On the Desire for Eternal Life, Immortality, and the Eternal Way

(From the Scrolls of the Path of Wisdom)

The Idol of Eternal Youth

Many long for eternal life. Especially those who have tasted power, accumulated wealth, and bent others to their will. They rarely speak of it aloud — but deep inside, they are haunted by the fear of the end.

And so, the dream of eternal life in a forever-young body becomes their silent idol. But they do not see the difference between eternal life and true immortality. They mistake the shell for the essence, breath for spirit, and mere existence for life.

Immaturity of the Wish

The desire to live forever in the flesh is not the longing of the wise — it is the fear of the unripe. It is not the way of the disciple, but the tantrum of a child refusing to accept the laws of nature.

And the laws are simple and eternal: birth, growth, maturity, decline, and death. This is the breath of Life. Its rhythm. Its cycle.

One who seeks to stop this cycle walks against the entire Universe. He rejects the flow of Time, not realizing that Time itself gives life its depth. He tries to steal power from nature to anchor himself in the body — forever. But in doing so, he loses his soul.

From Fear to Destruction

These desires breed destruction. They drive one to abandon ethics, to deceive law, to sacrifice many lives for the sake of one — his own. But such a person is no longer living — he is preserving his fear.

The True Seekers of Immortality

And yet, deep within these desires lies a reflection of something real. For in ancient times, there were those who did seek Immortality. But their path was different.

The Daoists — ancient alchemists of the Inner Way — did not strive for endless youth to indulge in pleasures. They extended the life of the body not for the body’s sake, but for the Work. Their aim was to walk the Inner Path to completion: The path from mortal being — to the Immortal Self.

The Inner Meaning of Death

The Daoist does not fear bodily death. He fears the dissolution of consciousness after death.

He knows: the one who dies without inner maturity loses his form — scatters like ash. His experience is erased. His memory disappears. In the next life, he starts again — blindly, groping, sometimes vaguely remembering what he once knew, reading the same books, making the same mistakes.

The Immortal

The Immortal is different. He departs — but returns with the same core. His identity does not dissolve. His knowledge is not lost. He does not remember — he continues.

That is why the Daoist seeks to extend life: To anchor himself in Spirit, to gather his being into Wholeness, to forge an inner form strong enough to outlast the death of the body.

This Is True Immortality

Such ones exist on Earth. You will not find them in the noise of the world, but you will recognize them by their eyes. By their presence. Their depth. By those who, like the Dalai Lama, are born again — and remember where to continue their Path.