On immortality
How do human beings respond to changes?
Badly. Always very badly. One of the most widespread myths in the whole world – the myth of the vampire – reflects this idea.
What is a vampire? It is someone who at a certain moment in their existence becomes immortal. In other words, after that moment their body will no longer follow the normal course of nature; they will become forever young, and they can live as long as they like without having to deal with problems caused by growing old.
The vampire’s only diet is a little blood every day, and their only care with their skin is to avoid sunlight – but after all, this is a very small price to pay to enjoy all the possibilities of eternal life.
Except for one thing: vampires stop in time, while the world carries on changing. Everything that they were always used to begins to change, and even though they have all the time in the world to adapt to these changes, they desire immortality precisely because they were happy with the world in which they lived. They are not interested in accompanying these changes.
Let us imagine a human being who becomes a vampire right at the finals of the 1986 World Cup. He could smoke on airplanes, did not need to puzzle over picking what channel to watch on the television – the choice was so limited. He had an actress for a sex symbol, understood all about carburetors and fought for his socialist ideal, convinced that the Soviet Union would soon have more capable governors, and the yearnings of the people (called the proletariat) would at last be respected.
One fine day he falls in love with a 22-year-old sociology student. He admires her beauty, her enthusiasm, her idealism. He suggests transforming her into a vampire, but she refuses – she has seen too many horror films. She is in love too and does not want to lose him, but she sets one single condition for going ahead with their relationship: he must never suck her blood. The vampire has no choice but to keep his word. They get married in the registry office to avoid mortal crucifixes.
Twenty years roll by – in fact fly by, because another four World Cups have taken place. The former university student is now 42 years old, working in a bank (unemployment problems) or else writing useless Master’s and Ph.D. theses and dissertations merely to justify her life as a professional student. Carburetors have disappeared from the face of the earth. In horror he leafs through a magazine and sees his old sex-symbol actress transformed into a hybrid product made of plastic, Botox and silicone, her face coated with tons of makeup. He feels guilty for having 200 TV channels and only watches the same ones as long ago.
The Soviet Union has collapsed. He was obliged to abandon his beloved cigarettes (although it did not affect his health, don’t forget that vampires are immortal), because smoking became impossible, either because of laws or because of the way people looked at him in restaurants. And worst of all: everyone is talking about chat, Internet, iPod, rave and so on. The vampire tries to keep up to date, but everything seems absolutely complicated, irritating and senseless. He looks at the computer as if he were looking at a clove of garlic – with a mixture of horror and impotence. He will never be able to manage one of those, although he has tried several times.
His friends are retired, spend their days playing cards – they also do not know how to deal with computers, but they do not mind, the group has grown old together, they all have the same interests and can share experiences.
The vampire stays young. Immortal. Now he is faced with eternal depression. He attempts suicide, going out in the sunlight or looking at crucifixes, only to discover that these were myths created by the Church and cause him no harm at all.
He is left with one consolation: there is still one political figure that he knows all about (because all the other governors across the world have changed).
But Fidel Castro will also pass. And then nothing, absolutely nothing, will remain of the world that the vampire once loved so much.
Mas a vida se renova , ele tera novo amor , novos amigos , aprendera mexer em computador , ele chorar a norte dos amigos , da amada mas em um mes ele se renovara e triste mas e vida , nos passamos por tudo isso na nossa simples vida mortal
Immortalities sweet scent, I lie with you every night.
Yet, even when im tired and worn out I wont chase you nor embrace you.
Forever is just a word like a knight on a board.
Then clouds of mist comes, power and leadership, thou willst always be near.
Listen rather to the silence, soon you will hear your own feathered wings soothing sound. They will take you to me.
Long ago. But for you its almost a minute ago. Look at your shrine, nothing is yours. Nothing wants be yours.
Forever my friend, i wil transcend.
Reach my thy hand
Letter to a vampire friend of mine
You know who i am
it is an ironic and sad story and i think even mortals experience that aswell. this reminds me of a story about the samurai of ancient japan when the tokugawa shogunate collapsed . basically the story is about tradition and a changing world. obviously the samurai stood up for there traditions because they were unwilling to change. as the saying goes – what people do not see in themselves , they come to fear.
what did the road tell the jogger? Great zen cookie ads in the sweet movie in which Mel Gibson plays the one who could listen to women’s thoughts!
Here’s a hearty laughter and love to Mel Gibson. If you watch the movie, you would know…
Don Juan (by Carlos Castaneda)
Vampire is synonym (one of the vast number of symbols) for sucking people (Suckers) which suck other people dry to physical or mental illness (or both) or to death. It is true that they (vampires and other parasites) live without change in their unchangeable time (in their world of always the same illusions). This expression becomes clear through understanding that everyday life is living process (perpetually changeable). Living process is dynamical not static. It requests living, collecting experiences upon personal inclinations, life’s requests and personal talents, using the full personal potential (without exaggeration) and learning from them not to repeating mistakes. To live static life means to remain spiritually (spirituality = quality of governing the personal life) on the level of child (sucker) in spite of grown-up body. Blood is symbol (in the tales) and real fluid (in the people’s life) carrying life’s energy. Darkness in which vampires live is symbol for stupidity (absence of the knowledge). Knowledge is the light which kills illusions (and their owners). That’s why vampires cannot bear sunlight (synonym for the truth).Sucking relationship is widespread (more than we are prepared to accept) within families, partnership and within many kinds of social relationships. Synonym for vampirism comes from seers people who have talent or possibility, sometimes inborn sometimes developed through learning and persistence, to see the essential truth in their second perceptions (daydream, night dream, or dream caused by shock). In other words, due their innocence their perceptions reveal an indubitable plot of energy within and around them (expressed in a term of symbols). Experienced seer can earn messages directly from such symbols and then use them in everyday life (for personal or general social benefit). Talented writers or story teller can register such messages and that way they become traces of the spiritual and social heritage (traces of wisdom) of the local population, nations or existing civilisation in a shape of fairy tales, myths, legends.
And yes, after Castro is done, the vampire could always move on to Venezuela.
He also stands good chance in the Middle East or maybe India (excellent chances of finding people from his age – the Roman Catholic Church would offer him some excitement, since the cross and other things do not harm him) – though you describe a vampire pretty nice and good – falling in love (and not lust. Not ambitious – doesn’t run a country – pretty boring)!
Where did you get this vampire from, Paulo?
And falling in love with a sociology student – academically inclined, assuming he can rock and roll! Any children – half-mortal ones!
Pretty boring – since he is not ahead of time, so what would be the use of immortality. Maybe he can join the army – would be interesting and he could get his blood supply too! And yes, what does he do for a living?
More seriously, there are accounts but of different entities…
Immortality is inevitable for human and everything that is born from true life.Everything from the invisible is immortal and everything from the visible source is victem to death and corrosion.Reason why its important to be oneself becos even in the life to come we will carry us with us all the way until …..
immortality as in infinite bliss or infinite nothingness or the world beyond human emotions, language or experession or capacity as known today.
the other imaginations are nothing but mere tendencies or a collection of them. For that I may suggest a reading of Shri Aurobindo’s works on the topic.
::
[quote comment="123"]My husband has a transferable job. Every 3 years or so when it is time to move I find myself dreading all the packing, shifting, finding a house, finding new schools etc and all the accompanying tensions.
Over the years however I have realized that we accumulate a lot of junk physically as well as mentally when we stay put in one place. We get into a physical and mental rut. Everytime we have to shift we are forced to make a decision on whether to throw the accumulated junk or carry it around with us. We are forced to think whether it is really worthwhile to carry certain things or should we give it off to somebody!
Once I have settled in the new place I ALWAYS find that I feel lighter and on a better road to my destiny. I find that once I surrender myself to God I am steered automatically in the right direction. Since we don’t know the Master Plan we dread change but whether for an individual or for society it is mostly for the better.
THANKS Paulo. Your words have always inpired me to trust in the higher power even in moments of great stress.[/quote]
I know exactly what you mean. I moved around every 3 to 4 years when growing up. In a new place, I could make my choices as to what pieces of me I want to unpack. It’s a lighter journey, because you can start anew.
I stay put now, and learning to start anew without the physical movement. I think we all can.
And that’s why I always felt sorry for vampires… and fallen angels. Immortality is really, really tough…
Hello Everyone;
This is quite the quandary is it not.
A vampire is immortal, yet requires Blood to live.
It is not that the Vampire is going to die, he is immortal. If he stops taking blood he will starve.
On any level magickal, spiritual, emotional, mental, physical, etc. If one is in a starvation mode, nothing happens. This is really the crux of the matter.
Is the Vampire real, well yes he is. Just look at any severe addict and tell me they do not hunger in this way. Is the vampire fiction or a myth. Yes, and for the most part a very sexy myth at that.
If a vampire needs blood to live then he needs blood to live and plays these cards out the best he can (regardless if he plays with the best intent or not).
The same could be said for food, air to breath, water to drink, touch and affection from another, the list continues.
Perhaps someone has a medical problem and needs medicine to survive. So you take the medicine to help keep on living.
Perhaps there are some bad laws, by not changing them will take away from how he lives and so need to make a choice if he fights for a change, accept the law, or if he needs to move to a different place to live.
This I believe is one part of the Good Fight (as Paulo refers to). What is the choice that is being made in service to.
Is it in service purely to an ego.
Or is it in service to the work one is involved with.
There are no judgments in this world, Vampire or not. I do not believe there is any one who does not have to deal with a vampire some where in their lives regardless if blood is involved or not.
If the Vampire is in service of something bigger than its self (and yes a little ego is a good thing here) then I would say there is the possibility of making some clear choices being you can see how that choice affects your self and the world around you. You can learn from this even if it is a seemingly repeated circle, immortal or not.
If the Vampire is in service of its own ego, then it becomes an endless loop always staying the same. In this way, why change, it is comfortable nice and cozy. A beautiful dream and fantasy. But do try to hold out a pint of blood to a starving vampire and see how fast the dream and fantasy stays around.
Thoughts from here.
Thank you for your books Paulo – they are a wonderful part of my journey in ways I had not imagined.
BTW: Then there is this issue of sunlight.
I wonder if the Vampire would have a problem with a full spectrum light bulb.
- David
“Ever thus to the spirit of the Dance”
Beautiful story. This came to mind when I read it – “The grass is always greener on the other side, but that’s because there’s probably a sceptic tank under them”. I think Erma Bombeck said that. Poor vampire. The worst I could wish on someone is to be immortal.
i can’t leave such an article without a reply…
actually i had such thoughts about what if i would be immortal..
i even tried to make a list of what to do..
the problem is that we really can’t accept changes,both the changes within our life or within the people we know..
and to take it from the view point of a vampire..
creepy..
we have a word in arabic (shagann) it means when you like sadness ,when it feels good to be sad…this article is (shagann)..
thanks for such beautifull writings..
and thanks for reading my reply till the end..
I view change as I view water. Water flows in a stream and adapts to the course it follows. It fills crevices, narrows in the narrow part of the stream and spreads out in the wide areas. If it faces a block in the stream, either it will overcome it if it’s a minor block, or it will find itself another path if the block is too strong for it to overcome. It maintains its same composition although it might pick up a flower petal here, or a little twig there. But esentially it stays the same and it must keep moving and it must keep adapting. We have a lot to learn from water.
Thank you Paulo for being an inspiration.
Noha
How can one fear change when to be alive is to change from moment to moment. To fear change is to fear life.
Death is the greatest illusion of all…but we must all begin from the beginning eve
[quote comment="134"]PS. Hay, you, computer, get well! (Sorry
)
Kealan wrote: “Vampire…
We are all vampires in a way.. but only some think of themselves as a vampire.”[/quote]
It is life immortal that we all wish to have…we already have it!! Where paradise crosses over the gates of hell we are to fly in the night to our next life. We will come back in the bodies of our great grandchildren and so the bloodline continues. We never die, we create life. Life immortal.
And so we are reborn every few hundred years!! What we leave now is what we will receive. Paulo has left his books so we can always find our way home..to right here.
I will sent you a picture of my car Marina when I get a chance. I have to quit my job first!!
Hi…
This is the first time I’ve ever been to this site and have ever read the articles herein.
I believe each one of us has a different view of what vampires really are. They are immortal, yes, until now, when they continue living within the confines of our hearts and minds. They may be real in truth, who knows? For no one really knows the truth in this world.
But it is not the vampire we are talking about here, it is the human being who refuses to see the changes in the world. That is how humans, in general, view the changes in the world. People fear change as much as their gravest fears, subconsciously or in their realities.
Let us not get caught up in the analogies used, for they are merely analogies. What we should see is the tangible truths behind the lines.
Thank you, Paulo.
Always,
Lychie
I belive that you haven’t try to see other side of story. What if vampire thirsts for knowlege and neverending sight of world change. What if he never was interested in small things that make other people happy. You’ve put up human feelings and interessts in such a timless made up creature.
Maby he became vampire to see world changing forevermore…
Best regards,
Denijel.
September 11: don’t forget.
Hello paulo,
This message comes remind me again of the change thats taking place all the time in our life. Am just adjusting with my college students now after my high school. And i wil adjust with my workplace after 4 years. Whats the case with the vampire?
Immortality! It is a curse with an attractive name. Life is meaningful when it gets adjusted with the happenings around us. Our body and mind must be ready to accept the changes failing which we will be driven to attempt suicide, mostly failures, as is the case with the vampire.
Manoj
Your story reminded me of the Buddhist concept of impermanence. I heard a wise woman once say that the only constant in this life is the “observing self.” It moved me and really got me thinking about what is real, and what is illusion/temporal!! Thanks for the continuous wise words and inspiration!
Blessings to all,
Hi Paulo,
So sorry I forgot yoru birthday. Just bought your new book. Haven’t had a chance to read it yet.
Your passage on Vampires really intrigued me. I don’t think of Vampires in the mythical sense. Instead I think of psychic vampires. Those that walk in the daylight as well as at night. Those that prey on the sensitive and empathic and twist those valuable gifts to suit there own needs.
It’s not so much change, but it’s the sense of selfishness. The fear of what lies ahead when all familiarity is gone. The laziness to not to strive for better things. Vampires rely on others to make existence managable. But when mankind destroys Mother Earth and there is no way to fix it. What will the Vampire do then? Old saying ‘You attract what you fear the most’.
I am still writing and am now a Reiki Master. So things are moving forward. May be slow but at least I’m going in a forward motion.
Love + Light to all
Lisa
x
Plain and clear, as always. Simple truths are often difficult to express in words…you do it beautifully!
I guess, only the people who could not finish a thing in life want to be immortal. To me, immortalizm is as much related to ‘wanting to change’ as to ‘not to change’.
Some people may think about being immortal when they want their things not to change, versus some of the other, would die to have more time in the world just to be able to finish whatever they started, even worse, to be able to start and finish something in life. And in that, they want a big change, they want to change themselves, the most difficult type of all changes there are…
Latter is the hopeless side of this unbalanced equation.
Because former has not even gone that far as to think what they want, they just live, breath and be content with every breath and all they want is to breath more… those are the blessed and happy minority who are not born nor meant to think. The latter people who could not find their purpose in life yet, growing even more hopeless everyday that they are not going to be able to find anything and die without any are the heart breaking group. This is heart breaking because those people are thinking people so are they aware but yet for some reason they lost their purpose/reason/drive or they did not have any at all… The bitter receipe says that even immortality is not the answer to their paradigm because those are the people who do not know what to do with the time as they never had known in their mortal lifetime.
To me, those are the two type of people who would sell their soul to mephisto in return of some more time…
Change is immortal. Take the smallest particle with which the universe is created, atom. If the electrons are reluctant to change its position, there will be no universe. Hence change is the base of life. You badly respond to change while you are changing every fraction of moment without you knowing it. Here the story telling is legendary.
‘Change story’ will change your perspective of life.
PS. Hay, you, computer, get well! (Sorry
)
Kealan wrote: “Vampire…
We are all vampires in a way.. but only some think of themselves as a vampire.”