cultural significance, are making their first journey to the Western World. Tibet: Treasures From The Roof Of The World offers a rare glimpse into a culture both opulent and deeply spiritual. The exhibition features objects drawn exclusively from collections from the Dalai Lama's magnificent residence at the Potala Palace, as well as the recently established Tibet Museum in the magical Tibetan capital of Lhasa. Shakya Yeshe received bountiful gifts from Emperor Yongle, including a black hat, which is clearly visible in the second of his two portraits included in this exhibition. (above) The second and later of these two portraits is a slit-silk tapestry, which can be dated to the Xuande period (1426-1435), on the basis of the lengthy, woven title, which appears in both Chinese and Tibetan. This portrait shows Shakya Yeshe in the same posture and gesture as the first portrait, but here, he is cloaked in a sumptuously detailed robe with dragon designs and wears the Five-Buddha black hat (three Buddhas are visible here), recorded as a gift from Emperor Yongle. He sits on a Chinese-style throne similar to those seen in Ming Dynasty imperial portraits. On a typical Ming-style red lacquer table behind him, are an incense burner in the form of an ancient bronze vessel and an incense container. The large red seal that dominates the space above Shakya Yeshe's right shoulder replicates the Chinese-language seal given to him by Emperor Xuande. T A O t e C H I N G e i g h t e e n When the Way is forgotten Duty and justice appear; Then knowledge and wisdom are born Along with hypocrisy. When harmonious relationships dissolve Then respect and devotion arise; When a nation falls to chaos Loyalty is born. literature on Daoism purchased from Amazon.com through our Associates program will assist the work of duckdaotsu. To help, start your search from the many resources at http://www.duckdaotsu.org/dao_books.html receive a full HTML copy of the daily meditation sent directly to your inbox, please send a note with the words “subscribe tao” in the subject line to duckdaotsu

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