The Line

"The partition separating life from death is so tenuous. The unbelievable fragility of our organism suggests a vision on screen: a kind of mist condenses itself into a human shape, lasts a moment and scatters." Czeslaw Milosz (1911-2004)

I found this quote in the March 10, 2010 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA). When I read this, I immediately thought of a poem my friend Asher wrote. Asher truly understood the impermanence of life, and was not scared by it. In fact, the only fear he ever had was leaving his loved ones behind to handle the grief of his death. Asher loved everyone and everything in his life unconditionally. He understood that life is a beautiful tragedy- with moments of profound beauty, moments of profound ugliness, and everything in between. He taught me that all moments should be appreciated to the same degree, as they all teach us lessons. Sometimes, the only thought that can get me through loss or profound hardship is the idea that my heart ache will lead me to wisdom.

In January, right before spring semester started, I picked up The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying. It had been sitting on my "fun reading" book shelf collecting dust for the past year and a half. I only had time to read excerpts of it, and I think one of my favorite parts was when Sogyal Rinpoche talked about acceptance of impermanence- the idea that everything is always changing, and that makes change the only constant in life.

Thursday, April 15, 2004 8:01 PM

As I Stand In The Rain
By: Asher Sirkin

Rain drops hang
Off moon lit branches
And sparkle like diamonds
As if magnifying that spark
That passion and life
Flowing from every leaf
And every other living thing.

A manifestation
Of the overwhelming emotion
Once suppressed
Hanging in the air
Lingering
Waiting
For a release...

I watch them hang there
Twinkling
Slowly losing their grip
And falling to the pavement
To join their fallen brothers
In a collective pool beneath my feet.

How clearly they reflect
The clouds hanging above
Embracing the earth
As they shed their tears
Of longing to be more
Than puffs of smoke and dust

The night is full of borrowed life
The moon pretends to shine
But it is only pretending
Acting out the part of a star
With a costume it borrowed
From the sun as it slept

And I stand here
A witness to this masquerade
And soaking somewhere in the middle
Between the sky and the ground
Just staring at this tree
Giving rest
To those shining clear
Pellets of water

As they make their journey
From their birth in the clouds
To their destination
Beneath my feet

To me, this poem is about the beauty of impermanence- said beautifully by my amazing friend Asher Sirkin, who taught me what it means to breathe. Asher spent his life healing others, and continues to do so through this forever cascading ripples on man kind.

I read in the Tibetan Book that the key to finding a happy balance in modern lives is simplicity. "Our task is to strike a balance, to find a middle way, to learn not to overstretch ourselves with extraneous activities and preoccupations, but to simplify our lives more and more." And perhaps this will give us more time to pursue spirituality and knowledge, and magnify the human experience. Less is more, quality over quantity. Live today doing the things you would do if you were given 3 months to live. As Lee Lipsenthal MD asked us in lecture this Monday, "Is today a good day to die?" All of this thinking about impermanence and simplicity, and living a meaningful life has inspired me to start drafting my bucket list. Its still in the works, but here is the start, with items in no particular order...

Strive to live the kind of life which will lead to no regrets.
Rise above diffusion of responsibility.
Spread as many positive ripples on humanity that I can.
Travel and see the world.
Get married and have children.
Spend lots of time with family.
Become a compassionate and competent physician.
Help people find the healers and teachers within themselves.
Embrace change and impermanence.

If I managed to hold your attention up until this point, thank you for reading- and I encourage you to think about your bucket list, get started on it, and think about what it means to live a simple life.