For certain is death for the born
And certain is birth for the dead;
Therefore over the inevitable
Thou shouldst not grieve.
And certain is birth for the dead;
Therefore over the inevitable
Thou shouldst not grieve.
- Bhagavad Gita
Death the scary word holds a lot fascination for me. The nearest I could personally experience the same was when I was recently hit by car. All I could do was surrender or I should say succumb to the situation. Thankfully, god was v.kind and in spite of being badly thrashed I had unbelievingly escaped with a few bruises here and there. It was a great feeling and still it is, to feel that you are alive. I never had such an appreciation for life which I took for granted more than often. Seems like it’s all a game, you get a counted number of days and as soon as that number ends...BOOOM...UR GONE...!!! Without any notice, without any intimation one has to bid adieu to the world.
It is clear enough that people die when their lives end, but less clear what constitutes the ending of a person's life. The soul of the person leaves the body and moves to may be what we call heaven, the higher plane, the path of light. The termination of biological functions however does not end the continuous journey of the soul. A journey which never ceases until one achieves the state of nirvana or salvation as we call it. It’s strange, how it looks like our dear one sleeping when in reality that person has actually left us all mortals. It’s painful to bury/burn the body as we are so attached to our loved one that we start thinking this bodily guise as the person itself. But the truth lies much further and the experience of losing someone can leave us shattered.
Just today I happened to watch this program on what happens to the soul when a person dies, what chemical reaction takes place in the brain just before death. Interesting as it may sound, it was told that death is a pleasant and not a painful experience. It helps us meet our deceased loved ones and gives us a new sense of freedom. We reach a state where the material world just doesn't matter. We don't need to eat, change clothes, perform the daily mundane activities, just nothing!...and like changing clothes we change our bodies.
Our action performed on earth come as flashback and all we are left is with our KARMA. The karma which would alleviate one to the higher planes and the same karma which would push the other into a darker realm.
All said and done, it’s no news that we all have to leave this world one day and the least we can contribute to our living, to the wonderful opportunity we have all got to enjoy the life is by performing good deeds. Simple acts like making someone smile, motivating others, helping your mother in household chores, helping your siblings with a difficult subject, calling a friend with whom you have lost touch....every little act of selflessness counts. So that, when the time comes to bid adieu may we leave the world better than we found it.
A TOAST TO LIFE….!!!
