The melancholic Jaques speaks the immortal monologue in William Shakespeare’s ‘As You Like It’:
All the world’s a stage,
And all the men and women merely players;
They have their exits and their entrances…
Last scene of all,
That ends this strange eventful history…
Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything.
How do we prepare ourselves for the exit from this stage on earth? What happens to the spirit when it departs the body? There are many contributions to the research on this subject based on the near-death experiences recorded by several academic disciplines – medicine, psychology and psychiatry. Based on those researches, the exit of the spirit from the body is treated as an evidence of mind-body dualism. The physical body shuts down the systems. The spirit of the person exits from the body and its immediate environment. The spirit prepares to move from this existence into the next phase of existence. Probably human language is too poor to express the real nature of the exit of the spirit from the body. Near-death experiences hint at a broad range of sensations – including detachment from the body, feelings of levitation, total serenity, security, warmth, the experience of absolute dissolution, and the presence of a light.
All those who sought nirvana went through this process of birth and death. Enlightenment exists within this. ‘Birth and death’ is reality, that leads to the freedom of the soul. We need to be awake to the causality, and therefore accept that the body will die. Nobody has ever been immune to this law of causality. We need to remember death every moment, and orient our priorities and energy levels to this law of causality. We need to live a happy and satisfying life here and now. It does not require belief in the absolute, ultimate and the best. Very ordinary people can become extraordinary. Contrary to what the Bard of Avon said, our teeth would not come out, our eyes would not fail, our appetite for food would not end and our desire for more would not diminish. The enlightened person is mature enough to enjoy life as it is. When we have the courage to live life this well grounded, then we experience a profound relaxation in our hearts. We should live by the maxim: ‘In life, seek no heaven; in death, fear
no hell’. υ
Dr. Rajesh Bhola is President of
Spastic Society of Gurgaon and is working for the cause of children with autism, cerebral palsy, mental retardation and multiple disabilities for more than 20 years.
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