RELAX… YOU’RE GOING TO DIE

by Tai Sheridan, Ph.D.

To the Great Mystery

He not busy being born is busy dying.

Bob Dylan

Introduction

If you scratch beneath the surface, you will find that many of your anxieties, worries, and fears are associated with death and dying. Relax, You Are Going To Die is an invitation to examine your relationship with death and your ability to live with grace and dynamic vitality.

If we examine death, we usually ask: What happens when I die? What happens after death? Where did I come from? Will I be reborn? What role does God or a deity play in life and death? What is the meaning of living and dying?

Buddhists ask a different question. They ask: Who is doing the asking?! This question results in an examination of the ego, which is your accumulated personal and conditioned identification. When you lessen the hold that your ego has on the full experience of your body, heart, and mind, perhaps, you may glimpse your life as an integral part of the fabric of all of existence. The death of the ego is the birth of true living.

The question of death and dying is an inseparable part of a spinning two headed coin. One side says “dying”, and the other says “living”. I wrote the poetic contemplations in this book in order to help you see the spinning coin more clearly and to help you deepen your relationship to the mystery of living and dying, which is the basis of living a wise, kind, and beneficial life.

Death is the Root

Death is the root

of your core anxiety

Relaxation is the root

of your core aliveness

Until you make

peace with death

it is impossible to relax

in the core of yourself

Until you relax

in the core of yourself

it is impossible to

make peace with death

Your intellect can’t resolve

this chicken egg existential paradox

yet without resolution

you will succumb

to angst dread loneliness grief

for not claiming your

birthright of contentment

Understanding living and dying

is the core of a deeply

rooted spiritual life

Dying is Ongoing

Dying is an

ongoing event

With every breath

you are dying

With every breath

you are living

Living and dying

are present each

moment of your life

Being vitally alive

is a function of

your awareness about

how you live

and how you die

each moment

Breathing and awareness

are the gates to the garden

of living and dying

Being close to your breath

transforms spiritual philosophy

into spiritual experience

Death Isn’t Abstract

Death isn’t

an abstract event

Making it abstract intellectual

a belief or other worldly

protects you from deep grief

To make peace with death

you need to make

peace with grief

It requires tremendous

inner strength to dwell deeply

inside the loss of those

you dearly love

It requires

the same strength

to dwell deeply

inside the knowledge

that you will lose

your precious life

You may tend to avoid

accepting the biggest truth

about living which is

that everything dies

Deep acceptance will

change you forever

Free Falling into Dying

When you are afraid

of death you contract

and thoughts muscles emotions

become tense narrow hardened

Fear of death is death itself

You become desperate for

a soft cushion to land on

to protect you from facing

what you know will arrive

There is no soft cushion

there is only free falling into dying

that is now that is forever

it can’t be stopped or started

because living dying

being loving

is life itself

To Die Before You Die

To die before you die

is the secret of the spiritually awake

What dies is your self-centered ego

and personal identification

with the stories that you have told yourself

for as long as you can remember

about who and what you are

as a separate person

which you have reinforced

to substantiate yourself

and which

the world has reinforced

to substantiate you

you sadly have come to believe

that the fiction you call me

is the whole story

our impoverished ego

only knows how to protect itself

from the mysterious truth that

there is no substantiality whatsoever

to hang on to and call me

this is strange

wondrous magical

hard to understand

hard to accept

hard to realize

but if you are committed

to making peace with death

then your journey will take you

to understanding that

who you call me is a dream

‘Me’ Dying

When you think of ‘me’ dying

it disconnects you from

the fabric of your existence

Which is the intimate bond

you have with everything that is alive

and with everything that has or will exist

how could you possibly be separate

from any single thing

The fact is that

if everything that exists

throughout all time space

didn’t exist as it is was will be

then you wouldn’t be here

The miracle is that your body

is made of atoms and minerals

formed in interstellar space

the miracle is that who you are

can never be separated from

the totality of all existence

Death is the door to radically changing

your perspective on what is going on

in the depths of your Being

Death’s Door

You can’t think about death’s door

without thinking about birth’s door

These are the two doors of your life

the one you came in

and the one you will go out

Which is a half truth

because although your body

was conceived by a man/woman

womb grown and worldly born

and although your body will decompose

ashes to ashes dust to dust

It doesn’t account for the fact that

you are part of a huge cosmic event

that defines you as bigger

than just the distance

between these two doors

Fear of Death

The fear of death is the fear of total aliveness

which isn’t excitement or fulfilling dreams

At the core of dynamic living

is a great presence not just of yourself

but of the whole works of existence

as it courses through your veins

and pumps oxygenated moonlight

through synapse and cell

It is the certainty

that you exist

connected to everything

your feet on the ground

your breath flowing freely

your eyes wide open

celebrating the joyful

shimmering of things

In this great presence

life and death soften into

the warm embrace of whatever

you call holy sacred divine

blissful true real

Relax You’re Going to Die

If you want full aliveness

which is presence and deep peace

which is acceptance of your living and dying

within the very big cosmic living and dying

Then take a fresh spring breath

and exhale whatever you are holding on to

in your body emotions mind spirit

and die into this precise moment

Fighting death is fighting life

if you have ever been trout fishing

you know that a fish on a hook won’t relax

how could he know about catch and release

which is what the universe is

always doing with your life

There is only one mantra

one string of sacred words

that makes any sense

which will relieve you

of the sleepless nights

locked jaws addictive habits

anxious days depressed emotions

beating yourself up

Living as if your life

isn’t the heartbeat of god

the breath of buddha

the prayer of allah

the blood of christ

the embodiment

of everything

you call holy

In still waters golden light

may you imbibe the gentle truth

Relax, you’re going to die

You Are Death

Everything comes and everything goes

this is the law of reality

Gathering atoms turn into shapes

you give it a name like cup or body

it lasts a second an eon thirteen billion years

then it parts like a wave from the shore

a strange voice in your head

tells you to aim at some ideal state

strong true kind perfect creative loving

which is stupidity that will drive you mad

and keep you from inner peace

You can’t achieve any state that lasts

especially relaxation so the best you can

do is return again and again

to that which will sustain and regenerate

presence vitality love generosity

breathing living dying

Which allows you living to the max

being yourself and nobody else

then you are ready to die

a thousand deaths each day

and celebrate the joyful stream

while mourning autumn leaves

and winter’s chill

You are life you are death

you are you and you are cosmos

in this knowing you can stop

calling it yourself calling it by any name

in the silence of your inner heart

the mystery magic of living dying being

Your destiny is to sit in the theater

watching the movie that you

will never completely understand

which makes it a sacred blessing

for which you can offer up your thanks

and the whole of your life

Death the Great Leveler

The desert fathers gave up everything

to live in a cell in the hot desert

the benedictines chant vespers

while the rest of us are sleeping

zen monks walk through morning shadows

without a trace of themselves

Rumi Hafiz Kabir

lost in ecstatic poetry

Whitman pounded the ground

with the cacophony

of body love humanity

You have longed for truths heard

why keep them distant

why put your peace in another’s hands

Give up everything

which doesn’t mean sell it or go broke

just stop your death grip

on people places things

stop claiming things as yours

it’s just another way of avoiding

death the great leveler

Death is an invitation to simplicity

simplicity is an invitation to clarity

clarity is an invitation to relaxation

relaxation is an invitation to presence

presence is an invitation to living

living is an invitation to death

Death is an Invitation

The only way to learn relaxation

is to learn how and when

you tense up forget the why

Catch yourself stumbling into

tight shoulders clenched fists

sucked in belly gnarled forehead

Headaches heartaches backaches

bone aches muscles aches

so many things make you want to shout

I can’t stand it anymore

In this tension is your death

which is an invitation to relaxation

which is your life

which is your rebirth

from now to now

from frozenness to suppleness

from rigidity to softness

from you to everything

from ego to buddha

From a complicated confused existence

to a simple alive flowing life

Philosophy of Death

If you want to relax

in the dream of living dying

consider your philosophy

because it keeps you

stuck insane or free happy

Your fear of death

keeps you from being truly alive

so why not embrace dying

your fear of life

keeps you from jumping in

with both feet and experiencing

the infinite array of your own potential

so why not make room

for the totality of you

Scrambling after wealth fame love

all the goodies you think

will make you happy

is a death sentence

Why not grab the key

hanging in your brain heart

on a tree moon in a child’s face

Bathe in the fresh night breeze

breathe out until there’s nothing left

allow the gap to close between

your living and your dying

until you are set free to roam

green mountains walk city streets

sit still in a rocker as the lights dim

in the magic of being

Dying into Redwoods

I often lean against a redwood tree

and die into the bark

my spine rising

into the blue of sky

My legs become roots

journeying down

into unseen waters

my breath slows softens

my eyes open in wonder

great cumulous clouds

dance over the mountain peak

Soon I’ll return

to kids computers stress and modern plagues

but for this moment I choose

to let what I conveniently call myself die

and I dwell in the house of relaxation and peace

where you and I are inextricably entwined

in the living and dying of all things

A Wish for the World

May All Beings Be Happy!

May All Beings Be One!

May All Beings Be Free!

About the Author

Tai Sheridan is a poet, philosopher, and Zen priest. He transforms ancient Buddhist and Zen texts into accessible and inspirational verses. His Buddha in Blue Jeans series offers a contemporary approach to Buddhist philosophy and awakening.

Books by Tai Sheridan

Buddha in Blue Jeans Series

Buddha in Blue Jeans: An Extremely Short Zen Guide to Being Buddha

Relax… You’re Going to Die

Secrets of True Happiness

Buddhist Classics in Modern Verse

Celestial Music: Sutras of Emptiness

The Lotus / Diamond / Heart-Wisdom / Loving Kindness Sutras

The Bare Bones Dhammapada: Big Mind Big Love

Buddha’s Essential Teachings

The Buddhacarita: A Modern Sequel

The Poetic Saga of Buddha’s Life From Birth to Enlightenment

The Zen Wheel of Life Mantra: A Song of Luminous Wisdom and Love

Based on the Bhavacakra — The Wheel of Life Mandala

Zen Classics in Modern Verse

The Light of the Ancient Buddhas: Ballads of Emptiness and Awakening

Based on Keizan’s Transmission of the Light

Rice Eyes: Enlightenment in Dogen’s Kitchen

A poetic version of Dogen’s Tenzo Kyokun on enlightened living and practice

Snow Falling in Moonlight: Odes in Praise of Dogen’s Shobogenzo

Twelve Poems based on Dogen’s Shobogenzo:The Treasury of the True Dharma Eye

Warm Zen Practice: A Poetic Version of Dogen’s Bendowa

Whole Hearted Way

Collections

Buddha’s Light Body: Collected Works of Tai Sheridan

Copyright

Published by Tai Sheridan

Copyright 2012 Tai Sheridan

Kindle Edition

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Content

RELAX… YOU’RE GOING TO DIE
by Tai Sheridan, Ph.D.

Introduction

Death is the Root

Dying is Ongoing

Death Isn’t Abstract

Free Falling into Dying

To Die Before You Die

‘Me’ Dying

Death’s Door

Fear of Death

Relax You’re Going to Die

You Are Death

Death the Great Leveler

Death is an Invitation

Philosophy of Death

Dying into Redwoods

A Wish for the World

About the Author

Books by Tai Sheridan

Copyright