[Buddha-l] How Khushwant Singh does

[David Living]

On Aug 8, 2011, at 0:47, Erik Hoogcarspel <jehms at xs4all.nl> wrote:
 
> Pain for who? I guess the mother has to endure most. I wonder if it is 
> the pain that makes thinking about death so terrible. Heidegger called 
> death the possibility of all impossibilities. But death also puts in 
> perspective that which one takes generally for absolute: ones own existence.

I think birth is traumatic for everyone involved. My mother survived the birth of 
her first child, sadly the child was stillborn. For me it was "a piece of cake" apart 
from a slight scarring around the ears! I think I must have got the painful end of 
the deal there come to think of it - story of my life! She was up and about the next 
day which was very rare in 1949 apparently. Meanwhile it was a few years before I 
could get up and about.

My point is that its maybe interesting to compare our social attitudes/perspectives
about death with our social attitudes about birth. Usually I get the idea that people 
think Birth is a miracle and proof of the existence of a benevolent god in some way. 
Usually of course its those People who don't give birth who get terribly sentimental 
about it. Contrast this with the dull morbid depression that seems to surround death 
and how it gives rise to the philosophical speculation and religious beliefs that 
try to cope with it.

Maybe I'll just have to console myself with the idea that, to misquote Rab Tagore "I 
probably enjoyed birth so I expect I'll enjoy death too!" But maybe all this is a 
little too trivial for an academic site so just to get serious for one minute I would 
like to point out that you could call birth "the possibility of all impossibilities".

Dave Living/Aryacitta