Death is not something negative.
There’s no point in you fearing it. It is the only constant about Life!
Ever since my father-in-law’s passing away a few
days ago, there have been scores of rituals that the family is being asked to
follow. I am not ritualistic but in the context of the extended family’s
preferences, I am having to live with whatever’s going on. I find it particularly
ridiculous that people want to ‘purify’ our living space (my father-in-law
passed away at our home). The reason given is that the ‘negativity of death’
needs to be driven out of home so that we can live without its ‘ghastly shadow’
looming over us. So, we will go through an elaborate ritual that will, in the
sweltering heat of Chennai, leave all of us drained and consume a full day!
This is apart from the several days of rituals that my brother-in-law has
undertaken to perform as part of the obsequies.
I see all this as avoidable. I am not saying that
rituals don’t have meaning. They may be very well-intentioned. But I would much
rather celebrate the departed person’s Life than conduct rituals. For instance,
my father-in-law was a career teacher. It would warm his soul surely if an
endowment to educate needy children was set up in his name and memory. My wife and
I had set up one in my mother-in-law’s memory a few years ago – but owing to
our bankrupt situation, we have had to pause the activities. If we had the
means, this is what we would like to do for my father-in-law too. And let me
hasten to add that rituals don’t come cheap anymore – and rightly so; after all
priests are also knowledge workers and so their time and inputs must be duly
compensated. But the moot question is – do we want to do something that no one
enjoys, understands or will remember or do we want to invest in a creating a
lasting legacy that will remain a celebration of the departed person’s Life?
Also, how can a navagraha
homam (an elaborate ritual to appease the nine planets) drive away the shadow
of death; how can it ‘purify’ a living space of death’s ‘influence and negative
energy’? Also, why is death seen as a negative event or energy? The unalterable
reality is that death is always an integral part of every Life. The moment you
are born, your death is waiting for you. The truth is we are all speeding
towards our death – albeit at different speeds. You can’t escape death. You can’t
avoid it. You can’t postpone it. It is your most logical, inevitable,
destination. And death may perhaps not even be an end. As the proponents of the
law of karma believe, death may just
be the beginning of yet another, unknown, journey. By fearing death, by
imagining it to be a negative aspect of your Life, you are only being immature
and unintelligent.
I also find the entire gamut of rituals very
discriminative and gender-biased. I had a rather ugly debate with the priest
when he would not allow my daughter – my father-in-law’s only grandchild
available at the time of the last rites being performed at my place – to light
the fire to be taken to the cremation ground. The priest’s argument that women
must not participate in the funeral rites and that they must not visit the
crematorium did not cut any ice with me or with my wife and daughter. They did
go to the crematorium to see off my father-in-law. And I am proud that they went
ahead and did what they believed in!
My personal view is that the only necessary process
to be undergone when someone dies is the act of cremation or burial. Beyond
that we must ideally spend every resource in celebrating that person’s Life.
Investing in rituals because you hope to drive away or keep at bay the
influence of death is a redoubtable choice. As Osho, the Master says, “Death is
not an enemy. It is a friend. It is an absolute necessity for Life to be.” Isn’t
it beautiful? It surely inspires me to live Life celebrating
death and accept it when it comes calling!
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