The Fantasy of Dying

The human fascination with, or fear of, death is as old as humanity itself. From the mantras, shlokas, and texts of Shrutis revealed to ancient sages and recorded in the Vedas, Upanishads, Mahakavyas, Puranas, Darshan Shastras; from rituals performed to appease tribal, ancient, and other gods and passed down from generation to generation; from the earliest cave paintings depicting scenes of life, death, and the afterlife; from written texts on papyrus, clay, or stone tablets; from intellectual discourses in the philosophical treatises of great philosophers, theologians, statesmen, and literary giants; to the scientific analyses of modern times, our species has consistently engaged in a dialogue with mortality. In the search for immortality, in the light of day or the shade of night, in actions judged right or wrong more often by the mind than by intellect, in the seducing and tempting stupor of worldliness or the sacrament of penance, humanity has repeatedly stumbled upon the inevitability of mortality.