What is the earliest memory you have of anything? How far back can you remember? What are your earliest childhood memories? Take a moment and reminisce. Then come to this realisation – human memory is short, life is fleeting and death inevitable.
Shakespeare’s Hamlet made the impassioned plea ”To be, or not to be”. Oft quoted and oft misquoted. To Hamlet and to the majority of people, who generally treasure life and fear death, the question of what happens after death is both intriguing and terrifying at the same time. Sharon is Chinese and for her the mere mention of death is taboo. So you can imagine the trauma I cause her. I find that strange because as a Hindu the dicussion of death in everyday discourse is normal for me. At the temple we place the holy ash on our foreheads as a reminder of this and of the need for humility. Not that all Hindu’s are profound and humble, certainly not me. Age and experience of course, is causing me to reflect on things differently.
The Spanish American philospher George Santayana once said, “There is no cure for birth and death other than to enjoy the interval.”
That is certainly what I had resolved to do from a young age. Lao Tzu prosed,
A man is born gentle and weak.
At his death he is hard and stiff.
Green plants are tender and filled with sap.
At their death they are withered and dry.
Therefore the stiff and unbending is the disciple of death.
The gentle and yielding is the disciple of life.
These two aphorisms exemplify for me how life should be lived. Enjoyably and with kindness and moderation.
All men are born to die, and life is merely a journey from womb to tomb. Regardless of the journey, the destination is the same. So what’s all the fuss about? No matter what endeavours one might make, everyone succumbs to mortality within a certain time span. Nothing can be done other than follow the natural process from birth to death, just as grass sprouts in spring like the essence of youth and withers in autumn like the onset of old age.
The founder of Taoism, Lao Tzu said uncompromisingly,
Man comes alive into the world
And goes dead into the earth.
Three out of ten will live long.
Three out of ten will live short.
And three out of ten will strive for long life
But meet premature death.
And for what reason?
Good to have a good hard think about that.
Life is only worth living and preserving if it benefits the general welfare of mankind. A life well lived is one in service to our fellow man. While we can all come to this realisation, in practice, it is very difficult to implement. This is because we all have only a limited sense of altrusim. Human personality is defined more by self interest than the interest of others. This is what makes Rotary’s enduring motto both inspiring and ridiculous – SERVICE ABOVE SELF. This is the the very epitomy of a highly evolved and civilised society but reality bites. My experience of Rotary is mixed bag of good and heartwarming experiences set against the backdrop of petty bickering, sycophancy and political strife. But we must all soldier on because the ideal is worthy and great. Fight we must, all hypocrites and villains, who masquerade in a Rotary mask for personal gain. Fight to liberate the ideal of SERVICE ABOVE SELF. Sometimes, it’s a fight against ourselves. And the diminishing aspect of our own character, this is what I have found.
