DEAR DEATH

The Greatest Miracle

Nature:

Fortis Fortuna Adiuvat, Fortune Favours the Bold. But who are the bold? Boldness is defined as the capacity to wilfully undergo near-death events or similar occurrences that can obliterate mortals. The bold are the uncommon stock who repeatedly arise in the face of adversity to build anew their endeavors. More extremely, the bold may select death as the most dignified act either by their own hand or the hands of an executioner. What greater homage to boldness than to preferring the dark abyss of death over a life of dishonor? It is in the nature of the bold to die for the realisation of their trailblazing vision. What compels them and why do they not fear death? Great men and women throughout the past have grappled with this conundrum. What might be the answer?

Cicero:

The most profound treatment of death emerges from the mind of Roman statesman Marcus Tullius Cicero (c.106 BC-c.43 BC). It is a testament to the man’s intellectual calibre that almost 2,000 years later his words on dying still resonate just as strongly today as when he first penned them. Upon losing his daughter Tullia, Cicero vacillated between outright grief and joy. Grief that his child was gone. Joy that she had lived virtuously. His arguments can be summarised as:

-Death is natural. Why weep for the dearly departed when their own forefathers also similarly departed?

-Life is a misery and death deliverance. The Gods award a premature demise to those who they love.

-Great men and women have never feared death having conducted themselves virtuously every waking day. For them, death is a final word on a life well-lived.

-Holding himself equally culpable, he argues that mortals weep not over death but the ceasing of opportunities that life provides.

-If the soul is indeed immortal than it has two potential alternatives. The negation of self-consciousness rendering it asleep and thus devoid of enjoyment and non-enjoyment. Or, the retainment of self-consciousness and integration with prior such souls based on some criterion.

Cicero’s boldness in grappling with the complexities of death are laudable. He also furnishes descriptions of some otherworldly heaven derived from ancient Greek lore (later plagiarised by Christians) arguing that such ‘opiates’ lull the masses to sleep. His overall contention is as intrepid as it is infamous: man is nothing and death is a part of his natural condition. Others have died before us and so must we. Survivors must develop the forbearance to endure our loss.

Considerations:

Cicero’s sceptical treatment of post-death illusions of heaven and ressurection entrenched the objective approach to death vis-a-vis religion. Would a perfect God not raise even a modicum of the lately dead to prove his validity to doubting generations? Would an all-knowing God not realise that his very existence would stand suspect if the promise of afterlife was not evidenced? More humorously, would an all-knowing God have not known this and been more wiser?

To paraphrase evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins, do heaven and ressurection vindicate freewill or do they cease upon dying implying that post-life the faithful become mindless automatons? Is the tragedy of death supplanted with the misery of vacuity if the afterlife is rooted in solely the good with the absence of the bad? Irrespective of the answers derived, it is undeniable that conventional religiosity is united in fanning these post-death illusions further.

Adherents:

It is imperative that we highlight here that Sikhi’s treatment of death radically differs from that of conventional religiosity. The acceptance of death is seen as the greatest virtue for the Khalsa, the personification of Sikhi as philosophy and praxis. The Guru Granth, the faith’s canon, is replete with multiple verses on the issue of death often using it in a threefold fashion: as a natural element, as the absence of some element, and to emphasize self-empowerment.

ਕਬੀਰ ਇਹੁ ਤਨੁ ਜਾਇਗਾ ਸਕਹੁ ਤ ਲੇਹੁ ਬਹੋਰਿ ॥ ਨਾਂਗੇ ਪਾਵਹੁ ਤੇ ਗਏ ਜਿਨ ਕੇ ਲਾਖ ਕਰੋਰਿ ॥੨੭॥

“Kabir, this body wears away so save it if you can. Remember, even the richest of the rich depart nude after time.”

-Guru Granth, 1365.

Due to a majority of its content being structured as a dialogue between the Bhagats (adherents) who predated the Sikh Gurus and the Gurus themselves, there is a difference of opinions expressed in words by both parties with the Gurus providing a conclusive summary with adherable injunctions. Bhagat Kabir, in the above verse, remarks that because the body atrophies overtime it must be preserved but eventually death cannot be avoided even by the powerful.

ਜਿਤੁ ਦਿਹਾੜੈ ਧਨ ਵਰੀ ਸਾਹੇ ਲਏ ਲਿਖਾਇ ॥

ਮਲਕੁ ਜਿ ਕੰਨੀ ਸੁਣੀਦਾ ਮੁਹੁ ਦੇਖਾਲੇ ਆਇ ॥

ਜਿੰਦੁ ਨਿਮਾਣੀ ਕਢੀਐ ਹਡਾ ਕੂ ਕੜਕਾਇ ॥

ਸਾਹੇ ਲਿਖੇ ਨ ਚਲਨੀ ਜਿੰਦੂ ਕੂੰ ਸਮਝਾਇ ॥

ਜਿੰਦੁ ਵਹੁਟੀ ਮਰਣੁ ਵਰੁ ਲੈ ਜਾਸੀ ਪਰਣਾਇ ॥

“The day of the bride’s union is already arranged. Now it has dawned, she witnesses the angel of death that she has heard so much about standing in front of her. It takes out the lowly life from her body while cracking her bones. Your breaths can never be extended when expired, explain this to your life. Life is the bride and death the groom, he will take her away forever.”

-Guru Granth, 1377.

In the above verse Bhagat Farid advises that humans accept their mortality and resolutely explain it to themselves that death is an eventuality. There is no ipso-facto ressurection (“breaths can never be extended…”) nor any other miraculous cures for death. Life must wed death for their to be existence. This has been ongoing since eons past and there is no prudent reason for this to be overturned for any individual irrespective of either their fear or grief.

Due to their close interactions with the prevalent Abrahamic and Sanataan norms of their day both Farid and Kabir were well-placed to comment on the ludicrous fantasies about death that both belief-systems preached. There is a certain similarity that also interlinks their verses. For Kabir life is onerously beset by miseries and death is a blissful release,

ਕਬੀਰ ਜਿਸੁ ਮਰਨੇ ਤੇ ਜਗੁ ਡਰੈ ਮੇਰੇ ਮਨਿ ਆਨੰਦੁ ॥

ਮਰਨੇ ਹੀ ਤੇ ਪਾਈਐ ਪੂਰਨੁ ਪਰਮਾਨੰਦੁ ॥੨੨॥

“Kabir, the death feared by the masses brings great solace to me. It is only when we die that we achieve the greatest bliss.”

-Guru Granth, 1365.

For Farid, death is an unfortunate eventuality that must be lived with and is the final misery in a life naturally full of miseries heralded by aging mirroring Kabir in this respect. We tend to die everyday from the moment we are born as our bodies commence atrophying straight away. Much like the cereus blossom, we bloom in the light of life and then die with the oncoming of death. Registering only as effervescence on the cosmological scope.

ਫਰੀਦਾ ਅਖੀ ਦੇਖਿ ਪਤੀਣੀਆਂ ਸੁਣਿ ਸੁਣਿ ਰੀਣੇ ਕੰਨ ॥

ਸਾਖ ਪਕੰਦੀ ਆਈਆ ਹੋਰ ਕਰੇਂਦੀ ਵੰਨ ॥੧੧॥

“Farid, eyesight flees and hearing depletes. The body’s crop ripens and only the color is left to turn now.”

-Guru Granth, 1378.

However, the notion of a physical immortality is dismissed. On this point, there is a general concurrence with what Cicero observed about the nature of immortality. If immortality was guaranteed without the necessity of dying even once, why even endeavor to perfect ourselves and our environs? What good would it do to talk of health and fitness if not to prolong life and ward off death from overindulgence and consumption? Why even avoid potential deathtraps?

What we can deduce from the above is that life is full of miseries and for the Bhagats, at least, death is blissful deliverance considering that immortality disallows development and the evasion of other recurring tragedies besides death.

The Gurus:

The immortal literary dialogue between the Sikh Gurus and the Bhagats establishes a more natural perception of death. It is unavoidable and also a realistic truth. But there is a disparity of purviews. For the Gurus, death cannot be treated as the ultimate release from the spontaneity of life. Rather, it is an incentive to live life well within the confines of reality while traversing the path to perfection. While death is preordained, it is not individually preset.

ਮਰਣਿ ਨ ਮੂਰਤੁ ਪੁਛਿਆ ਪੁਛੀ ਥਿਤਿ ਨ ਵਾਰੁ ॥

“Death does not ask us the time nor the day before striking us down.”

-Guru Granth, 1244.

Furthermore, there is no evidence of any post-death ressurection or paradisical existence beyond religious texts that are replete with their own contradictions belying their claim to divinity. In fact, the Gurus endorse making death one’s best ally.

ਮਨ ਮੇਰੇ ਹਰਿ ਜੀਉ ਸਦਾ ਸਮਾਲਿ ॥

ਅੰਤ ਕਾਲਿ ਤੇਰਾ ਬੇਲੀ ਹੋਵੈ ਸਦਾ ਨਿਬਹੈ ਤੇਰੈ ਨਾਲਿ ॥ ਰਹਾਉ ॥

“Your final opportunity is your most loyal companion. It will forever be with you. Make your mind accept its presence.”

-Guru Granth, 601.

As explained in a prior article, death is classed by the Gurus as a ‘final opportunity’ i.e. a motivation to live well. But what is death for the Gurus if it is not a misery?

ਪਾਂਚ ਤਤ ਕੋ ਤਨੁ ਰਚਿਓ ਜਾਨਹੁ ਚਤੁਰ ਸੁਜਾਨ ॥ ਜਿਹ ਤੇ ਉਪਜਿਓ ਨਾਨਕਾ ਲੀਨ ਤਾਹਿ ਮੈ ਮਾਨੁ ॥੧੧॥

“This physicality is composed of the five elements beloved friends. Consider this, if it is composed of five elements then surely all the five will one-day revert back to their original state.”

-Guru Granth, 1427.

ਪਵਨੈ ਮਹਿ ਪਵਨੁ ਸਮਾਇਆ ॥ ਜੋਤੀ ਮਹਿ ਜੋਤਿ ਰਲਿ ਜਾਇਆ ॥ ਮਾਟੀ ਮਾਟੀ ਹੋਈ ਏਕ ॥ ਰੋਵਨਹਾਰੇ ਕੀ ਕਵਨ ਟੇਕ ॥੧॥ ਕਉਨੁ ਮੂਆ ਰੇ ਕਉਨੁ ਮੂਆ ॥ ਬ੍ਰਹਮ ਗਿਆਨੀ ਮਿਲਿ ਕਰਹੁ ਬੀਚਾਰਾ ਇਹੁ ਤਉ ਚਲਤੁ ਭਇਆ ॥੧॥ ਰਹਾਉ ॥ ਅਗਲੀ ਕਿਛੁ ਖਬਰਿ ਨ ਪਾਈ ॥ ਰੋਵਨਹਾਰੁ ਭਿ ਊਠਿ ਸਿਧਾਈ ॥ ਭਰਮ ਮੋਹ ਕੇ ਬਾਂਧੇ ਬੰਧ ॥ ਸੁਪਨੁ ਭਇਆ ਭਖਲਾਏ ਅੰਧ ॥੨॥ ਇਹੁ ਤਉ ਰਚਨੁ ਰਚਿਆ ਕਰਤਾਰਿ ॥ ਆਵਤ ਜਾਵਤ ਹੁਕਮਿ ਅਪਾਰਿ ॥ ਨਹ ਕੋ ਮੂਆ ਨ ਮਰਣੈ ਜੋਗੁ ॥ ਨਹ ਬਿਨਸੈ ਅਬਿਨਾਸੀ ਹੋਗੁ ॥੩॥ ਜੋ ਇਹੁ ਜਾਣਹੁ ਸੋ ਇਹੁ ਨਾਹਿ ॥ ਜਾਨਣਹਾਰੇ ਕਉ ਬਲਿ ਜਾਉ ॥ ਕਹੁ ਨਾਨਕ ਗੁਰਿ ਭਰਮੁ ਚੁਕਾਇਆ ॥ ਨਾ ਕੋਈ ਮਰੈ ਨ ਆਵੈ ਜਾਇਆ ॥੪॥੧੦॥

“Breath reverts to air, the light amalgamates with light. Mud reverts to mud becoming one. What consolations can be offered to mourners? Who has died? Indeed, who actually has died? The followers of the All-Knower congregate and study this ever-continuing process. No one can surely say what specifically transpires next. Even the mourners will one day depart themselves. Observe the grief of survivors. They act like blind fools trapped in dreams. All this has been created by the Creator. Coming and going are all rooted in reality. No one has died and no one can truly die. The Creator is immortal and so are the Creator’s works. What others claim to know, they know not this divine truth. Those who know reality are worthy of being sacrificed for. Nanak says that divine wisdom has annihilated all his doubts. No one dies and neither does one truly arrive and then depart.”

-Guru Granth, 885.

Let us examine this verse in-depth and discover its more salient truths:

(a) Physicality is formed through natural elements infused with air. Upon death, breath merges with air; the light empowering our sight with light and the mud through which we are formed to mud.

(b) Death is the total absence of an element. However, physical death does not concur with this abstract definition as it is a transformation of our physicality. In a sense, no one truly dies for death would be the unquestionable eradication of both the tangible and intangible aspects of an individual.

(c) What transpires next? The followers of conventional religiosity point to their texts yet there is nothing evidential to uphold their claims ergo their genocidal purges of one another and sceptics.

(d) Coming and going in the sense of physically being born and departing are factual. But coming and going in the sense of actually existing and then ceasing to exist beyond the human body are impossible.

On Grief:

Beyond the four most conspicuous facts, this verse provides several other keen insights. It contrasts between two personalities. There are those who know and have accepted the truth that physical death is a temporary absence. That they too will one-day overcome this absence when they themselves die. There is no cure neither prevention for death and one must live with its eventuality until it arrives. Then, they must embrace it as an intimate friend and go hand-in-hand with it.

But what of grief? Can one grieve for the departed? Can grieving reverse time? The Gurus forbore death and refrained from grieving, enduring physical absence. Guru Hargobind forbade the Sikhs from mourning the fifth Guru’s martyrdom. Guru Gobind Singh criticised the masses for grieving for his father and predecessor Guru. At the epochal Battle of Chamkaur he joyfully observed his elder sons dying by warring for Sikhi against the Islamofascist-Sanataan combine.

When news was brought to him of his younger sons’ execution, after they refused to convert to either Islam or Sanataanism, he shouted war cries overcome with exuberant passion. Did he not feel the pangs of physical absence? But he was also well-aware that physicality is temporary and by dying as they had his sons had liberated themselves from the battle of life having acquitted themselves honorably.

ਮਰਣੁ ਨ ਮੰਦਾ ਲੋਕਾ ਆਖੀਐ ਜੇ ਮਰਿ ਜਾਣੈ ਐਸਾ ਕੋਇ ॥

“Death would not be vilified by the masses thus if only they knew how to die.”

-Guru Granth, 579.

It should be noted here that even Cicero was opposed to grieving making a herculean effort to stem his own tears upon Tullia’s demise. Those who grieve are not in control of their senses allowing their misery to nullify their autonomy. The pangs of mundane pain leave them senseless rendering them even more hapless than a slave. While a slave is only physically detained, grief detains the mind blinding intelligence.

On Precedent:

Words without actions substantiating them are words alone. The Gurus were cognisant with this fact and spent their lives practising what they preached. Their precedents still encourage both Sikhs and non-Sikhs alike even today. Guru Nanak disowned his own sons for maligning Sikhi. Guru Hargobind lifted the sword for its defense. Guru Gobind Singh sacrificed his own progeny for its upkeep. The list is endless.

ਬਾਬਾਣੀਆ ਕਹਾਣੀਆ ਪੁਤ ਸਪੁਤ ਕਰੇਨਿ ॥

ਜਿ ਸਤਿਗੁਰ ਭਾਵੈ ਸੁ ਮੰਨਿ ਲੈਨਿ ਸੇਈ ਕਰਮ ਕਰੇਨਿ ॥

ਜਾਇ ਪੁਛਹੁ ਸਿਮ੍ਰਿਤਿ ਸਾਸਤ ਬਿਆਸ ਸੁਕ ਨਾਰਦ ਬਚਨ ਸਭ ਸ੍ਰਿਸਟਿ ਕਰੇਨਿ ॥

ਸਚੈ ਲਾਏ ਸਚਿ ਲਗੇ ਸਦਾ ਸਚੁ ਸਮਾਲੇਨਿ ॥

ਨਾਨਕ ਆਏ ਸੇ ਪਰਵਾਣੁ ਭਏ ਜਿ ਸਗਲੇ ਕੁਲ ਤਾਰੇਨਿ ॥੧॥

“The tales of the righteous elders make the youth pure and wise. If they accept the truth (Satgur) within their minds then they only do that which is virtuous. You may go and inquire from the Simritees, the Shastras, Beas, Suk and Narad who preach to the world at large. But only those individuals accept the truth who allow it to transform them and then immerse them within itself. Nanak says that the coming of such individuals is welcomed by their Maker and their forebears are redeemed as well.”

-Guru Granth, 951.

Sikh elders, emulating the Gurus, established sanguinary precedents for their descendants who unfortunately are fast lapsing into ignominy today. The verse mentions the existence of individuals who have realised the reality of death indicating a history of enlightenment. These are the individuals worth mirroring when comprehending the miracle of death.

The Death Of Heroes:

The Guru Granth compares life to a queue citing that all are awaiting to get to its end i.e. die.

ਰਾਣਾ ਰਾਉ ਨ ਕੋ ਰਹੈ ਰੰਗੁ ਨ ਤੁੰਗੁ ਫਕੀਰੁ ॥ ਵਾਰੀ ਆਪੋ ਆਪਣੀ ਕੋਇ ਨ ਬੰਧੈ ਧੀਰ ॥

“The mighty emperors and their warriors do not remain forever neither the ascetics or recluses. All are awaiting their turns, none can escape the line.”

-Guru Granth, 936.

Is life misery? The Gurus proclaim that it is what we make of it. It is a tabula rasa on which we inscribe our beliefs and experiences. Those who realise this aim to pursue and imbibe perfection by battling their greatest foe, themselves.

ਗੁਰ ਤੇ ਬੂਝੈ ਤ੍ਰਿਭਵਣੁ ਸੂਝੈ ॥

ਮਨਸਾ ਮਾਰਿ ਮਨੈ ਸਿਉ ਲੂਝੈ ॥

ਜੋ ਤੁਧੁ ਸੇਵਹਿ ਸੇ ਤੁਧ ਹੀ ਜੇਹੇ ਨਿਰਭਉ ਬਾਲ ਸਖਾਈ ਹੇ ॥੪॥

“Through the comprehension blessed by divine wisdom one understands the essence of the three worlds. Killing their own desires, such an individual wars against their own (base) mind. Those who serve you they become fearless (of the truth) just like you for you are their best ally in their innocence.”

-Guru Granth, 1021.

A hero is enlightened to reality. They have subdued their base passions and live virtuously every waking day of their life. Every breath is expended in the pursuit of perfection. They live intelligently and pragmatically. They are not beset by doubts and are committed to the path of reality or Hukam. Such is the Khalsa. Their minute-to-minute life is a perennial conflict between their base selves and their higher selves. Their way is sharper than the sword, finer than the hair.

ਸਿਖੀ ਸਿਖਿਆ ਗੁਰ ਵੀਚਾਰਿ ॥ ਨਦਰੀ ਕਰਮਿ ਲਘਾਏ ਪਾਰਿ ॥

“Sikhi is the way of learning by studying the Guru’s philosophy. When blessed with their Maker’s gaze, they (the Sikh) crosses to the other side (enlightenment).”

-Guru Granth, 465.

Such individuals are perfect and forever prepared to die. They have no regrets and are committed to their cause. Why mourn such heroes who die untroubled? Among Sikhs, such individuals were often identified as Jeevan-Mukte historically with the compound term denoting a Sikh who was liberated from vice while alive. If they fell in battle or otherwise expired off the field of battle they were celebrated as Mukta (liberated) with mourning often discouraged.

ਸਬਦਿ ਮਰੈ ਮਨੁ ਮਾਰੈ ਅਪੁਨਾ ਮੁਕਤੀ ਕਾ ਦਰੁ ਪਾਵਣਿਆ ॥

“Through dying in the (Guru Granth’s) words, one slays their own base mind thus reaching the door to their own liberation.”

-Guru Granth, 117.

It is said that whenever the British colonialists executed a Sikh for opposing them, the anti-imperialist revolutionary Baba Wasakha Singh would preach that the martyr had become Mukat (liberated) from the battle of life by dying honorably. Because the battle of life is strenuous and requires continued effort, dying honorably not only concludes the battle but also signifies that the deceased displayed exemplary perfection embracing death over dishonor.

Closer to our times, whenever a Sikh militant fell to Indian bullets they would be celebrated as a Mukta. One’s conduct during death, particularly an excruciating death, symbolised their degree of Jeevan-Mukti. The greater the resilience and resoluteness the higher the state of Jeevan-Mukti. But death by the foe is not a necessity as even a peaceful death happily accepted represents a similar level of liberation while alive.

Post-Death:

What happens after death? Cicero dismissed claims of heaven and hell positing two alternatives:

The soul’s self-consciousness ceases to exist and it passes into what may be described as an infinite non-existence. The closest example he could provide was perennial sleep.

The soul retains its self-consciousness, is celebrated for its virtue and passes into a greater plane of existence where it resides free of pain.

The soul for Cicero was immortal. A classic Roman proverb of his day held that while the body was made of mud, intelligence was a fire of the Gods. The Romans mused that intelligence was somehow linked to the soul but could not concur on how. For the Gurus, the soul is also unable to die and linked to intelligence through means of self-consciousness interrelated via experience and enlightenment.

ਨਾ ਜੀਉ ਮਰੈ ਨ ਡੂਬੈ ਤਰੈ ॥ ਜਿਨਿ ਕਿਛੁ ਕੀਆ ਸੋ ਕਿਛੁ ਕਰੈ ॥ ਹੁਕਮੇ ਆਵੈ ਹੁਕਮੇ ਜਾਇ ॥

“The soul does not die neither does it drown nor does it flow (away). The one who has created everything has created these rules as well. Within reality we come, within reality we depart.”

-Guru Granth, 151.

The soul is the pristine state of the mind strengthened when the base mind is eradicated.

ਇਉ ਕਹੈ ਨਾਨਕੁ ਮਨ ਤੂੰ ਜੋਤਿ ਸਰੂਪੁ ਹੈ ਅਪਣਾ ਮੂਲੁ ਪਛਾਣੁ ॥੫॥

“This is what Nanak says, mind you are the embodiment of the divine illumination. Recognise your true worth as such.”

-Guru Granth, 441.

The soul is the fulcrum of divinity and refines the mind. It communicates through self-consciousness. One who is Jeevan-Mukat is in harmony with their soul and in tandem with their Maker. Their physicality is nothing but similar to a pair of disused clothes for them. This is why when the Sikhs expressed sorrow at the tenth Guru’s impending demise he consoled them elucidating he was only casting aside his old apparel. Where does the soul go after death?

For the liberated, their self-consciousness continues post-death.

ਸੋ ਮੁਨਿ ਜਿ ਮਨ ਕੀ ਦੁਬਿਧਾ ਮਾਰੇ ॥ ਦੁਬਿਧਾ ਮਾਰਿ ਬ੍ਰਹਮੁ ਬੀਚਾਰੇ ॥੧॥ ਇਸੁ ਮਨ ਕਉ ਕੋਈ ਖੋਜਹੁ ਭਾਈ ॥ ਮਨੁ ਖੋਜਤ ਨਾਮੁ ਨਉ ਨਿਧਿ ਪਾਈ ॥੧॥ ਰਹਾਉ ॥ ਮੂਲੁ ਮੋਹੁ ਕਰਿ ਕਰਤੈ ਜਗਤੁ ਉਪਾਇਆ ॥ ਮਮਤਾ ਲਾਇ ਭਰਮਿ ਭੋੁਲਾਇਆ ॥੨॥ ਇਸੁ ਮਨ ਤੇ ਸਭ ਪਿੰਡ ਪਰਾਣਾ ॥ ਮਨ ਕੈ ਵੀਚਾਰਿ ਹੁਕਮੁ ਬੁਝਿ ਸਮਾਣਾ ॥੩॥ ਕਰਮੁ ਹੋਵੈ ਗੁਰੁ ਕਿਰਪਾ ਕਰੈ ॥ ਇਹੁ ਮਨੁ ਜਾਗੈ ਇਸੁ ਮਨ ਕੀ ਦੁਬਿਧਾ ਮਰੈ ॥੪॥ ਮਨ ਕਾ ਸੁਭਾਉ ਸਦਾ ਬੈਰਾਗੀ ॥ ਸਭ ਮਹਿ ਵਸੈ ਅਤੀਤੁ ਅਨਰਾਗੀ ॥੫॥ ਕਹਤ ਨਾਨਕੁ ਜੋ ਜਾਣੈ ਭੇਉ ॥ ਆਦਿ ਪੁਰਖੁ ਨਿਰੰਜਨ ਦੇਉ ॥੬॥੫॥

“Only they are truly reverent who obliterate their mind’s doubts. They slay doubt and study the infinite divinity. Dig within your own minds brothers. Search your minds and discover the nine treasures within. Attachment and obsession are what the Creator has designed this world upon. Drowning in delusions, the masses forget reality in their doubts. Because of the base mind, fears of arriving and departing exist. Only when the mind is studied can reality be comprehended and the mind immersed within it. When the deeds conform, then one is blessed with divine wisdom. Then the base mind awakens and its doubts die. The enlightened mind is forever unattached. Within every enlightened mind resides the Creator. Nanak says that those who realise all this unite with their Maker becoming one with the immaculate Master.”

-Guru Granth, 1128.

The physical body may be discarded but the soul, already in harmony with its Maker, unites with the Maker fully becoming an extension of divinity while retaining its individuality via its self-consciousness. Gone are the constraints of physicality as it now stands unravaged by time. It resides with other Jeevan-Mukte, continuing in its service of Creation through the mediums of influence, inspiration, and memory. Guiding others in their daily battles.

Postscript:

The Gurus were fully conversant with reality and its divine origins. Cicero was a student of reality. The Gurus lived within reality and encouraged Sikhs to do likewise. To study reality and their own reactions towards it while residing within it themselves. Cicero had an analytical approach, preferring external study while refraining from fully immersing himself within its confines. His musings are valuable for their observances.

The Gurus’ pricelessness lies in their emphasis on the acceptance of reality. For them death was a relinquishment of human physicality while Cicero wrestled with multiple alternatives. Once the body expires, the Khalsa’s self-consciousness journeys to its divine source and meets its Maker where it is blessed with the mantle of continuing to influence and inspire. It has constantly triumphed in the battle of life and its death underscores its continued perfection.

How many thousands inspire us today? Their acts, their deeds, their legends? How many sentries stand watch over tombs of unknown warriors aptly named for those whose names have passed from history? Are they any less worthy of inspiring us to live our daily lives perfectly while battling our own inferior selves? Do the great leaders not inspire us? What about the common man finally closing his eyes after imparting virtue to his children? Is he any less of an inspiration?

Our lives may be short, but death makes them bearable. Death is what lends them a beauty. Death is the true miracle. Death may indeed be called life for where life starts death starts and where life ends death ends. How will we go to our deaths irrespective of how we die? As the Gurus and so many of our forefathers did, with smiles on their faces? Or as cowards moaning on crosses for their allegedly divine fathers to save them? The choice is ours as usual.