Short story: The zen of death is the way of love

Tweet

The old Zen master, was suffering in his breathing, that had become laboured, and long. He tried to draw in the life-giving air, but he was too weak to draw in enough. He knew that he was not long for this world. He had been diagnosed with lung cancer. One day, the old Zen master coughed loudly, as he also had a cold, but he told his students, "The cold is not me, and I am not the cold." "My body is suffering from it, whereas my soul is free of it, as it always is too, and so it is with all our ailments. They are not us. We are far greater than our ailments." "Now, on the other hand, though, we are love, and love is us, but we are the love in our soul, not the mirrored idea image of it, held by our mind." "Some people claim that evil also exists in our world, but this evil is also just a broken mirror." "Evil does not live in love, but exists outside of love to show us what love is in opposition to evil, and therefore it is like a mirror image of love, but not love, as the mirror is cracked by its evilness, and can never portray love, as it really is." "We can look in this mirror, and see that this image is not love, because love is realer than this, and exists within us, not outside of us, as does this mirror." "Now, only love knows the truths of life. Love fully, and you will know them too. Do not love the image of love, in the mirror. Love, love." And with that, the old Zen master took one much deeper breath, sighed once, and died. Photo Credit: The photo used in this article was sourced from the free media site, pixabay.com The old Zen master had piercing blue eyes.