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April 12, 2006

Close encounters with death

Have you ever cheated death?

Death can come quickly - one second you are there and then, boom, something happens and you are gone.

While driving to work on Monday, and while stuck in the usual traffic jam, I wanted to switch lane. There was the gap, and I set the indicator and started to move out. Knowing Malaysia, all of these two actions - set the indicator and moving out of your lane - has to be done fast, since oftentime, the car next to you on the lane you want to move onto will try to cut you off.

What I didn't see was two motorcycles that speeded between the cars. I heard the honking, and stopped immediately to see the first motorcycle swerving around my car at extremely close range followed by the second. The second one turned around about 50 meters down the road. I don't know if the first one actually knew how close he was to death.

It was my mistake even so the two were driving way to fast for such kind of situations. My heart was beating fast and I felt adrenaline rushing through my body. I didn't move out of the lane for another 500 meters.

What I am wondering is - will something change for the guy on the motorcycle if he realised the close encounter?

Frequently, people change when they are in such situation, and mostly for the better. They start appreciating life much more and start to live much more purposefully. I hope it happens to him as well. That he realises that death can drop by any second of a day.


Posted by Andreas at April 12, 2006 10:49 AM

Comments

First of all, nothing ever dies - it just changes form. The film "The Little Buddha" clearly demonstrated this. In addition, there are no “accidents”.

No one "dies" before his or her time. The choice and time of death is always yours. When the soul is ready to release the body, when it has accomplished what it came here to do, it moves on. Therefore, in this case, the motorcyclist was not ready.

Their daily dare-devil stunts in reckless riding may reveal that they hold the strong belief that old age represents a degradation of the spirit and an insult to the body. Slow death in a hospital or an experience with an illness would be unthinkable to this group of people.

What is their choice? They would prefer to choose the experience – the drama, even the terror when that occurs - to die young like a hero and leave physical life in a blaze of perception; battling for your life at a point of challenge, “fighting” and not acquiescent.

Posted by: mwt at April 14, 2006 09:40 AM

I've had several close encounters with death mostly while crossing the roads. The weather is so hot, I hate waiting under the hot sun while an endless stream of traffic go by, so sometimes I just have to make the quick dash across the road. Sometimes you just don't see the motorcycle, bus or truck and it can be quite scary.

Posted by: James at April 14, 2006 12:43 AM

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