Photo by Don Coombez, courtesy of Unsplash.
What is it that we call “death?” Death is only a change of form, a change of name. In a way, everything is immortal. Everything is filled with life. There’s no dead matter in the entire universe. God created everything. And God created everything in God’s image. So, how can a living God create dead matter? If God is alive, everything is alive.
Somewhere in the forest a tree lives. When the tree dies, it becomes lumber and is used in rafters and beams. The tree dies and a rafter is born. A piece of wood is burned and ash is born. Food dies when it goes into the stomach and energy is born. What does that mean?
Nothing ever dies; it only changes from one form into another. The essence is the same; it is always there. Likewise, the soul doesn’t die. Living particles from the cosmos were gathered to make the body, and when the time comes, the composed body decomposes. And then they go back to their source. So, everything has that immortal soul. We never die. We are eternal because we are the image of that eternal God.
It’s very important to know that there is immortality of the soul. Nothing can destroy it. There is no death for us; none of us is really going to die. For the Self there’s no incarnation or reincarnation. We are always immortal. We are never dead, and we never have to be reborn. But until we realize the truth, we seem to be coming and going all the time. If you believe in some life before, why not a life after? Every action has its own reaction. We do so many things now. If we don’t face them in this life, we’ll face them in a later experience.
In the ancient scripture, the Bhagavad Gita, death is made even simpler to understand through the example of changing clothes. What is death after all? You had a shirt, but now it’s all worn out. So, you throw it out and get another shirt. That is the very idea! Death and birth are nothing but changing the old shirt and putting on a new shirt in order to work out all your desires and karma.
The process of birth and death is caused by our desires. As long as we have desires, we have to find ways to get them fulfilled. Every desire calls for a time, space, and a vehicle in order for it to get fulfilled. Unfortunately, the vehicles—these bodies we get—are not strong enough to continue to fulfill all of the desires we create. When the body becomes too old or too ill, it cannot help us fulfill those desires. So, we just drop the body and get another body to continue the process.
Many people would wonder if it is possible to be desireless. As one Zen master once suggested, “Is not wanting to be desireless itself a desire?” It’s true. It is not possible to live without any desires. But what we say is that there are desires that will be less binding than others. What kind of desires are these? Desires that are rooted in selflessness and do not add to your karma. Selfish or self-centered desires bind you and result in karma. Birth and death are the process of working out all the karmas.
The purpose of spiritual practice is to help you learn to function in a selfless way. Love and serve, care and share. By living a serviceful and compassionate life, you will not produce further karma. When the karmas are finished, the cycle of birth and death will end. Then we say the person is liberated or has attained nirvana.
It is very important to understand the true meaning of death and rebirth. Once we understand it, there is no need for any fear. It is the lack of knowledge that causes fear. Let me illustrate this idea with an analogy. Imagine that one day, at the time of sunset, you are going for a walk. As the sun sets, you are just turning a corner when you see something coiled up on the road. You immediately think, “Oh, my gosh! There’s a snake!” You begin to shake and shiver in fear. Just then someone comes along who has a flashlight and shines the light on the snake. But it turns out that it’s nothing but a coiled rope. In the twilight, the rope looked like a snake. The minute you knew it wasn’t a snake, you laughed at yourself. Your fear was gone.
Death is like that. If you know what death means, you laugh at it. I will tell you a story from the ancient scripture, the Mahabharata. Once upon a time, Dharmaputra, also known as Yudhishthira, was asked this question: “What is the strangest thing in this world?” And Dharmaputra replied, “The strangest thing is that, even though I have seen dead bodies going to the cremation grounds every day, I still think I will not die.” It’s very true, isn’t it?
There is no need for the fear of death, or the fear of loss. I have been talking about death, but the same applies to the fear of loss. Can you tell me something that is permanent? Property comes and goes. Money, power, position, name, and fame all come and go. Nothing is permanent. How many multimillionaires become paupers?
When you have it, you should enjoy it, share it with others, and be nice to everybody. When it goes, say goodbye. Nothing is permanent in worldly life. Is beauty eternal? Where are the beauty queens? Gone with the wind. Politicians run and run and run to chase after votes. But how long do they remain in office? Life is like that. Take it easy. Never be afraid of anything.
And I also don’t mean that because you are going to die one day, you shouldn’t enjoy life or take care of the body. Take care of yourself, enjoy life, and when the time comes to say goodbye, say goodbye with peace in your heart.
