Avijit Sarkar's World

Death, driven by the fear of the unknown, is arguably the biggest and irksome distraction in a person’s life. The level of diversion caused by the visions of ‘death’ is further heightened by the fact that death is still, to an extent, an uncharted territory. All that is known to us is that death brings down the curtain on what we call ‘life’. The biggest worry for us is the fact that ‘death’ still remains the final inevitable occurrence in our existence. I have always believed that death is far more certain than life itself. Multifarious philosophers, scientists, writers and religious “gurus” have spoken about death; much has been written and much has been discussed. And yet, it remains the ultimate mystery; the final enigma.

 

Humans, not animals, are intrigued by death for one primary reason. Unlike animals, humans have a very high level of emotional reasoning capacity. This is primarily driven by our social and personal bonds in the civilisation that we live in. Aristotle’s definition that “Man is by nature a social animal….” is further reinforced by the fact that one of our biggest fears is to lose that unanimity with society; especially when we die or ‘pass away’. The spectre of death looming large on our minds makes us worry and pontificate on the effect of our deaths on our families, friends, acquaintances and finances. And hence, it remains a distraction of the highest order.

 

Ancient civilisations and scriptures have established certain ‘pleasantries’ in order to dilute our obsession with death, by coining terms like the ‘afterlife’, ‘reincarnation’ and the concepts of ‘heaven and hell’. Since those primeval times, we have lived with the hope of an ‘afterlife’ and the consequences of ‘heaven and hell’. Coupled with a variety of religious intonations, these terms have certainly helped us to cope with the concept of death. We have been told that doing ‘good things’ in life and staying away from ‘evil acts’ is a definitive path to ‘heaven’ where, after death, humans would live in a peaceful and happy environment. On the other hand, ‘hell’ is where the sinners burn. However, amidst all these reassuring definitions and unproven mythical entities, death is still remains shrouded in mystery for most of us.

 

Death can be probably best understood when one understands life itself and the evolution of creatures, big and small. The biggest culprit in this confusion is, of course, the concept of creationism that propagates the hypothesis that life in every form was created by an omnipotent entity. Every unproven metaphor pertaining to death stems from this perception. To comprehend the fundamental difference between Darwinism and Creationism, one needs to grasp the difference between ‘perceptions based’ data and another that is based solely on belief. The understanding and appreciation of this difference would clearly convince us that death is the ‘absolute’ end to the path of existence. It brings down the final curtain on an entity that exists based on the laws of biology, biochemistry and physics; the entity that goes under the name of a ‘human being’. There is nothing beyond death. In fact, death has no other purpose than to bring a life to its end.

 

It is however quite interesting to note that ignoring death as a mere distraction can make us often forget about the importance of human mortality. On the other hand, meditating on death obsessively can only induce a sense of foreboding and fear within us. The solution to this conundrum lies somewhere on the middle-ground, where we accept the fact that we get ‘only a single shot at life’; that there is nothing thereafter, no ‘afterlife’ and no reincarnation (as propagated by the ancient Greeks, Celts, and Hinduism, among others). This acceptance will, in turn, add value to our current existence. This might even help us to make more out of our current life, knowing that there is none other after death. This concept simply underlines what the American journalist and author Norman Cousins wrote: “Death is not the greatest loss in life. The greatest loss is what dies inside us while we live.”

 

Having given a lot of thought to the concept of death since my younger days, I have now come to a stage where I have no fear of death; just some residual worries about the people that I leave behind. And this is not uncommon at all. Most of us live with the apprehension that death would have on the duties and burdens of life family, friends, society, and debt, among other things. It would be therefore wise to replace the fear of death with certain plans and solutions that might provide help to those who we will leave behind.

 

And that brings us to the conundrum of the predictability of death.

 

I think that a predictable form of death is far better in formulating the ‘post life’ plans than the type of death that comes without any warning. The downside is that most forms of predictable death come with their share of mental and physical pain. Fatal (and painful) diseases of the mind and body quite often take a precedence over out rational thought processes; preventing us from making any judgments and strategies. And yet, I have come across many individuals who, even under the duress of ill health and impending death, have planned the ‘after-life’ processes for family and friends, to the minutest detail. It can be a very formidable task but it can be done. In fact – it must be done.

 

Death, you might have also noticed, is a subject that is avoided in many social encounters. This avoidance is again borne out of trepidations and our inability to delve into a subject that not only induces fear but also an acute sense of melancholy. However whenever possible, it is imperative to discuss death honestly with family, with friends and with society in general. Such debates and deliberations are the only ways in which the wider understanding of death is proliferated within our societies.

 

My views on death are probably best summed up by the New York Times bestselling author R.A. Salvatore, when he wrote:

 

“I have come to know that death is an important thing to keep in mind — not to complain or to make melancholy, but simply because only with the honest knowledge that one day I will die, I can ever truly begin to live."

 

 

© Avijit Sarkar 2018