"Spock," Leonard Nimoy, dies (video)

Seth Auberon, Ashley Wells, Wisdom Quarterly; DC; V.F. Gunaratna (BPS.lk)

(Star Trek) Spock's death from the movie "Star Trek II: The Wrath Of Khan"

Let us live while we can for death is certain; life is not. Soon enough Mara comes.

(In Search Of with Leonard Nimoy) "Other Voices" (Season 1, Episode 1) The secret life of plants is revealed by modern technology! This fascinating opener explores plant communication, language, and healing.

• VIDEO: "In Search Of" (all episodes in order)
• VIDEO: "The Secret Life of Plants"

What will Kirk (R) do without Spock (L)?

Star Trek's Spock, Leonard Nimoy, dead at 83: Nimoy endeared himself to uncountable fans as his character Benjamin Spock. He died today, Feb. 27, 2015 at his home in L.A.'s ritzy Bel Air neighborhood, his spouse confirmed. He was 83. According to Susan Bay Nimoy, the explanation for his death was "end-stage chronic obstructive pulmonary disease," or COPD, that he attributes to years of smoking. He was reportedly hospitalized earlier this month. It's very sad even though he told us all we could suck it.

 

Buddhist Reflections on Death

V.F. Gunaratna (Buddhist Publication Society) edited by Dhr. Seven, Amber Larson

To the average person death is by no means a pleasant subject or talk for discussion. It is something dismal and oppressive -- a kill-joy, a fit topic only for a funeral house. The average person immersed as we are in ourselves, ever seeking after the pleasurable, ever pursuing what excites and gratifies the senses, refuses to pause and ponder seriously that these very objects of pleasure and gratification will some day reach their end.

 

If wise counsel does not prevail and urge the unthinking pleasure-seeking person to consider seriously that death can also knock at our door, it is only the shock of a bereavement under our own roof, the sudden and untimely death of a parent, wife, child [or beloved TV star] that will rouse us up from our delirious round of sense-gratification and rudely awaken us to the hard facts of life.

Then only will our eyes open, then only will we begin to ask ourselves why there is such a phenomenon as death. Why is it inevitable? Why are there these painful partings which rob life of its joys?

• There is also a solution to the problem of death -- and not only death but also aging, sickness, and suffering -- and the Buddha teaches that this ultimate solution is nirvana, the "end of suffering."

Three things: impermanence, disappointment, egolessness!

To most of us, at some moment or another, the spectacle of death must have given rise to the deepest of thoughts and profoundest of questions. What is life worth, if able bodies that once performed great deeds now lie flat and cold, senseless and lifeless? What is life worth, if eyes that once sparkled with joy, eyes that once beamed with love are now closed forever, bereft of movement, bereft of life?

...It is the contemplation of death (while living), the intensive thought that it will some day come upon us, that softens the hardest of hearts, binds one to another with cords of love and compassion, and destroys the barriers of caste, creed, and race among the peoples of the Earth all subject to a common destiny. Death is a great leveler. Pride of birth, pride of position, pride of wealth, pride of power must give way to the all-consuming thought of inevitable death. It is this leveling aspect of death that made the poet say:

"Scepter and crown
Must tumble down
And in the dust be equal made
With the poor crooked scythe and spade."

It is the contemplation of death that helps to destroy the infatuation of sense-pleasure. It is the contemplation of death that destroys vanity. It is the contemplation of death that gives balance and a healthy sense of proportion to our highly over-wrought minds with their misguided sense of values. It is the contemplation of death that gives strength and steadiness and direction to the erratic human mind, now wandering in one direction, now in another, without an aim, without a purpose.

It is not for nothing that the Buddha has, in the very highest terms, commended to his disciples the practice of mindfulness regarding death. This is known as "marananussati bhavana." One who wants to practice it must at stated times, and also every now and then, revert to the thought maranam bhavissati -- "death will take place."

 

This contemplation of death is one of the classical meditation-subjects treated in the Path of Purification (Visuddhi Magga) which states that in order to obtain the fullest results, one should practice this meditation in the correct way, that is, with mindfulness (sati), with a sense of urgency (samvega), and with wisdom (ñana). More
 

(In Search Of Season 2, Episode 2) "The Man Who Would Not Die: The

fascinating saga of the Count of Saint-Germain," who dazzled the courts

of Europe for over 100 years, leading some to believe he was immortal.