Human life is a cycle of coming and going, birth and death. The death of the body is not the end of the soul. The Self is unchangeable. Our wise elders and our spiritual masters have told us this truth so many times, but have we understood and absorbed it? Atman that dwells within each one of us, is everlasting, imperishable and unchangeable. So, understanding and absorbing the fact that I am the Atman, is the only key to understanding life and death. We all know that the one which is perishable is subject to death. We understand that it is only the body that dies. Yet, when we lose someone whom we love, we suffer so much, mourning the loss. This is because we have been dependent upon them and our feelings for them. So, when they leave us, we feel pain in proportion to our fondness for the one who has gone.

Spirituality teaches us to live our lives without any attachment towards material things or persons. When we run after the pleasures of the world, our mind gets too distracted. We forget our true purpose on earth, we forget to search for our inner Self. When we cultivate love and compassion towards all beings, it brings about peace and harmony in our lives, but when we get attached to materials or persons that we call our own, we are subjected to intense pain. Finally, it is the quality and the manner of life that we lead which determines how we approach the reality of our bodily death. How can we understand this mysterious ‘death’? It is a subject that does not allow us to undergo the event, and then live to speak about the experience.

Why do you fear death? The more you are attached to things and persons, the greater is the fear of death. Those who are without any attachments—those who do not see themselves as owning anything in their lives, and who know that their bodies are just instruments, are the only ones who are free from fear. Learn to flow with life and all its ups and downs. Internalise the truth that you are not your body. Physical bodies are only instruments for your use. When you see your bodys getting older and slowing down, it scares you. Most of you remain in body consciousness. When you learn to separate your body from the immortal Self, the truth will finally become clear to you, that death has no effect upon the Self.

Birth is not a beginning, nor is death an end, so get rid of your fear. There are methods and techniques that will help you to lose your fear. Death-meditation technique, if practised consistently, will help you lose your fear of death. It will help to internalise the truth that life is an ongoing process, a process which directs you to search for the eternal, discard all that is temporary, and thus overcome death.

With love and blessings to one and all. May you live in love, peace and harmony, and may you reach the peak of spiritual growth. 

-Guruji