We are already on our way to meet death. We are steadily moving towards the predestined point where it is patiently waiting, for us. We will meet soon. Whether it is in a few hours, days, weeks, months or years- it is still very near, because eventually facing our death is certain.

The certainty renders the time in between irrelevant. It is sure to happen, irrespective of the time that may pass between now and then. The certainty makes it an immediate urgent reality. Anything that is sure to occur, is as good as already happening in some form!

A potential that is sure to materialize is already committed towards that fate, there is no chance of escape or avoiding it, we are as good as already dead in a sense.

Death as a concept has a mysterious effect on us. It is a fact that we all know is unavoidable, but we convince ourselves that it happens to others. We pretend to ignore our own eventual fate and carry on as if it will never happen to us, at least not any soon. We avoid thinking about facing death.

Although in the back of our minds, in the depth of our hearts we know, that we are moving towards it! We fear it for ourselves and for all those who we are attached to.

Looking at old and sick people amongst us, who seem much closer to death than we think we are, we wonder how they feel! For our own composure, we like to believe that perhaps they feel ready, to meet the end of their lives?

We imagine that perhaps those who are approaching really close to the rendezvous with death, get magically prepared and are not terrified of meeting their fate. We know its inevitability and desperately hope, that maybe, by the time its our turn to encounter our physical end, we will somehow be more ready for facing death.

We hope that life will perhaps gradually, over time prepare us, so that we are not so afraid anymore. We doubt that, but this vague conviction is the only thing that keeps us from going cold with fear, knowing the absolute certain destination towards which we are steadily moving.

Thinking about death, looking at how rampant, ruthless and unpredictable it is, gives us a very distinct perspective on the time that we spend being alive.

The fact that death is the only certain thing, no matter how we live our lives, no matter what we do or don’t do in our lives, makes death the most reliable vantage point to look at being alive and living a worthy life.

Death can come very suddenly for a lot of people, who have no warning to acknowledge at all, that their time is up. Until a moment, they are busy doing a hundred mundane things, and the next moment in a flash they are gone, with not a pause to say goodbye to even the most important people or things, in the complex lives they had built around themselves.

Most people have a lot of unfinished business at any random point in their lives. There are only few rare moments when we are completely content, when we are truly at peace and ready for whatever happens next, without any apprehension or preference.

There are only very rare moments when we are ready for life to take its own course without any choice or interference from us, when we completely welcome whatever comes, even if we end up facing death.

These few moments offer a glimpse of how the life is really meant to be lived. Any moment, that emboldens us to welcome with absolute equanimity a certain death, has imbibed the flavour with which every moment of life should ideally be lived.

How do we as mortal beings, deeply engrossed in a million mundane engagements, blinded constantly with our dreams and desires, sulking and gloating over the past and projecting elaborate schemes for an imaginary future- are to ever find the serenity needed to welcome a certain death with a genuine grace?

To welcome anything needs an open mind, a space free from projected desires and wishes, a readiness empty of all preconceived ideas and fears.

Welcoming is an attitude, complete attention and absolute willingness to be present completely for whatever comes next. If the next moment brings joy, we dance and celebrate, if the next moment brings sorrow or grief we whole-heartedly mourn. If the next moment brings death, we embrace it, just as we would any other moment of life. This is the attitude that we need to always have towards life and is also the right attitude towards death. 

Welcoming without regrets, without any concerns, with no reservations, with absolute readiness and content state of being, completely attentive and open, with a true willingness to accept whatever comes next.

Then, death is just a continuation of life, one more moment of life, the moment in which we transform from a living breathing physical body-mind entity, to the unknown realm of existence or non-existence, whatever it may be.

Why exactly do we fear our death? We do not know anything about death for ourselves, we only know about death as an outsider. Anyone who has ever died, has not come back to describe how it was for them. We do not have any reliable first-hand account of death. Each death is unfathomable to the onlookers.

Each one of us gets to know and die through only one death- our own. We make up our minds about death based on what we have seen, heard or read from the descriptions of the onlookers.

Or perhaps we have lost someone and fear the suffering that comes with it, for everyone around. Physical pain, loss, mental anguish and suffering are part of being alive, death alone is not tainted by these.

The fear of leaving behind what we have accumulated painstakingly, the fear of being yanked off in a single jolt from all that we have ever known and possessed. The fear of not ever feeling and experiencing the things that we have gotten used to. The fear of leaving loved ones behind to miss us. We think about our lives and own unique place in the world and we fear its loss. We fear death because it is a change leading us into the unknown and we do not know what to expect.

Why do we fear what we do not know? Why do we assume it to be worse than what has been seen, heard of, or known in life within this world? Fear of unknown is the fear of not having any control. Death is the ultimate event in our lives where we have no control.

It has been said that the one who knows what life really is, can never fear death. Life is nothing but death, every moment is death and rebirth, we are transformed in every moment, we just do not notice a lot of these changes unless we look back and see how these have accumulated over a long duration.

We are renewed at every moment in life, physical death is just one such moment that culminates into the loss of our association with a body-mind. There is no reason to fear it, just as there is no reason to fear any next moment in life.

How can we best prepare ourselves for our certain impending physical death, irrespective of where we are in life? It is not very different from how best we can learn to live a life of happiness and fulfilment, completely aligned with the flow of life.

We live each moment with awareness, we remain really present to what comes our way and attend to it as appropriate, without interference from a personal, egoistic, isolated, self-centred view.

We remain fully aware of our attitudes and mechanism, we observe our reactions and are open and accepting to whatever comes. We live with a welcoming attitude, free of projections, imaginations, fears, desires and expectations. We act in alignment with the flow of the totality of life.

In this welcoming attention, we come to a readiness, a tranquillity where life and death are one, they are seen with the same eye and they are embraced with the same absolute acceptance.

The time does not interfere, the space does not mean anything, because death is life and life is death, and there is only a conscious continuity in the timeless eternity. This timeless continuity is what we really are, with or without the confinement of a body-mind.

Death is coming for us, there is very less time, no matter how many years we may have. Any time is less time. All we can do to prepare for it, is to transform our attitude right now.

Drop the fear, let go of the projections of thoughts, cut loose of everything unnecessary, purge all the clutter, clean the mind to face the unknown with an open heart and welcoming attitude. We live each moment with an excitement to meet the new, and if we have lived well, we will not be afraid of facing death.

Then, we may be fortunate enough to meet our physical end when our time comes, with the beauty and dignity of a brightly coloured leaf that steps down gently from the branch of a tree, embracing the afternoon breeze on a sunny autumn day. No hesitation, no regrets. Facing death without fear is not different than meeting life.