Death

“What is the meaning of death?” asked the student one morning, despondent.

“Death is a transition of consciousness from body to the collective,” said the Tao.

“Death looks more like final to me, rather than a transition. My father has passed away, that is final; that is not a transition,” said the student.

“It is final for the body, but it is a transition for the consciousness. We are part of a giant collective fabric of consciousness. Remember what I had told you about leaving behind a ripple? That ripple is what we contribute to the collective consciousness. Death liberates your consciousness from your body, to be part of that collective. At death, your body dies, but your consciousness lives on because it has permeated other consciousnesses to be forever a part of theirs. When you are alive, your ripple is given a bodily form. With death, your ripple does not need a form anymore, for it has become part of the whole, the collective,” said the Tao.

“Not sure it makes me feel any better,” said the student. 

“Some things are hard to explain,” said the Tao.