What Is the Emily Dahl Foundation All About?
On January 26, 2019, Emily Dahl took her own life at the age of eighteen years old. This was the beginning of a journey that continues for eternity. At the most basic level, when you lose a loved one your focus should be on fulfilling the wishes of the person that has passed away. This act of compassion and love, if from the heart and not the ego, can ease your pain instantly. But there is so much more in the exploration of the death of a loved one. They leave an emptiness that should be explored. One should instantly feel the power of the deathless spirit that can never die. The notion of no birth, no death of any living being is so important to joy and peace.
Part of Emily’s magic is the massive empty space that she left when her physical form disappeared. Everyone that knew Emily has experienced this at some level and the stories continue to come in to this day from all over the world, from people that experienced Emily’s unconditional love and continue to everyday.
There are so many of us that were deeply touched by Emily.
In the fall of 2018 Emily was searching for inner peace and love in her own way. She communicated this in many ways, not only then, but during her entire physical existence. She seemed to be aware that better one act now than have a long life lived improperly, since, even if I remain here for a long time, the same pain of death awaits me. She touched so many with her acts of true compassion and love. There are so many acts by Emily that she rarely, if ever, claimed recognition for in the external world.
Emily had generated a sense of equality between herself and others. The magical next stage for the awakened one must be to reflect on the reality that while I am one, others are infinite. She must have had direct experience that since she was no more important than others, in aggregate others must be more important than her. This likely arose within Emily, and is available to us all, in the midst of watching others tangled in the web of illusion, ego and suffering.
Emily, who clearly had abandoned prejudices of egoism and constantly exchanged herself to bring joy to others, that is, she placed others before herself. The amazing truth is that the divinity that was expressing itself through Emily is the same divinity that is in us all. Realizing this truth, you will embrace the evidence given by the great ones like Einstein that matter is not what you think and is actually thought energy. Once you know that your existence and therefore Emily’s is not what you think, you will no longer be attached to the physical form of anything, including Emily. You will see for yourself, that Emily and divinity is just what is, and it is actually the consciousness of one. You are experiencing a movie of sorts that is streaming from the depths of your true self. You are on your way to the true understanding of “Who Am I?”. When you bow to Emily, you are bowing to the divinity in her and she is bowing to the divinity within you.
She displayed the following deep truth: If the suffering of one ends the suffering of many, then one who has compassion for others and himself or herself must cause that suffering to arise.
When a loved one dies that is so close to you a very large emptiness is there. Explore the space – explore the formless nature of who they are, of who you are. Many seem to turn away from the invitation to the incredible world of no birth, no death. The world of joy and everlasting love.
Not that I did it consciously, but I was taken by the “other side”. Death itself seem to speak to me. The issue was the overwhelming “deathless spirit” of Emily and the universe simply consumed me beyond words. The deathless spirit was and is clearly still there – although Emily’s physical form is not.
Clearly, a change in my life took place. It was in the days following January 26, 2019, when the bizarre sense of Emily’s death overtook me.
It is as if the shock from Emily’s death drove my mind inwards and I said to myself mentally – death has come; what does it mean? What is it that has died? Where is Emily? I sat in a ball of pain and could barely sense my own clump of bones and flesh as I was sitting on the floor of Emily’s room, gasping for air. Trying to grasp the reality that Emily was now a corpse that she will soon be ashes, as if to gain some reality of the situation. Essentially, I guess I was asking the question “Who Am I?”. Yes, Emily’s body has died but the Spirit that transcends it cannot be touched by death. This means I must also be the deathless Spirit. All this was not a small thought; it has been working its way through me as living truth which I perceive directly, almost without thought process. Any fear of death has vanished. Thoughts continue to come and go because life is busy with all “things and forms”, but the question of “Who Am I?” persists. You can experience your true self only by turning off the thought machine. Suffering arises when you have lost control of this thought machine, which is running within your mind. Before the obvious crisis of Emily’s death, I had no clear perception of “the self” and was not consciously attracted to it as I am now.
As such, the goal of The Emily Dahl Foundation is to point to the door of awakening to which Emily is pointing, and that is available to us all. This can only be found by looking deep within one’s own heart. Live your day as Emily did, serving others and focusing on the simple things in life. At some point in the day return to your home for nourishment, arrange your cushion, and sit down and focus on that which is front of you, your breath, which is the ultimate connection to a magical world. Get control of the thought machine and experience the substratum that exists beyond of your physical form. It is there that you will find freedom from suffering and eternal life.
Sherman Dahl
October 16, 2021