In the beautiful and touching eulogy, Steve Job's sister, Mona Simpson, wrote about how his brother prepared for his death.
As he knew that he was dying soon, he prepared for it by meeting the people that he wants to meet, saying goodbyes to his friends and treasuring each moment with his family. He approached his impending death with equanimity, knowing that death is as natural as life.
His last words as he drew his final breaths were, "Oh Wow!! Oh Wow! Oh Wow!!".
In his death Steve Jobs shows the person that he is. He faced it with courage and acceptance. He also let go of all his earthly attachments, simply just welcoming his final journey.
Even with his last breaths, he demonstrated his fearlessness because as a Buddhist, he knew that there was nothing to fear about death.
His final exclamations seems to indicate the beautiful rewards that he was going towards.
Because he has done so much for the world, the kinds of gifts that he has given to man-kind and the life that he lived, Steve Jobs generated a lot of good karma.
Therefore, when he died, he was shown the kind of paradise that his good karma has prepared for him. And that is why he go towards his next journey with no fear, with no reluctance and at peace.
Steve Jobs passed away yesterday, on Wed, Oct 5, 2011. In his passing, the world has lost a visionary and a beautiful leader who has changed the world.
His legacy lives on in the way he impacted our lives. Everybody here on earth owes him a debt of gratitude for his creativity that has changed how we live.
“Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart. ” Mr. Jobs said in a commencement speech at Stanford University in June 2005, almost a year after he was diagnosed with cancer.
"Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary."
No many people know that Steve Jobs was a Buddhist - he converted to Buddhism when he was in his early 20s, after visiting India and exploring Eastern religion. He was also a vegetarian. You can clearly tell that he has not much attachment - he accepts death as a gift to live life fully.
All his belief systems and values shows up in his words of wisdom. And in the way that he directed Apple to not be attached to its past successes. In his inventions, you can feel the intuitive design that he incorporates into his products.
Follow his teachings and live abundantly and mindfully.
Rest in Peace, Steve - may you be reborn in Western Paradise. And thank you for all the unique gifts that you have shared with all of us. You have made a beautiful difference to the world...
This is my current favorite song, beautifully sung by Susan Boyle.
Ms Boyle has a voice that is angelic and so uplifting.
The song is really meaningful as it represents the story of Ms Boyle and who she is born to be.
How is it that she suddenly burst into our collective consciousness and grab our attention so fast and so easily?
Well, Susan Boyle has always have the talent to sing like an angel. However, the timing was not right for her to present her talent to the world until last year, when she appeared on the X-Factor talent show.
Think about this for a moment. If she had started her singing career when she was younger, she may not have made the impact that she did.
The Universe has to prepare the grounds for her to manifest her talents that she can share with the world and uplift our spirits during this troubling times.
If there were no YouTube, I doubt that she would have made such a world-wide impact. Her performance on X-Factor was shown on YouTube and there were hundreds of millions of viewing of her raw performance, singing "I Dreamed A Dream" from the Broadway show "Les Miserables". So her talent was exposed to the widest audience possible in the easiest way due to the existence of YouTube.
If Susan Boyle had started her singing career earlier, there would not have been a show like X-Factor that served as a platform for her to sing her songs to a huge audience. She would not have gotten the endorsement of Simon Cowell, giving her instance validity and celebrity status.
So, the Universe has the make sure that all the elements were in place before Susan Boyle could be launched into our collective consciousness at the critical time when we dearly need some inspiration.
The past 3 years have been brutal to many of us who had suffered due to the Great Financial Crisis. Morale is down with lots of people losing their jobs, their life savings and their dreams. In such a dark time, we all need some sunshine, some hope of better days ahead.
And the Universe deliver Susan Boyle to us, for her to share with the world her spectacular talent. Her soaring vocals and beautiful soul give all of us the inspiration, the hope and the energy to believe that tomorrow will be a better day.
Why is it that many talented people is presented to the collective consciousness just when we need them at the most critical point?
Why was Elvis Presley so famous just after the WW II when we need hope? Is it any surprise that we have the divas of the 80s and 90s with all their individual, beautiful voices?
Why did the Google founders, Sergey Brin and Larry Page, come together so appropriately at the perfect timing when the Internet world needs a good search engine?
Would our world have been very much different if there were no Bill Gates or Steve Jobs was born 20 years later? Can you imagine if there were no Google, Microsoft or Apple in your lives?
Why did Mylie Cyrus become such a big success at such a young age with Hannah Montana? It is because the Universe knows that she can serve as an inspiration to the many young people like her, that it is possible to follow your dreams.
So too is Susan Boyle serving as an inspiration to all of us. An inspiration that even when you are in your forties, it is still possible for all your dreams to come true.
So, please do not feel discourage that you have talents that are not recognized. Perhaps, the timing is not right yet and the Universe needs to prepare the sweet ground for you to be successful.
Therefore, do not give up your dreams. Continue dreaming and doing the things that you love. Your talents will be valued when the time is right.
