All of us are afraid of death and enamoured by life. Do we actually understand their true significance? Let us understand these based on the concept of Hinduism.
INTRODUCTION
Fundamentally, it is a case of lost perspective. Our Solar System is just a speck in the whole big Universe. In this speck, Earth is a micro speck. In that micro speck, the place where we live is a super-micro speck. In that super-micro speck, if we consider ourselves big, there is a serious issue. When we have completely lost the perspective as to who we are, how do we grasp anything about the nature of life or death?
OUR ANCIENT BELIEF SYSTEM
According to the Vedas, all beings are souls and thus spiritual in nature. Though the body is temporary and eventually dies, the soul is eternal. After death, the soul is reincarnated, taking birth in another physical body or form. Passing from one life to the next, each soul is on a journey of spiritual development facilitated in part by karma, the concept that every thought and action has a corresponding reaction. The soul is uplifted through every good action performed and degraded with every bad action. Stuck in this cycle of birth and death, known as samsara, the soul experiences the results of its karma, through which it becomes more aware of how its actions affect the world and others around it. This growth of awareness enables one to become a more selfless and loving being, until enough progress has been made to attain moksha, or liberation from samsara, resulting in complete spiritual existence.
The Bhagavat Gita gives a clear picture of life and death and emphasises the value of Atma Gyana as the sure means for the individual soul to get liberated. When the time comes for the atma to leave the body, all earthly possessions have to be left behind. In its journey, the atma is permitted to take along with it only the subtle body comprising the mind and the senses. This is explained with the analogy of the wind that carries away only the fragrance from flowers. The trap of the senses is so strong and that it requires a high level of consciousness to see that the atma as far superior to the body, and that the atma wears the body as one would wear clothes and that it is foolish to be a slave to the senses.
MODERN EXPLANATION OF THE PHILOSOPHY
Death is very fundamental. We humans are endowed with intelligence but how can we just ignore such a significant aspect of life? Well, we know nothing about life either. We know all the trappings about life, but what do we know about life as such? Each moment, death is happening in us at the cellular levels. This is how, with just one look at your insides, the doctors know how old you are. Only if we are ignorant and unaware, it would seem that death will come to us someday later. Life and death exist together, inseparably, in the same breath. The real process is of the life energy, or prana, that controls physical existence.
The spiritual process begins only when one is confronted with death – of someone who is dear; someone one thought one could not live without. That is when the question comes up in most people’s minds, “What is this all about? What will happen beyond this?” The mind will project that there must be something more. However, it really does not know because the mind functions only based on the data that it has already gathered; it has no traction of death because it has no authentic information.
UNDERSTANDING THE CONCEPT
The only way to know is through ‘Pragnya’ which translates to ‘Awareness’ in simplistic terms. There are so many things that every creature knows without thinking about them. Actually, if you had to think about it, you would not even know how to breathe. It simply happens. That is not your intelligence – that is the Creator’s intelligence. A whole lot of things happen without your assistance, understanding, or thoughts. ‘Pragnya’ is beyond thought. ‘Pragnya’ is the very source of creation. If you find access to that, you can cross what may be the boundary between life and death. Actually, there is no boundary – you are living and dying right now.
When it is said that all this is divine play, it does not mean a sadistic force playing with your life; divine play because everything is intertwined and enmeshed. You cannot separate childhood, youth, middle age, and old age – it is all enmeshed. What you call an individual and what you call the universal cannot be separated. What you call atomic and what you call cosmic cannot be separated. You can grasp it only by experience. Pragnya is a dimension of perception that gives you access to life, the nature of life, and the source of life. There is no source and there is no manifestation – it is all the same. It is neither life nor death – it is just a play of all these things. It is the source of creation.
All the teachings, all the spiritual processes are just to help you distance yourself from your own drama, so that the cosmic drama comes into your perception. Without this, there is nothing to this life.
To know more about Hinduism, its Vedic belief system, prayers & devotional bhajans, hymns, mantras, or for any special need like a priest to guide and conduct a pooja at your home please, visit our website Sameedh.
