Marie Taylor, Ink

I have read the story of Buddha’s life many times, but I was always rather skeptical about his ignorance of life’s darker side. It was his encounter with illness, old age and death that prompted him to embark upon his journey.

But today the story started to sound more plausible to me. How many of us actually acknowledge the reality of illness, aging and death? Do we locate cemeteries within our communities or banished to the unseen perimeter?

We believe that in a few years there will be a cure for cancer, for heart problems and the many debilitating diseases from which we now suffer. We put our trust in the powers of medical science to postpone the appearance, if not the elimination of, these mighty predators.

We believe that good diet, exercise and skilled surgery can capture and maintain the beauty and power of youth. Isn’t it just a matter of time before there is a pill, a vaccine, a transplant, a stem cell that will extend our lives far into the future. Are we not gods in the making?

Many of us look upon our aging bodies with dismay or sorrow. We do not embrace the quietness of age nor see within its seeming frailty something to be honored rather than disdained or feared. Can we bear illness with dignity rather than see it as the enemy?  

In reality, we are in the same situation as Siddhartha. We have a culture that fears aging and death. If we saw the truth of life, its brevity, its poignancy, its beauty, we certainly would live differently.

Wouldn’t we take more walks, watch more sunsets, hold more hands? Wouldn’t we be kinder to ourselves and others? Wouldn’t we spend our time experiencing life rather than playing in virtual realities?

So the story of Buddha is not as foreign and exotic as I had previsously thought. We are all asleep as he was; all sheltered by our parental culture from acknowledging and honoring our precarious existence.

Can we wake up to our own mortality? Can we explore the possibility that quality is more precious than quantity? Can we live with the deep questions rather than hide from reality?