Definitely, death is the end of the earthly life, while one can still question if it is the real end. Depending on the attitude, the answer can be different. Basically, there are two main answers to this question, as there are two sides to the same coin. On the one hand, death can be the symbol of decay, a dreadful end, drawing a line under our lives. A Tarot card demonstrates the gloomy side of death: an armored skeleton rides a horse, and everyone kneels before it. These symbols mean that death will come inevitably, and no one can escape it. The meaning of the card means the end of something and the need to let go of some attachments and addictions. It can be sad, but at the same time, it means a deep transformation, without which it is impossible to develop.
The statue in a sepulchral vault reflects the need of people to keep the memory about the dead. This is the gloomy side of death: the old life has come to its end, and no continuation is expected.
On the other hand, in many cultures, death is seen as the door to another life. These are the screenshots from “Chaotic Ana” by Julio Médem. This is the visualization of the previous lives that Ana saw being hypnotized. There was a dead woman behind each door as the symbol of her previous death. However, existence is an endless corridor with many doors, and death is just the beginning here.
In India, people believe in reincarnation, also assuming that our life is just one of many. Hindus from the whole world come to die in Varanasi, as it is believed that it is a blessing to die in this holy city, as it gives moksha – the final exit from the wheel of lives and deaths. The fire on Manikarnika ghat never ceases to burn.
I think that if to believe Michio Kaku, an American physicist, we live in a tenth-dimensional universe, even though we can perceive only four dimensions. Thus, if we could perceive other dimensions, we would see that the present moment is just one line in the book of existence, and there is a library where there are many books like that. Death is just the beginning of a new chapter in the book. This is why we should accept not only its gloomy side but also its transformational power.
