Path to The Final Gateway of the Tau

Path to The Final Gateway of the Tau

1. Introduction

There are more Tau gateways than I can even count, much less research, but only one can be the Final Gateway.

The gateway to transition to the irreversible death of the body and brain is the Final Gateway.

When done correctly, the mind subjectively experiences more in the few minutes as the brain dies than it did in its entire life.

Devotees of the Path to the Final Gateway describe life as merely a preparation for the more profound experience of passing thru the final gateway.

2. Path to The Final Gateway

My first exposure to the Path to the Final Gateway was the voluntary death of my Rhodolite Grandfather. Rhodolite Grandfather’s long life was full and varied, a Spice Wars veteran, worked offworld, and a tireless worker on behalf of the Seeq of his birth and the greater Araxi community. Rhodolite Grandfather was to be honoured with induction into the Desertborn Council of Elders as he approached his 300th birthday, but instead chose the path to the Final Gateway.

I was young at the time, before entering university or even my first trip offworld. I was fond of Rhodolite Grandfather and pleaded with him not to go gently into that eternal dark night, to stay on this side of the veil with us.

The Araxes Desert Spice is a wonder of science and nature, granting us in good measure a long life, and a very efficient immune system a robust overall health by virtue of a near optimized neuro-endocrine system, but eventually even The Spice has its limits. The effectiveness of Araxes Desert Spice can in these rare conditions feel like a curse, one can linger for many years, even decades) at death’s door while suffering greatly with no hope of relief.

Rhodolite Grandfather was acutely aware that he was approaching this limit of The Spice. Sometimes for various different reasons, a Desertborn decides to cross the final gateway and stops eating and drinking. Rhodolite Grandfather never told me, or anyone that I know of, what specifically drove him to choose to take the Path to the Final Gateway. By his own accounts, he had done more than he had set out to do in his life, but mostly he was weary and after 300 years of ardent striving for one purpose or another, he was ready to leave it all behind. That is all I know.

Voluntary Stopping of Eating and Drinking (VSED) is not for the meek or the faint of heart.

Rhodolite Grandfather’s condition was closely observed by qualified physicians. Over the course of 40 days, doctors observed his gradual decline, adding to the body of detailed clinical accounts of the effects of the starvation and dehydration.

The first night after he stopped eating and drinking, it took him several hours to get to sleep, because the hunger made him restless. By the next night, he felt better and was able to fall asleep in a few hours. Soon, he mostly stopped feeling the pain of hunger per se and instead transitioned to a general feeling of achy listlessness.

Rhodolite Grandfather relayed that there was nothing unpleasant about the complete lack of food and water. He said the general feeling of achy listlessness was accompanied by a sense of euphoria, he said he could even describe the experience as being somewhat blissful.

Rhodolite Grandfather was cogent for weeks as his organs failed, until finally slipping peacefully and painlessly into a coma and finally dying some time later.

The cessation of eating and drinking is not an uncommon way that many mammals die. Nature has evolved mechanisms that makes it is a very gentle way to leave this life.

Going without food and water in the last weeks of life is not as traumatic as people commonly imagine, the body is equipped to adjust to such conditions. It's a very smooth, graceful and elegant way to pass over thru to the final gateway.

The word 'starve' is emotionally loaded. People equate that with the hunger pains they feel or the thirst they feel after a long, hot day of hiking. To jump from that to a person who has an end-stage illness is a gigantic leap.

People may dread death by starvation, but it is the norm in nature -- and nature have evolved mechanisms for the body to cope with it.

The cessation of eating and drinking is the dominant way that many mammals die. Nature has evolved mechanisms that makes it is a very gentle way to leave this life.

The process of dying is usually gradual, deprived of food and water will die of dehydration well before starvation.

Without fluids, the body loses its ability to maintain a balance of potassium, sodium, calcium and other electrolytes in the bloodstream and cells.

Everything in the body is geared toward trying to maintain that normal balance. The body will do everything it can to maintain this balance if it's working well.

The kidneys react to the fluid shortage by conserving as many bodily liquids as possible.

The brain, which relies on chemical signals to function properly, begins to deteriorate. So do the heart and other muscles, causing patients to feel lethargic.

Meanwhile, the body begins mining its muscles and stores of fat to make the energy it needs to maintain functioning.

Without proper medical supervision, powerful sedatives and other palliative measures (and sometimes even with such measures), dehydration deaths can be horrific.

Complications can increase pain instead of alleviate it. Those with heart conditions particularly so. Most such subjects resume eating and drinking due to the discomfort. Amelioration of depression and alleviation of other concerns are other common reasons for resuming eating and drinking. Ironically the endorphins from the process sometimes reverses the depression symptoms that led some people to choose to end their life to begin with.

Rhodolite Grandfather’s cardiovascular system was relatively robust, so he did not suffer complications. Those with compromised cardiovascular systems have the highest risk of complications from Voluntary Stopping of Eating and Drinking (VSED).

A primary danger to the heart is from imbalances of minerals, such as potassium, calcium, magnesium, and phosphate, which are normally dissolved in the body's fluid. The dehydration and starvation that occurs with anorexia can reduce fluid and mineral levels and produce a condition known as electrolyte imbalance. Certain electrolytes (especially calcium and potassium) are critical for maintaining the electric currents necessary for a normal heartbeat. An imbalance in these electrolytes can be very serious and even life threatening unless fluids and minerals are replaced.

Heart problems are the most common cause of death among the Voluntary Stopping of Eating and Drinking (VSED). The most common immediate cause is by cardiac arrhythmia or a heart attack brought on by either extreme tissue degradation brought about by autophagy (notably diaphragm failure), or severe electrolyte imbalances. If you mine too many proteins in the heart, it gets unstable, giving rise to an irregular heartbeat, which can cause the patient to die of cardiac arrest. If the muscles in the chest wall become weak, the patient can end up with pneumonia. Patients whose cardiovascular system is already weakened by disease begin feeling the effects after a few days.

Death by heart attack is painful and contradicts the objective of a relatively painless death by ceasing to eat and drink. Voluntary Stopping of Eating and Drinking (VSED) should only be attempted under a doctor’s care.

Starvation wreaks havoc on the immune system, mostly because of the extreme deficiency of vitamins and minerals. Some subjects will become weak and die of immune-related diseases during starvation.

As Rhodolite Grandfather died from dehydration, his mouth dried out and becomes caked and coated with thick material; his lips become parched and cracked; his tongue swelled up and cracked; his eyes recede back into their orbits; his cheeks become hollow; the lining of his nose cracked and caused his nose to bleed; his skin hung loose on the body and becomes dry and scaly.

The attendants noted on his records that urine became highly concentrated, leading to burning of the bladder. The lining of his stomach dried out, causing Rhodolite Grandfather to experience dry heaves and vomiting; his body temperature can become very high.

Before entering the coma that would eventually led to his final demise; his brain cells dried out causing convulsions. His respiratory tract dried out causing thick secretions that prevented him from taking deep breaths.

At some point after he slipped into a coma, his major organs, including the lungs, heart, and finally brain gave out and death occurred.

Throughout the process, his body strove to suppress the normal feelings of pain associated with the voluntary deprivation.

When I asked Rhodolite Grandfather if he was hungry, he said no.

It seems that pain of hunger is felt by those who subsist on small amounts of food and water -- victims of famine, for instance, or concentration camp inmates. They become ravenous as their bodies crave more fuel.

Those who have truly chosen to die and are close to death do not feel hungry or thirsty in the same way as healthy people or people not ready to die.

The lack of pain and discomfort is thought to be part of a protective mechanism developed over millions of years.

After 24 hours without food, his body went into a different mode, and he was not hungry anymore. Total starvation is not painful or uncomfortable at all. Millions of years ago, when our primordial ancestors were presumably hunting rabbits (or snakes), they had to have a backup mode because they didn't always catch a rabbit. You can't go hunting if you're suffering from hunger.

After a few days without food, chemicals known as ketones build up in the blood. These chemicals cause a mild euphoria that serves as an anaesthetic. The weakening brain releases a surge of feel-good hormones called endorphins -- the same chemical that prompts the so-called "runner's high".

Doctors have a host of treatments to ameliorate acute problems, such as sprays and swabs to moisten dry mouths, and creams to moisturize flaky skin. Doctors sometimes also provide painkillers, but they are often not necessary.

All that being said, Voluntary Stopping of Eating and Drinking (VSED) is not for the meek or faint of heart, not a decision one makes trivially. The body is greatly abused by this process, and unless you are truly ready to irreversibly shuffle off that mortal coil, you probably should not consider it. Only if in the deepest recesses of their mind, heart and soul, is someone truly ready to leave the body behind, then and only then is it a viable option.

3. Entry into The Final Gateway

I thought it was a needlessly elaborate way to end his life, and I told him so.

Rhodolite Grandfather had been a mentor to me as long as I could remember, and part of that required patience and a tolerance of my outspoken and opinionated manner.

Rhodolite Grandfather explained how the Way of The Tau was about two things, how to live life in the world and the exploration of the interior of the 1.5 kilogram universe that housed the mind.

All the paths that made up the Way of the Tau were about understanding the mysteries about how to live a good life and how to understand the mind.

Rhodolite Grandfather had no such strength to seek out new paths to the Way of The Tau, but he was ready to take all he learned from the various paths to put them to use as he passed thru the Final Gateway.

Rhodolite Grandfather spent hours telling me about tea, coffee, chocolate, honey, some tantric tales inappropriate for me to share, what he learned from war and suffering and love and duty and friendship. All this would serve him as he passed thru the Final Gateway.

Rhodolite Grandfather was looking forward to the moment when his body was dead, but his brain was still alive. There would still be minutes of brain activity after the rest of the body is shut down.

Those who seek the path to the Final Gateway using Voluntary Stopping of Eating and Drinking (VSED), do so because they believe it maximizes the amount of time they will experience in the dreamstate.

The paths of dream consciousness is in itself an entire set of pathways in the Tau. A second of dream consciousness can be near timeless, feeling significantly longer than a waking second.

I practice this myself when I wake up in the morning, I go back to sleep to experience those long, intricate, beautiful dreams that seem to last for hours, then I wake up and it has only been a minute or less.

Rhodolite Grandfather slipped into a dreamlike trance unlike any other. The Final Gateway.

Untethered from the rhythms of his heart and respiration and many other cyclical aspects of the body’s functioning, his dreamstate was several minutes of timelessness consciousness he prepared for his entire life. Each 'second’ was maybe infinite, unlinked to time.

The few minutes of his brain activity would subjectively be longer that his entire life many times over.

Rhodolite Grandfather would miss us all, but he promised he would think of us often. It was time for him to go, he wanted to go on his own terms.

The weeks of the Voluntary Stopping of Eating and Drinking (VSED) prepared his body, his brain, his mind and his resolve for the best possible passage thru to the Final Gateway.

The Desertborn accepts Voluntary Stopping of Eating and Drinking (VSED) as a form of execution if requested by the convicted person who decides to forswear his appeals.

4. The Way of the Kind Slaughter

There are other ways to reduce suffering such as The Way of the Kind Slaughter.

A knife of appropriate length is selected, usually twice the width of the intended Pre-Decedent’s neck, never so long that the weight of the knife is deemed excessive. Inspect the blade carefully to make sure there are no nicks or unevenness. If the knife is too large, it is assumed to cause the prohibited practice of excessive pressing.

Any blemish on the blade at all, even one big enough for a human hair to fall into, renders the knife unacceptable for the Way of the Kindness Slaughter. The knife must be sharpened to such a sharp point that if I were to slice off my finger, I would feel no pain.

Traditionally the blade must not have a point, because the point can slip into the wound during Kindness Slaughter and causing the forbidden technique of covering, of the blade. The blade may also not be serrated, as serrations cause the forbidden technique of tearing.

Pressing, covering, and tearing are among the barbaric ways of the Colonizers. We are better than the Colonizers.

The blade cannot have imperfections in it. All blades are assumed to be imperfect until inspected, so the blade must be checked before each Kindness Slaughter. The common practice is to run the fingernail up and down both sides of the blade and on the cutting edge to determine if any imperfections can be felt. A number of increasingly fine abrasive stones are used to sharpen and polish the blade until it is perfectly sharp and smooth. After the Kindness Slaughter, the blade must be checked again in the same way to be certain the first inspection was properly done, and to ensure the blade was not damaged during the Kindness Slaughter. If the blade is found to be damaged, it must be destroyed in ritual to publically acknowledge the sin and its shame.

To be kind in the Kindness Slaughter, one must cut the oesophagus, trachea, carotid arteries, and jugular veins in one quick incision. The soft tissues in the neck are sliced through without the knife touching the spinal cord, in the course of which four major blood vessels, two of which transport oxygenated blood to the brain (the carotid arteries) the other two transporting blood back to the heart (jugular veins) are severed. The vagus nerve is also cut in this operation. The incision must not at all pull or tear, and must be performed in one motion free of any pause. When done correctly, the Pre-Decedent’s brain blood pressure will drop fast enough that will lose consciousness in such a way that renders the Pre-Decedent insensitive to pain.

Pausing during the incision and then starting to cut again is unkind, that would be the barbaric way of the colonizers. The knife must be moved across the neck in an uninterrupted motion until the trachea and oesophagus are sufficiently severed to avoid this. There is some disagreement among experts as to the exact length of time needed, but normative practice is there to be no length of pausing.

The blade must be drawn across the throat by a back and forth movement, not by chopping, hacking, or pressing without moving the knife back and forth, that would be the barbaric way of the colonizers.

The blade must be drawn over the throat so that the back of the knife is at all times visible while the Kindness Slaughter is being performed. It must not be stabbed into the neck or buried by fur, hide, feathers, the wound itself, or a foreign object (such as a scarf) which may cover the blade.

The blade must cut on the proper location, else it is the barbaric way of the colonizers. The limits within which the knife may be applied are from the large ring in the windpipe to the top of the upper lobe of the lung when it is inflated, and corresponding to the length of the pharynx.

Tearing out either the oesophagus or the trachea during the incision, is the barbaric way of the colonizers.

When the rules of the kind Kindness Slaughter are obeyed and the forbidden techniques avoided, the Pre-Decedent does not struggle and has little reaction.

The Pre-Decedent should not be stunned or otherwise rendered unconscious prior to the Kindness Slaughter procedure, that would be the barbaric way of the Colonizers.

The incision is usually done from behind so the Pre-Decedent can be moved forward and their blood captured. One must not dishonour the dead by wasting their bodily fluids. The blood is usually given to the family of the Decedent, as it is the barbaric way of the Colonizers to collect blood. If a water or blood debt is owed, the blood can be granted by the family of the Decedent.

5. The Way of Screaming Warrior’s Death

There are alternative versions of the Path to the Final Gateway. The Warrior’s Death for those who wish to experience a near eternity of reliving the Warrior’s Ideal.

If the Pre-Decedent truly wishes their last moments in this life to be howling my name in unspeakable agony as their death rattle overcomes them, and wishes to live that moment for eternity, I won’t deny them the experience. It is advisable to let me know in advance so I do not inadvertently kill them in some kinder gentler manner.