Meanwhile, witnessing the toll of caring for my 90-year-old grandmother has left my mother fearful of old age, unaware of more conscious ways of transitioning. For sincere sadhaks who have developed inner awareness, is it possible to consciously leave the physical body into the Divine’s embrace without undergoing severe physical decay or illness? How can we best understand these two challenges—transmitting inner truths to practical minds and approaching the end of life consciously?
Yes, it is my general observation that the present generation, for all its other difficulties, is more open towards the spiritual life. It believes in vertical progress and evolution and a seeking after higher states and greater possibilities is a natural urge in it. Our parents were either too content with the limited avenues open for the expansion of life, too satisfied in the standard religious practices and understanding. But today both these doors have opened wide. There is no limit to what money can provide, but equally no term to our inner growth and progress. In any case, though the mind can progress almost infinitely, it requires a certain will for progress, a will to know and explore more, to realise new things, to discover the unknown. This will is often missing if the human mind takes its stand on the narrower pedestal of the physical, sense-driven mind. Then it moves in small and narrow circle of habits and expands only to the call and cry of desires. It is best not to disturb the pace and direction of evolution, as trying to overpush may create inner dislocations. The binding chord in a family should be love rather than commonality of thought and aspiration. In fact, it is rare to find people of the same aspiration in one family, and there is a subtle logic of nature behind this divergence within the family. Everyone carries the seed of spirituality within them which will one day blossom when the soil is ready and the season is right.
It is the same for fear as well. The narrower our vision and understanding of life, the more our preoccupation with the bodily life, the more we become susceptible to fears. Instead of deeper philosophy, you just need to tell her that you are there if need be and if she leads her life peacefully and with trust in God, all that is needed will be done if and when the need arises. What she needs is faith in life and the Power that governs our existence. Tell her to think of the ocean and the night sky, any image that can give her some feeling of wideness. Spending little time in Nature also helps. The Gita is another excellent scripture that puts the mind in the right condition to face the enigma of death. Do a little bit of reading of the Gita with your mother if she is willing. Expose your parents to soothing mantra music. Sometimes music directly touches the right chord where the intellectual mind is unable to help.
Affectionately,
Alok Da
