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Summer Retreat - Birth and Death Inter-Are
In Buddhism, we speak of the interbeing nature of all things, meaning that none of us can exist in isolation, separately. We must inter-be with other elements. It is like the left and the right. If the right does not exist, then the left cannot be present. If there is no left, then there is no right. It is impossible to take the left out of the right or take the right out of the left. Life always coexists with death, neither before nor after. Life cannot be separated from death. Where there is life, there is death, and where there is death, there is life. This needs to be deeply contemplated to be understood.
When we know that birth and death always coexist, we no longer fear death. Because at the very moment death occurs, life simultaneously arises. La vie est avec la mort (Life always goes with death). They cannot be separated. To realize this requires very deep meditation. We should not only use our intellect to meditate. We must observe life in every moment of our daily lives. We will see that birth and death inter-are with each other; this happens to all things, from plants, animals, weather, matter, and energy. Scientists have also declared that there is no birth and no death, only transformation from one form to another. Therefore, only transformation is real, while birth and death are not real. What we call birth and death is merely transformation.
We need to live our lives more mindfully, with calmness, to deeply touch what is happening within us and around us. And then, we will have the opportunity to touch the true nature of reality, which is the nature of no birth and no death. Buddhism calls this Nirvana. Nirvana is the nature of no birth and no death. In Christianity, we might call this God. God is our nature of no birth and no death. We do not have to seek God. God is our true nature.
