The Fantasy of Dying(E Book)

The human fascination with, or fear of, death is as old as humanity itself. From the mantras, shlokas, and texts of Shrutis revealed to ancient sages and recorded in the Vedas, Upanishads, Mahakavyas, Puranas, Darshan Shastras; from rituals performed to appease tribal, ancient, and other gods and passed down from generation to generation; from the earliest cave paintings depicting scenes of life, death, and the afterlife; from written texts on papyrus, clay, or stone tablets; from intellectual discourses in the philosophical treatises of great philosophers, theologians, statesmen, and literary giants; to the scientific analyses of modern times, our species has consistently engaged in a dialogue with mortality.

In the search for immortality, in the light of day or the shade of night, in actions judged right or wrong more often by the mind than by intellect, in the seducing and tempting stupor of worldliness or the sacrament of penance, humanity has repeatedly stumbled upon the inevitability of mortality.

“Analysis of death is not for the sake of becoming fearful, but to appreciate this precious lifetime.” These words of the Dalai Lama answer our often unfounded fear of death and render this deeply engaging topic even more meaningful and fascinating.

The Sutras mention Abhinivesha, a Sanskrit word meaning “will to live,” indirectly referring to the fear of death and the clinging to life. Thus, the fear of death is essentially the fear of losing that attachment, the fear of losing that desire itself. All religions and philosophical commentaries state that life is filled with misery if one has not understood the truth.

Abhinivesha is one of the five Kleshas, or negative mental states, that cause suffering. It is not merely the fear of death; it also includes the incorrect identification of the true Self with the temporary physical body or the material world. This fear can prevent a being from attaining moksha or nirvana. Thus, while the fear of death has existed since ancient times, some Sutras and texts were lucid enough to offer both its rationale and its remedy.

It is this fear alone that has led humanity to write mammoth treatises. Yet, despite such vast literature, it can still send a shiver down the spine. How, then, does one overcome it? Through understanding, an understanding that comes through contemplation. As Jiddu Krishnamurti, the great Indian philosopher and religious thinker, observed: “What is needed, rather than running away or controlling or suppressing or any other resistance, is understanding fear, that means watching it, learning about it, coming directly into contact with it. We are to learn about fear, not how to escape from it.”

This book, The Fantasy of Dying, seeks to explore the multifaceted nature of this enduring dialogue. It is not a morbid exploration of the gruesome details of death, but rather a thoughtful and nuanced investigation into how we, as humans, construct, interpret, and ultimately use our understanding of death to shape our lives. We will examine cultural variations in beliefs about death and the afterlife, psychological anxieties surrounding mortality, and the romanticization of death in certain aspects of popular culture.

This work also addresses the crucial distinction between healthy contemplation of mortality and the serious issue of suicidal ideation. The book integrates insights from philosophy, psychology, anthropology, and mythology, weaving together historical narratives, scientific findings, and artistic expressions to create a comprehensive tapestry of human engagement with the end of life. We will journey through diverse cultural rituals, explore philosophical debates on the meaning of life, and analyze portrayals of death in literature, art, and modern media. The ultimate aim is not to offer definitive answers, but to encourage a deeper understanding of our complex and often contradictory relationship with death, promoting a balanced perspective that embraces life while acknowledging its inevitable end.

This is a journey into the human heart, into the profound mysteries that have haunted and inspired us since the dawn of consciousness. This is also a historical journey into the time we have left far behind with all the details having some imprints from their relevant texts.

As mentioned earlier, human concern with mortality finds expression in all thought, ideas, philosophy, literature, and religions. Will Durant, the American author and philosopher, went a step further when he said, “Death is the origin of all religions, and perhaps if there had been no death, there would have been no gods.” Without entering into this debate, let us begin with the documented texts available to us, starting with one of the oldest known literary works, the Epic of Atrahasis and the Epic of Gilgamesh of the Mesopotamian civilization. These texts are centered on the creation of humanity, mortality, and the search for meaning in life in the face of inevitable death.

As these are among the oldest literary works available to date, this book will attempt to take you on a time-machine journey, approximately 5,000 years back, to the Mesopotamian civilization. After traversing major civilizations and religions, it will gradually arrive at contemporary times. You will not travel alone; you will carry with you the infinite plethora of the past, gods, goddesses, ceremonies, rituals, mythologies, texts, folklore, tales, and much more, and witness how they continue to influence and shape us today.

This 5,000-year-old journey, with its dreams, beliefs, rituals, stories, texts, and literature, helps define our present-day existence. The journey is long, spanning different parts of the habitable earth across different eras, yet the common thread that binds us to our past is faith and hope, the acknowledgment of a higher power, the idea that we need something beyond ourselves to give life meaning and purpose. The truths that evolved thereafter are the cumulative results of our forefathers’ blood, toil, sacrifice, and perseverance.

My sincere apologies to those who will travel with me, for I shall take you through the Pre-Vedic, Vedic, and Post-Vedic eras in the final stages of this time-machine journey, aligning them with the scientific temperament of the modern age. This journey is intended to educate and inform; your final understanding and conclusions, however, must remain entirely your own.

Are we ready to enter the time machine?

Our first stop will be the fertile plains of Mesopotamia, where the Sumerians and Babylonians etched their reflections onto fragile clay tablets, myths of creation, great floods, and quests for immortality. From there, we drift along the Nile into the monumental tombs of Egypt, where death was not an end but the beginning of eternal life. We then walk into the bustling agora of Greece, listening as Socrates calmly sips hemlock, and onward into the Stoic schools of Rome, where philosophers trained themselves to contemplate death as a daily discipline.

From the West, our journey shifts eastward. We will stand at the fire temples of ancient Persia, where Zoroastrian priests taught of judgment after death, and then enter the ancestral shrines of China, where death was woven into family duty and harmony with the cosmos. We will move into the forests of India, where sages meditated on liberation, rejecting death not by denying it, but by transcending it through knowledge of the Self. We will also sit by tribal fires where shamans guided souls between worlds, step into medieval churches where salvation was promised through Christ, and pause in mosques where believers prayed for the Day of Judgment.

Finally, our journey carries us into the modern age, into hospitals where machines prolong life, into laboratories where scientists dream of defeating aging, and into digital landscapes where some imagine consciousness uploaded into eternity.