John Paul Villanueva

Death Itself

Good morning to each and every one of us, to the teachers who are here, Good morning!

Have you encountered death? Ladies and gentlemen have you encountered it? Maybe one of says Yes or I never encountered it yet. What if… what if you see death itself walking towards you with a scythe and a creepy face, then he says “I’m here to get you and to bring you to the afterlife Huwahahahaha”. What do you think will you do if you saw that and here that? If you ask me? Psh Easy, I would probably run away and hide underneath of my bed HAHAHAHA! Just kidding, seriously, I mean that have you really encountered that? As in that your life is at risk or your life is almost in the danger. But almost of us encounter it? Right? 

Today I’m here in the front of you guys talking about the Death itself in vernacular “Kamatayan”. We are afraid of death, are we? Absolutely! Yes! Regardless of race, religion, geographical area, or time period, every human has wondered about the fact of the life that unifies us all: What is death? What is death you may ask? Death is the actions of fact of dying or being killed or the end of the life of an organism. Death is the inescapable thing of a living organism. People must die. In fact, as soon as we are born, we have also already begun to die. Human existence is being-toward-death. Whether we are aware of this fact or not, whether we accept it or deny it, our way of being is one that is always already on the way toward death. But people tries to avoid death, by the use of technology, they make a machines and equipments to avoid death. Throughout history, different mythologies and theologies have explained the nature of death in countless ways, ranging from total annihilation to immediate life after death in the presence of God … or in torment. Some groups allow their dead to “work off” their badness and eventually reach paradise. Others envision life after death filled with a never-ending abundance of the pleasures of earthly life. Some teach that the dead are rewarded by becoming gods unto themselves, while others teach earthly reincarnation based on the deeds of the previous life. Regardless of a person’s particular belief system, however, the fact remains that death is the end of life … or at least life as we know it. Death, dying, and the afterlife are all shrouded in deep mystery, cloaked in darkness and generally surrounded by fear and apprehension. The very idea of death strikes fear into many people’s hearts. But it doesn’t have to be this way. Human beings are totally powerless to prevent or overcome death. Our mightiest efforts to defend ourselves from the grave ultimately end in failure. Everyone dies. We can be thankful, however, that not everyone is as powerless over death as we are! It is logical to assume that the source of all life would also hold the keys to death. Additionally, that source would explain the whole thing to us so we can take advantage of the solution to death if we so choose. We hope that when you understand the nature of death, you’ll see the beauty and logic of the plan to overcome it.

Any study of the nature of death begs an important foundational question: Why must things die in the first place? Indeed, death is a grand mystery. Throughout time, every major religion, philosophy, and spiritual train of thought has sought to explain this mystery. It is a subject that touches the life of every man and woman, uniting the entire human race under a cloud of inevitable mortality. The rich and the poor alike meet the same end; the black and the white both go to the grave; the powerful and the humble all leave this planet eventually. Interestingly, scientific research into single-celled organisms reveals that the nature of life, on a cellular level, does not automatically include a self-destruct mechanism for death. In other words, it appears that death is an unnatural part of life. Yet despite this, everything on earth eventually dies. Many lines of religious thought simply accept the inevitability of death and instead try to offer better alternatives that await the faithful in the afterlife. These ideas bring comfort to many people who have lost loved ones or are facing death themselves, but they leave others wondering, “Why must death exist? Wouldn’t an all-powerful God eradicate death? Shouldn’t all life inherently live forever?” So the question of the nature of death also brings profound implications about the nature of God. Maybe, some reason, God is not as powerful as He says, since the problem of death remains. Maybe God numbs our sensibilities after death, if we are promised happiness in paradise despite the horrors unfolding on our loved ones who are still alive. Maybe, if living a bad life truly results in eternal torment afterward, God is not really as loving as so many people claim. Maybe there are actually many pathways to God, or many such gods, and the mystery of death will be solved differently for each person, depending on their philosophies in life. Maybe there is no such thing as death, but instead a continual rebirth through reincarnation. Maybe, according to a train of thought that has grown in popularity since the 19th century, life is nothing more than a biochemical accident, and death brings with it a never-ending state of nothingness; the most common conclusion drawn from this line of thinking is that there is no God at all.

The mystery of death is so profound that, despite the millennia of religious doctrine, mythology, scientific research, and the many theories and explanations that exist on the subject, people today are more confused than ever about it. Even within individual religious groups there is often a stark difference of opinion on the nature of death. To see this, walk around a cemetery and note the different inscriptions on the tombstones. Clearly, the only way to decipher this profound mystery is to find an authoritative source of truth that will expose all error and remove the need for speculation. Are we fortunate enough to have such an authority? We believe so. Let just accept the fact we that are future is death. Ladies and gentlemen! Don’t be afraid of death, death has a big role in our society. Death itself is not our enemy, as the matter of fact; our enemy is the cause of death. Let’s just acknowledge it. Now, have you change your mind set about death?