Reflections of Loss and Death

THE MAHABHARATA, is a  great Indian epic and it is part of the Hindu Vedas . These are the earliest Hindu scriptures  and they are full of wisdom ,spiritual truths and mystical sayings.  It is a vast book but in one part, a part that focuses on death; a young Raja (or  King) named Yamaraja, asks   a very wise Maharaja ( Great King) named Yudhisthira a series of questions. One such turns the focus to loss and death. The quotations can be paraphrased as follows

Yamaraja:- , What is the most wondrous thing in the world O wise Yudhisthira ?

Yudhithira :- "The most wondrous thing in the world is that all around us people can be dying and we don't believe it can happen to us."

It is strange and paradoxical that we can live life ‘as if’  death only happens to others.We live a life , where we may recognise and admit that death comes but it is  'as if ' it can only happen to  those who are older than we are. It can only happen to people, such as our parents or to those who are sick. In short it can only happen to others but certainly not to us.

We could see this as an exemplary example of our human tendency to deny our humanity, our inevitable death and to carry on with the ‘pretence’ that it either does not exist or that it will not happen to us. Yet , realising the fragility and limitations of our time in this body-psyche is an important growth in insight. It leads to true wisdom. This is because, reflections on loss and death prepare us for the inevitable.