Though death is a daily fact, it is a wonder that people should behave to be immortal.
No. They behave as if (or 'as though') they were immortal.
b
Though death is a daily fact, it is a wonder that people should behave to be immortal.
It does make sense from the viewpoint of mysticism, I guess.
No, it's just wrong. The second clause, alone, could mean "it's amazing people try to behave well in order to be granted immortality by the gods" but no, it's linked with an antecedent that situates the second clause as expressing something in spite of the inevitability of death. So Bob's your uncle.
Though death is a daily fact, it is a wonder that people should behave to be immortal.
What I meant to say is this:
Death is a daily fact. But can you imagine our purpose in life is to purify ourselves? Spiritual discipline will help us become immortal. We won't have to reincarnate again.
Taking the metaphysical point of view for the sake of argument, the way to express this would be something like '...it is a wonder that people should behave so as to be immortal.' A to-infinitive on its own is not enough.
b
PS But that wouldn't make sense even for a Buddhist! The fact that believers behave like that is not a matter for wonder.
Last edited by BobK; 22-Sep-2011 at 13:09. Reason: PS added