Death defines “Me” and “Mine”

Today morning JoH woke up with this eerie feeling of “loneliness.” After waking up from sleep he was strolling on the roof of his father’s house, enjoying the freshness of morning air and the genteel breeze, thinking about his own life and its relevance with the surroundings. After sometime, he saw the Sun coming up from the eastern horizon. It was bright and the weather was clear, thus increasing the fury of its rays. This is when JoH felt very humble amidst his surroundings.

A question crossed his mind. How long can he enjoy the surrounding? This led to more questions…does he have an answer to this “how long?” What is his relevance in this social existence? Can he call his own, the people around him including those, whom he refer to as friends, relatives, colleagues or even supposed enemies? He started questioning everything and everyone that surrounds him, breathes with him, plays with him; share their joys and sorrows with him. JoH realized that some of them will go away from him or will be taken away from him, while he himself will be taken away someday from all of them through his own death.

When we work to maintain our daily existence, we are only caught up in the vicious fabric of social creations, unmindful and blissfully unaware of the natural reality. Can we then define ourselves? Well probably in relative terms, because our social existence is only relative and never in absolute terms.

What started as a refreshing day, gradually started becoming serious and gloomy, despite the cool morning breeze and bright sunshine. With his thoughts furthering on the subject, he actually started laying his hands on the things surrounding him to feel them, which otherwise he takes for granted. In the meantime, his mother came up on the roof with the morning tea. JoH looked at her and she appeared altogether a new person. She was so attractive, beautiful and full of life. But the lady whom JoH was watching is frail, with white hair and fatigued. This is when JoH felt a chilling shiver down his spine and he sat down.

Everything around him started becoming more meaningful as he began relating himself to them. He realized the creator will take away his mother from him, and also his father who is probably reading the morning newspaper downstairs. He realized that someday he will lose the senses to appreciate the surrounding beauty of the morning and finally all these will be taken away from him through his death. JoH does not know whether he will be taken away before his loved ones or his loved ones will be taken away before him. How does it matter, because he is bound to lose everything and everyone that he claims to be his?

Then what is the significance of me and what is this claim of mine, wonders JoH? He realized that his physical body and his nature or “swabhav” that we call, are the only two things that he can call his own. These are the only two things that will stay with his human existence from birth till death. Also he can claim half of his child to be his own. The half claim is because, while The Creator has created the child as his/her own, he has not guaranteed existence through his complete life time. The Creator has only granted these two and half things to the fortunate few to claim as his/her own. There are the less fortunate ones who are not even blessed to claim his or her child as their own.

Meanwhile, the rays from the Sun were probably getting hotter but he did not feel. Much later JoH realized that he was drenched in sweat…was it the heat of sunrays or was it the chill down his spine? He slowly got up and attempted to walk down…and began writing this…you are reading…