Death and Life (January 2021 Newsletter)
From sipra's collection of local leaves gathered during walks.
Entering into a new year, our newsletter should be full of promise, hope and reassurance. And it is! It deals with death.
Recently my friend of many years, Stephanie, suddenly and unexpectedly received a diagnosis of stage 4 terminal cancer. The developing signs were there, but in our busy lives we tend to ignore what we can and focus on things that must be done immediately, and that list never shrinks.
We never know when we will die or how. That is a good thing. But it keeps us from preparing for it. Since the diagnosis, Stephanie has spent her time systematically settling every last detail of her affairs with careful consideration. She has done this with a sense of detachment. (We all need to cultivate this attitude: Asanga as it is called in Sanskrit, means non-attachment. Asango aham meaning “Nonattached am I”) “But I am young, and I am getting ready for the new year with grand resolutions”, you say. As this year has shown us, life can quickly change, and death hovers close by.
Let your new year resolution be to prepare materially and mentally for death - Yours and of and for those you love. Primary to this preparation is the awareness of being aware. Life comes and goes, as the autumn leaves drift gently to the ground in all their fullness of rich fall colors or are driven off by strong winds. The way death happens matters not at all. The tree remains. New leaves will return and they are part of that same tree.
Life remains so long as the breath remains. The slower the breath and the deeper it is, with a constant returning to an awareness that I am breathing keeps me alive and extends my life. BREATHE! And WATCH YOUR BREATH. SLOW IT DOWN AND LENGTHEN EACH BREATH. Try a simple and profound mantra, OM, as you breathe whenever you think of it. It has power profound.
Asango aham, asango aham, asango aham, punah, punah. Unattached, unattached, unattached am I, again and again; of the nature eternal. Satchitananda-rupoham avamevam abhyaya. Truth-Existence-Knowledge-Bliss am I; I am That. That am I, which is the irreducible, immortal, infinite.
Namaste,
sipra