What kind of a stupid question is that, you may ask yourself. And you would probably be in the 90% of people who would have this first reaction. But the question is relevant and in place.

Because someday (maybe even tomorrow) you will die, and God forbid, you won’t even know it. You will be gone in a second, and that will be the end of you, forever.

Most People Are Not Ready to Die. You Probably Aren’t Either.

Death is something we all know will come. At least on a rational level.
And yet, most people live as if it belongs to someone else.

We plan our careers.
We take care of our bodies.
We build security, money, and status.

But when it comes to death… we look away.

We avoid it.
We postpone it.
We silence it.

In some parts of the world, people spend their entire lives preparing for that moment.
Here, we do everything except that.

I didn’t think about death for a long time either.
Not seriously. Until life forced me to.

A Man Who Chose the Day He Would Die

Even today, I still remember a story about what was probably Buddhist master who had a servant.

This master felt that his day was coming. His day of death.

So he asked the servant to check when the stars would be in a favorable position for his departure.

The servant, not really understanding what was happening, and in complete shock, did what he was told.

It was Friday. He looked at the stars, did some calculations, and told the master that Monday would be a good day.

The master replied: “Excellent. I think I can manage that.” And that was all.

Immediately after that, the master sat down in a meditation posture, in the lotus position, closed his eyes… became completely still, and stopped breathing.

The servant panicked. He did not know what to do.

Should he wake him, risking being scolded for disturbing him?
Or should he do nothing and risk that he had already died, and miss the chance to wake him, to save him?

Because he deeply respected the master, he did nothing. He simply waited.

In the evening, the master returned from meditation, resumed breathing, and had dinner.

After dinner, he did the same thing again.

He returned to meditation, stopped breathing, and remained still.

This time, the servant understood only one thing, that he should not interfere, because the master clearly knew what he was doing. He knew nothing more, and he did not dare to ask.

And so it continued through Saturday and Sunday. Each day ended almost the same way, with only a few breaths.

On Monday, the day the servant had predicted, the master calmly entered meditation again… and left his body (died).

We Don’t Avoid Death Because It’s Far Away. We Avoid It Because It Scares us

We like to think that death is far away.

Something that belongs to old age.
To illness.
To other people.

But that is not why we avoid it.

We avoid it because it makes us anxious, fearful, and unknown.

People die every day.
At night.
In their sleep.

And yet, most of us live with a quiet assumption that it won’t happen to us.
Not now.
Not anytime soon.

So we don’t think about it.

We move on.
We stay busy.
We fill our lives with things that feel more urgent.

And in doing so, we push the only certainty we have somewhere to the side.

We act as if this will not happen to us, like someone’s death doesn’t feel like ours. We avoid, pretend, and look the other way. We don’t want to be burdened with it.

But I got news for you all, when death will only splatter you, you will know it, and you will feel it.

Everything will change in a second. If you are lucky and die instantly, you will benefit from that.

How did I face my first encounter with death

For a long time, I did not think seriously about death.

I avoided it.
Sometimes consciously, sometimes not. But, as I knew, someday I would face that fear.

And it came

And changed everything…

Several years ago, doctors discovered a vascular malformation in my head.
Something that could rupture at any moment. And I could die.

Or not.

I went to specialists in my country and Europe.
I was looking for answers.
For certainty.

But the one thing I didn’t get was certainty.

In Paris, I got to a doctor I believed was the best.
The one who might finally give a clear answer.

I was hoping for a solution.
A clear direction.
Something solid to hold on to.

But that did not happen.

There was no certainty.
No guarantee.

Only the same reality I had been trying to avoid.

It could happen.
Or it might not.

Years passed.

And then … it happened

The vessel ruptured.

That was the first moment I was truly confronted with the fact that my life could end there and then.

Not in theory.
Not one day.
But now, as it was happening.

What followed were surgeries.

Recovery.
And repeated moments where I had to face the same question again.

Not intellectually.

But personally.

Life as I knew it ended, and it wasn’t pretty.

You Don’t Think About Death Until It Thinks About You

Before that moment, death was just an idea.

You know it exists. Of course you do. But it stays somewhere in the background, like something that belongs to another time, another version of you, or maybe to someone else entirely.

So you go on.

You make plans, you build things, you assume there is time. Not because you are naïve, but because that is simply how life feels when nothing has forced you to think otherwise.

Then something shifts.

It doesn’t always come as a shock. Sometimes it’s quieter than that. A diagnosis. An unexpected event. Or just a moment where, for the first time, you realize that this is not theoretical anymore.

That it could actually happen.

And when that line is crossed, even slightly, something changes.

Life on the outside may look exactly the same.
But internally, it no longer feels the same.

Buddhists believe that our breaths are limited

That each of us has a certain number of inhalations and exhalations, and when that number is used up, the time comes to leave.

Great masters like this one, and sometimes even ordinary people, can feel when their time is approaching.

Usually, a few days, maybe weeks in advance. Sometimes, even on the same day, like my close friend Mr. Ludvik, who felt it during his struggle with illness.

I was amazed that he had told his daughter and his brother in the morning that he would die that day.

Nobody believed him, but his words were calm and determined. His daughter, who later told me the story, said she didn’t want to believe him. She said he was peacefully strange, distant, and calm at the same time. When he died, she understood.

I lost a good friend. Ludvik died in the COVID times in the hospital. He had many health issues for decades, and COVID got the best of him.

A Good Day to Die Is Not an Accident

Maybe that is the real difference.

The master did not wait for the end.

He prepared for it.

Not in fear.
Not in panic.
But with awareness.

Most of us do the opposite.

We avoid the thought.
We delay it.
We hope there will always be more time.

Until one day, there isn’t.

I don’t claim to understand death.

I’m still learning.
Still trying to come to terms with it.

But one thing has become clear to me.

The question is not only when we will die.

It is how we live knowing that we will.

Because that day will come.

For all of us.

And maybe the real question is not whether it will be a good day to die…

But whether we are ready when it comes.

If you could set your time of death, would you?

Everyone has a fear of dying, it is built into our evolutionary system. It protects us, but unfortunately, it also limits us when we should let go. When there is no more need for protection.

But there is a great difference between feeling a little fear or anxiety of dying, or inside panic or fear beyond everything.

You can be aware, prepare by learning about it, and be present when someone is dying. Don’t run away.

And you will see that, gradually, it will become easier because you will not be ignorant anymore. Don’t run from it; face your fears so that they don’t chase you like a bad dream.

I want to be ready and I want to go with honors

For myself, I can say that I definitely want to be prepared for my own death.

I have been actively dealing with this question for several years now.

That does not mean I could not die tomorrow. And it certainly does not mean that I am fully prepared to die today.

I am absolutely aware that this is a process, one that will probably continue for quite some time.

But my understanding, learning, and perception of death are today on a much higher level than they were five or ten years ago.

And because of that, I am genuinely happy and proud that I reached this point.

Not only because I now feel I have a reason and meaning to live in this life, but also because I finally feel I can look beyond it without the same fear as before.

All of you who have ever confronted death, or are confronting it right now, or perhaps stand close to that possibility yourself, probably understand what I am talking about.

What I want to tell you is this.

Do not give up.

Because this world is neither the first nor the last.

According to these teachings, reaching higher states of consciousness requires knowledge, wisdom, inner work, and spiritual development. But they also teach that these higher states can lead to far greater peace, happiness, and freedom.

This physical world and this life are not considered the only form of existence, nor the highest one. Quite the opposite. In astral and causal worlds, there is a much deeper sense of peace, well-being, and inner harmony.

It is hard to be prepared for death, but it can be done.

Many have proved it.