Life and Death: From the Finite to the Infinite

By K S NARAYANASWAMY

Who can measure the infinity of time? The flow of time is permanent; so it would flow on even if all the clocks in the world stopped ticking.

Night and day, months and years roll on, but to the individual, the period of time between his birth and death assumes prime importance. From this measure of time emerges the ethical value of that time.

Depending on the waves of human aspirations from time to time the ethical values of an era get shaped. The values of a period leave an impression on the life of any person who may live in that period. It directs the values of personal life and according to his own inner wisdom a person shapes his relationships with family and society. Through day-to-day experience and inquisitiveness a person observes and stores in memory the actions and reactions around him, sculpting his own life, changing circumstances and making history.

At times he stands aloof, away from the flow of time, observing with wonder. He experiences in his inner consciousness that some insurmountable, vast, permanent power that is beyond speculation and description is working behind worldly happenings. The world does not run according to a single individual's imagination. Worldly affairs go on forever, pushing the course of time to flow unexpectedly in different directions through a secret force operating as a sum total of all the great efforts.

The way a man resonates to the values of an era is predicated on which cultural tradition he is born into and also on the kind of environment he is brought up in. During his lifetime prominent historical events and waves of thought continuously influence a thinking man, creating complex situations which can make him disillusioned at one time and rebellious at another. Times change, taking people to unexpected destinations, creating challenges which often disappear by themselves. These events remind man of the limitations of human endeavour. Incapable of imagining the vast nature of innumerable possibilities at once; the human mind with its limited capabilities wanders in search of a supreme power for shelter.

After observing the complexity of life, a wise soul wrote in the Upanishad:

Eshawasyamidam sarvam  - everything is pervaded by God. When a man reaches the fag end of his journey, many questions crowd his mind: How does one remain unattached in this complex karmic web of life? How does the last moment happen? What is beyond that? After much soul-searching, man finally surrenders to the thought that some invisible force has concealed the truth behind the facade of life. Realising that the revelation of this truth is impossible through human efforts, man prays: “Oh Lord, the maker of the world, unravel the truth and its working principles.”

Akin to the mythological churning of the ocean, there is a parallel agitation going on in every mind - and what comes up could be nectar or poison or both. It is up to the individual to learn to discriminate between the two. Life has to go forward in its entirety. How much did we acquire from whom? We keep acquiring right from birth. The sum total of acquired things even at the time of our birth is beyond imagination. When we ask the question - what did the world of my time get from me? - we might feel that one individual's contribution is no more than the equivalent of a small pebble on a huge beach. The fact is that the common man - unobserved by anyone, incapable of making any impact, with no extraordinary quality - is still the central point of his time-era and this remains an undisputable truth.

(Translated from the Kannada by K N Guruprasad)

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See also: Life and Death, Life and Beyond, Death and Dying, Body Mind and Soul

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