The
Bhagavad Gita, or 'Song of God', one of the sacred Hindu texts,
recounts the dialogue between Krishna, an incarnation of Vishnu,
and Arjuna, His disciple.
We
die suddenly. For example, when there is a natural disaster, many
thousands of people may have come home from working a whole day
and gone to sleep without knowing that they would not get up again.
In one way or the other, we are all in the same boat. We cannot
tell what tomorrow morning is going to bring. We go to sleep every
night and whether we will be able to get up tomorrow morning we
do not know.
The
Rishis (Wise Ones) and Munis (Silent Ones) taught that it is,
therefore, important to live every day as if it is the last day
of our life; to take every minute of our life as one that we must
not waste, because every minute has got some value for us. If
we live like that we are prepared, when the time comes, to die.
In
the Bhagavad Gita, Lord Krishna told Arjuna that he should not
grieve for what is inevitable in life. As we come into this world,
our body undergoes disease, old age and death. These are natural
things. But when a natural disaster takes many lives, we may wonder
and think: "Why?" What then should we do? We cannot account for
this. No illness or disease, no old age: death has struck while
the victims were strong and healthy. But, as Lord Krishna said,
when this happens we must remember that as death is certain, life,
too, is certain: that after we die we take birth again in this
world and, therefore, even when these things happen we should
not grieve. The wise grieve neither for the living nor for the
dead.
Those
who think that the Atma - the Soul - can slay or be slain are
ignorant. Therefore, the wise do not grieve at all, as we should
not grieve for those who should not be grieved for.
The
Law of Decay
Many
people rejoice when someone is born and cry when someone dies;
others cry when someone is born and rejoice when someone dies.
As Lord Krishna said, both of these reactions are natural when
we do not understand, but a wise person - who really understands
life - will not grieve, for there was never a time when we did
not exist, nor will there be a time when we will cease to exist.
This is not the first time that we have existed, and when we give
up this physical form there will be a time when we will exist
again. As this physical form, the Indweller, the Soul, experiences
childhood, youth and old age in the body, It passes on to another
body. The Supreme One, the Soul, is not affected by what happens
to the physical form. The body has to undergo the process that
leads to death. Everyone and everything has to experience the
Law of Decay. The universe with its planets is following the same
law. It is a natural law that governs the whole universe, a law
that we cannot avoid. Since we cannot avoid it, the wise person
does not feel disturbed by it.
Psychological
Process
The
contact of the senses with objects creates feelings of heat and
cold, pain and pleasure. They come and go, they are impermanent
- therefore, we should bear them patiently. All these things we
undergo, like pain and pleasure, suffering and happiness, are
experiences of the senses. When we get something we like we feel
happy and when we lose something we feel unhappy. It is a psychological
process that is going on in the human mind all the time.
As
Lord Krishna said, we must understand that this is a natural part
of life and therefore we should bear it bravely because it is
transitory. When we have the discipline of remaining undisturbed
when there is pain, we will become steadfast, we will persevere.
Then, nothing can persuade us from our particular path. We know
immortality, because the world cannot affect us, the unreal has
no existence and the real never ceases to be. This Truth is realized
by the seers; 'what is not' cannot be, and 'what is' cannot fail
to be. What is real will always be real. The physical body is
relatively real, not truly real; it will have to change from time
to time. The absolute real does not change. Our physical form
came into existence made of different properties and thus, naturally,
it has to return to these respective properties. In meditation,
the great Rishis and Munis detached Themselves from the body and
the world enabling Them to observe it, and so They were able to
tell us what real life is all about. Know That, by which all is
pervaded, to be verily indestructible. Nothing can effect the
destruction of the immutable.
The
whole universe is pervaded by that Divine Essence of the Soul.
The Soul is the cause of all that exists. When all that exists
stops existing, the Soul will not be affected. For the Soul does
not depend on the Universe for Its existence, nor on the body
- they depend on the Soul for their existence. It is eternal and
indestructible. In ignorance we think that when the body dies
the existence of the individual is also finished. But That - who
we really are - is not physical existence. We are really the Soul.
When we realize that, fear disappears from our hearts. But as
long as we do not experience the Soul within us we will have fear,
because when we are threatened we feel it is a threat to our very
existence.
Atmic
Realization
When Alexander the Great travelled to India, one of his soldiers
told him about a yogi. Alexander ordered the yogi to be brought
before him but the yogi refused. So Alexander threatened to have
him killed if he did not come. The yogi replied that what he had,
the sword could not touch - that the physical body might be taken,
but not the Soul. So Alexander went to the yogi and was astonished
because in front of the yogi, although he, Alexander, was an emperor,
he felt like a beggar. When one has the Atmic realization one
wants nothing more. Alexander, in spite of all he had attained,
was still craving for more, therefore he felt like a beggar in
front of the yogi.
Nothing
can kill the Soul.
The
Soul is neither born nor dies. For the Soul, coming into being
and ceasing to be does not take place. The Soul is eternal, constant
and ancient. When we have that realization of the all-pervasiveness
of the Soul, we know that the Soul cannot be slain and that it
cannot be the cause of another being slain. The Soul casts off
the worn-out body and takes on a new one. Weapons cannot cleave
It, fire cannot burn It, water cannot drench It, wind cannot dry
It - the Self is uncleavable, indestructable. It is stable, immovable,
and everlasting. As Lord Krishna said, the elements cannot affect
the Soul for the Soul is subtler than earth, water, fire, air
and ether - they depend on the Soul for their existence, not the
Soul on them.
The
Soul is said to be unmanifested, unthinkable, and, therefore,
knowing It as such, we should not grieve. Death is certain for
one who is born, as birth is certain for one who dies. Death is
not the end of our existence. As a pilgrim we come empty-handed
into this world, and when the time comes we have to leave empty-handed
as well; we have to return from where we came, our Source. Eternal
life People are fighting and killing each other over trivialities
instead of wondering about the philosophy of life and death.
We
came into this world and while we are here we should realize who
we are, because that is our purpose. And if we can realize who
we are, we can have eternal life. The only way we can get that
is to strive for knowledge because knowledge destroys ignorance.
Then we will have peace of mind, then we will come near to God,
then we will come near to our true Self - who we really are. However,
in ignorance, we identify with the physical body, our feelings
and thoughts. But the moment we identify with the Soul, our whole
attitude to life changes: we become more detached, less possessive,
we care more for others, because we feel that everything is part
and parcel of ourselves. Krishna advises us to strive for liberation
from attachment to this physical world. When we strive for that,
we will find that the pangs of death cannot affect us. We will
live in constant fear of death if we forget who we really are,
the Soul, the Sustenance of everything. Om Tat Sat Hari Om.
Reprinted
with the kind permission of Share International Magazine.
