Love is Dangerous
31 October 1969 am iation Camp at Dwarka, Gujarat, India
Question 1
A FRIEND HAS ASKED: WHY SHOULD WE THINK OF DEATH AT ALL? WE HAVE LIFE, LET US LIVE IT.
LET US LIVE IN THE PRESENT.
WHY DO WE BRING IHOUGHT OF DEATH?
He has asked the right thing.
But his very asking, "Why bring in the idea of death?" or "Lets just live and not even think of death" shows in itself that even he ot escape thinking about death.
Death is su enormous fact it ot be ignored; although throughout our lives we try not to think of death -- not because death is not worth thinking about, but because the very thought of it is terrifying.
The very idea that "I will die" sends chills up our spines.
Of course, it will shake you up while dying; but even before that, if this idea takes hold of your mind, it will shake you to your very roots.
Man has always tried tet about death, he has tried not to think about it.
We have managed our entire system of life in such a way that death should not bee visible.
All mans efforts and plans towards falsifyih seem to be succeeding, but they never are successful -- because death is there.
How will you escape from it? Where will you escape? Even running away from it, you are ultimately going to run into it.
No matter where you escape, no matter which dire you take, eventually yoing to end up there.
Every day it approaches nearer -- whether you think about it or not, whether you escape from it or not.
One ever run away from a fact.
It is not that death is something which will happen iure, so why think about it now? This too is a misapprehension.
Death will not happen iure -- death is already happening every moment.
Although it will e to its pletion iure, it is actually taking place every moment.
We are dying this very moment.
If we sit here for an hour, we will be dead one hour.
It may take seventy years for us to die pletely, heless this one hour will be a part of it.
During this one hour we will be dying too.
It is not that after seventy years one dies all of a suddeh never occurs instantaneously.
It is not a sudde; it is a growth that begins with birth.
In fact, birth stitutes one end of death, ah stitutes the other end.
This journey begins with birth.
What we call the birthday is actually the first day of death.
It will take time, but the journey will tinue.
For example, a mas out from Dwarka for Calcutta.
The very first step he takes will be as much to reach Calcutta as his last step.
The final step will be as instrumental in bringing him to Calcutta as the initial step.
And if the initial step t bring him to Calcutta, the last step ot either.
This means that wheook his first step towards Calcutta, he began to reach Calcutta.
With each step Calcutta drew nearer and nearer.
You may perhaps say he took six months to arrive at Calcutta, but the fact is that it is only because he had started to arrive six months ago that he could arrive six months later.
The sed thing I would like to say to you is: dont think that death is somewhere iure, death is present every moment.
And what is future? It is the sum total of all of our presents.
We keep on adding to it.
It is just like when we heat water.
At the first degree the water warms up, but it hasnt turned into steam yet.