Ancient mariners sailed from Europe to India more than 2000 years ago with only the power of wind on their ships’ sails and their own skills of sailing and navigation. In contrast, modern advanced oceanliners powered by artificial fuels will not even be able to get out of the harbour if you take away the sophisticated navigation and communication equipment they carry on board. The life we live on this earth, and consequently the death we will face at the end of it, have a lot in common with sailing the ancient ships of those great mariners thousands of years ago.
Safe in a sheltered harbour
Many of us aspire to this life for ourselves and our children. These ships are safely anchored in a sheltered harbour where storms are rare. The ships’ sails are taken down, wrapped and carefully stowed away below board. The sailor has very rarely if ever even seen these sails. He has no idea how to unfold them and hoist them to power the ship. There is a strong power cable linking the ship to the harbour which supplies power for all requirements on board including the air-conditioner. The food is supplied daily fresh from the land. The sailor never expects to visit the open ocean and hopes he will live all his life in his comfortable cabin. He is the well settled person and his hallmark is passive existence.
How they live – The well settled persons have an assured source of income throughout their lives – an established family business, a permanent job or they are born into wealth or endowed with a companion caring enough to provide for them for their entire lives. They usually have a reasonably stable family and though there is little real love in the family, the members live together for want of a better alternative. The well settled persons follow a fixed routine every single day and their activities are dictated entirely by what time of the day it is or what day of the week it is. They keep themselves busy cooking, working in office, taking care of their children, earning money, saving money and doing such other things which they think they are duty bound to do. They have very little awareness of life and generally all their actions are dictated by what others including society expects of them. They rarely take care of themselves and do not aspire to any form of greatness.
As they have never actually learnt to live their lives, their lives are easily thrown into disarray by storms that hit even the most sheltered harbour. Their sedentary lifestyle and unhealthy food habits (they never face hunger) make them prime candidates for debilitating diseases such as strokes, diabetes, cancer etc. They try to preach to their children without practicing what they preach. Consequently they bring up undisciplined progeny who become rebellious teenagers and turn against them. They face a lot of workplace conflicts and some even loose their permanent jobs. They suffer accidents as they absent mindedly drive their vehicles. Sometimes their caregivers on whom they totally depend suddenly die. Such storms easily break their anchors and power cables and blow them out of their safe harbours into the open sea. Having never learnt to hoist sails they continue to drift alone aimlessly in the open sea for a major part of their lives (does this situation sound familiar to you, dear reader?). They seldom make close friends or love their family members and even if they do, they do not know how to express themselves authentically. They have no goals apart from merely existing. Even when they turn aggressive they adopt passive resistance. Passive living is their hallmark.
How they die –Being unaware what life is, they are also not able to be aware of their approaching death. Hence these people refuse to die. They continue to live or exist passively in their own homes, in the homes of their children / grand children or old age homes / shelters. They become bedridden and require others to feed them and clean them up. They are the ones kept alive on artificial life support systems in hospitals for days or even months. Ultimately their family and care givers become fed up with them and sadly even begin praying for their early death. They die just like they lived, without any real awareness of what is happening. The news of their death is greeted with great relief by everyone.
Sadly many of us do aspire to this life for ourselves and our children.
Struggling in the Sea
These people are endowed with some skills in life and assume that they can tackle the open sea. They voluntarily hoist the sails and sail out or sometimes are thrown out of their sheltered harbour by a storm. But then in the open sea they find that the winds do not favor them, they have no clue about the directions and destiny seems to pull their ships constantly out of course set by them. They are the strugglers.
How they live – This category includes almost all human beings alive on earth today who do not fall under the previous category. They are the achievers who have achieved something in their lives – be it small or big. From the talented boy or girl to the accomplished veteran, every person who has ever moved ahead under his own power is found in this category. They are corporate leaders who watch over international behemoths, national leaders who lead billions of countrymen, all bureaucrats, all hues of politicians, all living religious and spiritual leaders and opinion leaders. The category also includes commanders at all levels of all armed forces, police and internal security, rebel outfits and terrorist leaders all over the world. Also included in this category are successful film stars, all authors, singers, dancers and all other type of artists and all kinds of celebrities. They also include Olympic medalists, Nobel laureates, national, international and local sportsmen, world champions and record holders, all award winners. Included in this category also are all highly skilled persons, highly educated persons, scientists and experts in every field including those who discovered the God particle. This category also covers every manager in every office, all successful entrepreneurs, all self-made millionaires and billionaires, all leading professionals like doctors, lawyers, contractors and engineers and every other human being who has made any kind of mark in life.
They begin their lives with great promise. Some become millionaires before they are 18. Others produce revolutionary products or services that impact the lives of everyone on this earth. Once they have made their mark and receive recognition from their family, community, State or the whole world, they don’t know what else to do. But life does not spare them. They have their fair share of storms. But unfortunately they assume they are invincible as they are above the common man and entitled to greatness. Thus begins a fight that continues throughout their lives. The best of these go-getters are capable of surviving disasters, deadly diseases like cancer, extreme odds and every other thing that life throws at them with their fighting spirit. The hallmark of every struggler who hides behind the image of a go-getter is the battle they wage all their lives. These brave souls can really fight. But sadly their fighting spirit signals clearly to life that they seek and want conflict. Life exuberantly provides conflict in abundance to them in deference to their wishes. They battle and battle but try to maintain a brave face. But inwardly they are terrified as they imagine everything and everyone around them as a challenge to their achievements and status. Deeply suppressed fear begins subtly colouring their words and deeds. Look at that aged heroine fighting back the ravages of age with artificial make up and cosmetic procedures that make her look decades younger. Observe the great player of yesteryear sitting in the commentary box as he struggles to stay in the limelight. You will find millions of such examples all over the world today if you will only care to look. They also pull their progeny to their area of achievement or at least make them celebrities of equal status with them. Thus begins the photocopying process as their progeny also travel the same route fighting vigorously in terror every moment to defend their status, wealth, achievements etc for their entire lives. Many of the strugglers lose interest in struggling as they age or after a particularly devastating defeat and join the ranks of drifters of the previous category. They then take to passive existence and suffer the same fate as the drifters.
How they die – Those who do not give up continuously fight against life and carry their fight right to their grave. They do get a small sense of their approaching death. But as with everything in their lives, death also invokes deep fear as it comes to take away their greatest achievements, wealth or status in life. But as they approach death, suddenly they realize that their entire life spent struggling was a great waste. They see that whatever they defended fighting every moment in their lives will now be forcibly taken away by death. They feel totally powerless to do anything. This feeling of impotence is the cruelest punishment that can be given to these achievers. They feel totally empty and worthless. It is then they realize how in search of worldly achievements they have completely squandered away their lives. Some of them even try to signal this to their progeny. But by now their progeny is fully immersed in their own struggles and do not listen to them. Ultimately these people lose their last fight and die feeling completely empty and disillusioned. The number of mourners at their funerals matches the fame achieved in their lifetime. But all their mourners including their near and dear feel a deep emptiness at their death which they assume is due to the loss of their idol. In truth this emptiness the mourners now feel is the direct reflection of the deep disillusionment and emptiness that these strugglers were filled with when they took their final bow on this earth.
The Expert Sailors
The ancient mariners sailed the oceans of this earth for 1000s of years without even having a compass, a map, a sextant or any other devices considered indispensable for navigation today. When an ancient sailor stepped on the deck of his ship, the wind, the sea, the tides, the sun, the stars, the moon, the clouds, the birds, the fish and every living and non-living thing in his environment communicated with him. He never sailed alone to his destination – as modern science will tell you it is impossible to sail across oceans without navigation aids. He was aided by life itself that includes the whole universe. He knew exactly when to set sail out of the harbour. He knew when to unfurl his sails to catch the favorable wind. He would also take down his sails and drift patiently when a storm approached. He knew which direction to set sail in though he never learnt Geography and the great scientist who would tell him that the earth is round had not yet been born. He knew how to pack only the most essential rations to keep the ship light and to survive for days living off the sea and the islands they came across. Today people who live in total harmony with Nature and their environment are a small minority that is slowly growing.
How they live – These people are fully present in every moment and always at peace with themselves. They are in total harmony with life and everything they do is sacred in the sense that Life/God is executing the world’s destiny through them. They are always ready to help and seem to accomplish the most difficult tasks without struggling or even trying. They never judge or blame anyone or anything. It is impossible to get into arguments with them as they honour all viewpoints equally. They cannot see the outer trappings of life such as appearances, status, wealth, cars and bungalows. They always observe deep inside us and can instantly deduce our deep desires, feelings, pains etc that we carefully try to hide from others. They can easily find the real motive of our words and deeds. Hence it is also impossible to exploit them. Being Life’s chosen workers it is also not possible to put any obstacle in their paths. They know that as their every act is sacred, Life’s entire force is behind them and will clear their way of all obstacles however large and strong these maybe. They are unaware of fear, anxiety or failure. They accomplish very big tasks effortlessly but voluntarily give away credit for all their accomplishments to others. They never identify with their community, caste, profession, status, wealth or achievements. This is why they are completely invisible to Historians, press persons or story writers. They never generate conflict but always spread love and harmony in all situations. It is very difficult to recognize these people as they are distinguished from others by nothing. They can never be celebrities even for one day. They never teach anybody and as such never have any followers. But, to their family members and those who know them, their very presence smothers their entire surroundings with unconditional love and total peace. They always serve as shining examples showing practically to anyone who come into contact with them how to live a holy life.
How the die – These people embrace death as joyfully as they embraced life. They can clearly discern their death approaching and calmly wait with open arms. They die as fully as they have lived, welcoming every moment of this wonderful experience. The amazing fact is you will never find anyone mourning their deaths. A fully lived life and a completely conscious death deserve celebration, not mourning. The few near and dear ones who happen to be near their death beds feel a deep peace that transcends all understanding. They know that though their great kin has passed on, his presence will live on strongly inside them guiding them constantly and showering them with peace all their lives. In this sense these persons never die - they are immortals.