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One morning at 4am, the Northridge earthquake threw me out of my bed and convinced me that I was about to die.
It really shook me up. For days, I walked in fear, facing my mortality and the realization that my body and existence could end in an instant.
Most of us carry this fear of death. It shows up as a literal fear of loss of our body, but also dominates our lives as a fear of death of parts of life such as the death of a relationship, a job, a dream, or our physical beauty.
But what, exactly, is it that would die?
I continued to ponder this over the following days. Then the truth hit me hard: just as physical objects take up limited space in an infinite universe, time is just a limited concept within eternity.
I realized that immortality is what’s real, and my short, mortal life is just a limited concept.
This meant that I – the real Self that is the true “I” – cannot die!
So what does die?
What dies is our mortal concept of time and space: our limited concept about ourselves and our lives. Our belief in limitation and lack.
This is all that dies.
With this realization, a prayer shot through me: “Since dying is just the releasing of all these limiting beliefs …then why not get on with it NOW?”
I didn’t pray this prayer; it prayed me. It prayed to die while I am still alive so that I could be liberated from my fear of death.
This is what all the great teachers have been teaching, because, to the degree that we hold on to our mortal sense of self, we are limited. Our life energy can’t fully expand in us because of our fear of death.
And so, to truly live, we must die to the lie.
Listen to “Dying While We’re Alive,” to reveal and release the fears that are limiting the full expression of who you are.
