18 for eternity

it's not sexy to note that even moderate drinking can kill you

cremated, no funeral

RIP

 "My life has been full of terrible misfortune, most of which never happened."

joyful death

 

"... the mind you leave this world with conditions the next one. Those filled with fear face a different world than those minds that have acceptance. It is a good idea when one is one one’s deathbed, to recount all the nice and kind things one has done through life."


Hat Tip: JV

Bog Corpse

Age at death: about 30–40

Dated to: about 280 BCE—early Iron Age

In Denmark, dead bodies were thrown into bogs as that's where the spirits lived.

Source here.

epitaph

Dúirt mé leat go raibh mé breoite, Irish for "I told you I was ill".

- Spike Milligan's [1918 - 2002] epitaph

Buddhism, your body post death

There’s no specific advice around burials in Buddhism. Buddhism does acknowledge that our bodies, the one we loved an cherished for many years, will ultimately return to the earth, to the worms and the beetles, and yes to the birds. Buddhism and Buddhists adapt to each culture. The central teachings remain the same, but day-to-day conventions around ways of living can vary. There’s nothing in the teaching of the Buddha that would forbid a sky burial. So whenever a group meets a culture with sky burial, it does not stop it, the practice carries on.

There is some benefit to seeing bodies decay. The Buddha would sometimes suggest a meditator go practice on the “charnel grounds”, these are cemeteries, but I think bodies were placed atop the earth. The flies and the worms would come. A stench would develop. After months, the skin and muscles would rot away the bones would start to become visible. The monks he recommended this to were typically troubled by lust. They were asked to reflect upon the fact that their own bodies and the bodies of the ladies they lusted for, all these were subject to the same decay. They had not got beyond the state of rot and stench.

As meditators, we are asked to make much of the death around us. Relatives who die. Squirrels lying dead on the side of the road. Insects and pets. Whatever. We don’t have much time as humans. It’s best to stop ignoring this fundamental truth and attend to the task at hand without delay.

- Jim, who was a monk with Aukana Trust

blast

Bill Munny

It's a hell of a thing, killing a man. You take away everything he's got and everything he's ever gonna have.

life expectancy

Some say that the first person to live to 150 has already been born.

Virtual Hospice

Here.

existential

“He is terribly afraid of dying because he hasn’t yet lived.”
― Franz Kafka

’The "Green Reaper" Has Your Guide to Eco-Friendly Burials

"With the enormous costs of chemically-treated wood coffins, concrete burial vaults, liners, cremations, urns, cemetery space, and embalming, an average funeral in America costs about $10,000. In addition to adding a financial burden to the backs of grieving families, these burial methods are also notoriously toxic for the environment."

Full story here.

formal relationship with death

Wa

See volunteer perspective here.

3 months

In World War II, the life expectancy of a Jeep was 90 days.

20/20

"Life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all."

- Helen Keller

could go either way

A Hirst interview here. 

everything ends

- Hans Holbein

Tik Toc

"Too old soon; too late smart."
- German aphorism

little boys with power

"The intent of hazing is to humiliate, torture, breakdown."
- Hazing Awareness