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Die every night and born everyday


Every night when I go off to sleep, I die. Every morning when I wake up, I am born again. Not easy to understand and even more difficult to practice. Most of us would think that this is a philosophy that can be exercised only by the ascetics or at best people who have renounced the world for “far greener spiritual pastures” beyond the physical.

For me this thought of daily death and being born holds a much deeper meaning than most covert ones. 

 Ever since we are born i.e. coming out of our mother’s womb, we are moving towards one imminent end – death. Whatever we are able to accomplish is between these two states. Then how is it possible that we die and take birth every day? 

 As you think so you become is a mantra enunciated by Krishna in the Gita. We are nothing but a result of our thoughts and convictions and subsequent actions. We do what our mind says and heart desires. So the need is to train the mind or heart and not your actions. As a joint effort, both will take care of the actions!!

When I say that we die every night, we are actually telling our mind, “boss everything that you created today is going to come to an end as soon as I close my eyes and enter the world of sleep. I am going to be dead tonight.” It’s being dead to the world as well. Sleep is an amazing facility that nature has provided to all it living creatures. It’s a state with infinite capability and capacity for our mortal existence. Internally, it provides the tired nerves and other organic systems within the body to rejuvenate itself. The mind gets the much needed break from all the atrocities and demands that we subject it to, through the day. Externally, our body parts are in a state of meditation. No movement. No stress to perform. There is deathly stillness and yet breathing. Come to think of it, maybe nights are dark so that, neither we nor anyone can see our sinister and gloomy thoughts disappear as soon as it leaves our psyche, while we sleep. Nature takes care of everything.

When I say that we take birth every morning on waking, we are telling our mind, “boss rise and shine as we have a lot to create today and live it too. I am going to be alive from this moment on.” We are born again to ourselves and to the world at large. Waking state has substantial and considerable capability and capacity to embark on whatever we desire or create what we design. Now this creative process can function anyway that we want. Choice is ours. Being alive is not breathing. It’s being one with what we are and plan to be today. There is no stress or demands of yesterday as it’s dead and gone. There is no anxiety for tomorrow as we just have today to live. Being alive is also a meditation if you observe it closely. If we are busy with putting together our thoughts to act and heart to loving what we do, we are living but oblivious of the external distractions. Our mind is focused on achieving the goals that we have set for the day and heart is set on enjoying what we can. So where is the time to wander? Nature takes care of everything.

Most of the pains that we inflict on ourselves have got a lot to with the fact that we have forgotten the art of living every day and embracing death every night. For anything to become a habit we have to practice it. If every day when we are born, can we pledge to be a good human being? Not better than yesterday as that person is dead. Being useful to ourselves, to our family and then society at large is a habit which I am sure is not very hard to practice. Being sensitive does not mean that we take care of only our needs and pains. We are sensitive when we can empathize with that someone who cannot benefit us in anyway but we still aim to accommodate his/her needs to make that one person happy.

Do one thing nice for at least one person to make his or her day, everyday that you are born. Pray that it has a ripple effect.  

The best part about being born today is that there is no yesterday to cling to or carry the burden of. The best part about dying today is that there will be no tomorrow to be anxious about.

Start.

Ma

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