Once a child ask a friend of mine:
“Why are we born if we have to die?”
Please give me your thoughts in this.
Love,
Paulo
Why are we born if we have to die?
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life and death are the faces of the same medal .
since we born , we enter this circle and face the life and death stream.
born and die are not only phisichal … it ‘d be too limitate .
The birth and die game , alonge our life , is a ” river of emotions, of souls that meets and leave eachother , of touches , of dreams .. they start .. end and leave a sign or a scar.
Why we born ??
because nothing can be compared with the “experience” of meeting people and nature ; why we die ? we do not die … simply our body decade .. we’ll leave always !
Thanks God to make me face the beauty .. thanks God to make me face the evil ! I feel alive.
Firstly, I believe that death is not the end of life, but the beginning of another life, maybe that’s what comforts some people when they lose their loved ones.
We are born, so we are given the chance to LIVE, and when we really live our lives to the fullest, we see that death may be bad, but the things that happened before it, made it worth livig,even if we are condemned to pass away..
Nacemos y morimos para ESTAR VIVOS!!!!
Besos a todos………..
para amar.
Eres hermoso.
quite strange that a child should ask that question… we are born to try to secure our immortality, i think. we are born to live. life is the journey (the comparison might sound cheap, but it’s the best i can think of) towards an unknown destination. and since we don’t really know where we are going, we should try and make the most of this travel. it reminds me of the quote in the beginning of “O Zahir”, with Itaca…
Have a pleasant day Mr. Coelho.
This question has made me recall a very fond memory. Years ago, my once very young sister asked me the same…i was stuck. And simply responded with the belief that we never die.
I believe we are born to live.
To die is to be forever nothing in eternity…we remain in many ways.
then… i read a response by saurabh, at 12:04pm.
That has filled me with thought for the remainder of the day. and for that, i thank you…your words grace serenity.
Now you know we will die, would you like to have the opportunity not to be born?
the process of life n death has been a matter of discussion since times immemorial.Bible to Lord buddha tried answeing it putting forward their opinion emphasising on karma n other factors. i presume the answer varies from person to person as if a person who is revolutionary in heart will answer that god bestowed upon this life to him for a mission n life is a mission either for a public or a personal legand.then definately one question rears up then why do we have child hood n old age for on e may stand for innocence n other for experience but is never an contributing factor. As far as the concept of Karma is concerned its what about those who believes in predestiny.
As far as my perpective is concerned its an universal law is”what ever has got a start got an end too”, and biology is the “assumption” to prove this law.
dear Paulo, you’re born because two super-monkeys got laid. that’s all, don’t think about it.
Kids ask tough cookie questions.
“every single soul attempting to manifest an awareness of the living Spirit in the earth”
“our goal is not to simply wait for heaven or to escape the earth; instead, we are challenged to bring an awareness of the Creator into our lives and into our surroundings wherever we may be, right now”
Not my words but I think that could be the explanation of why we are here. We are here to express love and that is not an easy task.
Kathleen xx
dearest sir ….
we are born though ,we die, birth after birth because there’s this deep void in our souls …. that can be filled with nothing but sheer love , love for everyone and everything without prejudices … and above all faith in ourselves that we shall never go …. and we are always there on this earth ….. sometimes as physical forms , sometimes as thoughts , sometimes as words and most of the times as memories …… eternal in our own little ways …
today my day has been very satiisfying at my workplace coz i enjoyed every second that i worked here … it was not like this earlier ……. but today it is coz … i was somewhere giving my faith to sir coelho’s beliefs ….. i am sure magic is happening but what is it i dont know … but it will happen … of that i am sure …… i believe it is most important to be peaceful in life than being happy …. because the essence of peace fills our souls but happines just brushes bye ……..
A cliche and naive question, yet will always stay in people s’s mind.
As for me, it is the same question as “why should we take a bath? We will be stink anyway” or “why should we eat? We will be hungry in the next hours right?”
A strange analogy right? Hahaha.. But still the same.
Because it is a matter of the process not the answer nor the destination.
At least that’s the answer from my point of view.
One cliche question, yet will always stays in people’s mind.
For me, it’s just the same question as “why should we take a bath? We will be stink anyway” or “why should we eat? We still will get hungry in the next hours”
It’s a matter of the process. Not the final destination..
At least that’s the answer from my point of view..
What would happiness be without suffering? What depth of happiness could be felt without having experienced suffering? In that same regard, what would life be without birth and death? Without one, the other has no meaning.
Thank you for inspiring my journey, Paul.
why are we all hell bent upon telling a child something ! something which we ourselves are not really sure of ?
does it hurt our ego to draw a blank face in front of a ‘mere’ child ? if at all we are telling that child something, maybe to comfort her/him in times of trauma, it’s always better to stick to truth as we know it as far as possible ! no !!
aditya
Dear Paulo,
Do you think we can see your views on this matter?
It will be trully interesting to see what THE writer thinks
*smiles*
Enlighten me,
Mima
Death has haunted me from the moment I realised I am alive. I have never wanted to die. I may never truly want to die. But why do we have to live and die? Because that is the nature of our Universe. All things must pass…The reason? Does there need to be a reason? Man must always have a reason, an explanation, a ‘meaning’. Maybe there is none, maybe this all just ‘is’. And that is what we must contemplate, and live by. Because, if there is no ‘reason’ there is nothing to lose or gain, experience just is. And the good we do is purely because we feel compelled to be and emit good, not for any ‘reason’, lesson or gain; purely to leave a positive mark because our heart tells us this is the right thing to do.
There really is no point in asking definitive questions about death. It will simply be. When the hour dawns there will be no questions, no arguments, no reckoning, no speculation; it will simply be. Why? Because that is the nature of life, of our Universe, of our existance.
We are alive. So be it. We will die. So be it. Questions are pointless, speculation is pointless, live how you live, do what you do, follow your heart – for no good reason other than the feeling that it’s the right thing to do.
For the surest thing is; you are alive and you will die, whether there is a point or not. That’s the only guarantee. ~if you are reading this now, you are alive. And you will, one day, die. So make the best and the most of in between, leave no stone unturned – for no reason, other than following your own earth-given heart. And when the time comes, death will encompass you and thereafter, what will be, will be. x
Se fosse a minha filha de 3 anos que tivesse feito essa pergunta para mim, eu responderia:
_”Meu amor, quando uma árvore nasce na floresta, ela está lá por algum motivo maior do que ela, mas que a própria árvore não consegue entender. E mesmo assim ela faz tudo o que deve fazer, vivendo cada etapa de seu crescimento como única e especial. Quando chega o tempo da árvore morrer, ela aceita mais uma vez seu destino, e o faz com tanta alegria pois aceitou o Mistério e cumpriu sua parte.
O mesmo acontece com a gente, nós nascemos por alguma razão, maior do que nós mesmos, não adianta querer saber o por quê, há perguntas que não podem ser respondidas. O importante é aceitarmos o Mistério e dignificarmos nossa vida com alegrias e AMOR, para quando chegar o nosso tempo de morrer, possamos fazê-lo com a sensação de missão cumprida.” (E prontos para outra, seja ela qual for).
Beijo Metre Paulo, amo vc!
I think this is a different way of asking “What is the meaning of life?”. But it’s the wrong question; it asks “what can life do for us?”. Consider the animal kingdom. You’re born, eat, sleep, reproduce, die. The cycle continues, and the world is left much as it was before.
Humans have a greater responsibilty. The “meaning of life” is the meaning we give it. How we do that is the question. Ask rather, “How can I give meaning to my life?” Quite often, it is by giving meaning to someone else’s.
I have to question the answer “so there’d be room on the planet for other people”. Suppose we were born immortal – and therefore never had the need to reproduce? Would an immortal life eventually become boring? (I don’t think so.)
For those who believe we live for ever…So life and death are part of a whole trip which leads to eternal life with its stops ofcourse. I believe that I am not going to die…and always look forward with great excitement and intense interest to what lies ahead (ie after the death that one usually associates with the funeral, and burial. I eagerly wait for that moment with great enthusiasm.
God Bless
I think that this life is just one phase of our complete existence. As humans we experience many lessons and if we don’t learn from them we have to repeat them until we do. We live to learn and teach. We live to experience uncomfortable situations so that we can learn to have compassion. We are judged, so that we can learn not to judge. All of the experiences that we go through help us to transcend into a loving being so that we can be ready for the next phase. I believe that if you do not learn what you have to here in this life…when you die you are immediately returned to do it again. We are born to experience, build, learn, teach, and love. When we die, in old age of natural causes, we should look at this as a promotion to a higher and more intensely beautiful phase of existence.
Creo que es que tenemos algo que aprender.
Nacemos, vivimos y morimos es el ciclo de la vida, lo importante es saber que vamos a volver a nacer porque esto es una escuela a la cual venimos a aprender, procurar aprender y no repetir curso es importante como decía un querido amigo mío que me explicaba el pensamiento metafísico de la reencarnación.
Ahora bien este ciclo es natural pero no lo es tanto el dolor o la falta de salud, esto debe superarse y la muerte debe llegar a ser un paso transitorio sabiendo que ha llegado nuestra hora un viaje con morfeo al otro lado del rio.
Bonito dilema sobre la muerte, es quí que Dios nos creó iguales a todos y sabiendo que no vamos a ser eternos en este cuerpo quizás nos haga recapacitar en como vivimos y a que queremos dedicar el tiempo libre.
Un beso con todo mi amor.
Life is done for being appreciated and lived intensively and counsciously. by capturing sings from the eternity of the universe and leaving traces and memories to the posterity. that’s why we live: everybody of us leaves something back. But if we do our best from every single day, then is when life is stronger than death and really worthwhile.
I think we die to give importance to life, to renew our point of view and to discover a new road.
I think we born to experience, to love and to find out the answer to this question.
Death is what makes life special.
Some years ago, few weeks before my grandfather died, we were talking about his life and my life, and he said, “we are born, because we have a path to follow, a world of wonder to discover, a path to create with our acts and behaviour and that will be followed by our children and many other people. There is no reason for life if you just sit down and leave the world evolve around you without you taking part in it. You are here because you have a mission, to open new roads, new paths, to leave a stamp and be an example for generations to come. When that mission is acomplished, your time is due. So, live your life the best way you can, always thinking that every action creates a bookmark on others’ lives, so be always just, and fair. The reason for life is to plant the seeds for a better world for the generations to come, never forget this my child, you are just a farmer, in a very big plantation, the crop you obtain is your responsibility with the future.Never be afraid of dying, because every person has to die to open new space for new shining souls that come to follow your path and open new ones. If we were not suposed to die, can you imagine how many people would be waking around? there would be no food, no water and no space enough for everyone and there would be more war and unhapiness. So, the same we create life bringing children to this world we have to give them their space for growing up and acomplish their mission. This is why we have to die”
I cried for many days, because I felt this was his way of saying goodby, and it was, but, since then, I understood that being born is the best chance to do my best to keep the world alive with my power to create and change things and that one day I will have do give the chance to someone new to keep on going with this beautifull mission, just keeping life, and humanity alive and loving each other more and more.
Hi Paulo.
If we did not die, then life would have little meaning. The limited window that we have onto this world allows the choices we make to be important. If we all lived forever, then everyone would get around to writing books as you do. In one sense this would be good, everyone would become a Shakespeare or a Mozart. But, instead, we all have our individual and particular talents. What kind of impact we do decide to make while we live is then meaningful.It is because we are finite that our time, attention, and love is truly valuable. Death is the horizon of a life that gives human experience grounds for being meaningful, memorable, and important.
Os obreiros do amor
Nós nascemos para podermos conhecer a vida. Para podermos saborear o que é a vida. É uma dádiva que a existência nos concedeu.
Podemos, também, utilizar esta dádiva para criar ao nosso redor um ambiente aprazível – sendo os obreiros do amor.
Because the trip is what matters and not the destination…and by the way would not man get tired to live day after day for ever? In every story there must be an end, like in every song, every dream…that is life, the completion of small stories and adventures till the grand finalle!
Beacuse earth is the ultimate recycling depot. We are always part of it in some way or the other as the earth’s mass always remains the same. Everything grows or are created from existing matter. Nothing new can be added to the pot or else things will be out of balance. ‘Earth to earth – dust to dust’
We are part of the natural cycle of things. To live the experience of life, love, sadness and joy.
AVC,
I find myself totally in agreement with you that it’s not a sign of spiritual weekness to show an interest in science; in fact that would be the day when all are sceintists would be as rooted in spirituality as was say Einstein before he died !
not all whys can be answered; someone once asked a small boy, who was being taught about God etc by a ‘master’, tell me from where the light in this lamp comes ! the boy just put out the lamp and asked him first tell me to where light has gone now, it comes from same place.
why has there got to be daybreak when it’s going to be night soon, why do we have to sleep if we have to wake up ! ceratin questions are better not ‘explianed’ to children, merely few more questions may suffice, who knowsm the chap may actually find thereal answer some day and then he may share with us, those who have known have said something like what Leaf has said !! both living and learning may happen if we are ‘aware’ otherwise too it may happnen but …
I like this question (and I love all of your comments!) To me, the child is asking why we even bother if we know it’s going to turn out badly in the end. Or, why should I get on that merry-go-round when I see every kid who gets on it fall off. Kids don’t think too much about the journey, and living on purpose, and their spirituality until we start talking to them about it. Although, some sweet little souls have surprised me from time to time, so maybe we are born knowing and just forget the truths as we become more human?
If the kid thinks about the “bad” ending then they’ll be too scared to even attempt life. I know a lot of adults who are terrified of the “bad” ending. I know a lot of people in business who won’t try something new because they are already convinced that it won’t work. Well, how many inventions were discovered on the way to failing at the original objective? So why even bother, they say. What a waste of time! If I hadn’t “failed” at so many (o.k., not THAT many) past relationships, I wouldn’t have learned what I now know. Only by experiencing life do we grow. And if we let go of labelling everything as good or bad, positive or negative, and just let it be, just appreciate it for what it is…wow, the journey between our bodies being born and dying is AMAZING! I love life and all of its experiences, but I’m also ready to go on to the next phase…any time. I am fascinated with the concept of what comes next. I’m “dying” to know the answers to my questions.
When one of my mother’s sisters died,my mother said this to her, “I’m so envious that you are going first…you’re going to find out all the answers. I’m ready to go too, but I still need to be here for my husband. He’s not ready to be alone.” Her sister replied, “I’m ready, so I guess I’ll go ahead. It’ll just be the blink of an eye before I see you, don’t worry.” I love that.
I would tell this child, “because you can have so much fun before that ever happens, and if you don’t want to die until you’re really, really old then just tell your body that. Your body hears everything you think. Let’s go for icecream!”
Love always,
Mary (from Canada) brrr…it’s cold here tonight.
Dear Mr. Coelho,
life and death are the same thing. Our understanding or perception of the world is given to us in words, as we have developed language. Life and death are only words, and with words one can untangle, classify and separate that which, in nature, is unseparable. Life and death are separable in words only, their relationship is like the front and back of a book.
Love,
Samuel Gate
there is no end for some thing, every thing in the universe change. With birth and death we also change and grow in small part of this universe,…
Nascemos para encontrar a nossa lenda pessoal.
Vivemos para a concretizar.
Morremos para a saborear.
A word came from nowhere to me the other day;
They need development.
I think this agrees with a few people here, that we come into this life to live and learn, beyond that, I guess we can never be completely sure, though we have Hope.
LOVE
mmm this will sound so assure… and I’m not,
but it’s still quite convenient… I will for
sure have to reconsider my view of what life is
many times… and there might be no words anymore
and maybe that is better?
-because we have to learn to live,
(not just being zombies in the machinery…)
to learn to love – probably the same?
Would we make any effort without a “deadline”? *lol*
somehow the meaning of life always brings me
in touch with the thought of animals and humans
and why we’re messing up so much, while they so
easily flow along with nature… *grin*
What is born of flesh is flesh. Flesh is born and dies. What is born of spirit is spirit and will never die.
Nascemos para evoluir
My 7 year old asked me this question after his grandfather died, and the explanation I gave him was this:
We don’t die; our bodies just die. Bodies are like cars – they were created to allow our souls to move around and were never meant to be our homes forever. Life is like a Classroom. We’re born, we learn lessons and do the jobs that we were sent here to do, and then we return back to the Universe. When someone dies, it simply means that they’ve come to the end of their particular journey or job, and their bodies die so that their soul is free to travel to the next journey or job.
I think that all living form of life in the universe is a part of a greater think called God, if we live we are free to evolve or desinvolve , to give or to retain.. to love or to hate, to give life or to kill.. but with our lives if we build than we build all together God or Devil, so the choice of all the living creatures in the universe is to build.. a God .. or a Devil
choice is there and is a great gift, a great sign of confidence
this is why we are all here.. to make all better and good one person after one person. we build a God and the God build us
so the answer is just… we are here to love , to love all living creatures and to love each others
Perhaps because we ourselves are not one of the infinite things and yet each of us is a necessary ingredient to the continued richness of this experience of life. Some of us contribute more spice or aroma, others more subtle undertones, some a flavor that is longer lasting while others short and bittersweet. So, though we all die, we are born to perhaps flavor the experience of life for those we leave behind.
bc we must improve past lifes in order to see God.
It seems to me that theories of incarnation, or life after death generally, are often accepted because people fear death.
But since most (if not all) of these ancient theories conclude that the ego die with the body, I can see no practical use of them anyway.
As far as anyone can ever tell, the body and the ego will die. This is something we all will have to come to terms with, or suffer accordingly.
When considering these issues, please remember that it is a necessary fact of nature that our personal life form must die. At least on this plane where we now exist, there is nothing to support the above statement that we can choose to live on forever. When someone proves me wrong, I will be happy to stand corrected, but as far as I know it has not been very common for the several millions of years that man has existed.
As many people have pointed out, the dissolution of our personal life form is required for the birth of new forms. Other forms than our own that is. Death is the very basis for the continuous fulfilment of the inherent potential of the origin of the universe.
This is evolution.
To argue with evolution is just as fruitful as arguing that raindrops should fall upwards.
Get real folks. It is not a sign of spiritual weakness to show an interest in science. It can learn you a great deal of this wonderful place that we were born to live and die in.
We have to die obviously because there would soon be no room on the planet if we did not. For me, it is better to have lived than not to have. BUT, if we plotted on a graph everyone’s age at death, we would have a normal or bell-shaped curve. This is also called the Central Limit Theorem (CLT) which can be mathematically proven. And if you notice, the ideal normal curve (from the CLT)never quite hits zero. Perhaps there are a very few people who live on. One or two might live a thousand years…or longer. Such people wisely keep their age to themselves.
I don’t think I would understand the worth of my death, if I never ever lived… How would I know what it is it to be empty of everything, unless I was full of something?
-
much love, light and laughter,
asavari.
We born , to fullfill the message of being alive , continue the messge of the first human being , the question should not be why we bornif we die at the end , it should be why we are born here on this planet , rather than being in heaven the first place we where in , its simply becoze theres a great messge only those who have clean hearts inside would be able to understand , we die becoz its only nother path , its not the end , its another path only , by death a nother life beagn , just like every sigle thing in nature , like the 4 seasons , u cant ask an ant why u work hard , can u ??
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