DYING IS PART OF LIVING; it is also fundamentally tender and true. Old age, sickness, and death don’t have to be frightening. Fear doesn’t have to be frightening.
Here’s the Zen view of death: sooner or later, we must deal with why we came here and what our lives are for. The most helpful thing in this regard, the ultimate encouragement to wake up, is the reality of death. You can be free while you’re dying, while those you love are dying, or even while it’s raining.
People, though, are often
