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FlyntSILVER Member
Intrepid Penguin
5,635 posts
Location: Australia


Posted:
I saw Donnie Darko several times over Easter, and its a fairly profound movie. Alot of the movie deals with the idea of fate vs free will, and time travel....

One of the lines from the movie, is

"every living creature on this earth dies alone"

Donnie tells this to his Psychiatrist with this story:

"it reminds me of my dog Kally. When she died, she crawled under the porch by herself"

"to die?"

"to be alone."

Donnie goes on to explain that the idea of God is futile if everyone dies alone...

(movie buffs dont shoot me, i'm aware i'm probably misquoting...)

its made me think alot lately, its a very powerful line in the movie, just wondering if anyone else had anythoughts on this concept??

Currently on the right side up of the world.


Astarmember
1,591 posts
Location: Nova Scotia, Canada.


Posted:
Awesome movie, one of the most thought provoking I have seen in awhile.

FlyntSILVER Member
Intrepid Penguin
5,635 posts
Location: Australia


Posted:
Sure is,
i guess i neglected to post a question in the last bit.
what i want to know is, peoples opinions on that statement "every living creature on this earth dies alone"

Is it true? if it is, does it make "purpose" in life no longer valid???

Currently on the right side up of the world.


spritieSILVER Member
Pooh-Bah
2,014 posts
Location: Galveston, TX, USA


Posted:
When I was a kid, I was afraid of dying alone. I didn't have many friends, and honestly didn't think my parents would care too much or notice if I went off somewhere and died.

Since then, I've come to realize quite a lot. My friends mean the world to me these days, and I know that I could never die alone. I'd always have someone with me in my heart. So, no, I don't believe that everyone dies alone. Only those without love can die alone.

Sure, we can go off someplace to die peacefully by ourselves, but there is always a little piece of someone else that dies when a good friend does too.

Ningalmember
23 posts
Location: So Cal


Posted:
Pragmatically, no - not every living thing dies alone. People stay with their families; animals stay close to their loved ones in many situations, too. Maybe fish swim away, but I doubt whales or dolphins do.

In an incorporeal sense, there may be a moment as the spirit crosses over where it is totally alone… but there is always something there for you. Waiting for you to have lived enough, to be brave enough, to give it away.

That may be just the moment that the movie was describing… the moment when one lets go of their family ties, their earthly ties. Just the moment when one turns their head from the screen that plays "the real world" to the doorway leading the bliss of walking on air.

Maybe… I don’t really know cause I haven’t done that yet! But thanks for this post. My Grandma passed away last week. She has been on my mind for a while. I know she is in a beautiful place now.

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>^o^<


FlyntSILVER Member
Intrepid Penguin
5,635 posts
Location: Australia


Posted:
thank you both! these are wonderful replies

i really appreciate you sharing that with us! xoxoxxoxoxoxoxo

Currently on the right side up of the world.


falloutboySILVER Member
remember
433 posts
Location: Melbourne, Australia, Earth, Milky Way, Universe


Posted:
Best movie of all time! YAY!

-As angels debate chance and fate-
i was riding through melbourne on a midget giraffe, things were peachy.


musashiistarring Skippy the green llama
1,148 posts
Location: Seattle, WA


Posted:
dying alone is one of the basic buddhist tents that you accept as being the source of all suffering(dukkha)..I guess how it works for me is the knowledge that I will never truly be alone, for I am always a part of the stream of consciousness..Prep for the nature of humanity is disappointment, unless you see through to what really matters..imho


hippie

First intention, then enlightenment..
Ars Pyronomica

" Life is programmed. Whether death is programmed or not is yet to be determined."


Trippie HippieBRONZE Member
old hand
733 posts
Location: Bewildered state of nothingness, United Kingdom


Posted:
I would tend to agree that we all die alone, after all we all make that final journey alone....to where *Shrugs* i don't know.
But there are others making that same journey as you, so maybe there comes a point where your souls congregate and make the final trip as one??
Who knows, I'll come back and tell you all when it happens to me

But with all said and done, i believe that dieing is when your soul leaves your body and moves on, your body is a vessel, It's your body that dies not the soul.
So i see dieing as moving on to the next thing, i don't think that you ever truly die, as long as your soul lives then you do too. You just travel the infinite boundary's of space and time???
But Hey, thats just 'lil 'ol me Hehe
LOL
Taking it easy
Trippy

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Last night i met some pixies and we danced around a stone.
High Class Hippy No:1
N.E.W.B. Agent #012
"I Got Soul"
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Trippie Hippie- Monty Dons secret love child

Fly like a mouse, run like a pillow, be the small book case.

"Last night i met some pixies and we danced around a stone".

Because dressing up is fun.


Magnusmember
279 posts
Location: Bath, UK


Posted:
I saw this just the once over Easter, and I thoroughly enjoyed it, it made me think. Though I have to say, I didn't totally *get* it.

How was the guy in the bunny suit haunting him? How did he travel in time? Where did the jet engine come from?

Magnus... pay it forward


falloutboySILVER Member
remember
433 posts
Location: Melbourne, Australia, Earth, Milky Way, Universe


Posted:
Magnus - there are lots of different ideas as to exactly what is going on in the movie, but the one i've found to be most agreeable can be found here: https://www.angelfire.com/wi2/rgounder/files/donniedarkoexp.txt
Hope that helps. : )

-As angels debate chance and fate-
i was riding through melbourne on a midget giraffe, things were peachy.


Magnusmember
279 posts
Location: Bath, UK


Posted:
falloutboy - holy crap! Thanks for that, it's spot on.

Magnus... pay it forward


James Bmember
44 posts
Location: Chippenham, Wiltshire. England


Posted:
I love films like that, not seen that one yet but now I want to. There are so many good lines that I have come across in the last few weeks. One of the best ones is

When one person is missing the whole world seems depopulated

I hate to be alone, but I do think that it is ture. We do die alone. It does not bother me any more now. Why?
cos life is a game, and you are going to lose anyway!

Speak softly and carry a big stick, you will go far!


Bender_the_OffenderGOLD Member
still can't believe it's not butter
6,978 posts
Location: Melbourne, Australia


Posted:
if the movie donnie darko postulated that we die alone, then allow the movie 'Faraway, So Close' (the follow-up to my favourite movie, 'Wings of Desire') to make you feel otherwise.

the movie is about the hidden world angels that exists 'faraway, so close' to us, that we are never alone.

amongst the touching black & white angel scenes, an angel (Rapahela, played by Nastassja Kinski) comforts a man as dies.


Non-Https Image Link


It is perhaps the most beautiful moment in cinema to me. It was also the first thing i saw when i read this thread.

[ 25. April 2003, 04:05: Message edited by: bender™ ]

Laugh Often, Smile Much, Post lolcats Always


NYCNYC
9,232 posts
Location: NYC, NY, USA


Posted:
When my aunt passed away there were 20 or so family members with her. Her daughter and sister were holding her hands.

It was actually a beautiful way to go. Everyone got to say goodbye. And then she went...

It actually put me at peace with my own mortality as well. I figure if she could do it, then someday, I know I could too... And I when I go, at least there will be some good meatballs waiting for me.

Well, shall we go?
Yes, let's go.
[They do not move.]


Yvonmember
6 posts
Location: Whitehorse, Yukon


Posted:
My own view is that we all face ourselves alone, and most of us don't face ourselves until we have died. I believe it is possible to face yourself before you die, but what then happens when you do die in full awareness of who you are, I'm not sure.

LuNcHbOx...(Aka. Nathan)-un-singlemember
536 posts
Location: beneath a cloak of self-torture


Posted:
well of course we die alone...
if we die we are dieing alone
...unless we are in a car accident...
or we are psycos about to kill alot of people of course we die alone...

-LuNcHbOx, Aka. Nathan...Give a man to fish, and that man knows where to come for more fish...Teach a man to fish and you have just destroyed your market base...


brainstormaBRONZE Member
old hand
1,184 posts
Location: under the fairie wheel, Australia


Posted:
you dont die only the vesal you live in dies

"Life should NOT be a journey to the grave arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, champagne in one hand, strawberries in the other, body thoroughly used up, and screaming "WOO-HOO What a ride!"


RevBRONZE Member
Bastard Newbie Messiah
1,269 posts
Location: Apparently lost in my ego, USA


Posted:
dying alone is the principle of the afterlife or lack of afterlife in all religions... Think about it.. your body dies.. your brain stilllives for 8-12 minutes.. during which you are dreaming for what seems to be an eternity (because you can dream your entire life in less then a minute) and in this eternity, you have some degree of control (since it is your dream) and it seems like reality (because your senses are dead and can't send conflicting information...)

So.. You die.. alone.. trapped in a subjective enternity that you control.. thus if you seek heaven, there you are... If you want 10,000 virgins like Allah said, bam there you go... If you believe that you will yourself into nonexistence, badda bing..

Your soul lives on in memory.. This is more powerful then people tend to think since your entire life leaves a mark on people.. You give peope experiences, and all of our experiences eventually get written into us on the genetic level.. I know it sounds like bullshit, but the billions of years worth of memory in our cells, is where we get flashbacks, commonly referred to as past life experiences.. This is hwere and instant in someone's life is recreated in our mind.. This is your soul living on.. and it lives through memory, through others..

So I don't think he really challeges God.. maybe just people's perception of it..

More useless information courtesy of Rev...
Confusing the masses, one post at a time...
"Obviously, you're not a golfer.."- The Dude
"Buy the ticket... Take the ride..." -Raoul Duke
"FEMA has never done catastrophe planning..."-Michael Brown


i8beefy2GOLD Member
addict
674 posts
Location: Ohio, USA


Posted:
Hmmm some interesting thoughts Rev. Quite true. Who's to say I'm not already dead and am just reliving my life in a dream right now, or that I won't wake up in ten minutes and realize I'm still 12 and just dreamt my life for the next ten years? Along those lines, maybe the ol' quote "God is dead" isn't so far from the truth, and creation, everything is just a big dream, in which case the idea of "know ye not that ye are god" would kinda fit, cause we'd all just be apparitions in "God's" dream, which is actually just a death-time recollection of everything in the universe. Which means if you found that out and were able to control this dream as in a lucid dream you could change reality in whatever way you saw fit. Muhahahahaha!

Anyway, enough musing. I believe we all die alone, for one simple reason, we are forever alone. Whatever you want to call it, soul, it is a part of God, as such there is no duality of beings, there is only the one, and parts of the one. Like if you had one being, global conciousness, and each individual is the cells of that being, interacting and furthering the being, but with no subjective way of explaining events of that scale. So in essence the only "self" there really is is what you have created for yourself because we are trapped in physiological bodies with the only way for experiencing events: 5 senses which barely touch the tip of the iceberg. Those senses being unable to fully convey experience, we seperate into selves instead of working as a cohesive "being", God if you will.

So we do all die alone, trapped within these physiological bodies which poison us away from the one. No matter who is around us, they can't trully touch who or what we are. We are born into this condition and seek retribution for it our whole lives: love, affection, subconciously movign toward each other. Or denying the fact of unity: hate, prejudice, war. It is possible to overcome this, and what I believe every religious leader in history has eluded to. Every religion has the hooks in them to pull each other together, and yet the farther we get from the founding principals into the system of religion, the more those hooks become sharpenned into barbs to ward off outside influence.

Without the ego, as Yvon kinda stated, dying alone wouldn't be a sad moment at all. Without feeling those attachments, or at least having the willingness to move past them, moving beyond the trap of this physiological body would be pure bliss. Enlightenment, Heaven, whatever. In essence, we're already in hell by being seperated. Heaven and hell all right here in the same place that we have inhabbited for so long. I don't think dying alone is something to be feared at all, but the greatest testament to one's own link to the singular entity/god that we all feel we have. We are all destined for greatness upon our death. We are capable of realizing that greatness in life, after any one of the moments in our lives that tear our ego assunder, but we allow our karma, our past actions to block that realization and resolidify the ego, just seperating us more and more.

Oops, that post ran pretty long.

Arcanemember
28 posts
Location: Texas


Posted:
There have been many thoughts on this topic, all valid and sound actually...Individual expression and belief are core to 'being alive' imho...

I'm of the belief that I am never alone...It's not memory that keeps me company...No, I believe we are surrounded by Angels at all times...I don't believe that they are per se , ON us, no...They are around us and more importantly, they are aware...They know what we are feeling/experiencing and if their aid is needed *(Such as dying)* then they come to our salvation....


I know this because an Angel came to me today...

You see, this afternoon my dog, an 18 year old Wolf hybrid named "Little Boy", passed away....

When I got the call at work I rushed home *(21 miles away)* praying the whole time for him to please hang on and live till I could make it home to tell him goodbye....

"Little" has been in rough shape for about a year, his health declining rapidly at his advanced age (126 in Wolf/Dog years)....We knew his time was close, but like many things in life it still came as a surprise and has caused an enourmous amount of grief....

I believe in Angels for many reasons, my life's experiences have pretty much demanded I have Angels present often, I've lived through much...

Today the Angels proved once again that they are here and they care about us...

I made it home, "Little" lifted his head from my fiancee's lap and gave me his usual 'hi, your home look...glad ya made it', then layed down...

An hour later this magnificient animal, whose life could comprise a novel, passed away...

And he didn't die alone, we were surrounding him with our love, touching him on this plane, and Angels were guiding him to green fields were the rabbits will always run when chased.

I'll miss the hell outta you "Little Boy".

There are things in this life that I am humbled and honored to have experienced...

Sharing time with a Wolf, by his chosing, was a gift from God.

Love to all...

Arcane

...you're going to blow WHAT out of your mouth???????


RevBRONZE Member
Bastard Newbie Messiah
1,269 posts
Location: Apparently lost in my ego, USA


Posted:
quote:
Originally posted by i8beefy2:
Hmmm some interesting thoughts Rev. Quite true. Who's to say I'm not already dead and am just reliving my life in a dream right now, or that I won't wake up in ten minutes and realize I'm still 12 and just dreamt my life for the next ten years?
As I learned in my class on zen buddism... How do you know that you are not the butterfly dreaming that you were human?


anyway... I haven't seen the movie that all this is in reference to... perhaps I should before I make anymore comments..

More useless information courtesy of Rev...
Confusing the masses, one post at a time...
"Obviously, you're not a golfer.."- The Dude
"Buy the ticket... Take the ride..." -Raoul Duke
"FEMA has never done catastrophe planning..."-Michael Brown


Raymund Phule (Fireproof)Enter a "Title" here:
2,905 posts
Location: San Diego California


Posted:
Nobody is ever really alone.

I know what it feels like to be both alone by myself and alone in a crowd.

You live your life and you live it well. If you do that you will never die alone, because you will be in the hearts of those who love you and then you will never be alone. They will be with you and you with them.

Some Jarhead last night: "this dumb a$$ thinks hes fireproof"


Salingermember
382 posts
Location: Southampton


Posted:
Did anyone else notice that the teacher mother woman had exactly the same attitude and voice as Kyle's Mum in South Park!

A conspiracy of silence speaks louder than words...



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