Zen Death

[BillyGoat]

Finally I have a decent photograph of this drawing. Originally it was going to be a collaborative work between another artist in Portugal, but that did not work out. So I sent it to a really amazing artist in London, he sent it back. Now it will be sent to an artist from MS, USA. When sent via snail mail, I will cover most of my drawing , revealing only an inch of the right side for Joe to see. From the 1 inch strip he will finish the rest of the blank paper.


This is done with a regular bic ball point pen over a months time.



What are your theories or ideas on Death? Where do you see your self when you die, or what do you think about the process of death? I'd love to know what swims in ya'lls minds.



Please do not repost anywhere, as the other artist is not supposed to see my work until he is finished with his. Thank you for viewing.

[eastwood]

Awesome picture BIllyGoat..

[Foster]

Very cool pic and idea! Keep us updated on progress

[oibchip]

very cool

[BillyGoat]

Thank you all but no one has any thought on death?

[Jordan86]

You know that movie the lion king? The whole circle of life bit. I like that and it makes sense to me.

I consider humans to be animals, I don't rank us in our own special category, I don't classify us to be of some greater significance, I don't think we have our own special afterlife or anything. I think this body is just a pile of cells run on energy just like any other organism. Our body will be destroyed including our minds or consciousness or what have you. Our energy will continue on however, and in that sense we have immortality.

I think the energy was there before we came into being, before we were ever born the energy that we would come to use in order to exist was already there. The energy is eternal. It was before us, it was what ran us, and it was go to other things after us.

I don't know if that makes sense, but I just see this physical body as a vessel made to work by energy and that when the vessel is destroyed the energy scatters into everything else

[BillyGoat]

I think your statement has validity, and I have envisioned the same. Whether this energy that inhabits my body was here before it or not , I don't know. But when my vessel decays, I will begin one crazy journey. I like your words though.

[TVCasualty]

I've said before that every craftsman
searches for what's not there
to practice his craft.
A builder looks for the rotten hole
where the roof caved in. A water-carrier
picks the empty pot. A carpenter
stops at the house with no door.

Workers rush toward some hint
of emptiness, which they then
start to fill. Their hope, though,
is for emptiness, so don't think
you must avoid it. It contains
what you need!
Dear soul, if you were not friends
with the vast nothing inside,
why are you always casting your net
into it, and waiting so patiently?

This invisible ocean has given you such abundance,
but still you call it "death",
that which provides you sustenance and work.

God has allowed some magical reversal to occur,
so that you see the scorpion pit
as an object of desire,
and all the beautiful expanse around it,
as dangerous and swarming with snakes.

This is how strange your fear of death
and emptiness is, and how perverse
the attachment to what you want.

Now that you've heard me
on your misapprehensions, dear friend,
listen to Attar's story on the same subject.

He strung the pearls of this
about King Mahmud, how among the spoils
of his Indian campaign there was a Hindu boy,
whom he adopted as a son. He educated
and provided royally for the boy
and later made him vice-regent, seated
on a gold throne beside himself.

One day he found the young man weeping..
"Why are you crying? You're the companion
of an emperor! The entire nation is ranged out
before you like stars that you can command!"

The young man replied, "I am remembering
my mother and father, and how they
scared me as a child with threats of you!
'Uh-oh, he's headed for King Mahmud's court!
Nothing could be more hellish!' Where are they now
when they should see me sitting here?"

This incident is about your fear of changing.
You are the Hindu boy. Mahmud, which means
Praise to the End, is the spirit's
poverty or emptiness.

The mother and father are your attachment
to beliefs and blood ties
and desires and comforting habits.
Don't listen to them!
They seem to protect
but they imprison.

They are your worst enemies.
They make you afraid
of living in emptiness.

Some day you'll weep tears of delight in that court,
remembering your mistaken parents!

Know that your body nurtures the spirit,
helps it grow, and gives it wrong advise.

The body becomes, eventually, like a vest
of chain mail in peaceful years,
too hot in summer and too cold in winter.

But the body's desires, in another way, are like
an unpredictable associate, whom you must be
patient with. And that companion is helpful,
because patience expands your capacity
to love and feel peace.
The patience of a rose close to a thorn
keeps it fragrant. It's patience that gives milk
to the male camel still nursing in its third year,
and patience is what the prophets show to us.

The beauty of careful sewing on a shirt
is the patience it contains.

Friendship and loyalty have patience
as the strength of their connection.

Feeling lonely and ignoble indicates
that you haven't been patient.

Be with those who mix with God
as honey blends with milk, and say,

"Anything that comes and goes,
rises and sets, is not
what I love." else you'll be like a caravan fire left
to flare itself out alone beside the road.


Rumi VI (1369-1420) from 'Rumi : One-Handed Basket Weaving

come on sweetheart
let's adore one another
before there is no more
of you and me

a mirror tells the truth
look at your grim face
brighten up and cast away
your bitter smile

a generous friend
gives life for a friend
let's rise above this
animalistic behavior
and be kind to one another

spite darkens friendships
why not cast away
malice from our heart

once you think of me
dead and gone
you will make up with me
you will miss me
you may even adore me

why be a worshiper of the dead
think of me as a goner
come and make up now

since you will come
and throw kisses
at my tombstone later
why not give them to me now
this is me
that same person

i may talk too much
but my heart is silence
what else can i do
i am condemned to live this life

(that was also Rumi, but not sure about the citation.)

It's inevitable and interesting to contemplate death sometimes, but I try to keep it in perspective. I'm alive right now, so I think I should focus most of my thoughts and energy on life. Many people I've known and loved have gone on to whatever's next, and I know my own time will come and I will find either answers or oblivion in due time. I'm not afraid of following my friends wherever they may have gone; at least we'll all be in it together again. I just hope the transition doesn't hurt very much!

[eatyualive]

thats kinda got a little escher/ geiger in there. nice works!!!

[BillyGoat]

TV Casualty, thank you very much for the words man, I just read it and it was very kind of you. I hope the trip is smooth for us all and that we find our ways. I know it will be a great journey into the unknown and unexplained, soon to be known and explanations not necessary. You are right about directing your energy toward life and embracing what it has to offer, that is the only way to go on living.


And eatyoualive

Thats kind of you to compare me to those masters, but I'm not even close. Their techniques and skill far surpass mine, I am just trying to catch up. Thanks though, its flattering.