Death according to the Yoruba

Death! The essence of Babatúndé, Babajídé, Yétúnde, Yéwándé etc. - Physics and Ifá perspectives

Why do people die and no one has been able to overcome death?

The first law of thermodynamics, also known as Law of Conservation of Energy, states that energy can neither be created nor destroyed; energy can only be transferred or changed from one form to another.

Odù Ifá Oyẹku-Isẹ confirms this law and further declares that death is a good thing. It is part of the recycling process. Death is not a problem.

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K'á má tètè kú, awo ilé aláyọ̀

Àìtètèkú ṣe, awo ìbànújẹ́

Bí 'kú bá dé, ká yin Olúwa l'ógo, awo Olóòótọ́

Èéṣe tí ikú fi n pani?

Ire ni Amúniwáyé fi ikú ṣe

Omi tí kò ṣàn sí 'wá tí kò ṣàn s'ẹ́hìn

A di omi ogodo ogodo, omi ìbànújẹ́, omi ẹ̀gbin

Omi n gbé wa lọ rere

Omi n gbé wa bọ̀ rere

Olókùnrùn ká relé lọ gbàwọ̀ tuntun bọ̀ wá yé.

Literal translation:

"May we not die young", the diviner of the house of joy

"What's wrong with dying young?", the diviner of the house of grief,

"If death comes, let's praise Olódùmarè", the diviner of the house of truth

Cast Ifá for the sages, who invited these babaláwo to consult on the problems of death by asking:

"Why is it that death kills people and nobody has ever overcome death?".

The babaláwo said:

"Ifá has indicated that Amúniwáyé - the Creator created death for the good of mankind.

A stagnant water becomes a pond – a pond of polluted water, a pond that can cause disease.

Water takes people away freely and water brings them back freely.

Let the sick return home for the cure and renewal of the body, and the wicked for renewal of character. The madman is cared for by his family."

The Babalawo further asked:

"What is unpleasant about it?".

The sages bowed for Ifá, saying:

"Ọrunmila! Àbọrú, Àbọyè, Àbọṣíṣẹ".

They all dispersed and never regarded death as a problem any more.

Exposition:

Death after a happy life is glorious.

If we live long and die in poverty and disgrace, we achieve nothing but sorrow.

So if death comes after a long or short good life, we should accept it in good faith and give thanks for a life well spent.

Why, if one may ask, should man suffer death after all?

The Creator bestowed death to human beings as a blessing.

Life is a stream that flows out and flows back.

When it flows out, we call it death.

When it flows back, we call it rebirth.

A stream that does not flow out and flow back becomes a stagnant pool full of impurities that threaten good health.

Without death there can be no new birth.

Death carries us away;

Rebirth brings us back.

We die as invalids but return in new found health.

Death is inevitable. Across the world, about two people die every second! Anyone who has lost a dear one (who hasn't?) knows how difficult it is to come to terms with the loss.

Consoling the families of the departed is not easy. Priests of various religions try their best to bring solace. In my opinion however, physicists are the best orators when it comes to no-nonsense eulogies, encomia and tributes.

Aaron Freeman penned the following and it is the best eulogy I have ever heard:

“You want a physicist to speak at your funeral. You want the physicist to talk to your grieving family about the conservation of energy, so they will understand that your energy has not died.

You want the physicist to remind your sobbing mother about the first law of thermodynamics; that no energy gets created in the universe, and none is destroyed.

You want your mother to know that all your energy, every vibration, every BTU of heat, every wave of every particle that was her beloved child remains with her in this world.

You want the physicist to tell your weeping father that amid energies of the cosmos, you gave as good as you got.

And at one point you'd hope that the physicist would step down from the pulpit and walk to your broken hearted spouse there in the pew and tell her that all the photons that ever bounced off your face, all the particles whose paths were interrupted by your smile, by the touch of your hair, hundreds of trillions of particles, have raced off like children, their ways forever changed by you.

And as your widow rocks in the arms of a loving family, may the physicist let her know that all the photons that bounced from you were gathered in the particle detectors that are her eyes, that those photons created within her constellations of electromagnetically charged neurons whose energy will go on forever.

And the physicist will remind the congregation of how much of all our energy is given off as heat. There may be a few fanning themselves with their programs as he says it. And he will tell them that the warmth that flowed through you in life is still here, still part of all that we are, even as we who mourn continue the heat of our own lives.

And you'll want the physicist to explain to those who loved you that they need not have faith; indeed, they should not have faith. Let them know that they can measure, that scientists have measured precisely the conservation of energy and found it accurate, verifiable and consistent across space and time.

You can hope your family will examine the evidence and satisfy themselves that the science is sound and that they'll be comforted to know your energy's still around. According to the law of the conservation of energy, not a bit of you is gone; you're just less orderly. Amen.”

Ẹ̀là Àbọrú, Àbọyè, Àbọṣíṣẹ

Ire o…

Odú Ifá Reference:

Socrates and Ọ̀rúnmìlà: Two Patron Saints of Classical Philosophy by Sophie Olúwọlé (2014)

Ọlọbẹ Yoyọn