474 lines
22 KiB
Plaintext
474 lines
22 KiB
Plaintext
The Immortal Soul
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World Scripture
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THE IMMORTAL SOUL
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In this section are passages about the soul or spirit of the human individual,
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which may be characterized variously as the divine Self in Hinduism, or as the
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product of conditions and causes in Buddhism, or as the core of the individual
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person, partaking of his or her choices and deeds, in Judaism, Christianity,
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and Islam. From the perspective of ontology, we note that Buddhism does not
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conceive of the soul as ultimately real; it parts company with the Hindu and
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Jain concept of the soul as identical with the divine Self (Atman). Such a
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distinction might well be seconded by the Abrahamic religions' understanding of
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God as fundamentally Other and distinct from his creatures. But ontology is
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not at issue here; one may refer to passages under Formless, Emptiness,
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Mystery, pp. 85-92, and Original Mind, pp. 217-23. In this chapter we are only
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concerned with the soul as a phenomenological entity which carries the destiny
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of the individual person.
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First of all, the soul, in any of these varied conceptions, is more essential
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to a person's identity than his body, which is made from clay and is but a
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vestment, a possession, something one has rather than what one is. Next, we
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examine notions of eternal life: how the soul survives the death of the
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physical body. Although the manner of its survival varies among the
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religions--it may remain close to earth, ascend to Heaven, descend into hell,
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participate in a general resurrection, merge into the Godhead, or transmigrate
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into another body--the fact of its survival is a common thread that unites them
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all. These texts include descriptions of a new 'spiritual body' which will
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clothe the soul in the next life. Finally, we have several passages which
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liken the transition to the next life to waking up from a dream.
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The body is the sheath of the soul.
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1. Judaism. Talmud, Sanhedrin 108a
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The dust returns to the earth as it was, and the spirit returns to God who gave
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it.
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2. Judaism and Christianity. Bible, Ecclesiastes 12.7
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Then the Lord God formed man out of the dust of the ground, and breathed into
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his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.
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3. Judaism and Christianity. Bible, Genesis 2.7
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And He originated the creation of man out of clay,
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then He fashioned his progeny of an extraction of mean water,
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then He shaped him, and breathed His spirit in him.
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4. Islam. Qur'an 32.8-9
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The union of seed and power produces all things; the escape of the soul brings
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about change. Through this we come to know the conditions of outgoing and
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returning spirits.
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5. Confucianism. I Ching, Great Commentary 1.4.2
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Now my breath and spirit goes to the Immortal,
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and this body ends in ashes;
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OM. O Mind! remember. Remember the deeds.
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Remember the actions.
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6. Hinduism. Isha Upanishad 17, Yajur Veda 40.15
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The outward form, brethren, of him who has won the truth stands before you, but
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that which binds it to rebirth is cut in twain.
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7. Buddhism. Digha Nikaya, Brahmajala Sutta
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The soul is characterized by knowledge and vision, is formless, an agent, has
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the same extent as its own body, is the enjoyer of the fruits of karmas, and
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exists in samsara. It is also enlightened and has a characteristic upward
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motion.
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8. Jainism. Nemichandra, Dravyasangraha 2
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Matter has no life, hence it has no real existence. Mind is immortal.
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9. Christian Science. Science and Health, 584
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- - - - - - - - - - - -
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I Ching, Great Commentary 1.4.2: Birth and death form one recurring cycle, like
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the alternation of the seasons. Spirit comes from the invisible realms to the
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visible, then returns to the invisible realms again. Isha Upanishad 17: Also
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found in Yajur Veda 40.15. Brahmajala Sutta: With liberation, the existential
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state of the soul may change without any alteration of a person's external
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bodily appearance. Dravyasangraha 2: This speaks of the jiva, the individual
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soul. Science and Health, 584: Cf. the Buddhist doctrine of 'Mind Only' in the
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Lankavatara Sutra 61-64, p. 155.
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- - - - - - - - - - - -
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A man is his own immortal soul.
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10. Scientology. L. Ron Hubbard, A New Slant on Life
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Knowing that this body is like foam, and comprehending that it is as
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unsubstantial as a mirage, one should destroy the flower-tipped shafts of
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sensual passions [Mara], and pass beyond the sight of the King of death.
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11. Buddhism. Dhammapada 46
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Know that the present life is but a sport and a diversion, an adornment and a
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cause of boasting among you, and a rivalry in wealth and children. It is as a
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rain whose vegetation pleases the unbelievers; then it withers, and you see it
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turning yellow, then it becomes straw. And in the Hereafter there is grievous
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punishment, and forgiveness from God and good pleasure; whereas the present
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life is but the joy of delusion.
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12. Islam. Qur'an 57.20
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Behold this beautiful body, a mass of sores, a heaped up lump, diseased, much
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thought of, in which nothing lasts, nothing persists. Thoroughly worn out is
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this body, a nest of diseases, perishable. This putrid mass breaks up. Truly,
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life ends in death. Like gourds cast away in autumn are these dove-hued bones.
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What pleasure is there in looking at them?
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Of bones is this house made, plastered with flesh and blood. Herein are stored
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decay, death, conceit, and hypocrisy.
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Even ornamented royal chariots wear out. So too the body reaches old age. But
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the Dhamma of the Good grows not old. Thus do the Good reveal it among the
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Good.
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13. Buddhism. Dhammapada 147-151
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Man's real nature is primarily spiritual life, which weaves its threads of mind
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to build a cocoon of flesh, encloses its own soul in the cocoon,
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And, for the first time, the spirit becomes flesh.
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Understand this clearly: The cocoon is not the silkworm;
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In the same way, the physical body is not man but merely man's cocoon.
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Just as the silkworm will break out of its cocoon and fly free,
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So, too, will man break out of his body-cocoon and ascend to the spiritual
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world when his time is come.
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Never think that the death of the physical body is the death of man.
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Since man is life, he will never know death.
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14. Seicho-no-ie. Nectarean Shower of Holy Doctrines.
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Dhammapada 46: Cf. Sutra of Hui Neng 10, p. 437. Qur'an 57.20: Cf. Qur'an
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17.18-19, p. 336; 102, p. 340. Nectarean Shower of Holy Doctrines: As in
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popular Japanese Buddhism, the scripture of this new religion contrasts the
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realm of appearances and sense impressions with the realm of Reality. The body
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belongs to the realm of appearances, but the spiritual life belongs to the
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order of Reality.
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- - - - - - - - - - - -
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Ts'ai-wu said, "I have heard the names kuei and shen, but I do not know what
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they mean." The Master said, "The [intelligent] spirit is of the shen nature,
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and shows that in fullest measure; the animal soul is of the kuei nature, and
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shows that in fullest measure. It is the union of kuei and shen that forms the
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highest exhibition of doctrine.
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"All the living must die, and dying, return to the ground; this is what is
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called kuei. The bones and flesh molder below, and, hidden away, become the
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earth of the fields. But the spirit issues forth, and is displayed on high in
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a condition of glorious brightness. The vapors and odors which produce a
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feeling of sadness,[and arise from the decay of their substance], are the
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subtle essences of all things, and also a manifestation of the shen nature."
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15. Confucianism. Book of Ritual 21.2.1
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Though our outer nature is wasting away, our inner nature is being renewed
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every day. For this slight momentary affliction is preparing us for an eternal
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weight of glory beyond all comparison, because we look not to the things that
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are seen but to the things that are unseen; for the things that are seen are
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transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.
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For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a
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building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. Here
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indeed we groan, and long to put on our heavenly dwelling, so that by putting
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it on we may not be found naked. For while we are still in this tent, we sigh
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with anxiety; not that we would be unclothed, but that we would be further
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clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. He who has
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prepared us for this very thing is God, who has given us the Spirit as a
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guarantee.
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So we are always of good courage; we know that while we are at home in the body
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we are away from the Lord, for we walk by faith, not by sight. We are of good
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courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord.
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For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may
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receive good or evil, according to what he has done in the body.
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16. Christianity. Bible, 2 Corinthians 4.16-5.10
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Look upon life as a swelling tumor, a protruding goiter, and upon death as the
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draining of a sore or the bursting of a boil.
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17. Taoism. Chuang Tzu 6
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You prefer this life, although the life to come is better and more enduring.
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All this is written in earlier scriptures; the scriptures of Abraham and Moses.
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18. Islam. Qur'an 87.16-19
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Onyame does not die, I will therefore not die.
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19. African Traditional Religions. Akan Proverb (Ghana)
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Akan Proverb: 'Onyame' is the most common Akan name for the Supreme Being. It
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means, roughly, 'the One who gives fullness.'
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- - - - - - - - - - - -
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Do not say, "They are dead!" about anyone who is killed for God's sake. Rather
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they are living, even though you do not notice it.
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20. Islam. Qur'an 2.154
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Those who are dead are never gone:
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they are there in the thickening shadow.
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The dead are not under the earth:
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they are there in the tree that rustles,
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they are in the wood that groans,
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they are in the water that runs,
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they are in the water that sleeps,
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they are in the hut, they are in the crowd,
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the dead are not dead.
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Those who are dead are never gone:
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they are in the breast of the woman,
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they are in the child who is wailing,
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and in the firebrand that flames.
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The dead are not under the earth:
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they are in the fire that is dying,
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they are in the grasses that weep,
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they are in the whimpering rocks,
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they are in the forest, they are in the house,
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the dead are not dead.
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21. African Traditional Religions. Birago Diop, Poem (Mali)
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Who is whose mother? who the father?
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All relationships are nominal, false.
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Ignorant man! why do you babble as in a dream?
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Know, by conjunction made by God, by His Ordinance,
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you have come into the world.
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All from one clay are made; in all one Light shines.
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One breath pervades all, what point is any weeping over another?
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Man wails over the loss of what he calls his:
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Know, the Self is not perishable.
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22. Sikhism. Adi Granth, Gauri, M.5, p. 188
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One man believes he is the slayer, another believes he is the slain. Both are
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ignorant; there is neither slayer nor slain. You were never born; you will
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never die. You have never changed; you can never change. Unborn, eternal,
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immutable, immemorial, you do not die when the body dies. Realizing that which
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is indestructible, eternal, unborn, and unchanging, how can you slay or cause
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another to be slain?
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As a man abandons his worn-out clothes and acquires new ones, so when the body
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is worn out a new one is acquired by the Self, who lives within.
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The Self cannot be pierced with weapons or burned with fire; water cannot wet
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it, nor can the wind dry it. The Self cannot be pierced or burned, made wet or
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dry. It is everlasting and infinite, standing on the motionless foundation of
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eternity. The Self is unmanifested, beyond all thought, beyond all change.
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Knowing this, you should not grieve.
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23. Hinduism. Bhagavad Gita 2.19-25
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- - - - - - - - - - - -
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Qur'an 2.154: This refers specifically to the martyrs, those killed in the
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struggle for God. Cf. Qur'an 3.169-74, p. 880; Hadith of Muslim, p. 878.
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Gauri, M.5: Cf. Acarangasutra 4.32, p. 956; Brihadaranyaka Upanishad 2.4.4-5,
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p. 957.
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One who identifies himself with his soul regards bodily transmigration of his
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soul at death fearlessly, like changing one cloth for another.
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24. Jainism. Pujyapada, Samadhishataka 77
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Why is it thought incredible by any of you that God raises the dead?
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25. Christianity. Bible, Acts 26.8
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Just as the womb takes in and gives forth again, so the grave takes in and will
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give forth again.
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26. Judaism. Talmud, Berakot 15b
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It is We who give life, and make to die, and to Us is the homecoming.
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27. Islam. Qur'an 50.43
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And among His signs is this: you see the earth barren and desolate, but when We
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send down rain to it, it is stirred to life and yields increase. Truly, He Who
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gives life to the dead earth can surely give life to men who are dead. For He
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has power over all things.
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28. Islam. Qur'an 41.39
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Some day the Great Chief Above will overturn the mountains and the rocks. Then
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the spirits that once lived in the bones buried there will go back into them.
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At present those spirits live in the tops of the mountains, watching their
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children on earth and waiting for the great change which is to come. The voices
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of these spirits can be heard in the mountains at all times. Mourners who wail
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for their dead hear spirit voices reply, and thus they know that their lost
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ones are always near.
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29. Native American Religions. Yakima Tradition
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Bhagavad Gita 2.19-25: The Self--which is all-pervasive Spirit--pre-exists its
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incarnation in the physical body, and will continue to exist through eternity,
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clothed in body after body. A different notion of pre-existence, whereby what
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pre-exists is the individual soul, is found in the Latter-day Saints; cf. Pearl
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of Great Price, Abraham 3.22-4.1, pp. 368f. Acts 26.8: Cf. 1 Corinthians
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15.52-57, p. 583. Berakot 15b: Cf. Ezekiel 37.1-14, pp. 583f. Qur'an 41.39:
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Cf. Qur'an 3.27, p. 583; Ezekiel 37.1-14, pp. 583f. Yakima Tradition: Cf.
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Ghost Dance, p. 1117; Ezekiel 37.1-14, pp. 583f.
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- - - - - - - - - - - -
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The world beyond is as different from this world as this world is different
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from that of the child while still in the womb of its mother. When the soul
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attains the Presence of God, it will assume the form that best befits its
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immortality and is worthy of its celestial habitation. Such an existence is a
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contingent and not an absolute existence, inasmuch as the former is preceded by
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a cause, whilst the latter is independent thereof. Absolute existence is
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strictly confined to God, exalted be His glory.
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30. Baha'i Faith. Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah 81
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Birth is not a beginning; death is not an end. There is existence without
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limitation; there is continuity without a starting point. Existence without
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limitation is space. Continuity without a starting point is time. There is
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birth, there is death, there is issuing forth, there is entering in. That
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through which one passes in and out without seeing its form, that is the Portal
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of God.
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31. Taoism. Chuang Tzu 23
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Yama was the first to find us our abode,
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a place that can never be taken away,
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where our ancient Fathers have departed; all
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who are born go there by that path, treading their own.
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Meet the Fathers, meet Yama, and meet with the
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fulfillment of wishes in the highest heaven;
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casting off imperfections, find anew thy dwelling,
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and be united with a lustrous body.
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32. Hinduism. Rig Veda 10.14.2,8
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But some one will ask, "How are the dead raised? With what kind of body do
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they come?" You foolish man! What you sow does not come to life unless it
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dies. And what you sow is not the body which is to be, but a bare kernel,
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perhaps of wheat or some other grain. But God gives it a body as He has
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chosen, and to each kind of seed its own body. For not all flesh is alike, but
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there is one kind for men, another for animals, another for birds, and another
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for fish. There are celestial bodies and there are terrestrial bodies; but the
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glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another.
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There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory
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of the stars; for star differs from star in glory. So it is with the
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resurrection from the dead. What is sown is perishable, what is raised is
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imperishable. It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory. It is sown in
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weakness, it is raised in power. It is sown in a physical body, it is raised
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in a spiritual body. If there is a physical body, there is also a spiritual
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body.
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33. Christianity. Bible, 1 Corinthians 15.35-44
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Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah 81: Personal immortality is strictly
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distinguished from the Absolute in itself, in contrast to the Hindu conception
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of the eternal Atman which is Brahman. Chuang Tzu 23: Cf. Chuang Tzu 6, p.
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584. Rig Veda 10.14.2, 8: On Yama, King of the dead, see p. 350.
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- - - - - - - - - - - -
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It comes from the origin,
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It returns to the original land
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in the Plain of High Heaven--
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That spirit is one and the same,
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not two.
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The Way of death
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Is found in one's own mind
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And no other;
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Inquire of it in your own heart,
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In your own mind.
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Leave to the kami
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The path ahead;
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The road of the returning soul
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is not dark
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To the land of Yomi,
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To the world beyond.
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In all things
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Maintaining godly uprightness:
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Such a one at last will see
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All dark clouds cleared away.
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All humanity born into
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The land of sun-origin, this
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Land of Japan,
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Come from the kami,
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And to the kami will return.
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34. Shinto. Naokata Nakanishi, One Hundred Poems on The Way of Death
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God takes the souls of men at death; and those that die not He takes during
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their sleep. Those on whom He has passed the decree of death He keeps back,
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but the rest he returns to their bodies for a term appointed. Verily in this
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are signs for those who reflect.
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35. Islam. Qur'an 39.42
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While one is in the state of dream, the golden, self-luminous being, the Self
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within, makes the body to sleep, though he himself remains forever awake and
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watches by his own light the impressions of deeds that have been left upon the
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mind. Thereafter, associating himself again with the consciousness of the
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organs of sense, the Self causes the body to awake.
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While one is in the state of dream, the golden, self-luminous being, the Self
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within, the Immortal One, keeps alive the house of flesh with the help of the
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vital force, but at the same time walks out of this house. The Eternal goes
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wherever He desires.
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The self-luminous being assumes manifold forms, high and low, in the world of
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dreams. He seems to be enjoying the pleasure of love, or to be laughing with
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friends, or to be looking at terrifying spectacles.
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Everyone is aware of the experiences; no one sees the Experiencer.
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Some say that dreaming is but another form of waking, for what a man
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experiences while awake he experiences again in his dreams. Be that as it may,
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the Self, in dreams, shines by Its own light....
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As a man passes from dream to wakefulness, so does he pass at death from this
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life to the next.
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36. Hinduism. Brihadaranyaka Upanishad 4.3.11-14, 35
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One Hundred Poems on The Way of Death: All people, not only the Emperor, are
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children of the kami, find their roots within the kami, and are destined to
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become kami.
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How do I know that the love of life is not a delusion? How do I know that he
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who is afraid of death is not like a man who left his home as a youth and
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forgot to return? Lady Li was the daughter of the border warden of Ai. When
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she was first taken captive and brought to the state of Chin, she wept until
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the bosom of her robe was drenched with tears. But later, when she went to live
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in the royal palace, shared with the king his luxurious couch and sumptuous
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food, she regretted that she had wept. How do I know that the dead do not
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repent of their former craving for life? Those who dream of a merry drinking
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party may the next morning wail and weep. Those who dream of wailing and
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weeping may in the morning go off gaily to hunt. While they dream they do not
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know that they are dreaming, In their dream, they may even try to interpret
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their dream. Only when they have awakened do they begin to know that it was a
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dream. By and by comes the great awakening, and then we shall know that it has
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all been a great dream.
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Once upon a time, Chuang Tzu dreamed that he was a butterfly, a butterfly
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fluttering about, enjoying itself. It did not know that it was Chuang Tzu.
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Suddenly he awoke with a start and he was Chuang Tzu again. But he did not
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know whether he was Chuang Tzu who had dreamed that he was a butterfly, or
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whether he was a butterfly dreaming that he was Chuang Tzu. Between Chuang Tzu
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and the butterfly there must be some distinction. This is what is called the
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transformation of things.
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37. Taoism. Chuang Tzu 2
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Brihadaranyaka Upanishad 4.3.11-14, 35: The thought comparing the passing over
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to the next existence at death to a sleeper waking from a dream continues in
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verses 4.3.34-4.4.4, pp. 342f. Cf. Bhagavad Gita 5.15-16, pp. 535f.
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