The Dead Sea

Series: The Summer of the Ocean

The Dead Sea

Are you familiar with the Dead Sea? In Hebrew, it is called Yām HaMélaḥ, meaning “Sea of Salt,” and in Arabic, it is called Bahr-Lût, meaning “Sea of Lot.” Located between Israel, Jordan, and Palestine, it forms a sort of link between these countries. Due to its high salinity — nearly 27.5%, while most of the world’s seas have a salinity of 2 to 4% — and the presence of toxic electrolytes, no fish or macroscopic algae can survive there. It is therefore dead… in appearance. Not only is it dead, but it is also dying! Since the 1970s, the Dead Sea has lost a third of its surface area, and it continues to shrink. Like many other aquatic environments and ecosystems around the world, it is unable to adapt to the pace of environmental change on our planet. And yet, The famous Dead Sea, in which you can naturally float effortlessly but which leaves you completely salty when you get out (I’ve tried it), is only dead in appearance because life still thrives there. In fact, microscopic organisms live there. Even more astonishingly, in 2011, freshwater sources were discovered that allow non-halophilic life to develop (life that survives in extreme saline environments). So, the famous sea isn’t so dead after all.

 “This is why, on the path of Buddhism and Dzogchen, we prepare ourselves for death because the moment of death is home to our future existence, just as the Dead Sea is home to life.” 

We always tend to see death on one side and life on the other. However, according to Dzogchen, opposing life and death is nonsense because death is said to be part of life, and life is said to be an extension of death. Both are part of the illusory cycle of existence. It is an infinite process—a natural dance without end—in which death follows life in an unlimited number of existences. We usually oppose death to life because our fear of death makes us resolutely turn toward life. However, the Great Perfection tradition questions this perspective, asking, “Why fear death when it is also life?” In Dzogchen, life is an intermediate space between birth and death. Another intermediate space is that of dreams. And yet another is that of death, located between death and the next birth. Admittedly, this “existence” in death, which we call “the intermediate space of death,” does not have the same characteristics as our lifetime from birth to death. However, it is just as real (and therefore illusory) according to the Great Perfection.

This is why, on the path of Buddhism and Dzogchen, we prepare ourselves for death because the moment of death is home to our future existence, just as the Dead Sea is home to life. It is essential to take care of and prepare for our death. Our current life and all those that may follow will be all the more precious. Even if we don’t believe in this endless cycle of life and death, wouldn’t it be interesting to ask ourselves these questions for the future of our children? “What if I came back in twenty years in a new body? What would my attitude be today? What could I do today to improve tomorrow or the day after, thereby improving the lives of all beings who, like me, are on an endless journey?” The Dead Sea may have disappeared by then… Let’s leave the last word to Dodrupchen Jigme Trinle Özer:

(…) From this life onwards, throughout all my future lives, may I never develop even the slightest negative intention towards sentient beings, who are my very own parents! May my positive intentions and actions flow uninterruptedly like a stream! [1]

[1] “Aspiration at the moment of death”, Dodrupchen Jigme Trinle Özer, 1745-1821. You can find the text here: https://www.lotsawahouse.org/tibetan-masters/dodrupchen-I/aspiration-at-moment-of-death