Despite taking due care
with our daily life, we never know which direction does this fatal death approaches
to us but one day or another we have to face by any means. No sentient beings
in the world has desire to face such dreadful thing but everyone has to go
through it without any choice when time knocks on its turn. The great scholar
on death, Sogyal Rinpoche said, “Death is not a tragedy to be feared, but a
opportunity for transformation. Death is our greatest teacher. It wakes us up,
help us to purify and simplify our lives and sort out our priorities”. So far I
observed many people, if they don’t witness the death they never think for the
preparation of death but in the mean time we waste the life in the material
world.
The question always
comes in my mind! Does anybody thinking about the essence of being born on this
planet? And does anybody think about this uncertainty of the death? I don’t
know about the others but I myself think that I have wasted my precious life
without achieving any reasonable and meaningful knowledge about leading good
life and facing uncertain death. I saw many people dying during my childhood in
my own family and even in neighbor’s houses in my village. When I was five
years old, the death without any mercy trapped my caring and loving father
leaving me hanging on my mother’s back. There upon, I realized about the death
but I wonder why I’m still left in this situation without practicing the dharma
seriously. I knew very well that the death has no mercy, whether he/she may be
old or young, rich or poor, the powerful death has no time bound when he
approaches to the door step. The only thing that we can face the death without
any difficulty is to know the true nature of our mind through practicing of
dharma in this life.
As we all know that this
life is transient like autumn clouds, it is evident that the waves of the
clouds are taken away by the force of wind where ever it like and lands up in
the places without its destination. Similarly, our parents and relatives are also
like visitors to the market place, where they come and go during the existence
of this impermanent life. Likewise, how much we endeavor our wealth during our
life, it’s impermanent and it’s like dew drops on the tip of grass. In this
samsaric world, even our body which has been caring and feeding like a baby has
no essence because it’s like bubbles on the surface of the water. One day it
has to vanish and turn into ashes or will be buried under the soil, how much we
care.
According to Buddhism
and Hinduism, the only hope would be the life after death which is proved even
by the scientists around the world about the life to be continued after the
death. But it is not guaranteed about what kind of beings we would be reborn
because it entirely based on present performance of our deeds. As, lord Buddha
said, “our present life is the consequences of passed life and our future life
would be depend upon the present deeds”. So, let’s hope for the best in our
next generation.
