The Mystery of Active Dying
Active dying refers to the liminal phase when people begin laboring from this world into whatever lies beyond. Shrouded in mystery and mysticism, active dying marks a time that often defies logic and touches into the sacred, inexplicable, and unseen.
Contemporary accounts from hospice providers detail the ways in which dying people speak in metaphors, images, and visions as they oscillate between states of lucidity and unconsciousness. Many dying people see deceased parents, children, pets, and ancestors appear at the bedside. Others accurately predict the time of their death—often down to the minute—or reach toward a glowing light that no else can see. Some have baffling surges of physical strength or use symbolic language, exclaiming that they need to “go on a trip” or “catch the train” before drawing their last breath.
These experiences have been documented throughout human history and across spiritual and cultural traditions. Tibetan Buddhism casts the death stage, or chikhai bardo, as a gradual dissolution of the body's elements culminating in a brilliant light. In ancient Greek texts like Plato’s Phaedo, spectral guides appear to the dying as the soul prepares to depart. Sufi hagiographies recount sudden returns of physical vitality, followed by soft, unearthly radiance emanating from the body, and many Christian traditions describe visitations from ancestors or ethereal figures at the death threshold.
These are only a handful of examples; nearly all civilizations, ancient and modern alike, hold narratives and cosmologies of death that reflect one another in profound and perplexing ways.
What might these universal encounters teach us about life & death?
In a world that privileges certainty, “logic”, and scientific explanation, the experiences of the dying remind us of the vast terrain that lies beyond ordinary perception. Rather than providing answers, the mysteries of death invite us into re-enchantment, wonder, and reverence with the unseen dimensions of our existence. We will never know what happens to consciousness after death, but perhaps what we deem as “reality” is only one part of the story, with the rest waiting to greet us in the great expanse of the unknown.
