How to Deal with Death?

Like it or not death is inevitable here in this material world. Death is as sure as death. So how to deal with it? How to deal with the death of others and our own unavoidable death? The first thing to remember is that actually we do not die. It is only the external covering, the material body, which is worn like a garment by the spirit-soul within, which dies. The actual self, the spirit-soul does not die. Why all the anxiety about death then? This is due to our ignorantly misidentifying the body to be the actual self instead of wisely identifying ourselves as the real spiritual self, which dwells only temporarily within the body. If we engage ourselves always in devotional service to Lord Sri Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, this establishes us solidly, fearless, and blissfully in our eternal spiritual identity, which cannot be touched by death.

Sankarshan Das Adhikari

Conquer Death by Chanting Hare Krishna

Answers by Citing the Vedic Version:

Question: Good Karma Brings Suffering?

Dear Gurudeva,

Pranams. I am unable to understand your viewpoint when you write about a pious man who opens a charity hospital, "His reward will be that he will take birth again and again until all the people who received free medical care from him will give him free medical care in return."

This seems more like punishment rather than reward to me, i.e. he has to be born sick again and again to receive medical care back from them. So if I give charity to 100 people then should I be born as very poor to receive charity back from those 100?

Request you to kindly provide more clarity on the above.

Thank you,

Subramanian

Answer: Enjoyment Mixed with Suffering

The point is that even good karma obliges us to take birth again in this material world, which is a suffering condition. The only kind of karma which frees us from all kind of suffering is akarma, the devotional service of the Lord. Being a good person is not good enough to deliver one from all suffering because even a good person is obliged to take birth again to be rewarded for his pious activities. Taking birth again in this material means suffering, even if by extremely good karma one is able to take birth as Lord Brahma. This is confirmed as follows in the Bhagavad-gita:

ā-brahma-bhuvanāl lokāḥ
punar āvartino 'rjuna
mām upetya tu kaunteya
punar janma na vidyate

"From the highest planet in the material world, Brahmaloka, down to the lowest, all are places of misery wherein repeated birth and death take place. But one who attains to My abode, O son of Kunti, never takes birth again."--Bhagavad-gita 8.16

So the conclusion is that even though good karma brings material enjoyment, because one is still in this material world that enjoyment is mixed with suffering. Therefore those who are intelligent shun mere piety and take instead to the devotional service of the Lord with full enthusiasm and determination and achieve the supreme perfection of going back to home, back to Godhead.

Sankarshan Das Adhikari