Discovering Life in Death
Life is precious!!!
Life is precious. Life is important. Every thought that we have in our mind is in some way connected to our existence. We always attach great value to our life and all our planning for life revolves around our assumption that our life would go on(as an MBA student reminds me of the "going concern" accounting principle). The very mention of death induces a fear in us and numbs our senses. I have always perceived life to be a great gift and as something sacrosanct. That is why I find it very puzzling when I read about suicides. Some people have chosen death over life. What could possibly have driven people to such extreme decisions?
Some of the common reasons that have driven people to such extreme decisions in the past have been love failures, Poor results in academics, Hunger and poverty and various other reasons. Let me categorize the reasons into categories.
a) Physical pain as the root cause
b) Emotional pain as the root cause
These categories are highly intertwined and in many cases it is a combination of the above two factors that has a cascading effect and drives the person to suicide.
A) Some people on earth lack even the basic necessities of life. They don’t have a roof over their head. They struggle to eke out a living. They are unsure of even their next meal. Life on earth for them is constant suffering. They have to live with diseases , malnutrition and a host of other medical problems. They try to fight the circumstances for some time and try to pull along. They struggle in this manner for years till their mind can fight it. Finally there comes a moment when years of struggle takes a toll on their mental health and they decide to end this ordeal on earth by ending their life. Their life could be equated to "worse than death". Death brings about a liberation and an end to their constant suffering.
B) Then there is the second category. People who are so deeply affected by certain circumstances in their life that they decide to end their life. It could be a break up with someone or a student who has to suffer the ignominy of low marks in academics. The event causes a burst of negative emotions within them and in a moment of madness they decide to end it all. Here the decision of suicide is very impulsive.
People at the brink of suicide lose their desire to live. They do not consider anything as important enough to continue their existence on earth. They overcome their fear of death. They have no longing for the future. No future ambitions to live for.
But on the flip side of this mental state is infinite power. Just imagine death is the worst thing that can happen to someone. All fears are indirectly linked to the fear of death. Overcoming fear of death is like overcoming all fears. And you are willing to accept the worst. So imagine how you could live your life? Without being bogged down by people around you.You can be wild.You can be crazy. You can be what you want be. You can live life to the fullest. You really have struck gold.
But unfortunately this magic feeling is a momentary one .It is one of those moments of enlightenment which the sages have spoken about for centuries in the past. It just fades away and we are back into the regular cycle of life. The fears come back.Those desires come floating back. The mind starts looking at the future. If only we could hold on to that magic feeling for the rest of our life. We can really do wonders!!!!
Some of the common reasons that have driven people to such extreme decisions in the past have been love failures, Poor results in academics, Hunger and poverty and various other reasons. Let me categorize the reasons into categories.
a) Physical pain as the root cause
b) Emotional pain as the root cause
These categories are highly intertwined and in many cases it is a combination of the above two factors that has a cascading effect and drives the person to suicide.
A) Some people on earth lack even the basic necessities of life. They don’t have a roof over their head. They struggle to eke out a living. They are unsure of even their next meal. Life on earth for them is constant suffering. They have to live with diseases , malnutrition and a host of other medical problems. They try to fight the circumstances for some time and try to pull along. They struggle in this manner for years till their mind can fight it. Finally there comes a moment when years of struggle takes a toll on their mental health and they decide to end this ordeal on earth by ending their life. Their life could be equated to "worse than death". Death brings about a liberation and an end to their constant suffering.
B) Then there is the second category. People who are so deeply affected by certain circumstances in their life that they decide to end their life. It could be a break up with someone or a student who has to suffer the ignominy of low marks in academics. The event causes a burst of negative emotions within them and in a moment of madness they decide to end it all. Here the decision of suicide is very impulsive.
People at the brink of suicide lose their desire to live. They do not consider anything as important enough to continue their existence on earth. They overcome their fear of death. They have no longing for the future. No future ambitions to live for.
But on the flip side of this mental state is infinite power. Just imagine death is the worst thing that can happen to someone. All fears are indirectly linked to the fear of death. Overcoming fear of death is like overcoming all fears. And you are willing to accept the worst. So imagine how you could live your life? Without being bogged down by people around you.You can be wild.You can be crazy. You can be what you want be. You can live life to the fullest. You really have struck gold.
But unfortunately this magic feeling is a momentary one .It is one of those moments of enlightenment which the sages have spoken about for centuries in the past. It just fades away and we are back into the regular cycle of life. The fears come back.Those desires come floating back. The mind starts looking at the future. If only we could hold on to that magic feeling for the rest of our life. We can really do wonders!!!!
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