Death. The very word itself feels negative to many of us.
And that’s why we don’t want to think about it at any time.
We think our own death is far away, irrespective of how old we are, and that we will worry about death when the time comes for it.
But that time never comes.
Because when you get very old, and death is only a little time away, your body and brain lose their ability to think clearly.
Then all the time and energy that you have left is spent on your pain and your suffering. Or you keep worrying about all your loved ones, or you deny to yourself that your body and brain have lost their ability to function properly, to think properly.
Or you still have some unfulfilled desires in your heart that you can’t let go. Or it’s just anger left inside you about each and every thing that happens around you.
If you think one should only reflect upon death only after we have fulfilled all our desires, or only after we have lived our lives fully and are retired from various responsibilities, then let me tell you that such a time never comes.
There is always some desire that seeks your attention. You worry about yourself first, then about your kids, then about your grandkids, and if you live long enough you’ll worry even about the kids of your grandkids.
There is no end to the bondages of the family. There is no end to the desires of your own heart. There is no end to your problems in life.
The place of one loved one is taken by another. The place of one desire is taken by another. The place of one problem is taken by another.
That’s why, it’s foolish to postpone the understanding of what death means and how to prepare yourself for death, or else it will be already too late one day; else there never will be a perfect time to reflect upon it; else you will never be ready to accept it even at your last breath, and you’ll keep fighting against it.
Know this simple truth about life – Death always wins at the end. You can only fight it for so long. You have to give up to it some day. You have to accept defeat against it some time. You have to hand it over everything that you gained in this life, everything that you became in this life.
You have to give death your ego, your honor, your thoughts, your feelings, your joys, your beliefs, and every other thing that has its identification with you.
So, you need to start preparing for death today itself, right when your body and mind are still functioning at their peak; right when you have the ability to be open-minded and acceptable to all types of thoughts; right when you are in happiness and not suffering from any pain; right when you still have time to keep learning and practicing the spiritual path every day, before it gets too late.
So, reflect upon death continuously, until you understand it fully; until you know what exactly will happen to you, and to your body and mind, at the time of death; until you realize that ultimately you will have to give up every thing that you spent all your life collecting.
By understanding that every thing in this world is fragile, that every thing in this world is temporary, that every thing is momentary just like a wave, and this body is merely a combination of various atoms and particles and energies and its very nature is to lose all its power some day, you can reflect upon how to live your life in the best possible way.
Once you understand that your death is inevitable – I mean all of us do know it subconsciously and even intellectually, but we don’t realize and accept it fully yet – you will start to live your life in as meaningful a way as possible.
You will stop wasting time in all those activities that are useless in the long run. You will stop worrying about all those people to whom your death won’t even make any difference. You will stop thinking all those useless thoughts which have no relevance to who you are. You will stop worrying about a thousand other things which won’t help you at all, in any way, during the time of your death and beyond it.
Then, you will stop running after the temporary things in life, and start seeking the permanent ones. Then you will stop chasing the exciting, and start seeking the peaceful. Then you will stop seeking validation from others, and start seeking contentment from within. Then you will stop running after the finite, and start to understand what’s infinite. Then you will stop feeding only the body, and start feeding your consciousness as well.
Because the body is only for a moment, it’s the consciousness that’s eternal. Because the body is only a vehicle, it’s the consciousness that’s the destination. Because the body is only a student, it’s the consciousness that’s the lesson. Because the body is only the wave – temporary form – and it’s the consciousness that’s water – its true nature. Because the body is only limited, it’s the consciousness that has unlimited potential.
The consciousness lies beyond the boundary of body, mind, ego, thought, feeling, senses, and imagination. The consciousness can’t be realized by any of these. The consciousness can only be understood by itself.
Death can only take away from you what you identify with this body. It can’t take away from you what you identify with your consciousness.
How can anyone control the uncontrollable and free. How can anyone control the timeless. How can anyone withhold the infinite. How can anyone take away the form of the formless. How can anyone take away anything from the detached and the desireless. How can anyone take the thinking power away of the thoughtless.
You are consciousness in its purest form. The only reason you haven’t realized this yet is that you have enveloped this pure consciousness with tons of desires and thoughts and worries and imaginations.
And death is that moment for many of us, when we have this chance to let go all our attachments with this body, and become one with the purest form of the consciousness that exists. And only the one who prepares for that moment of death completely, can achieve the oneness with the pure consciousness.
All this life is meant to prepare you to become one with the ultimate consciousness that there is, after merging with whom there is nothing else left to be done. The enlightened ones merge with the infinite while they are still alive, while the ignorant ones fail to do that even after death.
Just open your eyes and see all around you. Death exists everywhere. Every day many people, many living-beings, die. But you ignore it all, as if by ignoring them death will leave you alone.
It won’t.
Death is the ultimate truth of life. Everything else is a lie.
Start preparing for death while you still can. Because it won’t give you the time for it in future. You keep moving towards death every day, every single moment, and you won’t even know when it quickly sneaks upon you.
Reflect upon death so that you can understand how to live your life better. Reflect upon death so that you can decide what legacy would you like to leave behind. Reflect upon death so that you can live a life of meaning and purpose every day.
Reflect upon death so that even death will feel proud to welcome a sentient being like you, an enlightened being like you, and it will bow down to the life of respect and honor and truth and compassion that you have lived.
Only the ignorant are afraid of death. Only the ignorant hate the idea of death. The enlightened ones accept its reality, they accept its truth, they accept its power, and that’s why they live their lives in such a way that makes even living and dying irrelevant; because they try to move beyond this cycle of life and death right within this lifetime.
That’s what you and I should try to do as well. Let’s accept death in its all entirety, for what it is, and start to live a life with a higher purpose from today.