Die and come alive || Acharya Prashant (2015)

Acharya Prashant

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Die and come alive || Acharya Prashant (2015)

Questioner (Q): I have the fear of passing away of my old parents. This fear has gripped me. What to do with this fear?

Acharya Prashant (AP): When you start observing this fear, two things start happening simultaneously. One – you start accepting that death is approaching. That death is not only inevitable but imminent. Second – a radical change starts happening in the quality of your living.

When it becomes absolutely clear to you that death is a fact, and that nobody can avoid it, that it is there, that there is no point thinking about it, no point analyzing it, it is there, then death no more remains an object to think about. It is settled. Finished.

What is left to enquire? What is left to ponder? There is nothing left. Yes, there is death. Now, can we move to the topic of ‘living’? The topic of death is dealt with now. Yes, death is settled. Now let’s talk of something else. When death is settled, then you can talk about life.

Till the point you somehow try to fight death, you will be busy with death. And in being busy with death, you will keep missing life. What is a bigger loss – that you didn’t think about death, or you didn’t live deeply enough? What is a bigger loss? But we think that we must think. And think about what? Death – the unthinkable. Every second that you spend in thinking about death, is a second lost from life.

The one who has to go, will go. Remember, you too are in the queue. The one who is not in the queue can probably sympathize with the others. Who is not in the queue? Nobody. So only the dead men can sympathize with the living because only they are out of the queue.

We are all going in the same direction. Right? What is born? A journey towards death. If there is anything that ends, it is the thing that took birth. The thing that took birth, must end. Birth guarantees that. Just as birth is a certainty, similarly death is an inviolable certainty. What will thinking about death give you? In fact, if you want to make it more certain, then start assuming that you are already dead.

It is not for nothing that Kabir sings, “Sadho re, ye murdon ka gaaon (Saints, this is the village of the dead).” Why think that we all will die in the future? Just know that we are already dead. Now the topic is over. We are all dead. Now start living. Dead! Now there is no fear of death. We are already dead.

“Why are you threatening me? Do the worse that you can do to me. Kill me. Kill me so that I can be free. Don’t let this sword hang over my head. Let it fall right now.”

What is that sword? That sword is not the physical event of death. That sword is the thought that – “I will die.” You won’t die. What is certain, can be taken as already happening. Death is already happening, moment-by-moment. Why think that it is there somewhere in the future? Kindly be kind enough to not think that only a few people are gone. When you think that somebody is gone, you must also know that you too are gone. There was a time when they were not there, and you were not there. And there would soon be a time then they wouldn’t be here, and you too wouldn’t be here.

We have had a mystic who said, “Death should be celebrated.” Please understand what he meant. He said, “You cry not at the fact that somebody died, but the fact that life was not lived fully. You cry over the moments that you lost, the opportunities that you lost. Don’t let these opportunities go away. There must be no reason to cry. Death can be celebrated.”

He used to tell his people, “When there is a death, let us sing and dance and rejoice.” Now that can’t merely be a custom. This has to arise from the heart. But it can arise from the heart only when life has been full of song, and dance, and celebration. “When everything about this man was joyful, how can his death be painful? And if the entire life was painful, death cannot be anything other than pain.”

Look at your face, while you are alive. Do you think when you will die, your face will have a different expression? Have you heard of the term ‘grumpy old man’? He is not a grumpy old man, he was also a grumpy young man. Today when you are young, what is the expression on your face all the time?

(Pointing at one of the listeners) Now imagine her dead. Photograph her. You have a good camera. Think of her dead face. (Sarcastically) That is why probably they cover the face.

(Laughter)

Does the dead entity ever come and say, “I am dead”? As far as you are concerned, you will only know the process. Or you will ever know death? Will you ever say, “I am dead”? What is the last thing that you can say?

Q: I am dying.

AP: That is the last thing anybody ever said. What did he say?

Q: I am dying.

AP: That you can say even now. That you can say even when you are born. When does dying start?

Q: When we are born.

AP: What is the last thing that you can say?

Q: I am dying.

AP: Just accept it that – “I am dying.” There is no change in the statement – “I am dying.” Accept it – “I am dying.” This is the final thing that I can say. The final is the initial. And the final is death.

I am saying all this because your mind will again come up with the statement, “I might be dying, but somebody else is closer to death than me.” That is the tricky thing that you will come up with. That is why it is important to say, “Not only am I dying. I am actually dead.” Death means finality.

If the final statement that I will make is – ‘I am dying,’ then I am already making the final statement. Because I am already making the final statement, then I am already dead. Gone!

Who am I? Dead man walking.

Q: If I make it a concept that- “I am dead”, then my mind will co-opt it to seek pleasure and avoid pain. Mind is cunning. It will co-opt the concept.

AP: You co-opt only when the whole thing does not sink in properly. Try to remain present at the moment of utterance. I don’t know how you can think about something later on. You are talking of concepts, but concepts get formed only when you think of these things later.

Remain present when the thing is being uttered. It will strike deep. After that, you don’t even need to make a concept of it. After that, there is no need to remember anything, neither the dirtiest thing nor the holiest thing.

This article has been created by volunteers of the PrashantAdvait Foundation from transcriptions of sessions by Acharya Prashant
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