Part 1
The meditation techniques included in this book are not intended to be a substitute for medical attention, examination, diagnosis or treatment. If someone tries these techniques without prior participation in the meditation programs, they shall be doing so entirely at their own risk; the author is not responsible for the consequences of their actions.
All our fears are actually fear of death but under various disguises. Every single fear is related to the fear of death, but in a roundabout way. Because it is roundabout, we don't see it as fear of death. Without fear, the word death itself loses the meaning that we have been associating with it.
So what is death?
You will tell me, 'Death is what happens at the end of our lives.' If death were nothing more than that, it would be so easy!
But death is not something that happens at the end of our lives. It is something which is happening every moment of our lives. Every act of ours is unconsciously related to our death, the fear of dying. Death changes the very quality of our life. It is not the end; it is the climax of our lives – towards which our whole life is oriented.
Why do I say that? Because our whole life is controlled by our concept of death. Even our social structure is dictated by our concept of death. In fact, all great religions and world philosophies have arisen out of trying to answer one question, 'What happens after death?'
In trying to answer this one question, different life solutions have taken root.
The cultures which believe in a single life, with no concept of reincarnation, have poured all their energies into excelling in life. They have achieved the peak in terms of assimilation of information, gaining of knowledge and material comforts.
These cultures have given rise to science. Science helps us live life at its optimum and get the maximum out of this life.
Death changes the very quality of our life. It is not the end; it is the climax of our lives – towards which our whole life is oriented.
The cultures which believe in reincarnation have turned the focus of their life inwards. Their search is different. They are not motivated to live life in a hurry, because eternity is granted to them.
You can see it clearly in the behaviour of the people. In Bharat, if a program is scheduled to start at 6 o'clock, you can be sure that it won't start before 7.30, because people have eternity before them!
Our whole mental set-up, the course of our lives, our society, our culture, our religion – everything is based on our idea of death. We try our best not to think about death, but death pervades every moment of our life!
When we understand the depths, the secrets and mystery of death, we will understand the secrets of life. We need to solve death and see it as a mere continuity in a different form. Otherwise, we will miss life itself.
If we understand that death is nothing but continuity in another form, we will not fear death. And when we stop fearing death, we will know to what extent we have been missing life.
We take life for granted and we live so superficially that we miss many aspects of life. Death will simply teach us to look into life with more awareness. Death is the greatest guru ever.
When we want to bring in conviction about something, we can do it in two ways: We can either experiment and see for ourselves what the truth is or we can take reference from someone who has already undergone the experience of it. We will now understand a reference from the Upanishads, the vedic scriptures from ancient Bharat.