Death Management

The society we live in is a death denying one. But we all know that death is inevitable. Why do we have to treat death as a taboo? Is there a way to express our grief? And how do we come to terms and accept the death of someone close to us? Death has been evaded, ignored and denied by us. We have taken death as just another disease to be conquered.We realize that death is always hard, and it shall be always so, because death means giving up life on this earth. But if we can learn to view death from a different perspective, to reintroduce it into our lives so that it comes not as a dreaded stranger but as an expected companion to our life, then we can also learn to live our lives with meaning- with full appreciation of our finiteness, of the limits on our time here.

Death is not an enemy; it is an integral part of our lives that gives meaning to human existence. I would like to convey one vital message that death does not have to be a catastrophic, destructive thing; it can be viewed as one of the most constructive, positive, and creative elements of culture and life.

It is the denial of death that is responsible for people living empty, meaningless lives; for when you live as if you will live forever, it becomes too easy to postpone the things you know that you must do. You live your life in preparation for tomorrow or in remembrance of yesterday, and meanwhile, each today is lost. We live and we die. There is a deep-seated fear in all of us about dying. Death is so real. It keeps happening around us. But we like to close our eyes to it. The fear is so deep rooted that we do not even want to think about it. Death is the only certainty in life. We do talk about crisis management but often turn the other side when we start talking about death management. Death does not happen in one moment, it is happening every day. We are all slowly heading towards death and it does make sense to talk about death management.

Yes, it is a very courageous step for us to talk about the issue of Death Management (DM). Because to me DM is the ultimate challenge we will ever face, it is the ultimate adventure man can undertake. Let us explore it a little. For a child who does not know how to ride a bike or how to swim, it is an adventure to learn that. The first time he goes under water in a swimming pool, he panics, but once he learns how to float, he becomes comfortable with it and water never intimidates him.

In a universe of oneness, death is impossible

Bell's Theorem suggests that conscious human activity influences the behaviour of subatomic particles in actual laboratory experiments.

The implication that human consciousness is a factor in determining the features of the 'real' world is affirmed by the quantum physicist H.S.Stapp. Stapp contends that Bell's Theorem is the most important result in the history of science, and that it demonstrates the effect of human consciousness at the level of Macrocosm. The impact of our consciousness lies both in the direction of the very small and the very large (microcosm and macrocosm).

The usual tradition of equating death with an ensuing nothingness can be abandoned, for there is no reason to believe that human death severs the quality of oneness in the universe. If we participate in this universal quality before our death, our survival after death is demanded. The oneness principle endures and we endure with it.

Our greatest spiritual achievement may lie in total integration of the spiritual and the physical - in realizing that the spiritual and the physical are not two aspects of ourselves but one. Perhaps the ultimate spiritual goal is to transcend nothing, but to realize the oneness of our own being, which is implied by Godel and Bell.

The fear of "what if" is actually a fear of death. And it should be deeply understood. This point that all fear has its origin in the fear of death is significant. Once you master swimming you are not afraid of it. Knowing swimming or skiing or any such adventurous sport, familiarity with the situation gives you a comfort zone. It allays your fear. And that is the point, let us know death, let us talk about death management. This will help us understand death and will at the same time take the fear out of it. We are afraid of the unknown; once it becomes known, it becomes a friend. We always talk about conquering death. Death is not an enemy. There is no reason to fight it. But, we can definitely know it better.

As two logs of wood floating on the great ocean , come together and are again (when the time comes) separated, even so creatures come together and are again (when the time comes) separated. In this world a thousand kinds of relationships are contracted, such as mother and father and son and wife. In reality, however, whose are they and whose are we? No one can become anyone’s own, nor can anyone become anybody else’s own. Our union here with wives and kinsfolk and well-wishers is like that of travelers at a road-side inn. Where am I? Where shall I go? Who am I? How come I here? What for and whom I grieve? Reflecting on these questions one obtains tranquility. Life and its environments are constantly revolving like a wheel, and the companionship of those that are dear is transitory.

As regards all creatures that have taken birth, neither years, nor months, nor fortnights, nor days, nor nights, that have once passed, do ever return. Man, whose existence is so transitory, is forced, in course of Time, whether he will or not, to come upon this inevitable and broad path that has to be trodden by every creature. Whether the body springs from the creature or the creature springs from the body, one’s union however, with wives and other friends are like that of travelers in an inn. One cannot obtain a lasting companionship with anyone. One cannot obtain such companionship with one’s own body. How then it can be had with anyone else?
By Dhananjay Kulkarni