12/2/12
28th March is the date of my father's death.
जातस्य हि ध्रुवो मृत्युः ध्रुवं जन्म मृतस्य च.
Certain is death for the born and birth for the dead. while we know the former, the latter is a matter of faith. this passage of Gita is repeated by Sankara:
पुनरपि जनानां पुनरपि मरणं.
Death has puzzled us all along. Shakespeare is matter-of-fact when he says:
'The undiscovered country fro mwhose bourn
No traveller returns,..'
This presupposes soul and its journey beyond death.
Even the most ardent believer likes to prolong his present life. Longevity is one of the favours sought of God.
When we get a guest, we receive him well generally. when some respected guest comes we go to the gate and bring him in. When we extend such courtesy even to frequent visitors, should we not do it to someone who pays a visit once only? That is Yama. We should ever be prepared to receive him with open arms and.. closed eyes.
Radhakrishnan writes, 'Subjection to death, the principle of unceasing change, is the characteristic of the cosmic process.'
Nachiketas dares into the kingdom of Yama and gets instructed on the destiny of soul and the way to realise immortality. but, it is spiritual immortality only.
Savithri pleads with Yama and restores Satyavan to life. Markandeya takes refuge in Siva and thwarts Yama's attempts to end his life. He is believed to be sixteen years of age ever. In the case of Ajamila, the representatives of Vishnu rescue him from the clutches of Yamadutas. Such mythological accounts lie side by side with attempts of demons like Ravana, Hiranyakasipu, etc. to defy death through the penance and divine boon, but are eventually outwitted.
23rd Feb 2018
What happens when a person dies? I received a forwarded message how people who went through near death state, related incredible, but realistic experience. Consciousness survives death, the article argues.
Common experience or our experience counts more.
Our problem is we are not able to handle our consciousness even when we are consciously alive.
There will always be claims and counterclaims about supernatural, mystical, extraterrestrial, etc. Life will be interesting until these issues remain speculative and our life depends on chance and effort.
Weiss has written so much about rebirth, etc.
I am a firm believer in Advaita, which considers physical world as tentative and pure consciousness as the substance of existence; being rather than becoming, realisation rather than attaining a new state, is the way to moksha; moksha is not waking up in a new place, but awakening. I am fascinated by Upanishadic speculation and Sankara's masterly exposition of them.
28th March is the date of my father's death.
जातस्य हि ध्रुवो मृत्युः ध्रुवं जन्म मृतस्य च.
Certain is death for the born and birth for the dead. while we know the former, the latter is a matter of faith. this passage of Gita is repeated by Sankara:
पुनरपि जनानां पुनरपि मरणं.
Death has puzzled us all along. Shakespeare is matter-of-fact when he says:
'The undiscovered country fro mwhose bourn
No traveller returns,..'
This presupposes soul and its journey beyond death.
Even the most ardent believer likes to prolong his present life. Longevity is one of the favours sought of God.
When we get a guest, we receive him well generally. when some respected guest comes we go to the gate and bring him in. When we extend such courtesy even to frequent visitors, should we not do it to someone who pays a visit once only? That is Yama. We should ever be prepared to receive him with open arms and.. closed eyes.
Radhakrishnan writes, 'Subjection to death, the principle of unceasing change, is the characteristic of the cosmic process.'
Nachiketas dares into the kingdom of Yama and gets instructed on the destiny of soul and the way to realise immortality. but, it is spiritual immortality only.
Savithri pleads with Yama and restores Satyavan to life. Markandeya takes refuge in Siva and thwarts Yama's attempts to end his life. He is believed to be sixteen years of age ever. In the case of Ajamila, the representatives of Vishnu rescue him from the clutches of Yamadutas. Such mythological accounts lie side by side with attempts of demons like Ravana, Hiranyakasipu, etc. to defy death through the penance and divine boon, but are eventually outwitted.
23rd Feb 2018
What happens when a person dies? I received a forwarded message how people who went through near death state, related incredible, but realistic experience. Consciousness survives death, the article argues.
Common experience or our experience counts more.
Our problem is we are not able to handle our consciousness even when we are consciously alive.
There will always be claims and counterclaims about supernatural, mystical, extraterrestrial, etc. Life will be interesting until these issues remain speculative and our life depends on chance and effort.
Weiss has written so much about rebirth, etc.
I am a firm believer in Advaita, which considers physical world as tentative and pure consciousness as the substance of existence; being rather than becoming, realisation rather than attaining a new state, is the way to moksha; moksha is not waking up in a new place, but awakening. I am fascinated by Upanishadic speculation and Sankara's masterly exposition of them.
July 28, 2016 ·
When I phoned my village to enquire about an old person (I am sorry to mention the caste, a dalit) who worked as thalayari (a village sewak) for my father, a village munsif, I was sad to know he is no more. He was an honest man. He taught me cycling and swimming.
The expression used to convey the news was 'avar kalamayittar'. It means literally he has become time. That is a very philosophic expression. In life we 'see time pass' or feel we have been fruitfully engaged if we do not see it pass. Time seems to be a master. We desire to be the master. So in death, we become time, the master. It seems more expressive than mar gaya or passed away.
It will be interesting to study all the common expressions in vernaculars, and appreciate how much our culture and Vedanta is impregnated in it.
/10/18
Death
In a simplistic way, I think that death is a non-event. It is one-off and irreversible. We are not exercised why a worm dies. I see no difference between two lives as 'life' phenomenon. A worm is born, lives and dies. So does a man. That he can understand that he exists, can manipulate what he finds, and indulge in questions like why he exists and what death is, does not take away from the existential fact that he is born, lives and dies.
We should keep on sensible leads and keep looking for new evidence and readjusted theories of world, life and progress. That is because we are so driven.
I feel that both are interesting, the sense-driven zest for living and the intellect-driven quest for knowing.
In a simplistic way, I think that death is a non-event. It is one-off and irreversible. We are not exercised why a worm dies. I see no difference between two lives as 'life' phenomenon. A worm is born, lives and dies. So does a man. That he can understand that he exists, can manipulate what he finds, and indulge in questions like why he exists and what death is, does not take away from the existential fact that he is born, lives and dies.
We should keep on sensible leads and keep looking for new evidence and readjusted theories of world, life and progress. That is because we are so driven.
I feel that both are interesting, the sense-driven zest for living and the intellect-driven quest for knowing.
Death by Shakespeare!
Shakespeare is arguably the greatest killer after Vyasa (Mahabharata).
Let us see death from Shakespeare’s eyes.
He already presented the dilemma of life and death in the famous soliloquy in Hamlet before ‘The play is the thing Where I will catch the king’. To Elizabethans soul and ghost were reality. The play of Hamlet will fall apart without the ghost. Thus an after-death apparition is what greets the audience in the opening.
Death is not an end, and one is not sure what awaits after death since no traveller to that undiscovered country has filed any report of what it is like there. In Upanishads, we have the luxury of Nachiketas confronting Yama, discussing death intimately with him and returning. That facility was not available for Hamlet!
Now, after Hamlet’s legendary procrastination (something from which public servants have taken profound notes), we come to the end – literally. The stage is prepared for a mass funeral. Shakespeare takes pity on his prime victim (Hamlet) and the audience and provides a comic interlude. There is a discussion on death in a jovial way. Is it not something for us to take heart and join in instead of being lost in esoteric details of heredity, evolution, philosophy, and what not?
There was a talk by Sri Jaggi Vasudev. He asks the audience whether they have seen any dead man or woman. Many raise their hands, but he says that he has not seen any. He says that he has seen a living person, but only a dead body. He must have read Hamlet. The clowns make that point.
Hamlet surveys the destiny that awaits him instantly – or his body, but not knowing it. He is supposed to be mad, he puts on that show, or is half-mad and half made up. Horatio humours him and Shakespeare shows excellent knowledge of psychology.
The clown claims that the gravedigger builds something stronger than a mason, a shipwright or a carpenter, because what he builds lasts till the doomsday!
There is some interesting pun on ‘lie’ discussing whose grave the gravedigger is digging. The talk turns to 'Hamlet' and the gravediggers do not know that they are talking to Hamlet. They inform Hamlet that Hamlet has been deported to England. Hamlet asks them why and they say that it was because he was mad. Hamlet asks why England and they say, ‘He will recover his wits there; or, if he do not, ‘tis no great matter there.’ ‘ ‘Twill not be seen in him there; there the men are as mad as he.’
Madness is one way to escape the pangs of death.
To know more about death, Shakespeare has spread a wide choice. Death is sheer fun there.
*
Shakespeare is arguably the greatest killer after Vyasa (Mahabharata).
Let us see death from Shakespeare’s eyes.
He already presented the dilemma of life and death in the famous soliloquy in Hamlet before ‘The play is the thing Where I will catch the king’. To Elizabethans soul and ghost were reality. The play of Hamlet will fall apart without the ghost. Thus an after-death apparition is what greets the audience in the opening.
Death is not an end, and one is not sure what awaits after death since no traveller to that undiscovered country has filed any report of what it is like there. In Upanishads, we have the luxury of Nachiketas confronting Yama, discussing death intimately with him and returning. That facility was not available for Hamlet!
Now, after Hamlet’s legendary procrastination (something from which public servants have taken profound notes), we come to the end – literally. The stage is prepared for a mass funeral. Shakespeare takes pity on his prime victim (Hamlet) and the audience and provides a comic interlude. There is a discussion on death in a jovial way. Is it not something for us to take heart and join in instead of being lost in esoteric details of heredity, evolution, philosophy, and what not?
There was a talk by Sri Jaggi Vasudev. He asks the audience whether they have seen any dead man or woman. Many raise their hands, but he says that he has not seen any. He says that he has seen a living person, but only a dead body. He must have read Hamlet. The clowns make that point.
Hamlet surveys the destiny that awaits him instantly – or his body, but not knowing it. He is supposed to be mad, he puts on that show, or is half-mad and half made up. Horatio humours him and Shakespeare shows excellent knowledge of psychology.
The clown claims that the gravedigger builds something stronger than a mason, a shipwright or a carpenter, because what he builds lasts till the doomsday!
There is some interesting pun on ‘lie’ discussing whose grave the gravedigger is digging. The talk turns to 'Hamlet' and the gravediggers do not know that they are talking to Hamlet. They inform Hamlet that Hamlet has been deported to England. Hamlet asks them why and they say that it was because he was mad. Hamlet asks why England and they say, ‘He will recover his wits there; or, if he do not, ‘tis no great matter there.’ ‘ ‘Twill not be seen in him there; there the men are as mad as he.’
Madness is one way to escape the pangs of death.
To know more about death, Shakespeare has spread a wide choice. Death is sheer fun there.
*
Those that live may mourn the dead, it is the custom and
cultural baggage, but it is for a while. The living have more pressing things
to do than declare a lifelong mourning. No one has done it and it is wise. Let
us care for the living, for ourselves too since we are living. When we are
gone, let those that remain care for themselves and carry on.
*
July 16, 2014
Euthanasia
I feel it should be outside the ambit of law. No, not because religion says anything, but because it may be capable of being abused. We have no clue as to what life is. The entire spectrum of science has not yet unravelled the mystery. No, I do not talk of soul. I talk of the life process when it lasts. Medical science is scratching at the surface. Understanding some parts is not understanding the whole. Let us respect life- all life. Let us not think human life only is sacred. All life is part of LIFE. Until we understand life, let us live it by instinct. If someone will end his life quietly, let it be. Let us not create a code for it until we can create a code for creating life. It makes no sense if one life is extinguished in the infinity of life. Still, that one life is precious as it will never be again, and one does not know whether it has really finished its journey, however insignificant. Life is the biggest miracle. Let us do anything to preserve it, prolong it. That is the cumulative wisdom of mankind.
July 2011
கடலினின்று காய்ந்து ஆவியாகி பிரிந்த திவலை மேகமாகி, மழையாகி, ஆறாகி, பல இடங்களைக் கடந்து திரும்ப கடலிலேயே சேருவது போல, கடவுளிடமிருந்து தனித்த ஜீவன் கடவுளையே மறுபடியும் சேரும் - உழன்று திரிந்து களைத்தபின்.
आकाशात् पतितं तोयं यथा गच्छति सागरं
सर्व देव नमस्कारः केशवं प्रतिगच्छति.
கடலில் சேர்ந்த திவலைக்குத் தனித்தன்மை இல்லை. அதன் தனித்தன்மை சொற்ப காலத்துக்கே. அப்போதும் அது முழுக்கத் தனியாக இருப்பதில்லை. ஜீவனின் கதியும் இது.
திவலை நீங்கியதும் கடலின் அளவு குறையாது. அது திரும்பியதும் கடல் பெருகாது. பூரணமான பரம்பொருளும் அத்தகைத்தே.
ॐ पूर्णमदः पूर्णमिदं पूर्णात् पूर्णमुदच्यते
पूर्णस्य पूर्णमादाय पूर्णमेवासिष्यते.
சில திவலைகள் குறுகிய நேரத்தில் கடலிலேயே மழையாகப் பெய்து கடலுக்குத் திரும்பலாம். இளமையில் காலன் வசப்படும் ஜீவனும் அப்படியே போலும்.
கடலினின்று காய்ந்து ஆவியாகி பிரிந்த திவலை மேகமாகி, மழையாகி, ஆறாகி, பல இடங்களைக் கடந்து திரும்ப கடலிலேயே சேருவது போல, கடவுளிடமிருந்து தனித்த ஜீவன் கடவுளையே மறுபடியும் சேரும் - உழன்று திரிந்து களைத்தபின்.
आकाशात् पतितं तोयं यथा गच्छति सागरं
सर्व देव नमस्कारः केशवं प्रतिगच्छति.
கடலில் சேர்ந்த திவலைக்குத் தனித்தன்மை இல்லை. அதன் தனித்தன்மை சொற்ப காலத்துக்கே. அப்போதும் அது முழுக்கத் தனியாக இருப்பதில்லை. ஜீவனின் கதியும் இது.
திவலை நீங்கியதும் கடலின் அளவு குறையாது. அது திரும்பியதும் கடல் பெருகாது. பூரணமான பரம்பொருளும் அத்தகைத்தே.
ॐ पूर्णमदः पूर्णमिदं पूर्णात् पूर्णमुदच्यते
पूर्णस्य पूर्णमादाय पूर्णमेवासिष्यते.
சில திவலைகள் குறுகிய நேரத்தில் கடலிலேயே மழையாகப் பெய்து கடலுக்குத் திரும்பலாம். இளமையில் காலன் வசப்படும் ஜீவனும் அப்படியே போலும்.
No comments:
Post a Comment