We often live in denial of death. Of course, if asked directly, we will admit, “I will die one day.” But that admission rings with remoteness and hollowness, as if we were speaking about someone else in some distant future. While most of us deny death, a few of us live dreading it. On seeing [...] The post How to go beyond denying and dreading death appeared first on Chaitanya Charan Das, Bhagavad Gita ISKCON.
We, as a society, live largely in denial of death. Those who contemplate death are often deemed life-denying and hope-sapping pessimists. In marked contrast, the Bhagavad-gita (13.09) declares that knowledge is characterized by contemplation on the distresses of material existence, especially of death. Why does contemplating death contribute to knowledge? Because it brings a sobering [...] The post Contemplating death — life-denying or life-affirming? appeared first on Chaitanya Charan Das, Bhagavad Gita ISKCON.
Death is meant to point to enlightenment not be a plot point in entertainment Death is one of life’s most sobering realities, being the irreversible closing of curtains on our present lifetime. Before that terminal encounter, we frequently encounter death nowadays in entertainment media. Novels and movies often depict death vividly, to evoke our emotions [...] The post Death is meant to point to enlightenment not be a plot point in entertainment appeared first on Chaitanya Charan Das, Bhagavad Gita ISKCON.
We talk frequently about death without actually talking about death “Ten things to do before you die” – such lists are often found in self-help circles. Most readers, however, focus on the things to do, not on death. Though we talk frequently about death as depicted in news, movies and so forth, we hardly ever [...] The post We talk frequently about death without actually talking about death appeared first on Chaitanya Charan Das, Bhagavad Gita ISKCON.
Our present situation in material existence is precarious: a quake under our feet or a quake in our heart can kill us at any moment. Even if death doesn’t befall us, still, any moment something can disrupt our plans, even destroy everything that we have lived for. This reality is so unnerving that we viscerally [...] The post See the reality of our material situation – and see that reality is bigger than our material situation appeared first on Chaitanya Charan Das, Bhagavad Gita ISKCON.
Suppose a distressed person on finding their pain decreased by anesthesia before surgery regularly starts anesthetizing themselves. This would deaden them in their capacity to experience life itself. We frequently anesthetize ourselves from life’s distresses by exposing ourselves to a surfeit of material stimuli. Though physical sensations seem to activate, not anesthetize us, that activation [...] The post Life’s miseries are meant to be analyzed and addressed, not anesthetized appeared first on Chaitanya Charan Das, Bhagavad Gita ISKCON.
Death. We see it around us daily, all the more so nowadays with the media bringing global news about natural and manmade disasters. Despite such frequent sight of death, we don’t think of death as something that can happen to us at any moment, maybe even the very next moment. Of course, at an abstract [...]
Sanitization refers to the removal of offensive elements from a work to render it more acceptable to its audience. While… The post A sanitized take on reality can’t take us to spiritual sanity first appeared on Begin each day enriched with nuggets of timeless wisdom Article By Chaitanya Charan Das.
Suppose a person while driving a car competently tackles the problems along the way, say, the car breaking down or running…