When the Fog Rolls In
When the fog rolls in, there is a moment of great beauty as things dissolve and disappear, going from a clear appearance to an obscure one. When all the clear appearances are gone and no reference point can be found, the sense of beauty can give way to a sense of confusion and loss, dullness, depression. If we are out in a boat, we may lose ourselves and emerge from the fog in a completely different place from which there is no return. So, using this as an analogy for death, we had better prepare ourselves. How will it be for us when everything we know, even our own body, even the self we thought we were, has been removed? It is time now to settle the mind, let our passing be a thing of beauty and our re-emergence an occasion for bodhisattva activity for the benefit of all beings.