Actually, I find that this song is speaking of the act of self death that is also seen in The Perennial Philosophy by Aldous Huxley. Both works portray the self as something that causes selfishness (attachment to "material") and reliance on the physical world, while ignoring the transcendent world. The art of dying is a killing of the self-identity (akin to Buddhist "no-self"). The realization that the speaker has about how he has "never closed [his] eyes in a long time" suggest his ignorance to the "other world" while relying on the sensual world for truth. The traveling light is figurative as well as literal. Of course one cannot take personal belongings into the afterlife, but one must also learn to live without the self so as to leave all attachments to the physical world with the self and create a peaceful idea of death instead of an idea full of resentment for what one loses.
Yep, you got it man!! That's what meant... for me at least ;)
I think this idea is getting really interesting, if you consider the "Art of dying" (in the mystical meaning you described) as an act that is neither identical with actual (biological) death nor does necessarily only happen shortly before biological death. i mean, to die peacefully sure is a good thing, but what about to live peacfully? i am convinced that one can achieve overcoming ones self-identity in lifetime. the earlier the better, don't you think? Maybe in the lyrics the line "whithin i practise" hints at that...
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Yep, you got it man!! That's what meant... for me at least ;)
I think this idea is getting really interesting, if you consider the "Art of dying" (in the mystical meaning you described) as an act that is neither identical with actual (biological) death nor does necessarily only happen shortly before biological death. i mean, to die peacefully sure is a good thing, but what about to live peacfully? i am convinced that one can achieve overcoming ones self-identity in lifetime. the earlier the better, don't you think? Maybe in the lyrics the line "whithin i practise" hints at that...
by the way i definitely agree to sammyt7, best song on the album. givin me goosebumps!
speaking for myself: to loose all that, what could be called my self-identity, doesn't at all mean that i become "nobody", get dumb and amnesic, dissolve into nothing or such. quite the contrary. paradoxically by loosing my identity i seem to become "myself" even more, more that ever.
I like the way Eckhart Tolle put it - unfortunately thats one of those "mystics" thats probably earning an a*** full of money with his books, but still there's something to it: "Property, work, social status, acceptance, knowledge, education, physical appearance, special abilities, relationships, personal or family history, politics, nationality, race nor religion. None of that is you. Do you think that is frightening? Or is it a relief? You have to let got of these things sooner or later. Do you think thats hard to belief? I certainly don't want you to belief, that your identity is in none of these things. You will find out yourself. At the latest when death is near. death takes away everything that is not you. Now the secret of life is "to die BEFORE you die" and find out that there is no death."
Actually, I find that this song is speaking of the act of self death that is also seen in The Perennial Philosophy by Aldous Huxley. Both works portray the self as something that causes selfishness (attachment to "material") and reliance on the physical world, while ignoring the transcendent world. The art of dying is a killing of the self-identity (akin to Buddhist "no-self"). The realization that the speaker has about how he has "never closed [his] eyes in a long time" suggest his ignorance to the "other world" while relying on the sensual world for truth. The traveling light is figurative as well as literal. Of course one cannot take personal belongings into the afterlife, but one must also learn to live without the self so as to leave all attachments to the physical world with the self and create a peaceful idea of death instead of an idea full of resentment for what one loses.
Yep, you got it man!! That's what meant... for me at least ;) I think this idea is getting really interesting, if you consider the "Art of dying" (in the mystical meaning you described) as an act that is neither identical with actual (biological) death nor does necessarily only happen shortly before biological death. i mean, to die peacefully sure is a good thing, but what about to live peacfully? i am convinced that one can achieve overcoming ones self-identity in lifetime. the earlier the better, don't you think? Maybe in the lyrics the line "whithin i practise" hints at that... by...
Yep, you got it man!! That's what meant... for me at least ;) I think this idea is getting really interesting, if you consider the "Art of dying" (in the mystical meaning you described) as an act that is neither identical with actual (biological) death nor does necessarily only happen shortly before biological death. i mean, to die peacefully sure is a good thing, but what about to live peacfully? i am convinced that one can achieve overcoming ones self-identity in lifetime. the earlier the better, don't you think? Maybe in the lyrics the line "whithin i practise" hints at that... by the way i definitely agree to sammyt7, best song on the album. givin me goosebumps! speaking for myself: to loose all that, what could be called my self-identity, doesn't at all mean that i become "nobody", get dumb and amnesic, dissolve into nothing or such. quite the contrary. paradoxically by loosing my identity i seem to become "myself" even more, more that ever. I like the way Eckhart Tolle put it - unfortunately thats one of those "mystics" thats probably earning an a*** full of money with his books, but still there's something to it: "Property, work, social status, acceptance, knowledge, education, physical appearance, special abilities, relationships, personal or family history, politics, nationality, race nor religion. None of that is you. Do you think that is frightening? Or is it a relief? You have to let got of these things sooner or later. Do you think thats hard to belief? I certainly don't want you to belief, that your identity is in none of these things. You will find out yourself. At the latest when death is near. death takes away everything that is not you. Now the secret of life is "to die BEFORE you die" and find out that there is no death."