What does the face of death mean to us in our work on ourselves? We might rephrase this question as, Why is it Good Friday? There is much to learn in the sacred texts handed down to us.

Jesus spends much time telling his disciples that he is to die. Over and again he speaks specifically about how it will take place, yet there is no acknowledgment of this very important subject. Apparently the disciples cannot face death. Even in the garden of Gethsemane, as Jesus is saying his last words to God, his 'right-hand apostles' cannot maintain consciousness. This is the lawful example we are given of the transformation of man.

Besides any possible factual meaning, the gospels represent a practical teaching. Each character has a counterpart in our being. Seeing the disciples as aspects of magnetic center, we find that even the parts of us that wish to work fall asleep, and at the most critical times. Some of these "I's" deny Jesus, some betray, others strike out in violence, and most of them run away when challenged. While it is true that Jesus forgives them, it does not change the fact of their unreliability.

Jesus can be usefully understood as Conscience, the buried treasure in each of us. Conscience has a connection to God, but the "I's" do not. In Beelzebub's Tales, Ashiata Shiemash tells us that if we can bring Conscience into our waking consciousness, we will change for the better automatically.

In the garden, Jesus is tempted to look away from death. What is temptation? If we use context, it is evident that temptation is possible only after contact with Conscience is made-after the Christ, or steward, is awakened in us. Then we begin to have a real choice, the beginning of "not reacting" but basing our decisions on "thinking in a new way," or metanoia. Jesus has a number of temptations, but this last one, to look away from death, is the most serious.

Tibetan teachings place a particular emphasis on death and being with the dying. In Tales it is suggested as well that if only we could see death in everyone, we could be saved. How can all these things be brought together? Certainly there is something significant here for us.

Death can be seen in everyday events, as a recurrent theme in our lives. People who face death deal with it in the same manner as someone who is responsible in life. They take care of all unfinished business in preparation to move on to a new thing, freeing themselves of unnecessary burdens or, if you like, undue karma.

If we were to find out that we would definitely die in a week, or a year, we would live differently; we would have different values. Yet it is known that we will definitely die; we simply avoid looking at it. We turn away from the face of death. And if we were really interested in studying death, we could easily find people close by who are dying. They are all around us.

Much could be added about the results of facing death and what the gospels tell us about its importance, but this is not necessary now. First we must learn how to be able to face death. This will take practice. Make time to be with the dying. Learn their secrets. Then we will be ready to talk of what comes after . . .

"But think for yourselves what there is to withstand physical death in a man who faints or forgets everything when he cuts his finger?" In Search of the Miraculous

KSR 4/20/00