Monologue 1　To live well is to die well

We are inclined to think that death is a bad thing.
I dared to say “we are inclined to think” because someone may claim “I don’t think that death is a bad thing.”
As a matter of fact, everyone thinks death is a bad thing.
An anecdote about Gautama Buddha can prove it.
It is reported that Gautama Buddha had never known the death of creatures until the age of 28.
He is also reported to have said “I am self-righteous above and under the sun” when he was born.
His father was a king of a country and Gautama Buddha had a destiny to succeed his father.
One day an officiating priest, a counselor to the king, said abruptly.
“The prince has a magnificent intelligence and he would not succeed you!”
The king was surprised to hear that and asked the priest.
“How will he succeed me?”
The priest replied.
“Never ever tell him anything about death!”
Since then Gautama Buddha had been living until the age of 28 without knowing the death of creatures.
One day he went out, when a cart passed by him, and suddenly asked the cart man “What are you carrying on the cart?”
It was the turning point of Gautama Buddha’s remaining life.
The cart man who did not know the king’s gag order answered.
“It is carrying a dead!”
“A dead?”
Gautama Buddha couldn’t understand him.
The cart man said with laughter “Everything alive inevitably dies. Don’t you know?”
It was a bolt from the blue for him, so Gautama Buddha left the palace to renounce the world without saying goodbye to his family.
“Why do all creatures live their lives with a manifest destiny to die?”
This was the beginning of Gautama Buddha’s ascetic practices, which developed Buddhism later.
He had not known until the age of 28 that all creatures die; however, we ordinary men came to know it at a certain time.
Notwithstanding the fact, we live with greedy desires such as “want to be happy”, “want to be rich”, “want to be great” without knowing the meaning of life.
Gautama Buddha would be disgusted to hear that and say, “You are foolish! You can not know the meaning of an unpredictable life unless you know the meaning of death!”
We are scared of death without knowing the meaning of death.
We are eager to lead a happy life with fearing death.
Such a ridiculous idea can’t be possible.
When the last conclusion -death- is not good, the process -life- can’t be good.
What is death?
What is life?
It is a necessary and sufficient condition that to live well is to die well.
However death comes at the end of life.
A necessary and sufficient condition is not sufficient.
Only a necessary and sufficient condition that surpasses the concept of time can make us to live well.
To surpass the concept of time is to live at “now & here” but not at past, present, future.
To die at “now & here” is nothing but to die well.
As a result, it means to do your best to live fully.
To live well is to die well.