On
14th June, 2014, I had the exclusive opportunity to witness the death
of a person known to me very closely.
I
had witnessed quite a few deaths over years. But this one offered
quite unique lessons to observe,learn, and perceive...
Never
before have I seen a person 'exiting' from the mortal body, while
standing, and only when the life ebbed out did the body fail to stand
erect. The 'exit' lasted just about a minute or so, with three brief
inhalations, separated by longer duration after exhalations.
Never
did I see a person (or even people around hear it too often), leaving
the body without desecrating the outer surface of the body due to
excretion at various levels, in different forms!
Only
the palm and the feet became cold even after about 3 hours, while the
temperature remained reasonably warm (if only the medical experts had
not examined thoroughly, we as lay persons, would be tempted to
imagine that may be, the person might even revive)....
What
I witnessed, left a deep impact of the spiritual aspects of death...
(my earlier sessions of meditative practices about a decade or more
ago, had of course helped me to 'keep' that keen observant eye, so as
not-to-miss any details, worth noticing...). The bulk of it is not worth describing here, since it would be only a 'yet-another-story'
to the readers, and so I confine myself only to what
'might-find-some-appeal' (yes, as per my fair, sincere assessment,
which is also out-of-a-genuine concern for others).
The
'death-in-the-air':
Most
of us are almost familiar, when we feel that 'death-in-the-air' (the
ambiance, etc), when we 'know' what to 'expect' when we visit for a
death-condolence, especially when the body awaits a disposal)...
Here, but for the body being kept for some three to four hours
awaiting a cremation, the 'air' seemed to carry an aura of
'intense-life' instead of 'our-expectation' of 'a' death in the air!
To further help a clarity, I would try to quote a very strange
incident, when I visited a 'wedding reception' of the daughter of a
very close spiritual co-seeker, whom my family knew quite well... My
son, who was perhaps barely 8 years then, made an observation which
he conveyed to me in a gentle whisper, when we were a little away
from the reception-venue, while leaving homewards, “Hey dad, why
did I feel 'a death in the air' at this wedding reception, when
everything there ought to be 'positive', including the lavish
decoration, the feast, the music-orchestra, etc?”... I told him,
“Good that you waited to ask this, when we are well-out-of....
ear-shot... otherwise, it is a very inappropriate thing to ask in
that-kind-of-a-situation”... And what I did not tell him was, I
too felt almost the same, but then, I thought it was a 'erroneous'
perception of mine... On the third or fourth day, I got the news
that the bride's father died! If what we felt as 'death-in-the-air'
was of any significance, then this one of 14th June was also of a
greater significance, of a contrasting nature, and also of great
value to me!
I
felt, when I contemplated upon what I saw, was that... death is
perhaps 'nature's' one way of ensuring that it gives a sample, a
glimpse of spiritual-touch, at least by way of a 'parting gift' ...
if so... what other occasion could be more befitting than death
itself, when nature withdraws everything that it gave hitherto, to a
'being', a 'spirit'..!!! (Maybe, quite a few of us happen to miss,
even that parting gift, a touch of 'spiritual-essence' as a
'glimpse', while all our life, we might have negated everything that
has anything to do with 'spirit' or its related 'spirituality'!...
Yes, I did rejoice the dawn of this 'revelation', which is perhaps
confined to only me/my-grasp, while others have only a choice to
agree out of their own experience, what ever it means, or to decide
upon negating it, or at the best, keep it open as a possibility with
a 'maybe, let me see' type of attitude.... When I felt thus, I was
reminded of a teacher's opinion that ancient spiritual giants
(especially those who took a 'Yogi's path', were quite keen to 'know'
their date-of-expiry', the way we look at vital drugs, food-packs,
etc ! Having known it, what else they do with this 'info' is quite
an elaborate matter!).
Yes,
One
more aspect was.... this person happened to share, witness and very
keenly observe most of my 'activities', especially those related to
my spiritual pursuits, for at least some 3 decades, and hence our
levels of mutual-communication were quite 'more than average', and
this channel of communication perhaps touched its admirable peak in
that person's individual potential! Something that amazed me!
Deadly
yours,
psn
(21st June, 2014)
post-script:
The use of 'deadly' has several contextual meanings... here I
intended it as “Extremely
accurate; unerring:” (the one I picked from 'the
freedictionary-dot-com' to be the one that describes nearest, what I
tried to say... spiritual pursuit has been inspiring me towards
'inclusiveness', and what better chance could there be, than when I
try to use a closing salutation that says, 'Yours-etc'!. And yes,
the choice is about relating it a bit closer to the very theme of the
blog, so I own up the subtle 'dig' too! :))...)
