I have always been very afraid of death. In my childhood, seeing a dead body would give me goose-pimples. Even hearing of a death of a relative would send shivers down my spine. I would imagine that death is not too far away from me now ; my number is also coming soon. And, if the death occurred to someone whose age was similar to mine, the effect was that much more devastating, as I would closely identify with it.

As I grew older, the fear of death actually increased as I began to see my body-systems weakening. Material success made this fear worse since there was much more to lose than just the bodies of the self and those of my immediate family. Finding no real relief from any medical practioners, who expressed their inability to guarantee a long life for me or my family members, I turned to the Bhagavad-Geeta for answers and relief.

First thing I learned from the Bhagavad-Geeta was that we are all souls. Sure, I had heard that before but hardly believed in it. Now I began to seek confirmation and surely information related to reincarnation, near-death experiences, hypnotic regression, hypnotic progression, being able to make contact with one’s dead relatives, child prodigies, etc helped. Simultaneously, I looked for proof about the existence of God. To be honest, I did not get a scientifically verifiable proof but got enough in the form of details of the miracles which have taken place, the flaws in the evolutionary theory, the existence of Phi ratio, the planetary system, and regarding living bodies, which are machines which not only grow in size but replicate themselves too. And, surely I found no one or nothing which could scientifically disprove the existence of God either.

Still, the thought of death has been very painful. Therefore, I have sought ways to transcend it in many ways. I have realized that death of a material body is inevitable ; no one has come forward and claimed that he or she has been living since time-immemorial. Actually, death starts once we are born ; every moment we live, death comes that much closer to us. It is said death follows us like shadow throughout our lives. From the Bhagavad-Geeta, we learn that once a soul loses a body, it is sure to get another one ( 2.22 ). Death can be described as a long sleep after which one wakes up in a new body.

Death also brings relief in some cases and even gives some advantage. Why would anyone opt for euthanasia ? Actually, death allows a new beginning. Children of people who have died early have been known to become more serious. Others, who have been acutely aware of the inevitability of death, have been known to use their time more judiciously.

In any case, there is no benefit in getting paralyzed by the thought of death. Fear of death is known to cause depression, panic, secretion of harmful chemicals in the body, loss of energy, negative outlook, etc and I can personally vouch for it. Actually, fear of death is far worse than actual death which comes only once in a life-time, whereas the fear of death could last the whole life ; fear of death is like a slow death, more painful than the actual one.