DEATH IS THE END OF MELODRAMA OF LIFE !!

 

The trauma of my aunt’s tragic death  is still hunting me.  It is beyond words to narrate how she fell into a valley while she was going on a horse to reach  the famous Kedarnath Temple in Uttarakhund, India. The manner of death really shocked me and threw me out of gear for some weeks.   The incident had taken me to a new level of wisdom about uncertainty of life.  

Deepak Chopra says that the Prince of Death is just behind you all the time and the only difference is method of execution and length of reprieve.

We see many people who are perturbed to amass wealth in the name of security. To grab the world of possessions they stop enjoying life of present moment and hanker for accumulating wealth.

One great person sagely advises  that " live the life everyday as if it is your last day". In such a living,  you reap the benefits of distilled wisdom of enlightened masters. You need not frighten much about death when it is an inescapable event of life.   Sky is the only limit for human endeavour.  All great personalities who lived on this planet have taught this great lesson.

Steve Jobs, the iconic CEO of Apple Computers who died due to pancreatic cancer is so pragmatic in his ideology. “In his famous 2005 Stanford University speech, he says that :

 

“ When I was 17, I read a quote that went something like: "If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you'll most certainly be right." It made an impression on me, and since then, for the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: "If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?" And whenever the answer has been "No" for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something.”

On death, jobs says that “ remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything — all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure - these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. “

He further says that “no one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don't want to die to get there. And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be, because Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It is Life's change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new. “

About life, Jobs says that “your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition.”  

So don’t fear death which you can't escape and do to unleash your potential !

PHILOSOPHICAL CONNOTATIONS OF DEATH

The other day I along with  my   colleague went for tea  at our office cafeteria.  I couldn't forecast that I had to return with a sad note.

When we were sipping tea in the warmth of sun on that winter morning, suddenly a car ran over a puppy in front of our eyes. The puppy with its black and white shades was very cute. It was playing leisurely with its mother on the road when the incident happened. When the dogs were on jolly mood, we were keenly observing and discussing how cute the four puppies and we could not even have the slightest hint that death was looming on one of them.

See how death touches any creature on Earth. Some die naturally and some others forcefully and you can't say why one is living above ninety and the other is perished to death in mother's womb itself. The animal kingdom being limited in their faculties may not express the way we humans do. But the basic emotions are same. My eyes welled up with emotion when I saw the mother dog making circles around its dead puppy.

Who don't fear death? The famous writer Khushwant Singh in his book "Khushwantnama says that "All that I hope for is that when death comes to me it comes quickly, without much pain, like slipping away in sound sleep."

Like he cherished, he died at 99 in sleep on 20th March 2014. Quoting a passage in the Mahabharata, Khushwant says that the greatest miracle of life is that while we know that death is inevitable, but no one really believes that he/she too will die one day.

The Buddhist monk Dalai Lama when asked how one should face the death, he advises 'meditation'. It is easy to say not to fear death, but very difficult to distil into wisdom. The famous American Indian doctor and the New Age spiritual guru Deepak Chopra says that the Prince of Death is just behind you. He experimented on 'death meditation' during his sojourn in Thailand in 2011. By doing Buddhist way of doing meditation on death, Dr. Chopra says that you would constantly know the impermanence of life and certainty of death.

Life is like a passing stream. At every point, there are endless lessons to learn, and lessons on death should not be isolated. We need to maintain serenity even in the midst of turbulence. When the mind is prepared for the worst, whatever less damage happens in front of you, should not grab your peace.