Death … Wake Up Call & Need for Conscious Preparation

Like me, most of us would have read in scriptures and also heard from accomplished spiritual seekers regarding the event called Death .. which is the end of material existence when one stops Breathing (inactivation of PRANA element). This is a certainty of Life Journey yet remains a mystery and also cause of Fear and could cause grief and emotional stress.

Spiritual seekers do get premonition/subtle signals and they also make conscious preparation to face the reality called DEATH as was the case with my parents, both disciples of Sri Aurobindo and The Mother. Sri Aurobindo has described this phenomena as “Unconscious Rest” and need for conscious preparation by gradual abolition of Desires, attachments with material world of possessions and attachments.

I wish to share my first-hand experience of closely witnessing this phenomena happening in case of my father, Dr Devki Nandan Srivastava, who was an academician by profession and an ardent devotee of Sri Aurobindo and The Mother right from his initiation to their Thoughts and also the Ashram in late 60s. Based in Lucknow, he was closely connected with Sri Navajata ji, Dr MP Maheshwari, Dr Surendra Nath Jauhar, Shri Devdutta of Sri Aurobindo Ashram, Pondicherry as part of activities of Sri Aurobindo Society starting from early 1970s till late 2000s. 

He left his physical body in June 2017 at the age of 89 years after a prolonged illness during the last 9 months of his journey. It all began with his telling us that his period of Decay of physical body has started. First, we could witness his conscious withdrawal at the Mental level, from possessions and close relatives and zeroing down on listening to recorded Bhajans and Hymns. Being an academician, his daily practice of reading Bhagwat Gita and Ram Charit Manas remained part of his routine in morning hours till his last 3-month period of Life Journey.

We could hear his groaning, being in acute Pain, but he never asked us to call a doctor or gave specific instructions that he would prefer for us to be at home only. It was evident from his response to the doctor – ‘everything is okay’ when asked whether he had any Pain … His sole source of medication was bhajans and hymns and we could see him relishing and responding to the Rhythm .. His intake was restricted to Water only in the last fortnight … and finally last 3 days, no intake, with intense Breathing in the body … We could also see a glow and Peace on his face though his body had become very weak due to lack of food intake during the last few weeks. 

This has been to me a real life example of accomplished spiritual seekers. His subtle presence has been a guiding force in my life and also life of those to whom he was a source of Inspiration.

- Pranav Srivastava (India)

Comments

  1. Thakur Prasad16 February 2024 at 06:40

    Yes, very inspirational and informative that Death, so-called death, is not cessation of Life but a process of Life.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Thanks for posting a comment.

Popular posts from this blog

A Spiritual Retreat and Seekers’ Delight in the Heart of Delhi – Sri Aurobindo Ashram

During a recent visit to Delhi, a one-night stay at  TAPASYA  Guest house in Sri Aurobindo Ashram, Delhi premises was a serene experience. This visit, after a gap of many years, after I moved to Ahmedabad many years back in year 2000, was a delightful witnessing of the exponential growth in Ashram activities in a serene environment. What continues are sustaining Core Values imbibed from the holistic approach of Integral Yoga for all-round development of Individual Self and also the Ashram community as a whole. I could notice many resemblances in the way of life of Ashramites in Pondicherry Ashram and Delhi Ashram. This is probably due to the legacy of Sri Surendra Nath Jauhar "Chachaji", an ardent devotee of Sri Aurobindo and The Mother, further nurtured by Sushri Tara Didi. My last visit to the Ashram was in 1996 with my father, Dr. Devaki Nandan Srivastava, as my father was also closely connected with Sri Aurobindo Society and Ashram. Though being in touch with activities o
Read more

Let Go and Call Her

When you dig and dig some more to find out why something bothers you so much, it hurts. When you discover, or at least you think you have discovered, the real reason why something bothers you so much, it hurts. When you figure out that the real reason why something bothers you so much has to do with your egoistic preference, it hurts. When you understand that your egoistic preference is nothing but your unwillingness to accept what is happening in the present, it hurts. When you accept that you are unwilling to accept the present moment because you fail to surrender to the deeper wisdom that is guiding your life’s journey through all the veils of ignorance, it hurts. When you realize that you are unable to surrender to the deeper wisdom because you lack faith and trust in the Divine’s Plan for you, it hurts. It hurts because you now see clearly the working of the ego which kept you deluded as to how much faith and trust you had in the Divine and Its Working. It hurts because this is no
Read more

Importance of "JAPA" in Spiritual journey to realise the Divine

Right from my childhood days till now, I have observed seekers on spiritual journey using "JAPA" (repetition of a mantra or a hymn) as a daily practice in most of the religions, be it Hinduism, Christianity or Buddhism or any other) across the different parts of the world during my travels to different places. It had been a curiosity in me in earlier days and now a realisation that this is perhaps a simple and proven way to connect and be in resonance with the chosen form of Divine (be it a Deity or a Sound or most cherished role model). This thought gets reinforced as we read the scriptures and stories of the transformational journey of Saints and spiritual leaders who chose "Bhakti Marg" (Sadhana through Devotion) as the path to tread in their spiritual journey and realisation of Self and its communion with Divinity in the form of the chosen Deity. Contemplation on JAPA as a Daily Practice and then self experince in doing JAPA in early mornings and late evening ho
Read more