DEATH - AN ENIGMA ?

May 26 2016 : The Times of India (Delhi)
THE SPEAKING TREE - DEATH, AN ENIGMA IN ANY SCHOOL OF THOUGHT


ASHOK VOHRA

   Death is an enigma. According to Wittgenstein it is so because, “death is not an event in life; we do not live to experience death“. Whereas Wittgenstein attributes the mystery surrounding death to it being the limit of life, Niels Bohr treats death as mystical because “we are both spectators and actors in the great drama of existence“.Death has a mystical aura around it because its inevitability prompts us to ask questions about life and its meaning.

 

Almost every school of Buddhism recognises the significance of contemplation and meditation on the nature of death because firstly, it makes us conscious of the impermanence and shortness of life and makes our life meaningful. Secondly , contemplation about death makes us understand the phenomenon of death and familiarises us with the dying process, taking away the fear of death. Thirdly, contemplation on death makes us aware of the shortness and preciousness of life and so makes us live life fully.

According to Tibetan Buddhism, death is “the separation of the most subtle body and mind from the more gross aspects of body and mind“.  The separation between the two ­ the subtle and the gross ­ is not sudden. It is a gradual process. That is why according to Tibetan Buddhism death is not a point in time. It is a gradual process.

A living person is an aggregate of gross and subtle mind and body . Gross body refers to the physical body comprising muscles, fat and bones. Gross mind refers to thoughts, feelings and other dispositional mental states.As opposed to them subtle body is the energy flowing through our physical body . It is like the electricity that flows through electric wires. Subtle mind refers to intuition and inner wisdom. It is also called “clear-light mind“. At the commencement of death process the coarser mind ceases and gives way to subtler mind. Conceptuality ceases. Our being is filled with vacuity .We become unconscious. Death comes when our being is filled with clear emptiness ­ clear light. Surprisingly, all those who narrate a near-death experience give a pivotal place to clear and bright light in their narrative.

The physical signs of death, consciousness leaving this body are: cessation of heat from chest ­ the region of the heart; slum ping of body; decomposition of body; a subtle awareness that consciousness has left and the body has become an empty shell.

The cycle of death is complete only after consciousness completely leaves one aggregate and subtle body , and attaches of gross and subtle body , and attaches itself with another aggregate. As a result a new personality comes into being much like the flame of a dying candle giving rise to a new source of light. There is a continuum though not identity of consciousness.

It is not necessary that the new being has to be a person. Depending upon its karmas and thoughts at the time of death, it can be reborn as a preta ­ a hungry ghost, asura ­ a jealous god, and even a god, or an animal. In Buddhism suicide is condemned because the person committing suicide is filled with negativity and depression. This is reflected in his next birth.

The process of reincarnation may take up to 49 days. Since the state of mind at the time of death is so important for future life, Buddhism proscribes disturbing the dying person with show of emotions. Such a show and clinging to the dying person disturbs him mentally which in turn affects his reincarnation. Therefore it is advisable to let a person go peacefully . (The writer is former professor of philosophy , Delhi University.)

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