Are death and enlightenment the same thing?

The Buddhist spends all of his days trying to become all things in meditation. Expiration of the body does that in an instant. Striving to become one with the universe in life is counter-productive. If one insists on becoming one with the universe, he or she would have to expire from his or her skin. We might as well try to live in our own skins rather than strive to do what's automatically done in death. The body is for living.