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In the dualism of death and life there is a harmony. We know that the life of a soul, which is finite in its expression and infinite in its principle, must go through the portals of death in its journey to realise the infinite. It is death which is monistic, it has no life in it. But life is dualistic; it has an appearance as well as truth; and death is that appearance, that maya, which is an inseparable companion to life.

Rabindranath Tagore#80

LifeTagorePhilosophyDeathSoulHarmonyInfinite

About this quote

What does it mean?
Life and death are part of a harmony where life is dualistic and death is a gateway to the infinite.
In plain terms
Life has appearance and truth, while death is the door to realizing the infinite.
What can you take from it?
See death as a natural part of the journey to understanding the infinite.

Where it applies

  • spiritual reflection
  • philosophical study
  • grief

Putting it to work

  • reflect on cycles of life
  • accept endings as transitions

Questions to consider

  • How do you relate to the idea of death?
  • What feels infinite in your life?

Another view

The claim that death is monistic is a specific metaphysical view not universally accepted.

More from Rabindranath Tagore

  1. In our desire for eternal life we pray for an eternity of our habit and comfort, forgetting that immortality is in repeatedly transcending the definite forms o…

    Permalink to quote #79
  2. In the night we stumble over things and become acutely conscious of their separateness, but the day reveals the unity which embraces them. And the man whose in…

    Permalink to quote #81
  3. In love, at one of its poles you find the personal, at the other the impersonal. At one you have the positive assertion- Here I am; at the other the equally st…

    Permalink to quote #78

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