Death and Religion
The only certainty in this
uncertain world is death. If there is something inevitable in our life or for
that matter in anybody’s life it is death. Each one of us has to die sooner or
later, some day or other. But in spite of its inevitability and should I say
also because of its inevitability death scares us. The fear of death increases
with our age not necessarily because we feel that we are getting closer to
death but also because of the fact that the realisation of gravity of death and
its consequences starts dawning on us as we move from the youth to the middle
age. Normally it is from the middle age that we start seeing death from close
quarter when we start loosing our old relatives and loved ones.
Apart from the inevitability
there are many other factors of death which scare us, the uncertainty of the
time of its visit being one such major factor. It is ironical that though death
is a certainty in the life, a person never knows when it will strike him. Death
is also often associated with the experience of extreme physical pain though
there have many instances when a person dies without feeling any pain like a
person dying in deep sleep. The thought of possible death of our loved ones,
our near and dear ones especially as they approach old age constantly worries
us as we never want them to depart from us.
Various religious beliefs
strangely enough heighten our fear of death. Most of the religions do not
accept that death is the end of everything of the dead person. It is the most
common belief that after death, the dead goes to heaven or hell depending upon
his good and bad works in his mortal life. This concept though may act as a
deterrent form doing consciously any sinful act also is a cause of constant
worry to us as we are never sure whether we are doing the right type of good
work which will qualify us for a place in the heaven after the end of our life
on earth. Many religions believe in rebirth after death and this instead of
giving any mental relief to us only adds to our worry as we are never sure what
type of life we will be able to enjoy in our next birth. Here again the weight
of our good or bad work will determine the type of life to which we will be
entitled in our next birth. The very idea of re-experiencing in another life
after death all the trials and tribulations that we are undergoing in the
present life not only makes us uncomfortable but indeed makes us scared. Further
there is even no guarantee that that our next birth will be in the form of a
human being, it can be in the form of some animals or even some other lower
species in case the volume of our bad works so justifies as the law of death and
the concept of reward and punishment for good and bad works are supposed to apply uniformly
to all living beings on this earth.
Hinduism believes in the
concept of each of us having within our body a soul which is indestructible and
therefore remains untouched even when a person dies. The soul which is supposed
to be a part of the infinite power that pervades the universe moves from one body to another after the end of each
life cycle till it gets merged with the infinite. This is called the stage of Moksha when one becomes free from rebirths again and again. It is believed
that one can attain salvation in one birth while others may have to undergo
hundreds of births with all the pains and sufferings of each birth before he
can achieve Moksha. This is no doubt
a profound idea which is probably based on the concept that every object of the
universe is a part of the infinite soul.
It appears that while science
does not attempt to venture beyond death religions always give great importance
to what is likely to happen after death to instil a fear of reward and
punishment after death in our mind so that we do not deviate from the path of
righteousness, to make us realised that the path of righteousness will lead us
to heaven or better life in the next birth and ultimately to Moksha when one
gets submerged in the infinite and enjoys eternal bliss and peace. Thus it
appears that it is necessary to have the fear of death in us as it helps us to
remain in the right path of truth and justice. A person without any fear of
death and what happens after death may not hesitate to do whatever he feels
like for his material benefit, his temporal gains even at the cost of others
and the society in which he lives. This however does not apply to the great
enlightened ones who in their life have realised the presence of the infinite and therefore are free from all fears including the fear of death.
