This is the second of a few articles on death and the fear of death. I hope what I have to say will give comfort to those who – like me – are no longer young. I also think that there are practices that will help us deal with the fear of death and who knows perhaps master it. It will help us to live life more abundantly and in a manner that helps and benefits other people as well.
I’ll start with my own story. I am a lifelong and confirmed bachelor and after my parents pass away, I’ll be living and – who knows – dying alone. I am also suffering from a mental ailment that makes me nervous sometimes for no reason, and if that isn’t enough, I have been smoking for more than 35 years now with not much chance of my being able to quit now. I also did some spiritual practices when I was young that involved contemplation of death. These practices were ill advised; I should have gone to a spiritual guru or master and done such dangerous practices under supervision.
A sometime friend of mine – whom I had earlier quarrelled with – died in a particularly terrible way. He literally starved to death in the flat where he was living alone. This happened more than 15 years ago and I was too young and immature to realize the gravity of what had happened. I think of him now and give thanks to my parents who are supporting me. If it hadn’t been for them, I might have by now suffered a similar state.
But I have a few things to say on the fear of death. The attitude I am advocating is summarized in the quote below from the American psychologist, William James
“Much of what we call evil is due entirely to the way men take the phenomenon. It can so often be converted into a bracing and tonic good by a simple change of the sufferer’s inner attitude from one of fear to one of fight; its sting can so often depart and turn into a relish when, after vainly seeking to shun it, we agree to face about and bear it.”
There is also an element of destiny working through us. God has his own purposes for us. There are many people in the world – the Muslims in particular I think – who believe in predestination and who am I to argue with them. The orthodox attitude of Muslims towards death can be summarized in the story below (taken from The Arabian Nights). In addition to being convinced that Allah is merciful and compassionate they regard the time and method of their passing to Fate or Destiny that has been written in advance.
The speaker is Death
There was a merchant in Bagdad who sent his servant to market to buy provisions and in a little while the servant came back, white and trembling, and said, Master, just now when I was in the marketplace I was jostled by a woman in the crowd and when I turned I saw it was Death that jostled me. She looked at me and made a threatening gesture; now, lend me your horse, and I will ride away from this city and avoid my fate. I will go to Samarra and there Death will not find me. The merchant lent him his horse, and the servant mounted it, and he dug his spurs in its flanks and as fast as the horse could gallop he went. Then the merchant went down to the marketplace and he saw me standing in the crowd and he came to me and said, Why did you make a threating gesture to my servant when you saw him this morning? That was not a threatening gesture, I said, it was only a start of surprise. I was astonished to see him in Bagdad, for I had an appointment with him tonight in Samarra.
This may not be a rational and scientific way of thinking about death but – as far as I know – predestination has not been proved philosophically to be based on unsound reasoning or false. The Sikhs also believe in predestination and they also (like the Muslims) have a reputation of being brave and courageous.
I think that this much is quite enough for one article. I have some more points to make which I will present in further articles in this series. I hope you found what I presented here interesting.
Please explore this blog for more articles on Politics, Spirituality and Self Help. If you liked this article then please share it on Facebook and Twitter and feel free to post your comments or contact me. Link to contact is below.
Find this handy. Buy me a coffee