I’ve been a long time fan of Mr. Cohen from the moment I heard his “the Stranger” song. It pierced my heart and I swore to do everything I could to not turn out like the woman he sang about. Later I purchased his beautiful book of “psalms” he wrote titled “Book of Mercy." It has comforted me many times through out my life. One particular work (see below) in this book gave me peace as a single woman. He is a poet, a lover, a melancholy man, a monk, a bohemian and an artist of tremendous insight into human existence.
I recently found a mini series about the Tibetan Book of the Dead that he narrated. This touching film speaks about the art of dying, something that we westerns try to avoid thinking about at all cost. In the west we are about active living we have a lust for life, food, fun, consumption and repress our fears of death. However with all the cancer, heart disease and other fatal illness now running rampart affecting all age groups and classes as product of our modern society, it would be in all of our interest to entertain these philosophies. After all, in all facets of life death must have her share. From the womb to the tomb and back to the womb life and death are but Janus head of the same experience. It seems to me that these Tibetan philosophies not only could be applied to our physical death but also the fear of change which many times feels like a sort of death and rightly so because it is. Learning to die gracefully and knowing that life is just on the other side would be a huge aid for transitions of all kinds. This no doubt the Narrator of this film, Mr. Cohen is well familiar with.
No comments:
Post a Comment