Adore Life.

To me, there is something morally hollow in the belief that death isn't that bad because not being born is no different to life, or that one should not fear death because it is a natural state of affairs. This position is held by many in the modern world - by scientists, religious ascetics, Stoics, people in depressed moods, emos... Unfortunately, these people have confused fearlessness of death with indifference to death. You can be the greatest warrior, but your power need not, and should not, compromise your sensitivity and humanity to the dreadful suffering of the world.

And the Egyptians, as an ancient civilization, loved life and existence more than any other. I have been fascinated with the spirituality of the ancient Egyptians since childhood. We can truly learn from them, because they feared literal annihilation more than eternal torment in fire. While their mythology certainly had an underworld, unlike many other ancient cultures, there was no Hell, no Tartarus, no Nifhelm. Rather, when you arrived in the Hall of Judgement in the underworld, your heart would be weighed on a scale against the Feather of Truth. The god of Wisdom and Time, Thoth, would record the result and announce it to the Lord of the Dead, Osiris. If Osiris decreed that you had done more evil than good, your heart (which was seen as the vessel of the soul) would be sacrificed to the Devourer, a monster who literally consumed your essence.

So how can we understand this in a modern context? Well, I can understand why many lose faith in others, in themselves, in life. This world is by no means the best of all worlds. In fact, its existence is characterized by suffering. In Buddhism we call this world "samsara", or the normal universe, where all unenlightened beings are subject to suffering, whether they are gods, humans, animals or demons. But if there is no life, there is literally no reason to love. And if there is no love, there is little reason to live. See where I'm getting at?

"To love a thing means wanting it to live," said Confucius. Except in extreme circumstances, like during cases of terminal illness or need for euthanasia, it is important to remember it is because of life that we can love. We love a breathing, blinking person, not his ashes or coffin. Anyone who has suffered a loss of a loved one would be the first to tell you this. And we all lose loved ones.

So what is my point? Death is worse than life, and if we want to be true warriors for the cause of good, we should embrace life in its totality, and truly love. Our will to protect life should be as strong as our clenched fist.

Only then, perhaps, may we overcome our darkest fears.