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For some people the simple act of driving home from work carries the weight that they may be pulled over for suspicion on no grounds other than who they are. Some parents live in persistant fear that their children may be harmed by the very officers who are empowered to protect them. For some people even open cooperation with power is met with cruel violence.
Ancient Athens was An original experiment in rule by the people (albeit flawed by its omissions) [1]. The three principles of Athenian democracy being: equal right to speak, equality under the law, and equality of vote. In the wake of a ruinous war the Athenian democracy was replaced with an authoritarian government later known as “The Thirty Tyrants.” There are always people in any community who are eager to inflict authoritarian control. The first order of business for the Tyrants was systematically reversing the democratic principles of law that were carved into a wall in city center, the Agora. The Tyrants turned the army against their own people leading to arrest, seizure of property, and executions without trial.
One of the methods of the Tyrants was turning the Athenian people against one another. They summoned certain citizens with the order of carrying out the arrest others. This policy was designed to undermine any unity of populace and integrity of individuals. Twentieth-Century East Germany made a total culture of betrayal by recruiting hundreds of thousands of ordinary citizens to spy their families and friends.
Socrates (469–399 B.C.E.) was called before the Tyrants and ordered to arrest a fellow Athenian. At his own trial (which ended in the death penalty) he recalls;
“When the oligarchy came into power, the Thirty Commissioners in their turn summoned me and four others to the Round Chamber and instructed us to go and fetch Leon of Salamis from his home for execution. This was of course only one of many instances in which they issued such instructions, their object being to implicate as many people as possible in their crimes. On this occasion, however, I again made it clear, not by my words but by my actions, that the attention I paid to death was zero (if that is not too unrefined a claim); but that I gave all my attention to avoiding doing anything unjust or unholy. Powerful as it was, that government did not terrify me into doing a wrong action. When we came out of the rotunda, the other four went to Salamis and arrested Leon, but I simply went home.” (Apology, 32 c-d).
Socrates refused to participant in perpetuating an unjust government. He accepted that his civil disobedience might lead to punishment for him. Later, after the Thirty Tyrants were overthrown, Socrates was brought to trial for “impiety and corrupting the youth.” Basically the charges amount to his showing people how they may think for themselves rather than be controlled by power, reputation, and appearance. His doing so, of course, offended people in power.
There are many tyrants in our lives; the bully on the schoolyard, the internet troll, the angry talk show host, the cruel parent, the insensitive boss, the impersonal bureaucracy, the politician who sees the increase of their own power as the only good. Yet the most dominating of tyrants is the fear in our own hearts. It is the fear that we too may suffer and that we might be criticized or mistaken. This inner fear causes us to shrink back while others among us are oppressed. It is this moral paralysis that Socrates addresses in his recounting his appearance before Thirty Tyrants. They gave him an unjust order under threat of death. But Socrates did not fear death, so he did not fear them. He could not be manipulated by the great weapon of all tyrants – fear.
Look into your own heart. Do you find fear? Do you want to act on the side of justice but find no clear way to do so? Another ancient philosopher, Siddhartha Gautama of 4th century B.C.E. India, was asked by a student; “But what can I do in the face of such great suffering and injustice in the world?” The philosopher answered;
When you see great injustice and suffering in the world, take it as a sign to you to increase your loving-kindness for the people you see everyday.
There are people now who frame peace as antithetical to justice and kindness as an obstacle to equality. Beware, this is a long worn formula for self-righteousness. From that vantage justice serves as justification, usually of violence. They will also speak of the absence of options in the situation, such as; “We have no choice except to…” (fill in the blank with whatever the righteous one truly desires).
We always have options. There is always something that we can do to choose justice, compassion, and truth. Fear is an innate rejection of change. Yet all is change, so all that we really have to lose is our fear.
In good spirit,
Jon
Notes
[1] Athenian democracy was limited to adult male citizens. Women, slaves, foreigners, and children were excluded from participation in the political process. 21st century democracies still have room to improve upon that ancient example.
Images
photo-1558258932-d435783a2626.jpg, luliia Isakova, @asredaspossible, Unspash, https://unsplash.com/photos/gY6y01Me55s
photo-1587951326187-c9baa4606bff.jpg, Tyler Scheviak, @tylerscheviak, Unspash, https://unsplash.com/photos/-Edg-zf49O4
A vital factor in who we are as individuals is how we conceive of death.
This is because how we conceive of death conditions how we value life.
Few of us value all lives equally, even when it comes to human beings.
Nor do many of us think of our own deaths in the same terms as we do for others.
Some folks may have a degree of clarity in these variations, but I suspect that for most of us the deep questions about life and death are a confused tangle.
Plenty of the day-to-day disquiet of our minds arises from this confusion.
Our mortal struggle is explored by Stephen Caves, a philosopher at the University of Cambridge, in his essay Not Nothing.
“When I squidged it, I summoned the Reaper to my desk. If only briefly, I caught his eye.”
Caves sets out the dilemmas of life/death values starkly then seeks a balance point between them.
The degree to which he succeeds at this depends upon the insight gained by an attentive reader, such as yourself.
I suggest that you read this article and come back to it on successive opportunities for at least three readings.
Take your understanding of Cave’s analysis into conversation with people in your life.
They may embrace the topic outright, recoil at the mention of death, or dismiss the entire issue as meaningless.
In any of those cases, and the points in between them, you will at least gain a perspective on the various ways that people think about dying and accord value to the living.
Image Acknowlegements
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CC Search
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Whatever I anticipated on Friday morning it was not to witness the last breath of a young man.
I walk to work whatever the weather and this morning the rosy fingertips of dawn hinted at a sunny Spring day.
I had an early meeting so stopped at the corner café to organize my notes over espresso.
After coffee I set off to campus. A block away I saw something on the walkway my side of the railroad tracks.
The object looked like a sleeping bag, though as I approached it moved and I knew there was a person there, perhaps asleep.
There was a person there, but he was not asleep. He was unconscious. He had fallen face down, his left shoe at a right angle a few feet behind.
His arms were tucked under as if he grasped something to his chest as he fell.
Blood seeped from his forehead and saliva pooled at his lips.
There were no others around and I said to him; “Are you awake? Can you hear me?” No response so I called the responders at 911.
The dispatcher asked the right questions in the right order and instructed me not to move him.
One of the questions was; “How far did he fall?”
As I think back, my answer was strange; “To the pavement.”
I was not being glib. I was speaking from an image in my mind of a human body falling from upright to fully prone without catching itself. My image was of the impact such a fall onto cement must incur. That is, I suppose, what happened.
While answering the 911 dispatcher’s queries a man passed walking along the tracks. He was shouting something. I looked up to catch it. Waving his arms the man said; “He’s a drunk!”
Ignoring the irrelevant I asked the dispatcher to repeat his question. I do not recall what it was or how I answered.
While waiting for the paramedics an elderly woman approached walking her small elderly dog. She asked if the man on the ground was awake as the little dog sniffed at him. They moved on.
There was a moment of stillness – quiet and lonely. The sun was not yet high and we were in the shadow of buildings, he on the ground, me standing near.
He lay motionless but for a deep exhalation that came from his mouth bubbling the saliva which mixed slightly with the blood.
I did not see him inhale and felt this may be the last of his breath
Ancient texts from Egypt, India, China, and Israel speak of the life-force as a form of breath. The Greeks called it Pneuma.
As Jose’s life leaked out onto the pavement I said aloud; “You are not alone.” That was all.
In a moment the stillness broke with a siren wail and police were there.
They knew him as “Jose” and tried to awaken him. One checked for a pulse at his 
throat. They turned him over, opened his shirt and began CPR.
A fire truck arrived with paramedics who broke out equipment and became busy.
A police officer had questions for me and I turned away from their efforts to bring Jose back to the living. He was not coming back.
The officers were respectful of Jose and tried to save him. They were kind to me.
The remainder of my day was not so eventful though I remained slightly disengaged.
My words were in a measure unclear to others and by the end of the day I felt as though I were speaking through a veil.
I walked home late by the same route and found flowers in a cardboard box where Jose had fallen.
Later I learned that Jose was known to his friends as Francisco.
In my evening meditation I contemplated the death of a young man, just 34 years.
The Gazette Times had an article about the incident in which Jose is identified and I am designated a passer-by.
In truth, I am but a witness to the passing by of Francisco “Jose” Semadeni.
He did not die alone.
Yama – God of Death and Dharma
Among those who contemplate death, few are as thorough in detail and depth as are Buddhists.
A traditional Tibetan book, Bardo Thodol, is often referred to in English as The Tibetan Book of the Dead, though a more accurate translation is The Great Liberation through Hearing. A modern classic of Tibetan Buddhism is The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying by Sogyal Rinpoche.
Two contemporary Tibetan Buddhists, Patty Winter and Gregg Ruskusky, share their understanding via workshops – one of which is coming to Portland OR this April 28-30.
This extended session addresses care-giving for the dying and grieving with a overall objective of opening insight to our personal mortality and self-care.
I have registered and am looking forward to learning! Maybe I’ll see you there.
The workshop is sponsored by Maitripa College, the single degree offering Tibetan Buddhist College in the US.
Our Common Ground: Death and Dying
Patty Winter, RN, and Gregg Ruskusky
April 28-30, 2017
Friday, 7-9 pm; Saturday and Sunday, 10am – 12:30pm and 2-5pm
Information and Registration
https://maitripa.org/event/death-dying-workshop-2017/
Conversations on topics such as in this post are common at Death Café Corvallis, in which you are welcome to participate.
Image Acknowledgement
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yama
As family matters go, death is surely a big one. How families respond to the deaths of loved ones is likely a primary determinant of a culture’s treatment of mortality. Death is not a common social topic in the U.S. and I have sometimes thought that stemmed from a form of denial. On the other hand, perhaps it is a function of propriety in which as a family matter, death is left to the family. Still, it is my experience that death is not a common topic within families until someone within dies.
The W.H. Stark House in Orange, Texas is a museum that took an interesting approach to the typical silence on death with an exhibition specifically about the aspects of death in a family over a decade. At issue is the Stark family who lived in the mansion that has since become a museum. The exhibit – A Death in the Family – explores the private lives of the Starks in the context of loss and mourning.
Stephanie Fulbright reviewed the exhibit noting;
“By grounding the conversation in someone else’s story” the exhibit “opened the door to the conversation about death and mourning and offered people an avenue to think and talk about mourning and loss in their own context.”
Effectively representing personal experience with death in a publicly accessible way is an accomplishment that will hopefully be continued in other venues.
Image Acknowledgement
Imagery often carries meaning beyond words. Documentary photographer David Chancellor’s recent exhibit, ‘Handle Like Eggs,’ continues his investigation into life, death, loss, and other forces that bind humans together.
Chancellor’s exhibit presents photographs taken in Southern Africa. All are evocative, some perhaps disturbing.
Chancellor makes use of color and mass to shape the sense of his compositions. The images are packed with potential emotion, though the subjects in them rarely express the feelings overtly.
Photography has possibly changed our concepts of death more than any technology. Let us know whether Chancellor’s discerning eye impacts your own.
When Paul Moon’s Grandfather died, he had already seen several dead people. Paul’s father was a Funereal Director and as with many sons, he became familiar with his father’s work.
Moon’s reflections in his New York Times article, A Father’s Livelihood Imparts Lessons on Death, are meaningful to those of us to think and talk about mortality.
Being a child with funerals as the family business have impacted his mind in a broader scope;
“I gained an understanding of death that has shifted my outlook on life.”
Most of us experience death primarily when it happens close to home; when a friend or relative dies. It is instructive to contrast that perspective with another view that comes from contact with death people in less personal conditions. Moon’s experiences lead him to an observation that is significant to us all;
“Death shouldn’t be swept under the rug. It’s the most certain thing to happen in our lives.”
This thought is consistent with the modus operandi of Death Café Corvallis at which individuals meet weekly to converse about topics related to death. By facing the reality of death in thought and talk, we are addressing truths that are typically veiled in fear and avoidance.
Conversations on topics such as in this post are common at Death Café Corvallis. You are welcome to participate. Information at Death Cafe Corvallis.
Some philosophers have argued that being conscious of death is a path towards living authentically with personal integrity and self-determination.
In Being and Time Martin Heidegger writes’ “Death reveals itself as that possibility which is one’s ownmost, which is non-relational, and which is not to be outstripped.” In other words, my death is personal, individual, and inevitable. Fear of death stems from rejection of these facts. Recognition of these facts is part of taking total responsibility for one’s own being – authenticity.
Elizabeth Seto (Psychology,Texas A&M) and colleagues set out to test this philosophical position empirically. They found a correlation between the vividness of thoughts about death (e.g., memories) and attitudes related to personal authenticity.
Their paper is insightful for anyone, particularly the Introduction and Discussion sections.
Study finds link between vivid thoughts of death and authenticity
http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11031-016-9556-8
An interview with Seto at PsyPost is also a valuable read.
The association between vivid thoughts of death and authenticity
http://www.psypost.org/2017/02/study-finds-link-vivid-thoughts-death-authenticity-47692
The drift of this philosophical/psychological issue is: if you want to get real in life, get clear about death.
Image Acknowledgments
Catrin_o_Ferain.jpg
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yorick#/media/File:Catrin_o_Ferain.jpg
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Conversations on topics such as in this post are common at Death Cafe Corvallis. You are welcome to participate. Information at Death Cafe Corvallis.
Adept politicians pay attention to voting bocs, which are aggregations of citizens who share interests that influence their voting. Religion, ethnicity, and age are common issue clusters around which voting blocs form.
A voting bloc that has been neglected in the 2016 Presidential campaign is dead people.
It is fair to say that the 2016 Presidential election is a grave decision for voters, but it is a quite different matter that dead people register to vote in significant numbers and many of them do vote.
It is true that electoral officials work to prevent dead people from voting because they have no voting rights; still many of them vote anyway.
Election officials attempt to limit dead people voting by comparing voter registration roles and voting records against the Death Master File maintained by the Social Security Administration.
When dead people vote and are found out it is considered election fraud.
People who assist dead people with voting are charged with election fraud as was recently the case with an 88 year old Illinois woman, Audrey R. Cook.
Her husband of 66 years, Vic Cook, recently applied for absentee ballots to vote in the 2016 election but died before they could complete them together.
So Audrey went ahead and completed Vic’s for him and sent both ballots in.
Vic’s ballot was identified as a dead person voting and was nullified.
Audrey now faces potential election fraud charges.
The case is complicated by the fact that both Vic and Audrey were Madison County election judges, as Audrey was when she filed the dead person vote.
I hope that the Illinois Attorney General will cut Audrey a break.
She is grieving a loss and to her Vic is not really gone, so it is comprehensible to me that she would assist him in casting his last vote, even from the grave.
Vic’s dead man vote will not count in the election, of course, but we should have compassion enough for people like Audrey who lose those they love to understand how they may continue to act as if they were among the living.
Conversations on topics such as in this post are common at Death Cafe Corvallis. You are welcome to participate. Information at Death Cafe Corvallis.
Image Acknowledgements
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_rose_(symbolism)#/media/File:Dark_Rosaleen_Anarchy_1.svg
Illness and pain are linked to death through our concept of the quality of life.
A new video, Life Asked Death: Palliative Care in Asia, examines the role of mortality in the qualitative value of life.
The raw reality of this story develops from the context of people seeking treatment for terminal illness in regions with few resources such as parts of Bangladesh, Myanmar, and Sri Lanka.
This is not an easy video for some people to watch, even for the 26 minutes that it takes.
I suggest that you do so because the last half of the story focuses on the significance of knowledge in quality of life.
Through direct experience we find that one of the main sources of suffering for dying people is not knowing what is happening to them.
Fear of the unknown – not understanding the path that one is on – creates mental anguish.
The truth about one’s condition and impending death turns out to be a source of strength for the people that we meet in this story.
What a remarkable fact that is, that consciousness of our deaths and the causes of our pain is actually a foundation for greater quality of life.
With consciousness comes choice and with choice comes the resolution of identity, even if we are about to lose ourselves in the mystery of death.
I am eager to know what you think of Life Asked Death: Palliative Care in Asia, and the concepts in it.
In good spirit,
Jon
Jon Dorbolo 
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