Detachment from This World  

It generally happens that when someone well-known dies, people write articles about him in newspapers and magazines. These articles are full of praise for the deceased. Sometimes, functions are organized in their memory, where speakers recount their deeds and greatness in glowing terms. This actually leads to much misunderstanding.

What really happens when someone dies is that he suddenly leaves behind all signs of his greatness. Death delivers him into a world where he is totally alone and bereft of any possessions. From the point of view of the present, this is exactly what the dead person’s condition now is. But those who write and speak about him do not mention this present status of his. They dwell on his past when he lived in this present world and they use that to sing his praises, even though the deceased has, for all practical purposes, been totally cut off from this past.

For a person, death actually means total detachment from this world. Every deceased person reminds us of this utterly serious reality of life. But this reality finds no place in the writings and speeches that people generally make in the wake of someone’s death.

Exaggerating the greatness of a deceased person when writing or speaking about him creates the false impression that even now he possesses the same greatness as when he was in this world. But this is definitely not the case actually. It is quite likely that at the very moment the deceased person is being praised, a ‘great history-maker’ has become a ‘history-less’ person, lying about in a state of utter helplessness.