Reflections on Life, Death, and Aftermath

First, let me try and make a long story short: George Lucas is the man. He's a storytelling genius! Father-son, the Jedi, everything---he created a masterpiece. But on to the specifics: the Jedi. One scene, specifically: Darth Vader and Obi-Wan Kenobi are in a lightsaber duel on the Death Star, and Obi-Wan says, "Strike me down, Darth, and I could become more powerful than you could ever imagine."

Let me try to explain why this is so cool. Obi-Wan is a Jedi Master. He's trained all his life. The Jedi religion is identical in almost every way to Taoism. From my experiences studying the Buddhist philosophy, this line is particularly significant because of the Jedi philosophy on death. According to the Buddha, at least, death is not sad. It is merely true. It may be the end of life, but not the end of consciousness. The ultimate goal of any practicer is to become dissattached to even life itself, and be unafraid of death. Obi-Wan Kenobi has trained so much that he is unafraid of death---and that's why he disappears when Vader strikes him down!!! He's entered a whole new frame of existence; his full embrace of the Force has allowed him to transcend material being itself and become entirely one with the Force. He is now purely made up of the Force and can be everywhere. He communicates with Luke through his feelings, because Luke is able to use the Force strongly and therefore use Obi-Wan's teachings strongly.

"Life was just a funny thing that happened on the way to the grave." - Quentin Crisp

Now, more onto the Buddhist philosphy of death. The achievement of full Enlightenment on Earth, in Buddhism, allows one to pass on from one's mortal coil and mortal cycle of rebirths and become one with Nirvana. After thinking about this, I've begun to understand this a little more fully. We as human beings are normally bound to this state of consciousness, with four dimensions (the 3 spacial dimensions, plus time). Then, at the end of our experiences on Earth, our bodies die and our [minds/spirits/souls/whatever you want to work with] are freed, moving on to the next rebirth.

However, as that quote shows, if we acknowledge that it is a hard fact that at some point we are going to die, and because we know that, we make sure that we spend each moment without wasting any. Mr. Quentin Crisp is right, however morbid his witty remark may be. We are all destined to shuffle off this mortal coil. The more we realize it, the less we can be afraid to transcend space and time and become aquainted with the 5th dimension, which I'm convinced has everything to do with God, Nirvana, etc.

If I have wierded out anyone, I must ask: why have you continued to read so far?
If I have excited or impressed anyone, I must say: May the Force be with you, fellow Star Wars nerd.