The Power Of A Fear Free Life
"Strive ever to more! and if thou art truly mine -- and doubt it not, an if thou
art ever joyous! -- death is the crown of all. Ah! Ah! Death! Death! thou shalt long for death. Death is forbidden, o man,
unto thee. The length of thy longing shall be the strength of its glory. He that lives long & desires death much is ever
the King among the Kings." Liber al vel Legis 2:72-74
Death is the great mystery. To fear death is to be enslaved by it. Thus we are faced with a
great dilemma if we are to become Thelemites. For in this book there lies a blind trust, no different than that of accepting
a promise in the Christian Bible.
The Bible promises that if we accept Jesus in a personal way, we are protected from eternal fire
and damnation in hell. The Book of the Law promises that death for everybody is a pleasant release from this body and a journey
into our old spiritual existence from which we came.
I personally find the latter easier to believe. There is physical evidence in the world to support
this story.
I have known people who survived "near-death" or "out-of-body" experiences. They say there is a
spiritual world of light awaiting us on the other side that is very pleasant. How many stories have we heard from folks who
watched loved ones slip away, and seeing their faces light up, and even sometimes a hand reaching out at the very moment of
death? The old ones liked to say they saw an angel waiting to escort them into Heaven. Whatever was happening, the vision,
at least for the dying soul, was pleasant.
My wife's brother Wayne told a story of drowning when he was a child. He said his pants apparently
snagged on a nail at the bottom of a log raft while swimming with friends in a deep hole of a stream. He said he found himself
passing through a long dark tunnel and then emerging in a bright garden where he encountered dead friends and relatives and
heard lovely music. He said the experience was so pleasant he was angry when his brother pulled him from the water and revived
him . . . yanking him back into his worldly body. From that day on, Wayne said he looked forward to his death.
When we analyze fear it seems to stem from a programmed dread of dying. Fear of losing our job is
a picture of dying homeless in the street. Fear of flying is a concern that the plane will crash. Fear of battle is worry
that we will be among the soldiers left dead on the battlefield.
Thus if we can reach an understanding of death, as my brother-in-law did, we can proceed through
the rest of our life free of the fear of it. Wayne profited from that childhood experience. He enjoyed every day of the rest
of his life to the fullest. Even though he later developed a heart problem that he knew could kill him at any moment, Wayne
lived his life with gusto. In spite of turmoil that seemed to overpower his world, he had such a glow about him that people
enjoyed being in his company. His exhilaration for life spilled over making us all glad with him. When death at last claimed
Wayne, it was as if a very bright light was sniffed from the world.
Hadit proclaims: "Ah! Ah! Death! Death! thou shalt long for death." Yet
it is not for us to allow the longing to overpower us so much that we commit suicide. "Death is forbidden,
o man, unto thee."
The point of this understanding; this knowledge of the reward that awaits us after our task in this
world is ended is this: "The length of thy longing shall be the strength of its glory. He that lives long
& desires death much is ever the King among the Kings."
Like Wayne, our lives can be enriched because of freedom from fear. We thus gain strength in
our longing for the glory of death. The longer we live, the more we grow to become "the King among the
Kings."
While we can look forward to our death, our task in this world is to seek our will, our reason for
coming here, and then strive to exceed.
Copyright - James Donahue
