The Life and Death

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.