Die Consciously – In Gita Verse 16.19 Those who are envious and mischievous, who are the lowest among men, I perpetually cast into the ocean of material existence, into various demoniac species of life.
Life presents us with a fundamental choice. This choice, illuminated by Krishna in the Bhagavad Gita, is the decision to either perish as a stagnant pond – envious, mischievous, and disconnected from our inner self – or to flow like a river, embracing our true nature and merging with the ocean of existence in conscious awareness.
To die unconsciously is like a pond slowly succumbing to its own evaporation, becoming increasingly murky and isolated. Such a death is the result of a life lived in the shadows of envy and mischief, a life that has neglected the inner journey for the external, material existence.
Conversely, to die consciously is to be like the river that realises its unity with the ocean; it is the grand culmination of a life lived with awareness and aliveness. This river transforms, losing its individuality only to gain infinity. In this transformation, it fulfils its potential, becoming vast and boundless.
Krishna beckons us to choose the path of the river, where fear of death dissolves, and what remains is the dance of life that continues even at the moment of death. The transformative journey is from a constricted ‘me’ to an expansive ‘we’ – from being a trapped soul in the cycle of life and death to merging with the cosmic existence.
Death, then, is not an end but a symbolic rite of passage that offers a beautiful and profound experience, an experience that mirrors life’s teachings. Every death around us serves as a reminder and an invitation to awaken – to use our lives as a canvas to paint an understanding that transcends mortality.
If we are to assist our loved ones, we must reveal the secret of immortality – the art of living more fully and being ever-vigilant, discovering within us an essence untouched by death. Such awareness becomes a sanctuary, a bastion against the uncertainty of our material demise.
Life is forever in death’s embrace, yet this truth should not invoke fear but rather a call to awareness. A conscious death is an enlightened one; it is a choice – like sudden enlightenment – that can transform our ultimate transition into an experience of awakening.
The realisation that there is no genuine death, only a change of form, liberates us. Each so-called ‘death’ is simply a shift, yet our essence remains constant. Death is part of the unbroken continuum of existence, a reminder that life is an eternal dance of energies.
Mind often struggles, attempting to segregate concepts that are, in reality, one. Life and death, light and darkness – these are not binaries but aspects of a single, indivisible process.
The enlightened beings understand this; for them, death is the final chapter. For those yet to awaken, the cycle repeats. But once the lessons of life are learned, and the examination passed, the perpetual return ceases, and one ascends to a different state of being.
The authentic seeker lives in the unknown, embraces the unknown, and moves into the unknown, finding fulfilment not in material gold but in the spiritual gold mine within.
The master facilitates the ultimate death – a death into the master’s energy, a merging so complete that one’s individuality vanishes into the universe. This is the true death – the end of your small existence and the beginning of eternal life as part of the greater whole.
Living this way, when death arrives, it will find you vibrant, like the river that joyfully merges with the sea. Eternal life is not just an afterlife concept but a present-moment reality, realised by living wholly and dying consciously.
Krishna’s wisdom implores us to embrace life with intensity and authenticity, urging us to seek the eternal that dwells within. He inspires us to live with such consciousness that, even in our dying breath, we resemble Socrates – awake and aware, with the wisdom of life ready to be carried into the existence beyond.
He encourages us not just to live but to shine resplendently, consuming every moment in a celebration of life itself, not as a prelude to death, but as an embrace of existence in its full splendour. It’s a call to live so passionately and vibrantly that our last breath is not an end but a harmonious union with the cosmic flow, becoming one with the vast ocean of consciousness.
In this call, there is no fear, only the guidance of a master who seeks to awaken us to our innermost potential. Krishna’s call is a compassionate invitation to observe and transcend our latent tendencies of envy and mischief, catalysing a journey of profound transformation. By recognising these seeds within us and cultivating them with awareness, we embark on the path of true beauty – a journey where life is lived fully and death becomes an enlightened passage into an awakened existence.
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