It’s always difficult to deal
with a loss. It’s tough to accept that someone beloved will no longer be around; that a significant piece of your life will be gone. Our religions will tell us about the right ways to deal with this - 'Rituals' as we call it. However, everyone will have different mechanisms to deal with this; some may wail and scream;
while others would completely shut themselves off. Different cultures created different rituals, something created by someone like us at some point - what truth does this hold? While sitting and letting the
thoughts wander off, I keep wondering why are we stuck in this vicious circle in the first place? Our
pleasures always lead to pain. Reading online, I stumbled upon one of the
teachings from Buddha stating that ‘Being alive means to suffer’, which made me
think about the personal philosophy that I have – ‘Absolute Happiness is a myth’.
We are in a world where change is inevitable, and all our attachments will create
sufferings in some form at some point. We get tangled into a web of desires, expectations
and disappointments; at times we do not enjoy the moment because we fear that
it’s going to end or at other times the pleasure associated with the possession
becomes prolonged and it loses its charm; happiness eventually fades away. At
this point, we eye something new and the circle of desire, expectation and disappointment
continues.
Today, I am writing this while
sitting at a funeral; at a loss for words. I always feel lost in such situations because
I know that the person needs to mourn for as long as necessary and nothing I
say could take away that pain. I do not like to make phone calls to express my
grief, but just be present and lend a shoulder. All the expectations with being
formal makes no sense for me – the deceased have moved on and the survivors
need outlet for their feelings; something that can be provided only by the
loved ones; one of the situations where numbers are meaningless. A larger crowd creates mixed energies and only delays the attainment of peace by stopping the
person from being one-self. Having said that, mourning needs to be healthy too;
it would be unwise to let those emotions manifest into undesirable
feelings just because we are not ready to accept the reality.
Another question would be,
whether we should mourn death or celebrate it? Should this be viewed as an
ending or a new beginning. I lost my grandmother 2 years back and it was a very
difficult time for everyone; its painful to let go of someone who has loved you
since your birth. The situation had worsened then, and she had to be put into
ICU, breathing through machines – unable to do anything and just lying there in
pain. We all asked ourselves if her life decision should be made by us while
she was suffering – however, we were trapped into personal attachments and
would do anything to have her back. Alas, she was no more one fine day and
moved on to the next role she had been chosen to play – leaving us behind to
pick ourselves and accept the reality. I think back, and I agree to the
practical voice that asked us to let her go in peace without the needles
pricking through her every moment. But, only my grandfather had the strength at
that moment – who would sit by her whenever we could take him to see her and who, instead of crying, only lovingly moved his hand across her forehead when she departed,
uttering ‘So, are you going and joining the master? Go then’. They had been a part
of ‘Ram Chandra Mission’ since long and somewhere they had already detached
themselves from the worldly bonds. I often used to think why someone would
leave their worldly duties to attend to the almighty (in the form as each one
sees) – but, maybe this strengthened them to face the worse.
We all have a problem that we
keep the guilt within us because of all the things that we wanted to do and
never could. This is true for personal relations, professional duties… even
materialistic possessions. We wait and wait until the thing is either gone or
doesn’t hold the same value anymore as it once did. Many-a-times we let these
disappointments fester so much that we lash out and spoil all the wonderful
times that we should have had. Maybe we should learn from the dead – they lived
their life, fulfilled their duties as per their destiny or karma and finally leave
the earthly vessel to be re-incarnated for a new purpose. While the deceased soul
is doing that, shouldn’t we go a little easy on ourselves and let go of all the
guilt associated with whatever we couldn’t do or should have done? Everyone has
a destiny and they will meet it when that time comes – like the ‘Appointment in Samara’, it is inevitable – all roads will lead us to it.
As ones who must go on, we need to find a way to let go, in our own
ways, not worrying about the traditions and not pretending – be who we are! Being
emotional fools at one point, we make ourselves believe that showcasing pain
will make things better – it never does. We try and walk into the shoes of
someone else and spoil the constructive outlet of emotions, keeping the real
feelings within and inducing more suffering. Acceptance towards ourselves and ones we adore will lay the foundation of lasting happiness; We need to live the moments to the fullest and not be fearful about what is
yet to come – let’s deal with it when it does. I always tell people to be a
lion (and not an ostrich) and face our demons head on! Be life-long learners
and keep adjusting ourselves on our own paths of righteousness; live, love,
laugh, cry – and be honest about it all!