Accepting life's impermanence may be the key to transcending fear
Humans are intrinsically fearful of loss. Misplacement can assume several dimensions. Say mislaying of property, wealth, recognition, position, power, pelf, health and most importantly, life. John’s (name changed) steely voice suddenly trembled and quivered as he answered the pretentious cell phone. Rachel (name changed), his daughter had met with a grievous car crash and was wheeled into the ICU of an estimable hospital, Death is the action or fact of dying or being killed, the end of life of a person or an organism.
Several years ago, a Japanese warrior was captured by his adversaries and was confined to a dungeon. That fateful night he tossed and turned restlessly and was unable to sleep, fearing the following day when he would be interrogated, tortured and eventually executed. He was staring death in its face. Then suddenly he remembered the priceless words of his Zen Master.“Tomorrow is not real. It is an illusion. The only reality is now.” Heeding these esoteric words, the warrior overcame the exacting condition he was encountering and soon his mind became tranquil and he fell asleep. Suffering and fear arise in our minds when humans confront ailment or impending death. No one wishes to pass from being to non-being.
The credo of the human mind is the desire to remain eternally immortal. Millions of cells in the human body perish and are regenerated. But we are not mindful or wakeful of this reality. Do humans compose dirges or elegies like Catullus or Propertius for the dead cells? Or do we carouse and indulge in delirium on the birth of new cells and recite ‘Happy Birthday’ songs? “No one wants to die. Even the people who want to go to heaven do not want to die to get there! And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it.” Be it Rachel or the Japanese warrior no one has ever attained perpetuity or everlastingness; however bare-knuckled a person may be, he remains a glass jaw to the reality.
Yet youngsters today cannonaded by gizmos and technology become weary and bored of life at the young ages of twenty, thirty and hotfoot to snuff out their lives. Life is indeed holy and hallowed, too valuable and will remain a mystery that should not be recklessly given up. Yet there is no covenant or magic potion which guarantees deathlessness. Identifying and unravelling this mystery has confronted the minds of spiritualists, religious congregations and those of scientists and technocrats alike. A Zen Master was unwell and desired to cast away his body. His pupils implored him that he ought to live longer and disseminate the profound knowledge. It so happened that one disciple remarked, “Whether it is life or death, let it be.” The Master was ecstatic with the response and passed away.“Let it be” is much more than a mere aphorism, it is a state of mind.
Our shastras impress that the human mind is influenced by place, time, food, past impressions and associations and the actions of individuals. The footprints bear both efficacious and antipathetic impacts on the human mind. Humans are enslaved by the above-mentioned factors and habits and, as a result, involuntarily superintendents our perceptions, attitudes and behaviour.
And over a period if we are not aware of these negative emotions they compound into anxiety, anger, aggression, covetousness, low self-esteem, and fear. Knowledge about the impermanence of life and variegated dimensions can be gained only through regular practice of pranayama, Sudarshan Kriya, meditation, or mindful observation of breath. This is the secret and the only truth.
(The writer is the CEO of Chhattisgarh East Railway Ltd. and Chhattisgarh East West Railway Ltd. He is a faculty of the Art of Living; views are personal)
