One added word entirely changes the rationale of "life is short" for me.
"This", meaning "current".
Add the belief that there is another (form of) life after this one and suddenly the equation changes:
This life is short. But then there's another one coming.
The scientists in us agree - of course there is no evidence of life after this one, despite the messages transmitted to us from our ancestors - in the form of stories, traditions, superstitions, beliefs, religions. Depending on who you ask - we either go to a place were we stay forever (heaven/hell/spirit world) or we come back to life as another being or life form.
But the body dies and rots away !
Technically the body has died many times during it's lifetime - cells die and others are created - or rather - create themselves according to the instructions in the DNA.
The DNA is the one that moves forward through time, all the other pieces of our bodies rot away.
But not the whole of it, just 50%. Half the DNA vanishes into void.
But "I" will no longer "exist" !
That's a belief. And also quite vague, because - who/what is this "I" ?
Is it my body, is it my brain, is it something which lives inside the body/brain, is it all imaginary ?
Well, think about anyone - someone who's not near you right now - who is he/she ?
Right now, he/she is a thought.
Isn't everyone, dead or alive, just that - a thought ? Isn't "I" a thought then ?
If so, what is life then ? A story ?
Your story.
"Remember that man lives only in the present, in this fleeting instant; all the rest of his life is either past and gone, or not yet revealed. Short, therefore, is man's life, and narrow is the corner of the earth wherein he dwells." - Marcus Aurelius
"This", meaning "current".
Add the belief that there is another (form of) life after this one and suddenly the equation changes:
This life is short. But then there's another one coming.
The scientists in us agree - of course there is no evidence of life after this one, despite the messages transmitted to us from our ancestors - in the form of stories, traditions, superstitions, beliefs, religions. Depending on who you ask - we either go to a place were we stay forever (heaven/hell/spirit world) or we come back to life as another being or life form.
But the body dies and rots away !
Technically the body has died many times during it's lifetime - cells die and others are created - or rather - create themselves according to the instructions in the DNA.
The DNA is the one that moves forward through time, all the other pieces of our bodies rot away. But not the whole of it, just 50%. Half the DNA vanishes into void.
But "I" will no longer "exist" !
That's a belief. And also quite vague, because - who/what is this "I" ? Is it my body, is it my brain, is it something which lives inside the body/brain, is it all imaginary ?
Well, think about anyone - someone who's not near you right now - who is he/she ?
Right now, he/she is a thought.
Isn't everyone, dead or alive, just that - a thought ? Isn't "I" a thought then ?
If so, what is life then ? A story ?
Your story.
"Remember that man lives only in the present, in this fleeting instant; all the rest of his life is either past and gone, or not yet revealed. Short, therefore, is man's life, and narrow is the corner of the earth wherein he dwells." - Marcus Aurelius