Death hovers everywhere

With death there is no sight or sound,
No touch, taste or smell,
No love but only fear.
But why the fear?

DEATH not only comes suddenly but hovers everywhere, even over the cradle. However the general expectation, to which there have been unlimited exceptions, is that the young will die after the old. Thus while the young hope to stretch their years, the old are expected to face death with equanimity.

After 70, one begins the last lap to oblivion, the inevitable downward trajectory which takes us inexorably to the icy terminus of death. But how much consciousness of our own death can we bear? And should we live in fear of it?

As death becomes a more compelling reality and less of a distant and unlikely prospect, the aged become different beings, separated from others by the knowledge of their approaching mortality. On the threshold between existence and non-existence, their grasp on life, provisional and insecure at the best of times, becomes exceedingly tenuous. The nights take on a more
sinister and alien power as thoughts of going into permanent obscurity make the aged actually wonder whether it is worthwhile to live up to the age when one begins to constantly suffer the trauma of how to face death.

Rather than fearing death, the sensible and pious, make this period of transition more comfortable and more agreeable by amending their lifestyles towards noble living and by providing guidance to the younger generation on the need to adopt virtuous living because ultimately they too will run into the same situation if they are spared from pre-mature death.

When there is no longer enough energy or even enthusiasm to think of fulfilling one's dreams, human beings become like spent dynamos that turn infinitely slowly, fed by a mere trickle of electricity. The shadow falls upon the ego, and one is ostensibly freed from the petty considerations of vanity and self-esteem.

The mind however does not need to develop an austere detachment from constructive involvement but has to accept that God has made life and death a continuing process with death being yet another chapter of life.