Acharya Prashant responds to a question about why people, like the questioner's wife, avoid his talks because they are reminded of death. He begins by asking about the fundamental question of Vedanta, which is 'Who am I?' and 'For whom?'. He agrees that his words are indeed about death, but clarifies that it is the death of the ego. He asks, 'So what's the problem?' He uses the analogy of a tumor, a living entity that feeds on one's energy and blood. Its treatment is its death, and one would not mourn it. Similarly, one must first determine who they areтАФthe Self or the tumor-like egoтАФto know what is worth mourning. Spirituality brings death to that which you are not, and in turn, gives life to what you truly are. Mourning the ego's death shows an attachment to the unreal. The speaker explains that the ego is already dead, unconscious, and lacks its own will, being controlled by external forces and compulsions. It cannot exist on its own and always defines itself with external attributes like 'good', 'rich', or 'Hindu'. This is a sign of being dead. He is not killing the ego but merely declaring the dead as dead. He quotes Kabir Saheb, who found joy in the death that the world fears, as it leads to meeting the complete bliss. He also quotes Gorakhnath, who said, 'Die, O Yogi, die! Death is sweet. Die the death that Gorakh died and became alive.' The speaker asserts that those who consider themselves alive are often just walking corpses, and the world is a graveyard of 8 billion such corpses. He refers to the saying, 'The settlement is where the settled go; here, it only gets deserted.' He further elaborates that we are not truly alive; we are already dead. The journey from birth to death is a mechanical process, like a dead leaf moved by the wind, under the illusion of self-will. He quotes Kabir again: 'What work did you come for, and you slept with the sheet pulled over? Take care of your consciousness, you heedless one, and recognize your own self.' To truly live, one must know oneself as dead. The fear of death arises because we haven't truly lived. The one who is afraid of death is the one who has not completed their life's work. By accepting death as a certainty, the threat is removed, and the focus shifts to what to do with the time one has. The constant remembrance of death is the path to a fearless and authentic life. He concludes that the one who dies to the ego becomes immortal, while the one who clings to the illusion of being alive never truly lives.
