Concept of Death

Concept of Death

Various scriptures and now many clinical experiences tell us very clearly that the time of death is actually an opportunity for awakening to truth and an occasion to experience the Reality of Self. We are told that this experience is relished by the soul when it is outside the human body. The scripture portrays body and the creative soul separately. When the body seems to perish, the soul is described to separate itself from the dying body.

idhrI bYTI imhrI rovY duAwrY lau sMig mwie ]

mrht lig sBu logu kutMbu imil hMsu iekylw jwie ]1]

Bhagat Kabir. P.1124 of Adi Granth

(Font-Gurbani lipi)

(When the physical body dies, the wife cries near the body, the mother goes with the body up to the door. All friends, other kiths and kins go with the body to the crematorium and leave it there. Thereafter, the swan soul who lived in the body departs alone.)

As a berry, a fig or a fruit falls off a tree when it is ripe, so the spirit frees itself from the limbs which are weakened by old age. It hastens back to the origin of life.

dyhI mwtI bolY pauxu ] buJu ry igAwnI mUAw hY kauxu ]

mUeI suriq bwdu AhMkwru ] Ehu n mUAw jo dyKxhwru ]2]

Guru Nanak. P.152 of Adi Granth

The body is merely the dust; the sustaining breath inside is simply the wind. Let me tell you, O learned scholar, as to who dies and who does not! The conscious of ego and the fake self dies. The spectator within does not die.)
     Who is the spectator? We may find some answers by looking into the experiences of the survivors from death. A number of reports have appeared in medical and psychology literature in the past few years, giving stories of persons who came back from the edge of death. They have described very vivid experiences of overwhelming encounter with death that resulted from an accident or from life-threatening illness or acute medical crisis. The survivors described fascinating glimpses of existence beyond the observable universe.

    First of all people hear, almost beyond awareness, that they were not going to make it, they were going to die. After they go into a clinical death, they experience a bliss. Here are excerpts from a representative summary by Despelder and Strickland(1983).

     "It's like a dream, but somehow the experience seems more real than ordinary waking consciousness. Vision and hearing are extremely acute; sensory perceptions are heightened. You experience your thought processes as clear and rational. Yet, you no longer seem tied to a body. As you become aware of this feeling of disconnectedness, you notice yourself separate from the body, floating free. From a corner of the room, you look down at the dead body below and recognize it as your own. Perhaps you feel a little lonely, drifting in space, yet there is a sense of calm, a serenity that was rarely, if ever, experienced in the body. All the usual constructs of time and space seem irrelevant, unreal. As you feel yourself moving farther away from the once-familiar world of your now-dead body, you enter a darkness, a tunnel, some transitional stage in your journey. At this point, you notice a light, more brilliant than any imagined during your earthly existence, beckoning, drawing your onward, its golden lues heralding your approach to the other side. Perhaps now you experience the whole of your previous life in the body, a nearly instantaneous matrix of flashbacks, impressions of your former life, events, places, peole: your life reviewed and projected on the transparent screen of consciousness.

     You enter the light, glimpsing a world of unimaginable and unspeakable brilliance. A loved one greets you, or perhaps you become aware of Jesus or Moses or another being of light and ineffable grace. Only now you realize that you cannot enter fully into this light, not yet, not this time."

    Each person creates the world he or she lives in by building response repertoire based upon information obtained from physical senses. These senses have built-in limitations and biases of their own. Thus, the false body encloses the soul to make a human being, but the soul remains aloof and becomes detached from the body upon death.

    The soul is on its journey. For its journey, it associates with many bodies in different rebirths during its journeying. Its true destiny is to get beyond this cycle of journeying and enter into eternity.

sUrj ikrix imly jl kw jlu hUAw rwm ] joqI joiq rlI sMpUrnu QIAw rwm ]

bRhmu dIsY bRhmu suxIAY eyku eyku vKwxIAY ] Awqm pswrw krxhwrw pRB ibnw nhI jwxIAY ]

Guru Arjan. P.846 of Adi Granth

(Like a ray of sun, it merges back into sun and becomes one with it. Like a drop of water falls in the sea, it becomes one with the sea. One's light blends with The Divine Light, and the mortal becomes totally perfect. It then sees God, hears God, and speaks of the One and only Lord God. The Supreme Soul is the Creator of the expanse of creation. Except God, I know of none other.)

Who shall solve the riddle? In Gurmat, it is Guru's Shabad. The mystical Word leads to inner concentration, and concentration leads to the divine Wisdom. The riddle of death is resolved through the practice of the divine Word. The Divine Word enlightens us about this reality in this very life. The Eternal Light dwells in human mind, and the human mind is the emanation of the Light. Our five senses are responsible for creating the veil of falsehood around our soul by bombarding it with false and misleading information. Through the Guru's Word, our senses become the disciples of the inner Light. Only with the inner Light one sees the relationship between this body and one's creative soul.
The awareness of death is heightened first through the witness of death in the family, among friends or in the community. Next it comes when one has to face one’s own death. When it happens, most people are lost in grief, confusion and/or some violent reaction. As the moment of dying cannot be avoided, rites of death in Gurmat are meant to promote acceptance, presence, and alertness. The retrospection of death, as a living presence in our life, can bring us out of the movies of our mind, and put our experience into a much bigger perspective.

To confront death is actively promoted in the Sikh tradition by using the memorial rites to serve as an exercise of awareness for the whole community. Saint Kabir, one of the 36 contributing authors (30 Saints and 6 Gurus) of Guru Granth Sahib, is said to highlight the significance of the rite of death by attending every funeral rite taking place in his village. When asked to explain his commitment to this ritual, he responded by saying that those occasions keep alive the awareness of this own impending fate.

The participation in the rites is meant to seek insight into the question of death. Someone said that “confronting death has put me in touch with life.” The purpose of seeking this insight is to reach a greater appreciation of the relationship with life and the self. Gurmat’s teachings on the memorial rites seem to have been designed to inculcate a greater appreciation for life, to promote a stronger determination in making better use of the opportunities presented in life itself, and to garner greater strength for coping with the vicissitudes of life. As a result, there emerges a greater urge to go to the feet of the Guru instead of running after material comforts, as one realizes that all of them will remain behind after we are gone. They will be of no avail in providing any lasting comfort.

First thing one realises when attending someone’s memorial rites is that every one must go. Guru Granth Sahib encourages this realization.

sBnw mrxw AwieAw vyCoVw sBnwh ]

Guru Nanak. P.595 of Adi Granth

(Death comes to everyone, all have to depart from this world.)

jo AwieAw so clsI sBu ko AweI vwrIAY ]

Guru Nanak. P.474 of Adi Granth

(One that came must also depart, for, the turn of each one will come.)

Death is an event which comes to every human being, and people of all cultures and faith perform the Rites of passage on this occasion. In Gurmat this is a rite for someone to pass from one stage to another under the Guru’s guidance.

For the surviving relatives and friends, death of a relative or other dear ones is a sign-board and a reminder of a relationship between life and death.

We see off our dear friends for their next journey with sentiments that were expressed by Guru Amardas himself.

ieik sjx cly ieik cil gey rhdy BI Puin jwih ]

Guru Amardas. P.586 of Adi Granth

(A friend is leaving, many have left already, the remaining, too, will leave in the days to come.)

Similarly, our kith and kin, father and mother have departed in front of us. We must be cognizent of this experience in life.

PrIdw ikQY qYfy mwipAw ijn@I qU jixEih ] qY pwshu Eie lid gey qUM AjY n pqIxoih ]

Shaikh Farid. P.1381 of Adi Granth

(Where are your parents, O' Farid, who gave you birth? They have already departed from you, and still you are not convinced of the impending death?)

The passing of relatives and close friends must make us more conscious of the swift flight of time. It also brings heaven closer and gives us a clearer perspective on the relation of eternity to our life here. That realization, in turn, enhances appreciation of, and enriches life in other ways. By promoting the memorial rites, the Guru does not permit us to avoid such reflection and fill our mind with other things. He asks us to delight in the gift of moment and each day, rather than waling to and from talking of some peccadillo.

A lesson from these experiences is to live purposefully. We must keep the hour of death always before our eyes. The Guru said, “Blessed is he who has always the hour of death in his mind and everyday disposes himself to die.”

swihbu sm@wilh pMQu inhwilh Asw iB EQY jwxw ]

ijs kw kIAw iqn hI lIAw hoAw iqsY kw Bwxw ]

Guru Nanak. P.579 of Adi Granth

(Let us remember the Lord in contemplation, and keep a watchful eye upon the Path. We shall be going there as well. The one who has created, also destroys; whatever happens is by His Will.)

A Yiddish proverb says, “Everyone knows he must die, but no one believes it”. We must be reminded of it regularly because we have learnt to live in conscious ignorance of death. We frequently think of life and express hidden urges for immortality, but do not stop to think that the silence and darkness of death broods over all. People are generally so absorbed in the present attractions of life, that they never care to think of death. Death pounces on them, sweeping down on man like a bird of prey.

Therefore the Guru considered it important to provide repeated reminders of death; as it is death which gives meaning and purpose to life. It is death which makes one think whether or not one will end up in the cremation pyre or be immortal.

cyqnw hY qau cyq lY inis idin mY pRwnI ]

iCnu iCnu AauD ibhwqu hY PUtY Gt ijau pwnI ]1] rhwau ]

hir gun kwih n gwvhI mUrK AigAwnw ]

JUTY lwlic lwig kY nih mrnu pCwnw ]1]

AjhU kCu ibgirE nhI jo pRB gun gwvY ]

khu nwnk iqh Bjn qy inrBY pdu pwvY ]2]1]

Guru Tegh Bahadur. P.726 of Adi Granth

(If you can, be aware night and day, O mortal. Each and every moment, your life is passing away, like water from a cracked pitcher. 1. Pause . Why do you not sing the Glorious Praises of the Lord, you ignorant fool? You are attached to false greed, and you do not even consider death. 1. Even now, no harm has been done, if you will only sing God’s praises. Says Nanak, by meditating upon Him, you shall obtain the State of Fearlessness. 1.2.)

jwg lyhu ry mnw jwg lyhu khw gwPl soieAw ]

jo qnu aupijAw sMg hI so BI sMig n hoieAw ]1] rhwau ]

mwq ipqw suq bMD jn ihqu jw isau kInw ]

jIau CUitE jb dyh qy fwir Agin mY dInw ]1]

jIvq lau ibauhwru hY jg kau qum jwnau ]

nwnk hir gun gwie lY sB suPn smwnau ]2]2]

Guru Tegh Bahadur. P.726 of Adi Granth

(Wake up, O mortal! Wake up! Why are you sleeping unaware? That body, which you were born with, shall not go along with you in the end. 1. Pause . Mother, father, children and relatives whom you love, will throw your body into fire, when your soul departs from it. 1. Your worldly affairs exist only as long as you are alive; know this well. O Nanak, sing the Glorious Praises of the Lord; everything is like a dream. 2.2.)

hir jsu ry mnw gwie lY jo sMgI hY qyro ]

Aausru bIiqE jwqu hY kihE mwn lY myro ]1] rhwau ]

sMpiq rQ Dn rwj isau Aiq nyhu lgwieE ]

kwl Pws jb gil prI sB BieE prwieE ]1]

jwin bUJ kY bwvry qY kwju ibgwirE ]

pwp krq sukicE nhI nh grbu invwirE ]2]

ijh ibiD gur aupdyisAw so sunu ry BweI ]

nwnk khq pukwir kY ghu pRB srnweI ]3]3]

Guru Tegh Bahadur. P.727 of Adi Granth

(Sing the Lord’s Praises, O mortal; He is your only true companion. Your time is passing away; listen carefully to what I say. 1. Pause . You are so in love with property, chariots, wealth and power. When the noose of death tightens around your neck, they will all belong to others. 1. Know this well, O madman – you have ruined your affairs. You did not restrain yourself from committing sins, and you did not eradicate your ego. 2. So listen to the teachings imparted by the Guru, O siblings of destiny. Nanak proclaims. “Hold tight to the protection, and the sanctuary of God.”)

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