M.R. Lalu
There are understandable fears among people over death that they are sure would arrive one day. Growing day by day into old-age is the natural way of approaching the ultimate moment of life and there is undoubtedly a day that would put a full stop to the entire episode of life’s fantasies. It will be a catastrophe if people keep thinking about this unpopular visitor called Death who, they are sure, would visit them one day. Death is sure as everything that is born is bound to be dragged by its ruthless force into its terrain of complete oblivion, with no conscious return ever possible. A preparation for meeting the last moment of our life graciously without being anxious about it would be the most intelligent act. But it takes an enormous amount of understanding to welcome it with a smiling face. A healthy life and peaceful death would be a great blessing. But the fundamental question on the mind and body today is: in what way can we keep the body healthy and mind sound and attentive. There are ways suggested by health experts, mostly our ancient rishis, as to how a healthy body and a peaceful mind can be developed when we are surrounded by chaotic disruptions and deliberate outrages. Fundamentally, a logical conclusion on life and death is possible only when the life is lived with awareness and death is approached with a serene quietude within, a genuine preparation that strengthens our self-inquiry.
Life in this transitory framework of the universal essence should be lived with happiness and awareness. And that is the solution, the solution to push our existence through the consumerist global mindset of today where people are recognized, rewarded and eulogized for what they really are able to systematically, dramatically make a display of their existence. A severe competition by crippling our real fundamental values of coexistence has already overtaken the imaginations of people all over the world. An uninterrupted flow of unethical indulgence where a real self-inquiry is discarded as an unprincipled prerequisite, as human life has profoundly dethroned the values of amicable coexistence and began to surrender to the degenerative impulses of their own creation. At this juncture, Lord Buddha reminds us how transitory is life and how inconsolable are people as the time of their exit comes. He calls life a flash of lightning. Imagine how evanescent life is and we, in most of the cases, stay close-fisted mostly penny-pinching all through, with a single purpose of amassing wealth as much as possible. And in some other cases, we disdainfully spend as much wealth as possible as if the imminent conclusion of life is near. In both cases, our life is amiss of the conclusive reality of the supreme awareness, that we are capable of realizing, while dissipating our energy indiscriminately on inconsequential matters.
Life in its entirety around us is a spectrum of surprises. Enmeshed in a variety of complex situations, people often forget to enjoy the small surprises that it offers. Complexity of life is the creation of our own or contributed by people around us. And there, with the deepening complex occurrences in life, we miss the happiness that we are actually aspiring to take hold of. Mostly the crisis further deepens in old age. There is a dearth of acceptance and a vacuum that emerges from the same complex attitude of people around us. An unfeeling society that keeps alienating the old has been the reality. Mostly advanced with the advent of science, we dreadfully shift from the values that we traditionally imbibe. This obviously creates a tough friction between science and religion. In personal life both bring us reasons to contemplate. But between science and religion the tussle hardly discovers the real aspect of ultimate solace that we are in search of. The impact of the tussle is that it intellectually leads us to accept either science or religion or give prominence to both. This conflict between the logic of science and the faiths of religion usually runs riot in our brain and the outcome is, in most of the cases, people live unsuccessful in understanding the real purpose of their existence. Merely executing our brilliance to satisfy the biological inclination becomes the common norm. Beyond it is the spiritual realm and this aspect of life remains to most of the people a dry area of meaningless irreversible practices that they accrue habitually. But spirituality in the real sense is capable of driving us beyond mere practices and shows us the glimpse of reality which is peaceful and filled with ecstatic joy.
In most of the cases, intense range of radicalism among people is the result of the dominance of beliefs over the real conclusive understanding of life’s purpose. The question that gains prominence here is what would be the role of humans, in a world that has mostly enslaved him of his beliefs failing to make conclusive understanding on the real purpose of life. When science studies the external, religion is supposed to study the internal, helping a person to look within. The latter indeed is known to help a person to come out of the chaotic framework of his own thoughts leading him to the higher realms of his own intelligence. This it achieves without any instruments but in the case of science every discovery comes with the support of an instrument. Indirectly, the ultimate stress of science is to understand the real source of power that helps the whole manifestation of creation to pulsate. Similar ideas can be attributed to religious practices as well. Leading the person to the higher realms of self discovery, a sincere search for the divine within, religion is the study of the inner being and beyond.
Undoubtedly, religions all over the world place this idea of an internal universe that only man is capable of having access. And science for that matter offers scopes enormous to study the external. Understanding this from a spiritual angle, Swami Vivekananda says that the journey from the microcosm to the macrocosm is what spirituality offers. And religions are supposed to hold this ability to take its followers to this wave of realization. The most beautiful aspect of this journey is that it leads us to the inner space of the being and slowly helps us to encapsulate the strength of the macrocosmic evolutionary universe in our mind space. This, according to religions, is an achievement of a spiritual aspirant that he gains without the help of any instrument. So understanding the true self in a person is the real purpose of life’s journey. Once we experience the real fragrance of the inner spiritual splendor which is tranquil and contented, all chaos begins to evaporate. This is a personal experience that ultimately helps us to drive the devil in us. Until then the conflict which is internal continues. To fight off the devil within us remains impossible when there is a tussle between the knowledge that we gain through this inner journey and the knowledge that our surroundings peripherally offer. Choosing the one that is real and valid is the most important. A personal experience to this level surely enhances purity of mind and thoughts and the result is absolutely incomparable that neither science can fathom nor logic can slice. That is purely spiritual.
