Short story: A Zen Master lectures his students about life, and death

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The Zen master, Fogen Zerploski, was talking to his students about death: He told them that death, the time of our own death, is governed by certain inputting factors. Here is what he said: "The first inputting factor in death is our physical body, then our mind, and finally our soul's input into the timing of our death too." "Our soul works hand in hand with God about this, but our body and mind are largely only working with themselves." "A body will die when it can't function anymore, a mind will die when it gives up on itself, but a soul never dies, and always has the final say in every death." "If the body has capitulated through an ill-health condition, the soul will usually allow this death to go ahead then too." "If our mind has given up on life, our soul will more often act to try to change our thinking, and to correct our wrong beliefs, and ideas about life, especially if the body is still functioning well." "Finally, when our soul has completed its input into this lifetime, it will end its association with the body then too, and then both the mind, and the body, must go along with this decision, and so will stop functioning as well." "So, my young would-be Zen masters, do you think that this is about right about how death works here, in life, or not?" The Zen master's past master was also in the audience on this day. He stood up, and he said: "Death is a part of life, until life becomes a part of death." "And this happens when life sees the writing on the wall, of its life, but yes, this writing can come from its body, mind, or its soul, so yes, this is about right how it all works." Photo Credit: The photo used in this article was sourced from the free media site, pixabay.com Death lives beyond both life, and itself, until it is brought into life to do its work. Until then, death remains in the shadows of life, but it becomes really real for us, only upon our death.