Death accompanied me when I took my first breath on earth … As Amma was declared dead. Luckily, she came back and is alive for me to fight with her everyday :). But the phenomenon of dying is fascinating. Everyone and everything that lives, dies. So there is certainty, we all come with a return ticket. The reason it’s scary is because we don’t know where we return to.
Buddha had a unique way to induct disciples, he would ask them to visit the cremation grounds and sit there for six months everyday. Only after the person lost the fear of death, he could come and be Buddha’s disciple. A little extreme, but death is the biggest fear man has. Steve Jobs said it beautifully “death is very likely the single best invention of life, it is life’s change agent”. And ofcourse Osho asked everyone to celebrate death, just like life. He asked us to let go joyfully and his discourse titled “Life” given with the body of his disciple, lying in state, is probably the best ever. Also, as Newton Kondaveti says, every soul chooses the time to go… Death is not imposed, it’s a choice.
You can’t escape it, you can’t corrupt it, you choose it and the quality of death speaks of the type of life you had. If you have just one person you love and who loves you, by your side as you make the transition, you had a good life !! And last night when Radha left the world, she had her family with her and she had you Nisha, Kishore and Aaliyah who wished her well and tried to keep her alive. What a great way to go. The pain is gone, now she can come back to live another life and learn new lessons.
Farewell and happy journey Radha – she will be now be discussing her next birth and would soon bring happiness to a new set of parents… And the cycle will be repeated. The temporariness of life is the beauty of life – look at things you value, the deathless paper or plastic flower is never as fascinating as the momentary lives of the “Kurinji” flowers that bloom once every twelve years, you don’t shed tears, moved, over the polycarbonate suitcase like your favorite song that lasts a few minutes – temporariness makes everything beautiful, so death is needed to make life beautiful.
New clothes, new life, new lessons, new experiences, and the certainty of friends and loved ones being close – those are the gifts of death. Say thanks and let go !