BEFORE YOU DIE, READ THIS | Zain Khan

The King’s Tale: A Lesson in Mortality

Zain Khan
4 min readNov 25, 2024

A king in Baghdad sent his son to the market for provisions. Soon afterwards, the son comes home, his face white and trembling, and tells the king that in the marketplace, he saw a man a man he recognized as Death who made a threatening gesture. Borrowing the king’s fastest horse, the son flees at great speed to Samara, a city a distance of about 75 miles, where he believes Death will not find him. The king then goes to the marketplace and finds Death and asks why he made such a threatening gesture to his son, to which Death responds, “Sir, that was not a threatening gesture. It was just that I was surprised. I was astonished to see him in Baghdad because I have an appointment with him tonight in Samara.”

Facing Mortality: A Personal Reflection

So many of you have been wondering: Where did I go? Did I quit? Did I retire? Did I die? And I want to set the record straight. No, I did not quit. No, I did not retire. And no, I’m not dead. But I am dying. We all are. In the next 10 minutes of you watching this video, over 1200 people around the world will die.

The Bhutanese Philosophy of Death

The people in Bhutan, one of the happiest countries in the world, claim that in order to be a truly happy person, you must think of death five times a day.

Ancient Wisdom on Death

The Greeks and Stoics would often keep a human skull on their desk, side meaning memento mori, which translates to “remember that you will die.” In the famous text The Tibetan Book on Living and Dying, it is said, “Of all footprints, those of the elephant are supreme, and of all meditations, that on death is supreme.”

The Big Question: Are You Living Fully?

And so, death, guys and girls, for the last few months, has had me questioning: Am I living this brief time that I have fully, authentically? So I took a pause.

Zain khan’s Journey

Please welcome Zain Khan because, listen, I’ve been on this planet for 25 years. The average lifespan for a man is 78; for a man, it is 72. So, statistically speaking, I’m getting close to halfway there. Now, you may be 18, thinking you have 60 years to live, but you may have less time than me because, like that story showed us, death finds you when it is time for your appointment.

What Does It Mean to Live a Full Life?

Because you see, the quality of your life is based on the quality of your questions. Are you asking the important questions?

The Problem of Social Pressures

99% of us are not. For 99%, social pressures have completely blinded us and turned us into hungry ghosts.

The Buddhist Tale of the Hungry Ghosts

In the Buddhist tradition, a hungry ghost is a demon ugly, with a big belly, long neck, and tiny mouth. It symbolizes a tormented craving. They are so hungry, but with their tiny mouths and skinny necks, they can never get enough to satisfy their hunger. So, they keep searching.

The Human Condition

Isn’t this the human condition? No matter how much you get, you always want more because, of course, you can never have enough of what you don’t really want.

Wisdom of an 85-Year-Old Woman

There’s an 85-year-old woman who, at the end of her life, wrote a poem, and it goes like this:

If I had my life to live over, I’d make more mistakes next time.
I’d relax. I will be sillier than I have been this trip. I would take fewer things seriously.
I would take more chances. I would take more trips.
I would climb more mountains and swim more rivers.
I would eat more ice cream and less beans.
I would perhaps have more actual troubles, but I’d have fewer imaginary ones.

The Adventure of Life

Guys, my journey in life has been quite the adventure from growing up in St. Louis, the most dangerous city in America, to working as a mascot, to performing and speaking all over the world.

The Pursuit of Freedom

See, I have been blessed to look behind the curtain on both sides. I’ve seen great poverty, and I’ve seen great wealth. And so now, I’m interested in what I believe is the most important step of life the highest calling: complete freedom.

What’s Next?

So, what’s next for me? Well, first, it is my mission to walk the talk. And then, I want to help you to achieve complete freedom in all its forms.

The Master’s Lesson

I will end with one final story. The great master became a legend in his lifetime. It was said that God once sought his advice.

God said, “I want to play a game of hide and seek with humankind. I have asked my angels, what is the best place to hide? Some say the depth of the ocean, others say the top of the highest mountain, others say the far side of the moon or a distant star. What do you suggest?”

The master paused and said, “Hide in the human heart. That is the last place they will look.”

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Zain Khan
Zain Khan

Written by Zain Khan

Passionate content writer with a flair for creating engaging, SEO-optimized articles across various niches.

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