Zakhour 's favourite book to read when he got diagnosed as he thought it could give him insight on how to positively deal with his condition. His favourite passage from this novel, ‟ As you grow, you learn more. If you stayed as ignorant as you were at twenty- two, you 'd always be twenty-two. Aging is not just decay, you know. It 's growth.” (Albom 1997 34). This reference really reveals how in our society the fear of aging and death is expressed but people forget that it is a part of life, where your experiences shapes who you become as a person. Most of us are afraid of the idea of death as it means that physically we cease to exist in this world, but as Morrie would put it ‟The truth is . . . once you learn how to die, you learn how to live” (Albom 1997 24). This quote is inspired by a Buddhist philosophy way of thinking, where in the novel Morrie presents a metaphor of the bird on everybody 's shoulder which represent Morrie 's own consciousness regarding his death, where it is eventually going to occur and he has to accept it (Albom …show more content…
In the monotheistic religions of Christianity, Islam and Judaism, we all believe that God will judge us in the end based on the way we treated those around us and if we followed the values of their doctrine. Based on that conscious knowledge that if we live a life full of lie, deception and trickery then we will eventually be punished for it in our afterlife. Henceforth, before we pass away, we all perform religious traditions to purify our souls of any sins committed so that we may be in good standing with God in the afterlife. On the contrary, Eastern religious traditions of Hinduism and Buddhism follow a different path of thinking, where you are your own caretaker of your soul and your doctrine of following the true renouncers path will determine the faith of your soul. To be aware of one 's death and accept it is a difficult way of thinking for our Western 's society but in Eastern religious traditions it is awaited with joy and happiness rather than with anxiety and