UNDERSTANDING DEATH : 2
In the first part of this study of the phenomenon of death, we saw the external POV of life, one that is residing in the external world, tied inexorably to it, its subjects, and its experiences; to recapitulate, in this POV we define life through our senses, and the experiences they generate for us in feelings, emotions, physical bodily wordly activities etc. In that POV, that is the whole of life; birth, education, job, material wealth, family, children, retirement, and death. There life ceases; even if you believe in rebirth, death is final. This is because when you die and move to a new body – your memories are wiped out, with the result that your entire existence is wiped out. New slate, new experiences, new you.
DEATH AS A FRIEND: THE INTERNAL POV INTRODUCED
Let us now shift our sights to a new POV. This POV – the internal POV - is much harder to arrive at, much more vague. Since there are no external keys or stimuli, no externally linked feelings / emotions – this POV is not clearly visible or defined, even by those who are ardent believers in it. Only the most accomplished Sages / Rishis can describe it. As the hindi songs goes - सिर्फ एहसास है रूह से मेहसूस करो. This is just a vague feeling at the start, and has to be felt at the level of your deepest antaraatma. But in this feeling lies a deep calm, true anand, and a realization of death as your only true friend, something to look forward to eagerly, something to be planned for with excitement, dedication and devotion.
This POV is that of तत्वमसि; अहं ब्रह्मास्मि to be succinct; the realization that The One God is your only true objective, your only true path and your only true direction. This does mean sanyaas in all cases; this can be very much situated & achieved in Grahasthashram. Reaching this requires an acceptance of the presence of the soul, the atma inside you; and entails an entire lifestyle that comes along with it. I know some may find this confusing; I did too when I first came across this line of thought. Please park this thought away somewhere, I will return to it in later parts of this series on death more fully, as this concerns the third POV… I mentioned there ways in which we can view life and death in my previous article, linked here
WHY DOES ONE START WALKING TOWARDS THE INTERNAL PATH?
Given that at the end of life, all that you have done will become dust, every thing… every statement, every deed will one day lose its value, and its remembrance, that one day all your possessions will be someone else’s, one does come to the core question at some point in this journey: what is all this in aid of? Why are we doing this? We go through life, only to die? Is there no purpose? And in this question – the purpose, begins a hunt that propels various people in various directions. Some go back the external way, finding solace in ever-greater achievements, and calling it their life purpose. The problem is that even these greater achievements are temporary and subject to time. And to death.
Or it could be emotional or physical pain that is the trigger; or circumstance when an innocent is victimized; or unfair pressure from the family, or fear of death, and a constant worry about and the fear of death; the trigger could be any one of many that propels a person down this path of spirituality, of self examination and of self-discovery. Worrying about dying, questioning life, feeling a disconnect are just some of the symptoms. Usually it is a combination of back-breaking circumstances that triggers the journey, which is one filled with a sea of pain, of loneliness and of struggle, unless one is very good and has a store of good deeds… From here, it can go both ways; one can either dissolve in regret, a sea of pain, or material focused effort to improve… or go inwards, the internal path.
CONCLUSION - PART 2
The lucky, very lucky and blessed few take the internal path. This internal path is the subjugation of the senses, and a slow process of delinking to the sensory stimuli from the sense organs; this arises from some among those who hunt for purpose realizing that external material objects cannot answer the questions, and turning inward. This involves being completely truthful, looking upon loss and gain as equal, removing all attachments to all senses and material aspects, and being connected with only God. This is the topic of the next part of this series on coming to terms with death : The internal POV and The Balanced POV towards life and death!
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