Words by Neil Watkins:
We are here today to celebrate the life of Chris, my dad. A man whose
wings of love spread far and wide to a great number of people over his 64
years on planet earth. Dad was someone who always had time for the
people he knew and would go to no end to improve their lives. A deep and
considered individual, sometimes he was loud and the life and soul of the
party. Other times he was silent and absorbing the perspective of the
moment while considering a way to capture an idea into a future work of
writing.
Many of the people that knew my dad knew him here at his house and that
is why we have chosen this as the most appropriate place to celebrate him.
Dad was not brought up religious and as a young man didn’t follow any
religion. But then in his early 30s he did gain a keen interest in Christianity
and became obsessed with the bible. He would sit us 3 down and read us
passages of an evening and then explain to us his own interpretation of
them. We hated it but he enjoyed sharing his wisdom through those
interpretations. A few years later he moved on from Christianity and
decided that the information offered did not provide a complete
understanding of reality. So he began to study Hinduism. Again he became
very obsessed in his pursuit of truth and at one point he did think about
officially becoming a Hindu. He believed that their book, “The Bhagavad
Gita” did contain within it the truth of all things. He maintained until the
very end of his life that everybody must read this book. He was so
passionate about it, he once invited the Jehovah witnesses in to educate
them. He hammered his point home so well, it was them edging towards
the door trying to get out as fast as possible… In the last few years of his
life I had the opportunity to discuss the greater spiritual principles of life
and we agreed that following any religious doctrine made no sense versus
searching for your own moral code in simply trying to be the very best
human that you can be. Reaching any point of static truth can only
generate an inability to evolve that truth. But we did both very much agree
on something my dad would quote from the “Bhagavad Gita”. That all
things that are generated by consciousness, eventually return to it and that
returning by the conscious knowledge of the process is the purpose. To
remember your own divine origin and overcome the illusion of separation
that is this life. Birth and death are merely an illusory principle of this
momentary experience. Energy is never created nor is it destroyed. It can
only transmute from one form to another. In his last few days I reminded
him of this truth and he responded “I know”.
One of the most difficult experiences that we have to go through in this life
is how we cope with the loss of someone that we love. Most of what
causes us to struggle so much is a lack of awareness as to what death is.
Causing a fear of the unknown and a lack of acceptance of the process. But
accepting without denial that death is inevitable, is a perspective that
allows us to comprehend the preciousness of life. After all it is the fragility
of life that makes it so special. Allowing ourselves to understand that
death, while it is the end of this physical cycle, is not the end of the soul
brings us comfort in knowing that the ones who go before us are now pain
free and really are resting in a more peaceful existence.
We go out the way we come in, with a purity that gets forgotten in the
middle. And it’s our recognition of mortality that gives us an opportunity
to remember that pure and humble state of mind and to remember that it is
the greatest lesson we can take from our loss. When we strip away that
which occupies our busy minds we are left with a silence and a stillness. A
peaceful acceptance of the whole of the moment that we are experiencing
unhindered by distractive desire. There is nothing that we really need
greater than a deep seated feeling of appreciation for what stands before us
in this now moment. And that feeling is a choice that we ourselves can
make in any second. It is the lack of the choice to feel this way that allows
us all of our mistakes that form regrets. It is the only reason we allow
ourselves to mistreat another. Because we forget that one day this person
will be gone. No aspect of reality can or will remain as it is and in time all
people and all things will return to where they came from. This is not
morbid or negative thinking. It is the antidote to complacency and the
catalyst to heartfelt appreciation. Death is a reminder that time is short and
we must take responsibility for keeping our thoughts and actions pure. We
must remember that what is important is not to chase an illusory concept
of success but to be successful in cultivating our humanity and having the
courage to perceive the beautiful mundane instead of reducing it to less
than what could be, in an idealistic future.
Words by Neil Watkins:
We are here today to celebrate the life of Chris, my dad. A man whose
wings of love spread far and wide to a great number of people over his 64
years on planet earth. Dad was someone who always had time for the
people he knew and would go to no end to improve their lives. A deep and
considered individual, sometimes he was loud and the life and soul of the
party. Other times he was silent and absorbing the perspective of the
moment while considering a way to capture an idea into a future work of
writing.
Many of the people that knew my dad knew him here at his house and that
is why we have chosen this as the most appropriate place to celebrate him.
Dad was not brought up religious and as a young man didn’t follow any
religion. But then in his early 30s he did gain a keen interest in Christianity
and became obsessed with the bible. He would sit us 3 down and read us
passages of an evening and then explain to us his own interpretation of
them. We hated it but he enjoyed sharing his wisdom through those
interpretations. A few years later he moved on from Christianity and
decided that the information offered did not provide a complete
understanding of reality. So he began to study Hinduism. Again he became
very obsessed in his pursuit of truth and at one point he did think about
officially becoming a Hindu. He believed that their book, “The Bhagavad
Gita” did contain within it the truth of all things. He maintained until the
very end of his life that everybody must read this book. He was so
passionate about it, he once invited the Jehovah witnesses in to educate
them. He hammered his point home so well, it was them edging towards
the door trying to get out as fast as possible… In the last few years of his
life I had the opportunity to discuss the greater spiritual principles of life
and we agreed that following any religious doctrine made no sense versus
searching for your own moral code in simply trying to be the very best
human that you can be. Reaching any point of static truth can only
generate an inability to evolve that truth. But we did both very much agree
on something my dad would quote from the “Bhagavad Gita”. That all
things that are generated by consciousness, eventually return to it and that
returning by the conscious knowledge of the process is the purpose. To
remember your own divine origin and overcome the illusion of separation
that is this life. Birth and death are merely an illusory principle of this
momentary experience. Energy is never created nor is it destroyed. It can
only transmute from one form to another. In his last few days I reminded
him of this truth and he responded “I know”.
One of the most difficult experiences that we have to go through in this life
is how we cope with the loss of someone that we love. Most of what
causes us to struggle so much is a lack of awareness as to what death is.
Causing a fear of the unknown and a lack of acceptance of the process. But
accepting without denial that death is inevitable, is a perspective that
allows us to comprehend the preciousness of life. After all it is the fragility
of life that makes it so special. Allowing ourselves to understand that
death, while it is the end of this physical cycle, is not the end of the soul
brings us comfort in knowing that the ones who go before us are now pain
free and really are resting in a more peaceful existence.
We go out the way we come in, with a purity that gets forgotten in the
middle. And it’s our recognition of mortality that gives us an opportunity
to remember that pure and humble state of mind and to remember that it is
the greatest lesson we can take from our loss. When we strip away that
which occupies our busy minds we are left with a silence and a stillness. A
peaceful acceptance of the whole of the moment that we are experiencing
unhindered by distractive desire. There is nothing that we really need
greater than a deep seated feeling of appreciation for what stands before us
in this now moment. And that feeling is a choice that we ourselves can
make in any second. It is the lack of the choice to feel this way that allows
us all of our mistakes that form regrets. It is the only reason we allow
ourselves to mistreat another. Because we forget that one day this person
will be gone. No aspect of reality can or will remain as it is and in time all
people and all things will return to where they came from. This is not
morbid or negative thinking. It is the antidote to complacency and the
catalyst to heartfelt appreciation. Death is a reminder that time is short and
we must take responsibility for keeping our thoughts and actions pure. We
must remember that what is important is not to chase an illusory concept
of success but to be successful in cultivating our humanity and having the
courage to perceive the beautiful mundane instead of reducing it to less
than what could be, in an idealistic future.
