Death
is the cessation of the connection between our mind and our body.
Although intellectually we all know that
one day we shall die, usually we are so reluctant to think of our death that
this knowledge does not touch our hearts, and we live our life as if we were
going to be in this world forever. As a result, the things of this world – such
as material possessions, reputation, popularity, and the pleasures of the
senses – become of paramount importance, so we devote almost all our time and
energy to obtaining them and engage in many negative actions for their sake. We
are so preoccupied with the concerns of this life that there is no or very
little room in our mind for genuine spiritual reflexion and practice. When the
time of death finally arrives, on our death bed, we discover that by having
ignored death all our life we are completely unprepared. All the empires we
built become meaningless. We meet death with sadness, despair and even anger.
All our efforts and smiles are replaced by dejection; our positive energy is
replaced with negative energy. We depart with sadness and tears. Our loved ones
are not spared either. A times, we leave them with poverty and tears, having
spent all the earnings on our illness.