Death be not proud, though
some have called thee mighty and dreadful, for thou art so. For, those whom
thou think’st thou dost overthrow, die not……---john Donne
Life, they say, is a mystery, but death is even more
mystifying. As certain as death is a saying that give death a ring of surety,
but for most travelers on the path of life, death is a mysteries turn that is
expected any time but not welcomed.
Death is a great leveler. It levels off everyone
with one stroke. A king or a pauper, a sinner or a saint – all have to bow to
death. What exactly is the phenomenon of death? Is it the end of life? Does
death lead to another life or existence? What happiness after death? one of to
heaven or hell after death?
To understand death, we must first understand life.
A human being is a combination of a living sprite and a physical body. Electric
current needs an appliance or instrument to flow. A soul enters a body to
express as well as experience life because it is sentient. A dead person is
actually a dead body sans the living soul that has passed on in its journey.
Fear of death arises mainly from ignorance and attachment.
People don’t know what happiness after death, and they know that when they die,
everything they possess and everyone they are close to will be lost forever.
The era we live in is Kaliyug (Iron Age or Hell) and
this world is truly (Mrityulok)
Land of death. Today, the fear of untimely death
stalks us constantly.
Many people consider death as equivalent to mukti or
liberation. In fact, people actually desire liberation from suffering and pain,
not from life. Death is a temporary liberation from immediate sufferings, but
the soul has to take rebirth and finish its karmic debt in the next life.
Though every human being dies, there is a difference
in the nature of each person’s death. Some people die peacefully, without any
suffering, while others die after prolonged suffering such as an illness. Some
die untimely and painful deaths, such as in an accident, a suicide or murder;
while others live a long life and pass on in the manner an overripe fruit drops
from a tree. It all depends on the level of purity of the soul. When souls are
pure (satopradhan), there is no painful birth or death.
Soon after death, the human soul enters a new body
in a womb and takes birth again. Sudden and violent deaths sometimes cause
souls to wander in restlessness and pain. Studies have proved that human souls
take rebirth only in human bodies. If humans were being reborn as various animals, there would be more animals and few humans on
earth. Moreover, souls leaving a body in Kaliyug will take rebirth in the same
world. People believe that souls go to heaven after death; if so, why do we
pray for them to be in peace? A soul in heaven would be in peace anyway.
Of late there has been a lot of interest in the
scientific and spiritual aspects of the phenomenon of death. Studies on
paranormal experiences, such as near death experiences and hypnotic regression,
have acknowledged the existence of the soul. Many people have experienced being
detached from their body in an accident or during serious medical conditions.
Most of them have similar experiences of seeing their body from above, going
through a dark tunnel and meeting a ‘light’ that comforts them and loves them.
Paradoxically, investigation of death has brought us closer to the realization
that we are eternal and immortal spirits.
There is a religious belief that sinful souls have
to go through hell, where they meet yamdoots (agents of yama, the lord
of death)who punish them severely for their sins. Yamdoots are not any
scary looking characters; they are visions of our bad actions that haunt us at
death.
Do we have control over death? It depends on the
purity and state of consciousness of the soul, which lives and acts through a
body.
There was time period called Satyug (Golden Age or
heaven) heaven when all human begins had a long lifespan, and because they were
soul-conscious, death was merely like taking off one costume and putting on
another. They would also have a vision of the new body before leaving the old
one. That is why there is no such feeling as if someone is dead. Hence it is said that all souls in heaven are
immortal, and it is called amarlok (the land of immortality); they are
said to have conquered kall (time
or death). But in the present time of Kaliyug, all humans are body conscious,
and so they are subject to sin, suffering, illness and untimely death.
Incorporeal God Shiva is now imparting the knowledge
of Rajyoga, which helps impure human beings to regain their purity and
spiritual power by practicing soul consciousness and performing all actions in
remembrance of God. Soul consciousness helps Rajyogis to rule over their senses
and their mind. God consciousness helps them destroy their sins and purify the
elements of nature. A pure soul is able to conquer death in the sense that it
will take birth in a pure body and enjoy a full lifespan with health, beauty,
wealth , intelligence etc.
It is an eternal spiritual law that everything
created new becomes old, loses it original vitality and nature, and is renewed.
Death is only a change of roles. In a change of roles the actor also change his
costume; the sets and co-actors also change, and almost nothing remains the
same. A spiritually mature person has an attitude of both detachment and
enthusiasm for life, and so death does not upset such a person.
When the incarnated soul lives consciously, divinely
and constructively within the physical vehicle—the body—the sorrow, loneliness
and sense of loss connected to death will steadily fade. This needs conscious
identification with the eternal spiritual self and detachment from the body,
personalities, roles, relationships and possessions.
The more detached we are from the costume or our
body, the more will death feel as simple as discarding an old costume and wearing
a new one. Through constant awareness that we are souls and not bodies, and that
we are simply playing a role in this world, and by expressing our innate divine
qualities in our action, we can conquer the fear and bondage of death.
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